How Can Anyone Believe Putin? #217
By Hank Silverberg
The news from Ukraine has gotten worse this week. The Russians continued their murderous missile and air strikes on Ukrainian cities even as their army was pushed back out of several Ukrainian towns. Military casualties are mounting on both sides.
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| (A street in Bucha, Ukraine Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images) |
Several other towns were liberated from Russian control, but Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky warned citizens not to go back to those communities because the Russians had left booby traps and mines on homes and on the dead bodies lying in the streets.
This is a horrible scene, and yet there are still members of the U.S. Congress and TV pundits who defend Vladimir Putin and Russia.
Why? It's hard to fathom.
It is true that we don't always hear the whole truth in war. The fog is too thick. The Russian propaganda machine, which is sophisticated and all over the internet, continues the false claim that Russia is just "Denazifying" Ukraine and is preventing the murder of innocent ethnic Russians trapped in an unfriendly country. The Russian propaganda, both at home and across the world, continues to ignore the horror of mass murder and deadly unrestricted air attacks.
It's probably true that the vast majority of the Russian public is unaware of what is really going on, and therefore back their leaders in this war. With no independent press left in Russia and social media sites shut down across that country, the public there can't form any other opinion. And those who have tried to protest are quickly arrested. There have been thousands of arrests. Google and YouTube are still operating there, and Radio Free Europe, a remnant from the Cold War is still using those web browsers to get the word out. But Russian users have to set up a VPN to log on and it's only a matter of time before the Russian propaganda machine closes that loophole too, unless big tech finds a way to prevent it.
But Russian propaganda is no excuse for the likes of Tucker Carlson and others both on TV and in public office in the United States. They know what is happening and yet they still make excuses for Russia. Some have even said the invasion was justified for the security of Russia. Those Russian apologists in the U.S. do so for the profit they can make with higher TV ratings. They do so for political gain for themselves or toward another Trump run for president in 2024. They do it for what else?
Even the #DFP (Defeated Former President) doesn't understand why defending Russia is against any American's best interest. (He never will get it.) He has asked Putin to release any "dirt" he may have on Hunter Biden, the current President's son, on his business dealings in Russia and China. The #DFP acts as if there is no war in Ukraine and that this still very speculative information on Hunter's laptop might somehow change the way most Americans view Mr. Biden or the #DFP. It has been under investigation. So far, there is no direct evidence that Hunter Biden did anything illegal.
I have heard the people calling Carlson and the former President "traitors" or worse for their praise of Putin and Russia. But it's actually more disturbing than that.
There are many of the people who tried to overthrow our own government on January 6th, 2021, who have yet to pay the price for doing so. They may now be jumping on the pro-Russia bandwagon because of people like Carlson.
You are probably thinking, " well, just ignore them."
The trouble is, there are many people in our own country, despite having multiple news sources and social media, who will listen only to this small group and to no one else. That presents a clear and present danger to our democracy, even if Ukraine manages to expel the Russians and keep Putin's autocratic imperialism at bay.
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Here is a short list of some in the U.S. who have taken a pro-Russian stance.
Fox News pundits Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens.
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones
CPAC favorite and former Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard
Republican Ohio Senate Candidate J.D. Vance
Republican North Carolina Congressman Madison Cawthorn
Republican Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar
Republican Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene
If you live in any of the states listed above, remember it on election day.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/02/russia-ukraine-war-republican-response/622919/
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I am sure there is some national security or Russian political experts who could explain all of this better than I. But you don't have to be a genius to figure out where the interests of the people of the United States lie. And it's not with Vladimir Putin.
The War in Space
The United States, Russia, the Europeans and the Canadians have been cooperating for years aboard the International Space Station. But the war in Ukraine may put an end to that. Dmitry Rogozin, the head of the Russian Space Agency, says the joint project is kaput unless the economic sanctions the west has put on Russia are lifted. He says cargo flights to supply the station will be disrupted and no one else can deliver fuel to the ISS because only
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| (Astronaut Vande Hei stepping foot on American soil in Houston, NASA photo) |
https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-space-station-ukraine-sanctions/31783441.html
American Mark Vande Hei had lived for 355 consecutive days on the space station, setting a new record for the longest single space mission by an American. He landed with the two Cosmonauts in Kazakhstan on March 30, where the Russians still have their space center. Vande Hei has now returned to his home in Houston.
The end of the ISS mission though, may be the least of our problems in space.
Both Russia and China have been testing missiles that can shoot down satellites. Late last year the Chinese launched a satellite capable of grabbing and crushing a U.S. satellite. Russia demonstrated an anti-satellite weapon last November, which was used to destroy one of its own inactive satellites that had been orbiting about 300 miles above the Earth's surface. And Russia has launched tracker satellites that keep tabs on U.S. satellites.
NASA has spent much of its attention the last few years on a mission to Mars planned for the 2030's.
The new U.S. Space Force does keep track of everything in orbit, but so far mum's the word on whether we have any anti-satellite missiles.
There is a treaty that was signed in 1967 assuring that every country on Earth is allowed to explore space and no one can claim space or the Moon as theirs. Article 4 of that treaty specifically bans weapons in space or on the Moon. One hundred and eleven countries are party to the treaty, including the United States, Russia and China. ________________________________________
Article IV
States Parties to the Treaty undertake not to place in orbit around the earth any objects carrying nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction, install such weapons on celestial bodies, or station such weapons in outer space in any other manner.
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https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/legal-agreements-space-weapons
For now, though, it appears any more cooperation between Russia, the U.S. and China in space may be on hold because of the war in Ukraine.
FISH WAR!
Land borders are not the only thing causing armed conflict at present. In East Asia, there have been massive protests in Sri Lanka because thousands of Indian fishing boats have been sailing into Sri Lankan waters in the Indian Ocean and hauling away sea cucumbers and prawns by the millions.
The protestors want the government to take more aggressive action even as Sri Lanka's Navy moved in to destroy fishing gear and boats from India. Five Indian fishermen were killed last year in encounters with the Sri Lankan Navy.
And the confrontations may be growing.
Seafood is an important source of nourishment around the world and incidents on the high seas over supply are growing. The Associated Press took a closer look and found 360 instances in the last five years where government authorities from various countries have either rammed or shot at foreign fishing boats, sometimes leading to death. During that same time period, 850 fishing boats have been seized by authorities and either crushed, blow up or sunk across six continents.
Environmental and national security experts say such conflicts will be a greater risk in the coming years as countries struggle to feed growing populations, and climate change further endangers ocean life.
There have been many other incidents worldwide.
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| (A Chinese fishing trawler off South Africa) |
Last month, a 400 ft. U.S Coast Guard cutter docked at Fiji. After a week of patrols, they had boarded eight boats and flagged 22 customs and fishing violations.
Another hot spot is the South China Sea where China, the Philippines, and Vietnam fishing fleets are often hostile to each other.
China has also created a stir off South America. The Argentine Navy has twice fired shots at Chinese boats among the hundreds fishing near the Galapagos Islands. The Chinese have been accused of violating local fishing laws there, too.
China has actually set up maritime militia which surrounds the fishing boats and tries to intimidate other fishermen.
Among those most worried about all this is Indonesia, which is a nation of more than 17,000 islands. Their navy has sunk more than 370 fishing boasts in the last five years for violating their fishing zones or local laws.
Global seafood production reached 179 million metric tons as of 2018. More than 23 million metric tons was used for human consumption before the worldwide pandemic cut down the catch in 2020 and 2021. The rest is used in agriculture for fertilizer or feed for other animals. There is an average growth rate of 3.1% for the industry.
Dumbest Quote of The Week!
This week's dishonor goes to none other than North Carolina's bonehead Congressman, Republican Madison Cawthorn, who made a dumb comment and then made another dumb one in response to the ruckus over the first one.
Appearing on a podcast and talking about his fellow Republicans, he said he was surprised by their corruption. He said he was invited to an "orgy" by some of his Republican colleagues where they were all using drugs.
"...you know there's some of the people that are leading on the movement to try and remove addiction in our country, and then you watch them do a key bump of cocaine right in front of you. And it's like wild. "
Well, Cawthorn was called behind the woodshed on that quote from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to explain himself, after a number of Republicans got pretty upset by it all.
We don't know exactly what McCarthy said to Cawthorn, who apparently again claimed another Congressman had invited him to a "sex party." But after an apparent tongue lashing from McCarthy, Cawthorn said he needed "several days" to think about and come up with a way "to best address this controversy." So then comes the second dumb quote on a tweet.
"My comments on a recent podcast appearance calling out corruption have been used by the left and the media to disparage my Republican colleagues and falsely insinuate their involvement in illicit activities."
Ah. No way Mr. Cawthorn. It was you who "disparaged" and "insinuated."
Let's hope the voters in North Carolina get rid of this clown.
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