Thursday, December 1, 2022

November 2022 in review

Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images

PUTIN’S WAR OF AGGRESSION AGAINST UKRAINE

Russia pulls its forces from Kherson, saying it can no longer supply the city - Reason for cautious optimism. Putin and Russia are gradually being brought to their knees, and the inevitability of Ukrainian victory looms larger. Слава Україні {BBC 11/09}




Russian military leaders discussed using tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine - The American people, most of the GOP, and the hard-left wing of the Democratic Party damn well better start taking Vladimir Putin seriously. As opposed to admiring him and spreading the blatantly false propaganda his operatives pollute the airwaves and Internet with; all the while whining about the cost of aid to Ukraine, and showing zero concern for the lives of innocent men, women, and children. If Pukes nukes Ukraine, human nature dictates that he will not stop there; for he is a psychopath, and no amount of horror will ever satiate him. The Baltics, Poland, Finland, perhaps even ethnic minorities in the far-flung regions of his own empire would be next. After all that has happened and is at threat of happening just yet, why do too many continue to believe Vladimir Putin is still a rational actor? Perhaps because he wears suits and ties - as opposed to, say, the ‘onion-head’ hats and robes of the Jihadist, or the military fatigues of a Kim Jong-Un type - and did govern in relatively rational fashion for a long time, we believe he is immune to going mad? Maybe, in our post-War on Terror weariness, we have come to accept any horror committed by any madman so long as we do not have to be bothered with having to lift a finger to do anything. No doubt one reason is that more Americans than any of us would like to admit are cruel, sociopathic and/or psychopathic individuals ourselves? Most of all, of course, the great orange cult leader is beholden to Putin, therefore they reason they reason they must be, too. Whatever the reasons, it is ‘deplorable’ that Americans are overlooking and giving tacit approval to Putin’s genocide. A genocide we may very well be victims of in the end. {NYT 11/02}



Putin hires mercenary group, employing prison labor, to terrorize the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut - Professor Michael Clarke is the single best war analyst around, in my estimation. The head of this outfit, the ‘Wagner Group,’ admitted to interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Dangerous Russian convicts are now being let loose on civilian populations. Pray for Bakhmut. {Sky News 11/27}

Winter weather poised to ‘kill more Russian soldiers than Ukraine ever could.’ Vladimir Putin’s pawns are freezing to death on the eastern front - Putin is destroying the Russian people in the process of attempting to eradicate the Ukrainian people from existence. Just as millions of Germans died as a result of Hitler’s mad crusades against Jews, Slavs, et al. It is Putin, alone, that is responsible for placing these poorly-prepared troops in the grave danger they are in. {Forbes 11/27}

Russian conscript describes the hell they were put through digging trenches, only to be bombarded from the skies by Ukrainian artillery - Not even an adequate amount of shovels on hand, let alone men or firepower for victory. {The Guardian 11/07}


Rahmat Gul/AP

‘Afghan special forces soldiers who fought alongside American troops and then fled to Iran after the chaotic U.S. withdrawal last year are now being recruited by the Russian military to fight in Ukraine’ - No wonder the U.S. lost in Afghanistan. For all the strategic mistakes that were made over the twenty years American forces were there, there isn’t any way they could have won with ‘friends’ like these. Not very much different from the South Vietnamese losers who let down Americans during that rotten war: unreliable, untrustworthy, and lacking the capability to win. Some peoples - the Ukrainians being the prime example - fight back with vengeance and fury when under attack, and others fold and capitulate. I have no explanation for why certain nations are weaker than others when it comes to defending their territory (among many other things), but comparing Afghanistan to Ukraine proves the case. These ‘special forces’ fighters are no doubt desperate to get out of Iran and to avoid returning to their own country, ruled once more by the Taliban, but resist any temptation to feel sorry for these mercenaries. Mercenaries will always fight for the highest bidder; they’d bow down to their enemies, the Taliban, if the latter made them an offer they couldn’t refuse. Putin is simply desperate for warm bodies in the vain hope of salvaging his disastrous war of aggression. No honor, no virtue, no loyalty; just pure barbarism and opportunism all around. Слава Україні. {AP 10/31}



Rishi Sunak visits Kyiv, meets with President Zelensky - A major test of his young premiership: As the British economy contracts, will he stand strong and be able to resist the inevitable calls for reducing aid to Ukraine? {BBC 11/19}




Ukraine in critical need of long-range weapons to counter Iranian missiles - FTA: ‘Russia has likely spent most of its missile stockpile. But with Iranian support, it will be able to carry out attacks on the Ukrainian population for the foreseeable future.’ {Kyiv Independent 11/04}







‘Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday dismissed an news agency report that he had been taken to hospital with a heart condition, scolding Western journalists for what he cast as false reporting’ - Meaning, he probably did need medical care, but it is not exactly in the Russian nature to admit even the most understandable weakness. Lavrov is an older man (72) in a high-stress position. Of course it would be easy for anybody to fabricate a report about any sort of age-related, medical difficulty. For what purpose, who knows? But when one has cried ‘fake news’ one time too many - while representing a regime that is the world’s foremost purveyor of fake news - they lose the benefit of the doubt. {Reuters 11/14}




Dilara Senkaya/Reuters

GEOPOLITICS & WORLD NEWS

‘Iranian authorities have intensified their deadly crackdown in the country's western Kurdistan region, which has been the epicenter of the anti-establishment protests that have raged for months’ - After the U.S., at the direction of President Donald Trump, betrayed the Kurds in October 2019, the Syrians, Turks, and Iranians were only further emboldened in their genocidal campaigns against these people. That region of the world would be a safer place with an independent, well-armed Kurdistan keeping peace and allied with Western powers, but Trump ruined any possibility of that happening for a long time to come. America must not make the same grave error in judgment with Ukraine. {Radio Free Europe 11/21}


‘Iran has tried to kill or kidnap at least 10 critics based in Britain since the start of the year, the head of the British security service said on Wednesday’ - Even if one is not a citizen of a despotic regime, or ever stepped foot in a given autocracy, they are no longer safe from the wrath of dictators. Need I point out how scary this is? {NYT 11/16}


Ammar Awad/Reuters

Bibi Netanyahu is returning to power, with a new far-right coalition - Israelis apparently can’t get enough of this guy. What to expect this time around? FTA: ‘Calls to expel Arabs who do not support Israel; intolerance of Israel’s large LGBT community and other nonobservant Jews; and a seeming acceptance of the necessity of violence.’ Something has drastically changed in Israel, and here in this country we have far-right gentiles screaming that they love Israel more than American Jews do. Something is rotten here. {WaPo 11/02}



U.S. Armed Forces on the verge of returning to base at Subic Bay, Philippines; last operational in 1992 - At one time the largest American base in Asia, the growing threat posed by China is rendering its existence necessary once more. {IBT 11/25}







Bolsonaro supporters rally, demanding a military coup, military appears hesitant to intervene - A good example of how a mob can grow to be a greater danger than the tyrant. Always were the greater danger, the tyrants merely satiated their bloodlust. {AP 11/02}





Rev. Bill Bond

POLITICAL S**TSHOW IN #MURICA

This month’s mid-term elections did not produce a ‘red wave,’ but instead reinforced that Trump and #Cult45 are out of step with the rest of the country and even some in their own party - But fitting in has never been the objective: Imposing their will upon everybody else is the objective, particularly for the evangelical contingent and among Southern men. We will only see a doubling down and tripling down by those hopelessly devoted to Trumpism. They will tear down the Republican Party, tear down their own Ron DeSantis, and tear down the entire country in faithful service to their leader. We will hear louder calls for more voting restrictions and crackdowns on civil liberties. Trump has already declared for 2024, and brainwashed acolytes are going to ensure him the Republican nomination, regardless of any other considerations. Even if he is somehow sitting in a prison cell - which is not going to happen as the DOJ is too scared of a violent backlash to ever bring charges - he will run, and with #Cult45’s full support. And if and when he loses again, they will again cry ‘foul,’ and that will probably be the final trigger to set off the new civil war they’ve long been itching for. Donald Trump is more important to his fans than Jesus Christ, and it would literally be more possible for a camel to walk through the eye of a needle than for #Cult45 acolytes to ever renounce their savior. {AP 11/09}


Tom Brenner/Reuters

Key evangelical figures distancing themselves from Trump - ‘He used us to win the White House. We had to close our mouths and eyes when he said things that horrified us,’ says one who must have known this the whole time; but evangelicals and Trump needed one another politically, and together have used and menaced the entire country for seven years and counting. Only the very dumbest of Trump supporters believe he is sincere or godly. The rest hide behind him as their weapon against a society they hate, the evangelicals being the most emblematic of the #Cult45 sub-groups in this regard …

Years back, and this doesn’t speak well for me, I followed some of these evangelical leaders. Thankfully, the Lord granted me with just enough discernment that when they began embracing such an obviously contemptible figure in Donald Trump, I knew to walk away. Since then, it’s been a long process of reassessing many of my prior political and religious views. And I came to the hard conclusion that I had previously thrown my hat in with their lot - again, prior to Trump’s ascension - not only out of fear of going to Hell, but also out of anger and in fear of a changing society. So, I do not point the finger at evangelicals out of ignorance or because they make a convenient scapegoat. It is atonement on my part. The evangelicals have blood on their hands, and it’s not going to be washed off by abandoning Trump in favor of embracing a new demagogue to punish the nation with. {Huffington Post 11/18}


David Smith: Trump plays the ousted autocrat struggling to recapture past glory - Great, to-the-point headline there: ‘Ousted autocrat.’ Where was Ivanka, and why does that matter? Answer FTA: ‘Trump, like King Lear, had been silently rebuked by his favorite, an absence that suggested: let it go.’ {The Guardian 11/16}

Christian Vanderbrouk: Was it really all just Trump’s fault? - Six years of everything short of declaring the bastard the Second Coming of Jesus (and I think maybe a few may have been so bold, or at least hinted at it), and now the GOP establishment is going to throw him under the bus? Sorry, but these cowardly swine do not get a pass. In fact, the only group that gets a larger share of the blame are Republican voters, gullible fools and enablers they are. The whole lot got behind this most obvious of conmen, with his many failings as a man being public knowledge the entire time, and they all think they’re going to get off without any blame? Hell no! This was a blatant mass error in judgment that was entirely avoidable: Anything to beat Hillary Clinton and to ‘own the libs,’ and Trump alone gave all these people what they wanted …

Trump may have one of the most fragile egos on earth and may possess a complete lack of character, but the Republican Party does not deserve any better. In a perverse sense, I almost do not blame Trump if he is offended at being scapegoated by these vermin. On the other hand, moving on from Trump is a necessary process the GOP is going to have to undertake, so nobody is coming out smelling like roses here. If only the rest of these people saw what we #NeverTrump people saw right from the outset. We did warn them. Great line FTA: ‘MAGA could Jefferson Starship itself indefinitely as long as the crowds keep vibing. But without the original magic the venues tend to shrink, the fans get old, and it all starts to seem a little pathetic.’ {The Bulwark 11/14}

Patrick Corrigan

Kurt Eichenwald: The GOP ‘took advantage of flaws in the Constitution to slice and dice their base, appealing to the worst instincts of the easily fooled, and used their divisive approach to empower lunacy. Donald Trump was the ultimate outcome’ - For a number of reasons, I lean against the view of many that the Electoral College should be abolished. Why should those living in a small handful of large states - California, New York, Texas, Florida - decide all of our elections? Just because there are more of them is not an answer: I am not a majoritarian or a populist, and I despise mob rule. Small states are as valid as large ones, and the people living in rural areas have a legitimate say in the affairs of the nation. Even if - as in recent, Trumpist times - I may not like the decisions rural people tend to make, they would have no voice at all in a pure democracy. And what good would that do for our nation, to completely disenfranchise our farmers, truckers, etc.? Abolishing the Electoral College would spark another civil war, and we’re perilously close to that as is …

In an ideal world, fewer people would exist and nobody would live on top of each other; obviously, there have forever been factors necessitating large numbers of people congregating into cities; humans do tend to possess an unfortunate herd mentality by nature. All said, two things are indisputable: 1) Donald Trump would not have been elected in 2016 if the popular vote decided American presidential elections, and 2) politicians - especially in the current GOP - have taken disgusting advantage of the Constitution for nefarious purposes, many of which the Founding Fathers did not or simply could not have conceived of in 1787. So, while I am one who typically bristles at fixing those things which are not broken (biggest pet peeve in life), some degree of reform is needed: Term limits for members of Congress and the Supreme Court. The presidency is limited to one four-year term. I would prefer abolishing organized political parties altogether, but in lieu of that how about a Constitutional standard governing how the parties nominate their presidential candidates? Most importantly, ban gerry-mandering, and establish one national standard for how congressional districts are allocated. Undertake those reforms, and it will go a long way toward combating corruption, and preventing a future Trump. {Substack 11/10}

DOJ seeking to question former VP Pence in January 6 probe, Pence said to be ‘open to considering the request’ - Not a legal expert, but this ‘executive privilege’ crap, allowing sitting or former presidents to pick and choose whether they and their subordinates cooperate with law enforcement, has been so grossly abused that a major systemic overhaul has been rendered necessary. {NYT 11/23}

‘I am so pissed off I cannot even see straight.’ Ted Cruz goes on a tirade against Mitch McConnell after the GOP fails to capture control of the Senate - Nobody likes McConnell, but all of these spineless toads that have spent years kissing orange ass should take a look in the mirror. Cruz may very well be the most spineless of them all, given how Trump spoke about the man’s wife and elderly father in 2016. {Raw Story 11/14}


#Cult45 goons are going door-to-door in many states, wearing phony badges and some carrying weapons, demanding voter registration info from residents - Not bragging, but this is exactly what I’ve been saying all along was going to happen; and only the start. Rabid Trump supporters - as with all political cultists in every time and place - believe all of society is obligated to them, their leader, and their cause: anybody who does not vote for or support Trump is a criminal, fraud, and traitor. The inevitable results of this cult worship and grievance-mongering are mass violence, demonization of innocent people, and an eagerness to cull society of dissenters and undesirables. Partly because the far-right are sufficiently-organized and armed to the teeth, and partly because the rest of us are not in the least bit prepared to fight: To whoever it may apply, drop your aversion to firearms, starting yesterday. {Reuters 11/03}



Chauncey DeVega: Donald Trump is cashing in on white America’s death wish - The sort of article that really can’t disputed, given #Cult45 and the GOP decided to live down to every single stereotype of conservatives and Republicans with the coming of Trump. More so, given how tightly so many are holding to this clown, and to the blatant lies and propaganda. Their fear and hatred of the rest of the country ‘trumps’ even their own economic interests. And much of the rest of the country really has little clue as to how hated they are, or are in one degree or another of denial. That’s how we get a party promising to cut Social Security and Medicare, but somehow (narrowly) regains control of the House of Representatives. America is never going to recover from the divisions of the present time. {Salon 10/29}



Far-right firebrand Lauren Boebert officially reelected to another term - What a damn shame, really wanted this one to go down (aware some of you now have dirty thoughts, stop.) How did it take so long to count votes in a small, cowpoke district? Even in such a district, how can half of them believe this individual is qualified to serve in Congress? {The Hill 11/18}

Elon Musk restores Trump’s Twitter account, even as Trump says he has no interest in returning - Soon enough, Twitter may as well be renamed Truth Social. Elon the boy genius spent $44 billion for this, and Trump just basically laughed in his face by saying he doesn’t ‘see any reason for’ returning. Advertisers are not amused at all, and this may only accelerate the mass exodus. Yep, a real genius. {Reuters 11/19}

Elon Musk scraps Twitter’s COVID harmful misinformation policy - FTA: ‘When (Kara) Swisher confronted Musk with the possibility that many people could die if they didn’t follow public health recommendations, he replied bluntly: “Everybody dies.”’ {CNN 11/29}



Tesla recalls roughly 40,000 cars over power-steering issues - Interesting. Perhaps Lord Elon should be attending to his actual business, instead of being the professional jacka** that he has been of late. {BBC 11/08}

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Nancy Pelosi steps down as Democratic House leader following the mid-term elections and assault of her husband - Nancy Pelosi arranged for her own husband to be beaten in order to gain votes for Democrats? Do I have that right? Could these freaks at least try to make their lies plausible? Well, I guess that doesn’t even matter anymore, post-Trump. People are spreading what they know to be falsehoods and authoritarian propaganda, just to ‘own’ the people they hate (of course, there are many unfortunates who really do believe the lies they spread, as well.) America, as it exists in the 21st century, may go down as the most hate-filled nation in modern history, giving Nazi Germany a run for its money. Perhaps that is a tad hyperbolic, but then maybe we are not sufficiently alarmed. Virtually nobody was alarmed enough back in 2016, when the country decided it’d be a good idea to give an arsonist the keys to the White House. Now they want to put the Republicans back in control of Congress, because the idiots think a change in political parties means crime and inflation automatically goes away. Two or four years from now, when everything sucks just that much more, they’ll be running back to the Democrats again; that is, if we’re not living under a Fascist theocracy, and a one-party state, by then. I am so f**king sick of most of the people in this increasingly-evil, yet unbelievably stupid country. America always had its warts, always had its extremists, but this is not the country I grew up in. America has become so ridiculously, over-the-top boorish that my soul is hurting and my patience is shot. Longing for another time and place. History will prove that allowing too many of our people to become this ignorant and deplorable - perhaps just allowing too many people, period - was our final undoing. {CNBC 11/17}


Greg Sargent: Why the right keeps telling awful lies about the Pelosi attack - ‘(T)he whole point of all the lying is to assert the power to manufacture an alternate story in the face of easily demonstrable facts and outraged condemnation — and, importantly, to assert that power unabashedly and defiantly.’ {WaPo 11/02}


Colorado Springs gay nightclub shooter is the grandson of an assemblyman who praised the J6 insurrectionists - To be fair, this creep’s issues appeared to be unrelated to his grandfather being a seditionist. Either way, horrifying. {Times of San Diego 11/21}

Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Strong evidence emerges that much of what is on the infamous Hunter Biden laptop may have been embellished and/or fabricated by Giuliani and company - Exactly why I am not following most of this stuff about the president’s son, for look at the ones pointing the finger. I am fairly certain the guy probably is as much as he has been portrayed: The (perhaps entitled, spoiled) son of a powerful politician, and a troubled drug addict who may very well have engaged in some questionable dealings. No matter, the far-right hate machine is akin to the boy who cried ‘wolf’ one too many times: Never to be believed or trusted in any circumstance, even if they may hit upon a truth once in a great while. {WaPo 11/21}

Ohio incel confesses to police that he shot and killed his neighbor, believing the man was a Democrat - We’re going to see a lot of this in the coming years. The far-right is going for broke. {Butler County Journal-News 11/08}

Three killed and two wounded in shooting at the University of Virginia, suspect at large - A damn shame that a wonderful and historic place like Charlottesville has been witness to so much tragedy in the past few years. {AP 11/14}

Victims identified in Chesapeake, VA, Walmart massacre - Quite literally, nobody is safe anywhere in America. We’re going to end up having to pass through metal detectors and security guards performing pat-downs in every public building in this country, including retail and grocery outlets. Absurdly easy access to guns is obviously a major problem, but this is a mental health crisis more than anything. How do we fix that? {WTKR 11/23}




Kanye West, whose antisemitism has received massive media attention and is household knowledge, dines with Trump at Mar-a-Lago with noted Jew-hater Nick Fuentes - Not an accident, but classic incremental Fascism: In October, the orange one loudly complained that American Jews are disloyal and need to ‘get their act together.’ #Cult45 is taking an especially dark turn. An atmosphere of increasingly blatant antisemitism and neo-Nazism. {Business Insider 11/25}


Medicines in short supply as flu and RSV soars - Why is it that we no longer see or hear anyone talking about hand-washing, social distancing, and covering one’s mouth when they cough or sneeze? In the wake of COVID, logic would dictate a more germ-adverse society. Instead, the people of this country threw a collective hissy-fit. Thus, we are enduring a major public backlash against common sense and basic hygiene. Thank you very much, #Cult45. {NYT 11/23}

COVID-19 soaring again in China - Nearly three years on, the medical community has a better handle on how to treat the virus, millions have been vaccinated, and there may even be a degree of herd immunity working to mitigate the severity of symptoms. The Chinese have been cooped up for too long a period now, and it would appear their immune systems have been compromised as a result. Xi Jinping intends to micro-manage his citizens’ lives, at any expense. {Reuters 11/24}





Beyond Meat has seen its stock drop over eighty percent in the past year, and consumer sales are flat - Lab created meat ought to be outlawed as the affront to humanity that it is. Very happy to see this abominable trend is dying out. {NYT 11/21}


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