I wrote when I began this journey that from time to time I might venture away from healthcare into the general state of the world at large, so here we go. One might ask, where would I propose to begin? What would I choose to opine upon? Well, let’s connect with healthcare and perform triage, prioritize what could kill the patient first. When you’re shot in the neck that blown-off fingertip takes second seat.
Over the last couple of weeks the brinksmanship swirling around Ukraine has become rather frenetic. As a disclaimer, let me just articulate that my stated position is that while I am no fan of Putin's Russia (our only time on Russian soil was a brief stop off the Bering Sea at Petrovpavlosk…what a dreary dump it was, with a 40ft statue of Lenin to boot), the West/USG/NATO abrogated their assent to not expand NATO eastward from the moment the agreement regarding German reunification was inked. Ukraine is a geopolitical cesspool yet I feel badly for the average Ukrainian just trying to work, live and raise their family; much like the actions of the last several decades of US administrations, policy and government action are far beyond the control of the average citizen. Especially when you have Azovs and Zelenskys as your public face.
Official Russian sources at multiple levels have clearly stated that further provision of more advanced and longer-range weapons systems will be considered provocative acts of war and render NATO, and thus the US, as complicit combatants and escalation of the conflict cannot be ruled out
https://twitter.com/imetatronink/status/1570380645477797888
One can’t blame Putin, regardless of your opinion of him. We weren't too happy about intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Cuba in 1962, were we? Failing to consider your opponent's perspectives, culture and capabilities is a recipe for disaster. Many of Russia's adversaries throughout history have made that mistake and suffered for it. Russian political history is complex, arcane and steeped in deep, dark layers of subterfuge.
https://bigserge.substack.com/p/three-regimes-in-russia
I recall snippets of the collapse of the Soviet Union while a junior resident; the Khaleesi says I lived in a bubble (she's right) that predated my current awareness. Like most such events, it happened gradually, then suddenly, much like our contemporary context. We thought we’d WON THE COLD WAR (paging Lee Greenwood)! But who's in the driver’s seat, er, sitting atop the natural gas spigots, now? The American political power structure lost their bogeyman. It would seem a rational response would have been to do as we had done before to the vanquished: reach out and Westernize them, and we did, a little, as long as it served American state corporatism. Once the Middle East fizzled out, though, for the military-industrial complex, SOMEONE had to fill the gap, and it couldn’t possibly be China, the obvious geopolitical rival we had been quietly at war with since 1949. Too many American politicians and corporations rest in a red hip pocket.
So, here we sit, with fingers on the trigger and some of the idiots “in the know” seem to believe a nuclear exchange could have an acceptable outcome
https://identitydixie.com/2022/09/16/imbeciles-in-uniform/
William Lind has, in my opinion, the best take on things
https://www.traditionalright.com/playing-with-nuclear-war/
I’m sure that Gropey Joe has Vlad concerned
https://hotair.com/jazz-shaw/2022/09/18/biden-warns-putin-about-using-nukes-n497349
Face it…
Maybe they all need to take a few moments, a stiff shot of their favorite spirit, and consider Plan A
https://youtu.be/2jy3JU-ORpo
Considering China, well, the CCP, it seems that they are schooling the USG diplomatic/military/intelligence establishment that you can get a lot more accomplished by attracting foreign policy flies with honey (economic development, even if it comes with strings) than with vinegar (bombing brown people, to paraphrase George Carlin). Hell, my Mom taught me that. Their recent mission to Samarkand where Xi met with Putin was fairly ominous, if one considers how a second front opening up with an October Chinese invasion of Taiwan would alter the chessboard. There are so many balls in the air right now, it seems that Gropey Joe's WEF handlers are out of their league, what with energy shortages, inflation, looming famine and Democratic plans for electoral sabotage. I can’t wait to see what’s up their sleeve now that Monkeypox has flamed out.
There is a serious game of 4D chess being played at the moment, and our US administration, the EU and NATO seem to be playing a losing hand of solitaire.
Mom taught me one other thing: never poke a skunk
It generally doesn’t work out too well. Stay frosty…..
Not sure they are losing, I think getting hammered in a war that wipes out the governing structure of the U.S. and Europe is all part of the plan.
15 years ago this conflict would have had me chanting "USA! USA! USA!"
Now I'm chanting "EMP! EMP! EMP!"
If the US had been serious about preserving the American Way of Life and it's people they never would have put all those missile silos in the prairies and plains. The ground strikes needed to get them would irradiate virtually all of our best crop land for many years.
"There is a serious game of 4D chess being played at the moment, and our US administration, the EU and NATO seem to be playing a losing hand of solitaire."
Actually our side is winning this war the most. Don't just look at the propaganda, as even Biden is part of the maskirovka*. Instead ask the age-old question "quo bono?" The purpose of this war from the perspective of globalists was to shift Europe away from the Rus sphere of interest back to the US, esp. as regards nat gas, to drain Russia, to divert tax money into their pockets, and to create excuses for domestic tyranny under the guise of fighting foreign tyranny.
All of those things are going quite well for them. Depending on how things turn out Russia might still be a minor winner, with some wheat fields and Black Sea ports for their troubles. But the big winners will be the globalists. Big losers: Ukrainians. Medium losers: Euros. Small losers: Americans.
In the very long term, perhaps the biggest winner of all is the one who followed HAL9000s advice: "The best move is not to play." In other words, China. Ever strike you as odd that China is by far the biggest threat, yet all we do is bluster at them while continuing to offshore our manufacturing there, then beating up on their ally who is a minor power comparatively.
Hard core realists like John Meersheimer said the best thing for the US would have been to team up with Russia against China, as historically that is the safe bet. When a declining power with a surplus of land meets a rising power with a dearth of land, it rarely ends well for the declining power.
Instead we are driving Rus into China's arms, while also weakening it such that it is bound to become the lesser of 2 partners. Probably not a coincidence that so many of our "leaders" have close ties to China.
* Perhaps it would be more accurate to say Biden is part of the 'circuses' of the Roman quote about "bread and circuses." Politicians are part of the show to keep the plebs' emotions channeled in a safe direction.