REPUBLICAN GOP – Think! You will be responsible for American lives lost in Ukraine.

Why? Because you are not thinking Strategically for the future or Tactically for ‘RIGHT NOW!’ (Sorry, this Feb 2024 piece needed updating for a couple of typos, specifically aimed at the GOP.)

Tactically, we (NATO, including America) must help Ukraine stop Russia from advancing further into Ukraine and taking over more territory. As Russia continues pouring in more Conscripts (who do not want to be there), Russia is “ALSO” planting more land mines to

• attempt to stop/slow any Ukraine advances and
• kill any unwary Ukrainian man, woman or child (or NATO ally) who may venture into that tainted area.

If we (NATO) do not provide weapons to the country fighting Russia, it basically screws up the World’s future for MORE large conflicts down the road. Further Russian assaults against other countries. Ukraine is not just fighting this conflict for themselves, it is also for NATO.

DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT TRUMP, he has NO say, thoughts or intelligence (in his rather large head) to engage in ANY conversation or leadership regarding NATO, Ukraine and Russia (or China or N. Korea)… Besides, that non-logical, maniacal, bone-spur excuse coward wants to remove America from NATO – which is MIND-BOGGLING INSANE…!!!

Strategically, this is where you have to think very hard, more than you are used to. We can cut off future Russian advances by supplying the necessary planes, tanks and weapons that Ukraine can make BETTER advances and reclaim parts of their sovereign country that was illegally stolen by the insidious Dictator – Putin.

Republicans, here is where your brain is going to start hurting. Think. If Russia is allowed to take more and more of Ukraine, it will also start serious consideration for advancing into one or more of the smaller NATO countries near Russian borders such as Lithuania.

Note, if (or when) one NATO member is invaded/attacked (by Putin), that means NATO members will respond to protect the assaulted country. And that, Republican GOP, will mean American soldiers, Marines, sailors and Air Force troops will ‘have to’ go into the country that was invaded. The American (and NATO) troops will fight to protect the country in question – and it will ALSO mean that American troops will likely be ‘KILLED in action’ or horrifically maimed for life.

Think about it.

a) Strategically, you could have provided Ukraine with the necessary weapons to stop Russia NOW and into the future, to keep the Russian forces from advancing into any other NATO member country and quite possibly to regain the lost Crimean territory that was stolen, as well have more safety in the Black Sea. For now, Mike Johnson stepped up after seeing the light. And after he sat in on more classified, higher security meetings involving Ukraine & NATO. (Some of us know all too well what kind of information is shared in these kinds of meetings – now Johnson knows as well.)

OR you can forever

b) Live with the permanent memories of how, instead of sitting on your thumbs – YOU “could” have prevented the additional blood shed and lives lost (of Ukrainians and volunteer soldiers from other countries, i.e.: America) if you’d only allowed Ukraine to be supplied with the needed weapons as Ukraine, as a NATO proxy, fought for NATO instead of sending in American troops…

Think about it as you go to sleep, EVERY single night. Having Russia CONTINUING to be a world nuisance with Putin as a continuous Dictator (as you know he will win his upcoming election with, what, 98, 99% of the votes...). But then again, of course you want to continue playing with politics, even though most of your republican party does not know how to be a successful and productive member of the House or Senate. Instead, these individuals want to continue to be an attention getter, a power grabber – basically, ‘me, me, ME….’

Vivek Ramaswamy republican presidential candidate – Not A Good Choice, Nor Are Others…

Wow…!! 

Vivek would have been the first Indian American to hold the office of President of America (I still refuse to say “United States of America” due to all of the craziness taking place in this country, further dividing it) and I was thrilled to hear about something like this. Until I found out more of his background…

He wants to run on the platform of fighting ‘wokefulness’. He wants to have the states dictate, sorry – determine the fate of women who want to have abortions.

This guy also ‘apparently’ paid some Wikipedia editor to modify Ramaswamy’s profile, wait, let me put this snippet below:
“In May 2023, Forbes reported Ramaswamy had paid an editor to alter his Wikipedia page to appear more favorable to political conservatives before announcing his campaign. The paid editor removed references to his involvement with the Ohio COVID-19 Response Team and his Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans postgraduate fellowship (other editors later restored the removed content, citing the report). Paul and Daisy Soros are respectively the elder brother and sister-in-law of businessman and social activist George Soros, who has been the subject of numerous right-wing conspiracy theories.

Ramaswamy’s campaign confirmed that it had paid an editor, but denied it was trying to “scrub” his Wikipedia page. A campaign spokesperson said the edits were revisions of “factual distortions” and blamed a Ron DeSantis-aligned super PAC for amplifying the story.”

—- So, take what you desire from that info, AFTER you do your own research to corroborate the info above.

Moving on. This guy wants to remove America from the Ukraine / Russia situation.

Does he not know that if Russia is ‘not stopped’ that Putin WILL continue perpetuating mass murder, ignoring sovereign powers and authority, continual corruption and killing its own citizens for speaking up. Wait, did I mention dictatorial control of all Russians and hopefully of citizens in countries surrounding Russia…? Disallowing Russian citizens from having ‘free speech’ – forcing these citizens to listen to whitewashed Russian news (from Tass and Pravda – look up the meaning of Pravda for a chuckle of your own).

Stopping Russia will help restore some small amount of peace in the world. Look, this Ukraine/Russian engagement (war) has already united NATO, forging it into a stronger alliance for peace and democracy.

We, America, also have an alliance of friends for peace in Southeast Asia – a united front to stop China from trying to take control of that hemisphere – India, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, S. Korea and even the UK.

How does pulling back from the Ukraine / Russian war in order to protect America first work…?

Allowing Russia to gain control of Ukraine makes Russia stronger and gives them an enabling thought process of “hey, we took over Ukraine, who else can we take control of…?”  It is not just about fighting in Ukraine, it is also about the global economy with Russia trying to influence it, illegally. The FSB and SVR are known to have considerable influence via hacking or killing individuals around the globe. Whether these victims are Russian or another nationality. Go look up the stories on how Russian operatives:

• hacked the country of Georgia’s electrical grid – just because Russia could, then how
• operatives killed activists and journalists with Ricin poison – or throw acid liquids in their faces.

And note for Facebook, LinkedIn and Medium – this is NOT a bully paper against China and Russia. Besides, how does an individual impugn the story and historic knowledge of China and Russia, when it is known FACTUALLY that these two countries are either causing mass murder, detaining hundreds to tens of thousands of people against their will (Uighurs, Falun Gong, Russian activists, etc.).

So hey, if folks in America want to use their votes to vote for someone like Ramaswamy who wants America to turn inwards and THEN have the states dictate individual state laws such as abortion or getting rid of woke culture – go for it.

But, WE have a problem with that line of thought. How many Americans are there out there who learned history in high school and college and then forgot about it?  How many Americans are there who learned whitewashed history of America.  For basis, I know quite a few younger Americans and some of my own generation who learned history that was MISSING a great deal of history for which they discovered years or decades later what they missed in school because the school system failed them. Just look at Florida’s push to whitewash books in the school system and even rig colleges. Racism and the history of racial discrimination was not taught in MANY schools across this country.

How does one stop abhorrent, disgraceful activities if it is not taught in school so students can learn from it? Want to repeat those crimes, do you really want to repeat history? Well, if folks like Ramaswamy are elected into any kind of power, this is what is going to happen because he wishes to stop wokefullness.

Ramaswamy also wants to raise the voting age to 25. Will he also raise the enlistment age to join the military to 25…? Hmmm…. What he is stating is:
“unless a person serves the nation in the military or as a first responder or can pass the civics test immigrants take when becoming citizens.”

Then there are a couple more of actions that Ramaswamy wants to implement – removing the Department of Education and abolishing the IRS.  Sounds wonderful huh…?  Think about it if you agree with Ramaswamy, then think about it again, deeper this time.

Here may be something you have not heard, Ramaswamy considers Tucker Carlson ‘worthy’ of entering the Republican primary, believing that Carlson is a smart and sharp individual… Wow.

States will continue to devolve into individual fiefdoms, if more of us do NOT stand up and vote for the better candidate. We will return to states having inchoate, non-inclusive and discordant laws from those of its neighbors.

We will return to having (I pulled this from Wikipedia for a better description than what I could pass on here) Sundown towns, also known as sunset towns, gray towns, or sundowner towns, were all-white municipalities or neighborhoods in America that practiced a form of racial segregation by excluding non-whites via some combination of discriminatory local laws, intimidation or violence. The term came from signs posted that “colored people” had to leave town by sundown.

And yeah, we will definitely make a return to back-alley abortions because of the conservative, religious groups who want to talk control of couples, specifically women, bodies.

This is if, IF, we allow individuals like Ramaswamy to consume the taste of power. Life will turn negative, for MANY of us in this country.

IF more people like Ramaswamy get into power because more Americans did not stand up and vote for better people (consider George Santos from New York) – America will devolve into a has been power, fading into the pages of history as a once glorious space where so many people from around the globe wanted to come to.

We will spiral down into a, ummm, haven of pathetic, tribal zones of autocratic, dictators. Dystopia anyone…. Whites only here. Blacks only here. Asians only here. Gays only here.  You know I could go on and on for that line of thinking.  But I am not.

You, YOU have to do some serious soul searching, deep, far reaching and heavy soul searching. And then talk about it with others, outside of your close hold circle – having CONVERSATIONS and not fighting arguments to see where things actually stand and ‘hopefully’ learn something better.

YOU will have to open your eyes and watch and listen to other news outlets for truth. I had a shocking moment with a co-worker a few months ago who made the comment of “oh, that communist news outlet.” Another co-worker and I were talking about CNN and this other co-worker with that salacious comment walked up, heard CNN, then made the comment.

Going back to Ramaswamy, he is a prime example of someone who is doing narrow thinking and not national and international thinking and extrapolating down the road, like, ohhh, say a decade or two.

So, consider the consequences of voting Ramaswamy into power.

• More, much more restrictive control over women’s bodies and back-alley abortion deaths because of possibly contaminated surgical environments, all because the women could not obtain a better environment legally.
• COMPLETELY whitewashed history of America being taught in all schools. With most of the schools having funds diverted to them because of, you know, racial skin tones instead of divvied up amongst all schools. Leaving many schools of people with, you know, skin tones of a different color. Educational deserts…
• Crime. Please. There will be even more heavy handed, jack boot thugs running around the country doing “law enforcement” work because they have a badge and a gun – and NO body cam to record their work.
• Here, chew on this one where Ramaswamy talks about discrimination and affirmative action:
  “If elected, Mr. Ramaswamy said in an interview with The New York Times on Tuesday (Feb 21, 2023), his first action would be to repeal Executive Order 11246, which has banned discrimination and required affirmative action for federal contractors since 1965.”

Talking about skin tone colors. Does many of the people in America NOT see that there will MORE racial diversity than ever as each year passes. More people are discovering that just because a person is of a different skin color, IT-DOES-NOT-MAKE them a hands-off creature of ill repute or repulsiveness. Diversity is a wonder and it is wonderful. Diversity can make the lives of so many people SO MUCH BETTER.  And improve those around them as that diversity spreads.

What matters is what is that other’s nature. The character of the person is EVERYTHING.

When it comes down to it SKIN COLOR IS NOTHING! It is what that person has in their heart, in their mind, in their character and in their ethics as you look into their eyes…

Personally, I prefer to be around “Woke” individuals who have open mindsets… What do we have to be fearful of?

• Gays? Worried about turning gay if you’re around an LGBTQ person?
• Race? Are you really worried about someone else’s skin color affecting you – or maybe changing ‘your’ skin color due to their presence…?
• Women in power? Really? Afraid of smarter women…..??

And yes, “ALL LIVES MATTER!” So again, start doing some heavy thinking and make better use of your voting power. Please pass on folks such as Ramaswamy. Or Trump. Or DeSantis. They only want to take us back, no, SET US BACK decades. All the gains we as a country have attained – it will all be for naught.

This is not naivety, just pragmatic thinking. 

Having ‘national’ standards is far better than having 20 – 30 wildly differing standards to adhere to in order to not go to jail in the state that is being offended…

Ukraine, Putin, Russia, UN, NATO, Diplomacy & Military, Supreme Dictator = Impending Disaster?

 

Ukraine and bad, BAD boy Putin

So what do we have at this point in time in regards to the state of mind of Putin – psychotic break with reality? Yearnings of one man to be the Supreme (Dictatorial) leader of a country, to return to a time past that is long gone?

What the heck is going on in that man’s head, does anyone really know?

Yes, Putin may be smart but he appears to be very far over the line as a leader of a modern large country. You will notice that the previous sentence did not state ‘super power’ and it was deliberately left that way.

Do we have a crazy man as head of a large country? Or one who is becoming unhinged…? 

Diplomacy and communication does not appear to be working with Putin.

It is time for the developed countries and developing countries to band together and show some very serious solidarity against what Putin and Russia are doing.

Aiding and abetting rebels in “ANOTHER” country is not alright and it should never be! Putin and Lavrov are not fooling anyone in the civilized world by playing stupid – “What, what are we doing? It is not us; it is the rebels in Ukrainia doing all the fighting.”

 SANCTIONS

Firstly, the U.S., along with Germany and France must take the lead and insist on even more crippling sanctions because Putin thinks that the sanctions will let up soon and he can go about his business. Yes, it will harm the citizens of Russia but if they are affected, they will vociferously and adamantly act out against Putin – maybe physically remove him from office (and I’m sure some of the suffering military will join in).

Yes, this may affect Europe because of Russia cutting off the flow of oil/gas but some little sacrifice must be done now, while there is time. The rest of the world can help make up some of the oil shortfall to Europe.

United Nations

The leading countries of the world need to stand up NOW and band together and grant the UN some teeth, even if Russia vetoes any vote in the Security Council. The UN needs to join in on piling on more diplomatic sanctions against Russia – WITHIN the week via an emergency session.

Okay, now, if that does not work, then authorize UN Peace Keepers to go into harms’ way, into eastern Ukraine. This is what the UN Peace Keepers are for, to stop this kind of activity. And yes, they have been ineffectual in the past but it is time to change all that.

 European Union

Next, the EU (European Union) will need to accelerate the timetable and bring Ukraine into the fold. This will cause more turmoil and bring the rabid dog (Putin) to a full-fledged tantrum BUT IT NEEDS TO BE DONE! Unless we show Putin more solidarity, he will continue to do what he is doing.

   Yes, I did call Putin a rabid dog and I really did not want to but this is just getting out of hand as to what is happening to the INNOCENT civilians who are indiscriminately being killed in the various bombings and shootings.

 NATO

The next step, or in conjunction, NATO will also need to accelerate the timetable of brining Ukraine into the NATO umbrella. And yes again, this will cause no little consternation on Putin’s part. NATO troops will need to be expeditiously brought into Ukraine – IT CANNOT BE HALF-ASSED, there is too much to at stake to do a slow buildup, allowing for a simmering situation.

And yes, the U.S. and western allies will need to supply Ukraine with advanced weaponry and detection capabilities to find and destroy the weaponry of the “rebels” so the Ukrainian soldiers at least have a fighting chance.

 China???

You will also note that China was not mentioned in any of this. China, while they purport to be spending money around the world, to build up infrastructures and build mines and other industries – they are not willing to have democracy in the world. They are sure not making it known if they are. I mean, c’mon, the Chinese government controls the media and the Internet, trapping their people into a bubble of brainwashing content.

Scientists, Academicians, students, journalists and the curious are all becoming completely unable to search the ‘Net and learn new things or to see the truth of what is actually happening in other corners of the globe.

The Chinese government still wants to manipulate their citizens with, well, mind control as to what the average citizen can say, read and talk about. It is completely stifling.

China would not be of any assistance in joining efforts from democratic countries that want to prevent another country from performing land grabs (Crimea and really, eastern Ukraine). Why? Because China also wants to do their own land grab in the South/East China seas, stating “these disputed lands/islands have always historically belonged to China.”

How do you fight that? So no, China was not mentioned as joining in because they are not yet a democratic country – A FULLY DEMOCRATIC COUNTRY. Do not just listen to the ramblings of just one person (me), do your own research. DO A BROAD AND DEEP LEVEL OF RESEARCH! There is PLENTY of data out there in all kinds of medium (‘Net, magazines, YouTube, Netflix, newspapers, other blogs). Go to democratic, conservative and independent organizations, then cobble it all together and actually think on that content. Then, MAKE YOUR OWN INFORMED decision.

 

At any rate, the world has to come together and stop any country from annexing parts of other countries. That time is long gone, at least I hope it is and we not on the cusp of reverting to the dark ages.

 

Putin – Russia and acts of a desperate man

Warning – Dangerous times ahead!

Okay, we do not know that for a fact yet but Putin is a somewhat unpredictable individual and I do not believe anyone can say with certainty that they “do” know what he will do next. The man is, or appears to be, a smart cookie – after all, he has been in a major position of power for a very long time since he left the KGB years ago. And if anyone believes Medvedev was in charge while being President of Russia, they should re-think that…

Putin may well be moving into a state of desperation what with the way the Ruble is falling, or maybe I should say it is falling more precipitously than oil at this time (Dec 16, 2014).

Not to cast aspersions on Japan of today but if anyone happens to recall – Japan became a desperate nation prior to World War II because of oil (one of the major reasons) and look at what happened on December 7, 1941.

I do not claim to know what the man, Putin, is doing, let alone thinking – no one can claim that but he is in a position where his country could very likely lash out at the world in no certain measures. To bring back Russian hegemony for that side of the world… or attempt to do so.

Here, look at what has happened in recent history, because of Putin:

Crimea – illegally taken because Putin believes Crimea belongs to Russia and Khrushchev had no authority over a half century ago, in 1954, to give up the country Putin primarily wants Crimea because of the naval base there and access to the ocean from that part of the world.

Ukraine – Russian troops in the eastern portion of Ukraine – there are a lot of natural resources located there that Russia could sorely use… and not actually looking out for any Russian citizens living in Ukraine

Military buildup – Putin is doing a great deal of military buildup, in troops, ships, planes, etc – why?  Is there something Russia is afraid of, like China invading Russia, in the 21^st century – for sure no other country is going to nor has a desire to do so.

   Are we going back to an arms race again? (Look at China, their latest stealth fighter that was built from stolen U.S.A. R & D defense contractors – sorry, built solely from the creative and innovative minds of the Chinese engineers there – Bloomberg ran a story that states that the new Chinese jet can defeat the American F-35 in a fight.) Maybe China is going to invade Russia for its resources.

   Maybe China and Russia are going to team up and take over the world, no one knows the answers.

Gays – Putin, instead of helping all Russians, has let the super-conservative go out and beat up (and kill) gays living in Russia. A supposed super-power would want to allow their people to live their lives they desire, instead of being told who they can love or make love to… (maybe Putin is afraid of homosexuals?)

Censorship – Many Americans are just not aware of the massive invasion of privacy and snooping and censorship that occurs in mother Russia. People think the Great Firewall of China is something;  little do they know how pervasive Russia’s wiretapping is (all the forms of the Russian SORM laws).

Malaysia Airliner – Then there is the shoot down of the Malaysia air liner, for whom many point to Russia being party to that horrific incident (no rebel could obtain that kind of missile in Ukraine)

 

Russia has massive mineral resources in their own region to work with. The country could work much better with the international community with open arms and the will to be an open country. But no, Putin and some of the other leaders (many of them who are more corrupt than is expected – and again yes, we, in the U.S., also have corrupt leaders but not on the scale of Russia’s leaders) – they seem to want to continue to have a massively concentrated government that removes all personal liberties from the private citizen.

And the criminal element, we are not quite sure how bad it really is because from what we see, some of the Russian leadership (as far as we know and is alleged) are in bed with those criminal elements. And the government is going to put a positive spin on anything that goes over the air waves, until it is a story about the evil and untrustworthy U.S.

How does a Russian political figure become rich as they are (far richer than American political figures become while in and after leaving office). There is no way in Hades Russian political figures can get that rich on a government salary – surely not as many as has become wealthy over the past several decades.

But let’s ask Putin, a man who is reported to have up to $50 billion squirrelled away in some bank(s) somewhere…

So, with:

• The Ruble crashing
• Oil revenues eroding
• Unrest growing amongst the Russian population
• Being snubbed and having the 2014 G8 summit taking place outside of Russia that Putin was looking forward to having in his own country
• International sanctions taking more and more of a bite out of Russia, all because of Mr. Putin

what does Putin do next?

What should we expect next out of this man who pictures himself as the greatest egomaniac, sorry, leader in Russian history?

This is someone who can get people killed, using Polonium, for just speaking up – ask Alexander Litvinenko (dead) and the journalist Yuri Petrovich Shchekochikhin (dead) and Viktor Yushchenko (who is still alive but suffered from TCDD poisoning).

 

No one wants to invade Russia. 

The civilized world only wants Russia to pick itself up by its boot straps and become the power they continually claim they are.

If Russia (Putin) wants Russia to be on the world stage, it should start acting like a leader, not a despot, and start the painful (and expensive) task of getting:

• Its people a better education
• Better health care
• A better economy
• Getting its act together on the business front and have better collaborative engagements with all other countries
• Start leading as great leaders do – and yes, the U.S. does have its own share of leadership problems but at least the U.S. is acting on it in the open, as much as possible with as many cloak and dagger behind the scenes Machiavellian schemes being uncovered – there are no police or military crackdowns for people speaking their mind, as long as they do it peacefully that is.

Even China is starting to slowly come around to being better leaders, at least as far as we can see from what Xi JinPing is doing in China on their slow, laborious path (or multi-year plan) to root out corruption and bring China up to a better economic platform…

Many people of the civilized (as it is), democratic and developed world only want to see Russia give its people freedom of choice and freedom from invasion of privacy that people in other parts of the world enjoys…

 

What do we expect a rational leader to do in a desperate national situation? The key phrase there is a rational leader. The Russian people are not as aware as they believe they are of what is going in the rest of the world, let alone their own country – not when the national media is controlled by the national government editing and removing content (censorship).

We need to keep a very close eye on all the activities that Putin is undertaking, everything from: military actions (buildup’s and movements), political forays and crackdowns, economic indicators (ruble and oil slides and significant interest rate hikes), the rich moving money out of Russia, media content (the scrubbed and un-scrubbed, if we can get it), agricultural successes and failures across the country, rise in poor health due to failing medical system (due to lack of supplies), diplomatic overtures and on and on and on…

For one, I am frightened as to the next steps that Putin may engage in with the rest of the developed world (and the developing world for that matter) as he gropes for answers or power.

**** Remember, Putin ‘did’ remind the world, over the summer that they have nuclear weapons… ****  here is one link –> http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/08/31/putin-threatens-nuclear-war-over-ukraine.html

 

Putin = Hitler… Is Appeasement Next?

 

Okay, Putin. Is anyone else out there equating Putin to Hitler yet?

The reason for the question is, is that he is acting like Hitler did back in the ‘30s. Putin seems to be making a pretense at or game of diplomacy, much like Hitler did. Saying one thing but in actuality doing another such as, talking about not invading Czechoslovakia but in March 1939 Hitler moves his forces into Czechoslovakia…

Putin is doing nearly the same thing. Putin: “No, no, there are no Russian troops and equipment in Ukraine or near the border.”

It is highly surprising that Medvedev, Russian Prime Minister, is not being vocal against this invasive move. Unless that is, Medvedev is attempting to save his own skin? Because we know what happens to people with large voices speak up against anything Russian – i.e. two individuals who died from Polonium-210, former KGB/FSB and then journalist Alexander Litvinenko (Nov 2006) and Kremlin critic Anna Politkovskaya (Oct 2006)… 

The rest of the Western, Asian AND developing world needs to wake up and come together in stopping a country from doing what Putin is doing – invading another country for territory, allegedly to help protect Russian citizens in eastern Ukraine. Land grab is not the way to grow in the 21^st century.

Remember, Ukraine is a sovereign country and the rebel separatists in eastern Ukraine ARE in Ukraine… These same rebels were content to be proud Ukrainians when there was a Russian leaning Ukrainian President. Next, the majority of the Ukrainian people voted to become part of the E.U. And remember, the Ukrainian government was and is not out to harm innocent law-abiding Russians living in eastern Ukraine. No one was being harmed until the rebel separatists starting protesting and shooting government forces.

Sooo, how does this justify a leader of one country forcefully (military and financial support) interfering with another country’s political affairs?

 

When I indicated other countries, Western and Asian, should rise up to stop this type of advancement, I was specifically not including China. China has no interest in being party to a land grab or invasion by another country, especially when it does not affect them. At least they are not showing anything either way, for or against. China appears to be standoffish and isolationist, much as America was during the early part of The Great War.

Japan, S. Korea, India, countries of Southeast Asia, mid-eastern countries and Scandinavian countries – all of these countries need to join in on sanctions against Russia. Sanctions could include items such as; denying overflights out of Russia over their country, sanctions against Russian products, financial sanctions, etc. 

Now, yes, sanctions are going to be painful for a lot of countries and their people. Prices are likely to rise around the world for some things. Some of us cannot afford additional price hikes for certain staples, but this might be the price to pay for democracy and freedom around the world.

We must consolidate democracy and freedom, not see it slip away piecemeal, a slice at a time. Putin is currently attempting to make a play at getting statehood for eastern Ukraine, a ploy at creating a land bridge to a territory he illegally took as well as gaining the minerals in eastern Ukraine. 

Does the world allow for the appeasement of Putin as Chamberlain did with Hitler (Munich Agreement)? Hitler conned Neville Chamberlain into believing that Germany had limited intentions regarding the Germans living in Czechoslovakia in 1938… [1]

 

Here are two strong moves that may make Putin sit up and take notice. The E.U. and NATO bilaterally allow Ukraine to join both, NATO and the E.U. if they wish – as long as Ukraine, in the next year or two meets all E.U. and NATO member requirements.

 

Diplomacy has to be the answer, not military force – no one wants a regional or global war again. In addition to this diplomacy, vigorous finance and trade sanctions must be instituted against Russia. The rest of the free world will need to figure out a way to make up for the energy and other shortfalls that E.U. and other affected countries will face.

It appears that being tough is all that Putin understands…

 

 

 

 

References

1 – Chamberlain and Hitler 1938, http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/chamberlain-and-hitler/, retrieved 10 Sept 2014

 

Putin – Lunatic or Just Jumpstarting a War for Russia’s Economy…?

Putin, wait, first let’s look at Russia’s Sergei Lavrov, the Foreign Minister.

Lavrov is either:

a) trying to appease his leader, his boss (Putin) in making a statement that the NATO satellite images of Russian troops within Ukraine “must be from a computer game” or,

b) Lavrov is also infected with some form of idiocy or mind altering lunacy and does not deserve to be a leader in making such an outlandish claim.

What Lavrov is stating is akin to what some individuals in the U.S. are stating that in the recent past of human’s (within 6,000 years ago) dinosaurs were domesticated to do farm work (please do your own research to verify that info for yourself).

So, is Putin also an idiot, a lunatic who might need to be put into a “Looney bin” or somewhere else, stripped of the billions of rubles he has hidden away (so far no one can prove an accurate amount)…?  

Or, is Putin attempting to undertake a land grab and furthering Russia’s territory, while trying to regain Russia’s “glorious” past?

Putin has stated that Russia is aiding the Russian citizens in eastern Ukraine to protect them…!!! “To protect them” was (and is) quite a statement that Putin made months ago. No one was trying to harm any of the Russians in eastern Ukraine.  The Ukrainian government only started harming the militant separatists when those separatists became physically violent, in shooting Ukrainians and taking over Ukrainian police stations, government offices and military bases. This could be seen as China invading Tibet to protect any Chinese citizens there to keep them safe from harm… In this case, it would be Chinese/Tibetan citizens living in Tibet where no one is outright attacking Chinese citizens (if I recall correctly?).

Putin is physically meddling in another sovereign country’s political situation – he has no legal right to do so.  Putin invaded Crimea and took that territory from Ukraine, annexing it and stating it was what the people wanted. The problem here is, that area of land “was given” to Ukraine in 1954 by a former Soviet President (Nikita Khrushchev). So now, Putin wants to take it back…??? 

Crimea is only a strategic regional gateway for Putin and he only wanted it for the naval base at Sevastopol.

With the current incursion (read as invasion) of Russian troops into eastern Ukraine, is Putin attempting to ignite a regional war (or worse, a global war) in trying to get the Russian economy moving faster.

Or does Putin really want to take more land to create a bigger buffer to protect Russia from the evil, encroaching West?

The thing is, who wants to invade Russia? No one! No one in their right mind wants to invade another country for any reason. It would be madness for a Western country to invade any other country because in doing so, it would destroy that country’s grasp on democracy.

Countries like Ukraine want to join NATO and the E.U. because they want to enjoy the Western democratic way of life. They do not want any part of a communistic society – that is it, nothing more. Ukraine does not want to threaten or invade Russia, the majority of people in Ukraine simply want a better way of life and they have chosen the E.U. version…

 

Further, Putin recently made a blatant statement that included a reminder to the world that Russia has nuclear weapons. Who, in their right mind – unencumbered of any mental deficiencies, would make a veiled statement like that – in the 21st century.

Countries are rallying to Ukraine’s side because that country wants to be a part of the free Western democratic world. No one wants to harm Russian citizens or to invade Russia. And certainly, no one wants to start a nuclear war, except maybe Putin it seems… It is very, VERY sad that the leader of a powerful country wants to commit troops to fight in another country’s democratic political problems instead of diplomatically trying to solve the problem.

Putin made the claim that Ukraine is pulling a Nazi type move when in actuality; he is the one doing the Nazi like move – that of making calming motions while troops are being put in place…  Remember his past statements, “oh no, there are no Russian troops in Ukraine, you must all be mistaken and the photos showing Russian troops and equipment were made up”?