Pentagon spokesman was just asked whether Russian troops have entered the Donbas. Couldn't give a firm answer -- says troops are "moving into" the region (which doesn't mean they've breached the territory) but he "can't confirm with any great specificity." Vaguest "invasion" ever
"What we see is that Russian forces continue to assemble closer to the border," according to John Kirby. Very strange way to characterize an "invasion" that we've been told with such certainty has *already occurred*
You'd think if the most harrowing invasion in Europe since World War II was underway, the Pentagon could confirm its existence using clearly identifiable evidence for all to see, and respond to simple "Yes/No" questions on the subject instead of playing convoluted word games
Almost every time I've addressed this subject, I've said "Of course it's possible that Russia will invade," but that possibility does not somehow justify the miasma of false info coming out of the US Govt. Millions now believe an "invasion" is already in progress, when it's not
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Putin declares Ukraine a "puppet" or "colony" of the US. Seems like an overstatement, but it's true that for years the US has been funding/training the Ukraine military and bragging about its singular influence on Ukraine's affairs. Perhaps this US intervention was ill-advised
In 2021, the US conducted an exercise *in Ukraine* featuring "joint jumps of Ukrainian and American paratroopers from a US Army C-130 aircraft." Does this excuse any insane actions Putin may take? No. But the US thinks it can do this stuff anywhere in the world without blowback
If you never heard about "Rapid Trident 21," the exercise designed to "enhance interoperability" between the US/NATO and Ukraine, you're not alone: but the US does this all the time, virtually wherever it pleases, with no regard for how other states could find them "provocative"
All this took was going around to a random assortment of places purportedly covered by the mayor's order, figuring out that no one had the faintest clue a "proof of vaccine" mandate was in effect, contacting the mayor's office, and then poof -- within a day it was rescinded!
Anyway, the strange ease of getting this particular policy removed is a humorous contrast to what's going on in Canada
“Crazy” US Media Coverage is a Bigger Threat to Ukraine than Russian Invasion, Ukraine Parliament Member Says mtracey.substack.com/p/crazy-us-med…
Ukraine parliamentarian -- a member of Zelensky's party who otherwise has negative views toward Russia -- tells me it will take $10 billion to stabilize Ukraine after the "panic" caused by the US Government and media
Someone's going to have to explain what incentive these Ukraine officials could possibly have to falsely deny that an invasion is imminent. Safeguarding the economy? What could be a bigger economic catastrophe than the government being toppled and the country being occupied?
Good chat, thanks as always for those who joined. Had to cut it off so Aaron can make preparations for his Super Bowl party, he's a huge Cincinnati Bengals fan
The significance of the episode where the Ukraine president called an emergency press conference to rebuke the US Government and media for stoking a war "panic" has been sorely under-appreciated. Whatever the US is doing at the moment, it's the opposite of "de-escalation"
For years during Russiagate I argued that hysteria-peddlers were ignoring that domestic political frenzies inevitably affect the conduct of foreign policy -- and in the case of Russia relations that was potentially disastrous. Today, as predicted, we see the fruits of that frenzy
A concession worker at Barclays Center last night was loudly barking at people that she "CANNOT" serve anyone who isn't masked (i.e. refusing service) even though arena policy doesn't require masks, and even though her own cloth mask was dangling below her nose and half her mouth
Note: it's not the worker's fault that the relevant policies are muddled. The arena, which already has a vax mandate per NYC law, "strongly recommends" masks, but doesn't expressly require them. And corporate officials are paranoid about having to potentially cancel more events
Still, it was interesting to observe an unusually vivid example of someone aggressively using mask-wearing as a point of moral leverage against others, meanwhile the manner in which they were personally mask-wearing had zero conceivable benefit