Ruble crashes, Putin "insane"

I have slowly but surely become somewhat addicted to the 1420 YouTube channel . . . .

I liked Jeremy's Corbyn's policies for protecting the NHS and nationalising rail, etc, but I wonder what he's talking about on Ukraine. He says US & UK should stop providing military aid to Ukraine (the aid Ukraine has been begging for).

Has Putin not demonstrated clearly enough that he's not interested in peace - after (peaceful) Worldwide condemnation and any number of non-military approaches for getting Russia to withdraw were tried. Not even harsh economic sanctions have done any good. It's almost as if folks like Corbyn are saying to the WWII French resistance: "Well we're not going to help you, and frankly your continued fighting is just prolonging the war. You should focus on peace, which means giving the Nazis what they want".

I mean, it's a God-awful dilemma that Putin created for the world, and I hate to see arms manufacturers profiting, but Jeez the denial and cognitive dissonance here...

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/aug/02/jeremy-corbyn-urges-west-to-stop-arming-ukraine

And so the mediocre conspiracists continue to flood the web with their mediocre conspiracies (which sound suspiciously like Kremlin propaganda).

The latest "truth" I'm hearing is that "The US Could’ve Prevented This War Just By Protecting Kyiv From Nazis" (some baseless dreck from Caitlin WhatsHerName). I thought these folks were meant to be anti-interventionist.

The story seems to have changed from "Ukraine provoked the war by inviting US intervention", to "The US could have prevented the war by intervening differently".

More here

If supplying weapons to Ukraine is itself a "pro-war" act (as many Putin apologists argue), then here's Trump boasting that he's more pro-war than Obama:

https://twitter.com/RSBNetwork/status/1517273962987802626

Recent interview clip of "Aleksandr Dugin: The far-right theorist behind Putin's plan" (he speaks English pretty well).

I had wondered where all the odd-sounding "geopolitical", "unipolar", "multipolar" (etc) jargon flooding political discussion on social media had come from!

Fascinating. Trump originally said Putin's Ukraine invasion plan was "genius". Now he's saying what's happening is "genocide". (Leading prominent far-right commentators like Cernovitch to disown him, as below).

I fully expect Trump to boast that the Libs/Dems weren't as tough on Putin, or as critical of Russia, as he was (if he hasn't already). And his supporters, who've been accusing "liberals" of hysterical Russophobia for 6 years, won't see the continent-size cognitive dissonance fast approaching.

https://twitter.com/GeorgeMonbiot/status/1497511988322258948

Clown/comedian attempts to bolster credibility by posing with serious heavyweight international politician

[the serious politician's the one on the right btw]

What used to be Pink Floyd (minus Roger Waters) has re-formed "in support of Ukraine", with a new song sampling a Ukrainian musician that David Gilmour has worked with in the past (Gilmour himself has Ukrainian extended family).

Gilmour says he's "disappointed" with the political views of Roger Waters. Waters seems one of a long list of people who went down a "red pill" rabbit-hole, way beyond the stage of "just asking questions", into false flag conspiracy theories, genocide denial territory, etc.

According to the Guardian's report: A week before Russia invaded Ukraine, Waters told an interviewer on Russia Today that talk of a Russian invasion was “bullshit ... anybody with an IQ above room temperature knows [an invasion] is nonsense”. (He subsequently condemned the invasion).

Pink Floyd’s post-1987 output – and the solo work Syd Barrett – was already removed from streaming services in Russia as part of a cultural boycott.

Thanks for the reply, don't know much about Brand and his sources.

Russell Brand presented some interesting economic history regarding Ukraine. Before Z there was great Russian control of Ukraine's economics and also corruption. Under Z the West has invested in Ukraine, of course influencing the political landscape as they can to better suit their investments (and possible corruption, if there is any truth to the Hunter Bided allegations). So, the Russian invasion may be to destroy the Russian investment/infrastructure in Ukraine, to the point that the West will not want to "invest" in Ukraine. (Sadly a variant of their history under Stalin - such is the cyclic programming of the Grafter).

How unfortunate for the people of Ukraine, who want to live their lives , to be caught between two powers, each wishing to control the economics/money of Ukraine and its peoples. Though it does look good for the West and the consensus of world economies - indicating the further economic failure of the "communist" manifesto of how economics should be handled and how people should be governed/controlled by the powers that be (oligarchs - men and women of business and influence/empowered - the movers and shakers and their support groups/troops/troups).

I sincerely hope that Russia(Putin) is not pushed to the point of having nothing to lose - to me indicated by the move from Putin would never use nucleares to the adjustment by broadcasters that he might. But if one scholar is correct that humankind has had a death wish since the massive historic volcanic eruptions - Santorini, etc. and its adherence to a religion that has as it end game the destruction of the existing world and the establishment of a new "Jerusalem", who knows what might play out.

Ghost's new album Impera is quite timely - it deals "loosely" with the life cycle of empires - it resounds with me, quite similarly, as did Sgt. Peppers, at is time of release.

Cheers!

Putin has reportedly placed the head of the FSB's foreign intelligence branch under house arrest, along with his deputy. Vladimir apparently blames his intelligence agencies for incorrect information - they assured him Russian forces would face only token resistance and that Ukrainians were eager to be rid of those currently running the country.

"Communication only occurs between equals"

Reminds me of Robert Anton Wilson's "SNAFU" theory of power - that leaders never receive accurate information about what's going on, because their intimidated underlings tell them only what they want to hear. That recent video of Putin humiliating his own spy chief (not the one arrested) adds to this impression - see below.

Echoes of Iraq again, in that George W Bush said the Iraqis would welcome their "liberators" and embrace "western-style democracy". But unlike Putin (*if* we believe the reports), Bush didn't have a lack of accurate intel - he just ignored stuff that contradicted his own dumb cowboy-Republican worldview.

Politics is sadly always about the lesser of two evils. However, in this case, there can be no doubt about which is the greater. Russel seems reluctant to outright condemn Putin, saying that he 'may' be a bad man. Yes, there has undoubtedly been western intervention in the forming of the current Ukrainian government and yes, there is a question to be answered about the legitimacy of a separate state for the large population of Russians in the south-east of Ukraine. None of this holds a candle to the actions of the oppressive, murderous, power-hungry tyrant currently ruling Russia. As for the complaint about the manufacture of chemical weapons in Ukraine, that's rather like someone reporting a dangerous driver by phone while doing a ton on the M1 and fumbling in the glove box for the glacier mints!

Interesting article by Guardian journalist George Monbiot on the well-meaning western "dissidents" who have swallowed some of the more ludicrous Kremlin propaganda:

theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/mar/02/russian-propaganda-anti-imperialist-left-vladimir-putin