Russia - Ukraine War
March 25, 2023










Year Two
Russia - Ukraine War
February 23, 2023


Russia's war against Ukraine starts its second year today because it's tomorrow over there.

Ukraine, you have our continued support.

Russia has not run out of stockpiled weapons and is being resupplied by Iran and China.

That doesn't mean the war is going well for them or Ukraine. War is for tyrants.



Russia must return all Ukrainian territory seized in 2015 and 2022.

Russians, do not support the war. Do not support Putin. Rise up.

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Music Association: Beyoncé - Rise Up








Vladimir Pootin - 
Pooptin Parade
May 8, 2022 (actual anniversary of V-E Day)


Waste cans for pet waste are Poo-tins. Pooptin is another term for the pet waste cans.

Poo-tins or Pooptins could be considered receptacles to store and display shit, just like Russian toilets and military parades.

As explained below, Russians like to celebrate the anniversary of the United States and the United Kingdom winning World War II in Europe on May 8, 1945.  Russia had a parade on the day after for us, then twenty years later (1965), then another twenty years later (1985), then in 1990, then 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and again tomorrow May 9, 2022.

We get it. The Soviets had a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany (the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact) that divided Poland between them (pdf). Then the two turned on each other. And the U.S. and U.K. had to save the Soviet Union and sent them food, fuel, and working military equipment.* That was 77 years ago. Yes, you're welcome already. The annual gratitude parade is coming off as sarcastic. It's kind of shitty. Just stop.



This is a “Victory Day” cartoon by Patrick Blower for the UK Telegraph, March 5, 2022. Wounded Russian soldiers parade wooden tanks by a viewing stand of wooden generals and Poo-tin. They circle around several times. Afterwards, the wooden tanks and generals are stacked on a trailer hauled off by a tractor driven by a farmer from Ukraine.

Another parade cartoon shows captured used toilets, washing machines, and rugs seized from Ukraine. Another cartoon shows a parade of Russian coffins.

This year will go down in naval history with the first navy (Russia) to be sunk by a country without a navy (Ukraine).

As a way of celebrating such incredible failures, Russia plans to force Mariupol residents to wear Ukrainian military uniforms for a “war prisoners parade” tomorrow.

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Music Association: John Williams - Imperial March
Movie Association: Apocalypse Now “You smell that? It smells like... Victory.”

* Not really. Ukraine lost 6,850,000 people in WWII, including soldiers on the front lines and 1.5 million Ukrainians murdered during the holocaust. The losses of the Ukrainian people in WWII amounted to 40–44% of the total losses of the USSR.










Russian Warship F#(<ed Itself
Ukraine Survives - Moskva Sinks
April 17, 2022


Last Wednesday, April 13th, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy smirked with the new Ukraine stamp by Ukrainian artist Boris Groh. The stamp showed a Ukrainian soldier standing on a beach and giving the finger to a Russian warship, with the Ukraine flag hidden in plain sight. It represented the first day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine (February 24th) when the Russian flagship RTS Moskva (121) demanded the surrender of Snake Island. Ukraine guard Roman Hrybov replied, “Russian warship. Go fuck yourself.” (In Russian: 'Русский военный корабль, иди на хуй')

On August 9, 2021, President Zelenskyy stood on Snake Island and said, “This island, like the rest of our territory, is Ukrainian land, and we will defend it with all our might.”

On January 20, 2022, Forbes published an insightful article by David Axe, highlighting the Moskva: 


First fielded in 2021, Ukraine developed the Neptune missiles at a cost of about a million dollars a pop. The Neptune was based on the Soviet AS-20 Kayak anti-ship missile, which was based on the U.S. Harpoon missile.  Neptune sounds like a ship-launched missile but it's a truck-launched missile. (Ukraine scuttled their only ship early in the war.) The missile trucks would have to be on land, stay hidden, fire, and get the truck out of there.

Which still wouldn't work because the Moskva's one job in the Russian invasion of Ukraine would be to launch missiles. It would have to sail in a stupidly predictable coastal route, have bad weather (6' swells), and be distracted by Turkish-made Bayraktar drones at the bow of the ship for Neptune missiles to get through the defenses and hit the port side of the Moskva. The sides of the ship were vulnerable with forward-tilted SS-N-12 Sandbox missile launchers -- telephone pole sized ammunition waiting to go boom. 

And that's how last Wednesday went. The timing was right. The Moskva went boom and sank.

Russia was reluctant to say anything happened to the Moskva. Then they admitted a fire broke out on the ship, causing ammunition to detonate. Russia-controlled media did not elaborate on the cause of the fire.
      

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Music Association: Dido - White Flag








address by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Kyiv is now the capital of global democracy
April 6, 2022

Ukrainians! Today I will not take away much of your attention. The day was very informative. I will only briefly walk through the main points of my work this Tuesday, the 41st day of the invasion of the Russian Federation.

I continued my active diplomatic work. Addressed the UN Security Council, which convened for a special meeting on Russia's war crimes in Bucha and in the occupied territories of Ukraine in general. I said what should have been said in this format a long time ago.

The UN Security Council exists, and security in the world doesn’t. For anyone. This definitely means that the United Nations is currently unable to carry out the functions for which it was created. And only one state is to blame for this - Russia, which discredits the UN and all other international institutions where it still participates.

Well, not exactly participates... Tries to block everything constructive and use global architecture in order to spread lies and justify the evil it does.

I'm sure the world sees it. I hope the world will draw conclusions. Otherwise there will be only one institution left in the world to guarantee the security of states. Namely - weapons.

I offered to the members of the UN Security Council and to all other states that respect international law specific things that could change the situation. In particular, a global conference already in peaceful Kyiv to determine how the world's architecture can be reformed given all the actions of Russia, which is still occupying the seat of a permanent member of the UN Security Council received from the Soviet Union.

I also addressed the Parliament and the people of Spain. A state that supports our struggle for freedom and for the preservation of democracy in Europe.

I also spoke today with President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron about the humanitarian situation in the temporarily occupied regions of Ukraine. About how we can help people in the blocked Mariupol. We also agreed that France would provide the necessary technical and expert support in the investigation of the crimes of the Russian occupiers in Bucha and other cities of our country.

We are preparing a new package of powerful sanctions against Russia for everything it has done to our people.

Now is a crucial moment, especially for Western leaders. And this is no longer about how our people will evaluate the new sanctions and what I will say about them. This is about how decisions on sanctions will be assessed in Western societies themselves. After what the world saw in Bucha, sanctions against Russia must be commensurate with the gravity of the occupiers' war crimes. If after that Russian banks will still be able to function as usual... If after that the transit of goods to Russia will continue as usual... If after that the EU countries will pay for Russian energy resources as usual... Then the political fate of some leaders will develop not as usual. My advice to everyone: feel now that the moment is really crucial.

We are preparing to welcome President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell in Kyiv in the near future. Working together in Kyiv is something that will be praised by many nations of the world. And not only in Europe. Because now Kyiv is the capital of global democracy, the capital of the struggle for freedom for all on the European continent.

And I want to thank all our defenders for making this possible. For the fact that the Armed Forces of Ukraine hold most of the areas where the enemy tried to break into the country.

The most difficult situation, as in previous days, is in Donbas, in the Kharkiv direction. But we continue to do everything to ensure that our defenders have something to stop the Russian troops with.

We are aware that the occupiers outnumber us. That they have more equipment. We are aware of the attempts by Russian leaders to recruit new fools all over Russia among cadets of military schools, people with combat experience and conscripts to send them all to slaughter in another offensive.

But we have no other choice - the fate of our land and our people is being decided. We know what we are fighting for. And we do everything to win.

Today in the Mariyinsky Palace I presented the Golden Star Orders to the servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who were awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine, and to the members of families of those who were posthumously awarded this title.  Now it is in the Mariyinsky Palace, in the White Hall, where we always meet foreign heads of state, that such important ceremonies will take place. We will demonstrate every time that our defenders deserve respect and honor at the highest level.  And the White Hall of the Mariyinsky Palace will henceforth be called the White Hall of the Heroes of Ukraine. I also handed over the Order of Courage to the family of the deceased documentary photographer Maks Levin who was viciously killed by the occupiers in the Kyiv region. During his life, he made a significant contribution to making us all see and know what is happening in our country.

Traditionally, before delivering the evening address, I signed decrees awarding our military. 292 servicemen, 57 of them posthumously.

Eternal memory to all who gave their lives for Ukraine!

Eternal gratitude to each of our defenders!

Everything for the victory. Everything for peace. Everything for Ukraine.

Glory to Ukraine!

Original speech & video

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Music Association: Shche ne vmerla Ukrainy i slava, i volia (The Ukrainian National Anthem - “The glory and freedom of Ukraine has not yet perished”)










Untied Nations Security Council speech by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Russian War Crimes in Bucha & Other Occupied Cities
April 5, 2022


Dear Mr. Secretary General. Dear members of the Security Council and other participants of the meeting.  Thank you for the opportunity. I am sure that all the representatives of the UN member states will hear me today.

Yesterday I returned from our city of Bucha, recently liberated from the troops of the Russian Federation. It is difficult to find a war crime that the occupiers have not committed there. The Russian military searched for and purposefully killed anyone who served our state.  They executed women outside the houses when approaching and simply calling someone alive. They killed whole families - adults and children. And they tried to burn their bodies.

I am addressing you on behalf of the people who honor the memory of the deceased everyday. Everyday, in the morning.

The memory of the killed civilians.

• Who were shot in the back of the head or in the eye after being tortured. Who were shot just on the streets.
• Who were thrown into the well, so that they die there in suffering.
• Who were killed in apartments, houses, blown up by grenades. Who were crushed by tanks in civilian cars in the middle of the road. For fun.
• Whose limbs were cut off, whose throat was cut. Who were raped and killed in front of their own children.
• Their tongues were torn out only because they did not hear from them what they wanted to hear.

How is this different from what the ISIS terrorists were doing in the occupied territory?  Except that it is done by a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.

• [Russia] destroys the internal unity of states.
• Destroys state borders.
• Denies the right of more than a dozen peoples on two continents to self-determination and independent state life. Pursues a consistent policy of destroying ethnic and religious diversity.
• Inflames wars and deliberately wages them in such a way as to kill as many ordinary civilians as possible. To destroy as many ordinary peaceful cities as possible. To leave in the country where it sends its troops only ruins and mass graves. You've seen it all.
• Promotes hatred at the state level and seeks to export it to other countries through its system of propaganda and political corruption.
• Provokes a global food crisis that could lead to famine in Africa and Asia, and will certainly end in large-scale political chaos in countries where food price stability is a key factor of domestic security.

So where is the security that the Security Council must guarantee? There is no security. Although there is a Security Council, as if nothing happened.

So where is the peace that the United Nations was created to guarantee?

It is obvious that the key institution of the world, which must ensure the coercion of any aggressors to peace, simply cannot work effectively.

Now the world has seen what the Russian military did in Bucha while keeping our city under occupation. But the world has yet to see what they have done in other occupied cities, in other occupied areas of our country. Geography may be different, but cruelty is the same. Crimes are the same. And responsibility must be inevitable.

Ladies and Gentlemen!

I would like to remind you of the first article of the first chapter of the UN Charter. What is the purpose of our organization? To maintain peace. And to force to peace. Now the UN Charter is being violated literally from the first article. And if so, what is the point of all other articles?

Today, it is as a result of Russia's actions on the territory of my state, on the territory of Ukraine, that the most heinous war crimes of all time since the end of World War II are being committed.

• Russian troops are deliberately destroying Ukrainian cities to ashes with artillery and air strikes.
• They are deliberately blocking cities, creating mass starvation in them. They are deliberately shooting at columns of civilians on the roads who are trying to escape from the territory of hostilities.
• They are even deliberately blowing up shelters where civilians are hiding from air strikes. They are deliberately creating conditions in the temporarily occupied territories so that as many civilians as possible are killed there.
• The massacre in our city of Bucha is just one, unfortunately, of many examples of what the occupiers have been doing on our land for 41 days. And there are many other such places that the world has yet to find out the full truth of: Mariupol, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Okhtyrka, Borodyanka and dozens of other Ukrainian communities, each of which is like Bucha.

I know, and you know very well, what the representatives of Russia will say in response to the accusations of these crimes. They have said this many times. The most illustrative was after the downing of a Malaysian Boeing over Donbas by Russian forces with Russian weapons. Or during the war in Syria. They will blame everyone, just to justify themselves. They will say that there are different versions, and which of them is true is allegedly impossible to establish yet. They will even say that the bodies of those killed were allegedly “planted”, and all the videos are staged. But. Now is the year 2022. There is conclusive evidence. There are satellite images. It is possible to conduct a full, transparent investigation. That is what we are interested in. Maximum access of journalists. Maximum cooperation with international institutions. Involvement of the International Criminal Court. Full truth, full responsibility.

I am sure that every state in the UN system should be interested in this. For what? In order to punish once and for all those who consider themselves privileged, consider themselves unpunished. Hence, to show all other potential war criminals in the world that they will inevitably be punished as well. If the biggest is punished, everyone will be punished.

Why did Russia come to Ukraine, tell me?

I will answer. Russia's leadership feels like colonizers - as in ancient times. They need our wealth and our people. Russia has already deported tens of thousands of our citizens to its territory. Then there will be hundreds. It abducted more than two thousand children. Simply abducted thousands of children. And continues to do so. Russia wants to turn Ukrainians into silent slaves.

The Russian military is openly looting the cities and villages they have captured. This is looting of the highest scale. They steal everything from food to gold earrings they just rip out with blood.

We are dealing with a state that turns the right of veto in the UN Security Council into a right to kill.

Which undermines the whole architecture of global security.

Which allows evil to go unpunished and spread the world. Destroying everything that can work for peace and security.

If this continues, the finale will be that each state will rely only on the power of arms to ensure its security, not on international law, not on international institutions. Then, the UN can simply be dissolved.

Ladies and Gentlemen!

Are you ready for the dissolving of the UN? Do you think that the time of international law has passed?  If your answer is no, you need to act now, act immediately. The power of the UN Charter must be restored immediately.  The UN system must be reformed immediately so that the right of veto is not a right to kill. So that there is a fair representation of all regions of the world in the Security Council.

The aggressor must be forced to peace immediately. Determination is needed. The chain of mass killings from Syria to Somalia, from Afghanistan to Yemen and Libya should have been stopped a long time ago to be honest.

If tyranny had ever received such a response to the war it had unleashed that it would have ceased to exist and a fair peace would have been guaranteed after it, the world would have changed for sure.

And then, perhaps, we would not have a war, a war in my country. Against our nation, the Ukrainian nation. Against people.

But the world watched and did not want to see the occupation of Crimea, or even before - the war against Georgia, or even earlier - the alienation from Moldova of the entire Transnistrian region. It also didn’t want to see how Russia was preparing the ground for other conflicts and wars near its borders.

How to stop it?

Immediately bring the Russian military and those who gave them orders to justice for war crimes in Ukraine.

Everyone who gave criminal orders and fulfilled them by killing people will face a tribunal similar to the Nuremberg trials.

I want to remind Russian diplomats that a man like von Ribbentrop has not avoided punishment after World War II.

And I also want to remind the architects of Russia's criminal policy that punishment has reached Adolf Eichmann as well.

None of the culprits will escape. No one.

But the main thing is that today is the time to transform the system, the core of which is the United Nations. To do this, we propose to convene a global conference. And we ask to do it already in peaceful Kyiv - in order to decide.

• How we will reform the world security system.
• How we will really guarantee the inviolability of universally recognized borders and the integrity of states.
• How we will ensure the rule of international law.

It is now clear that the goals set in San Francisco in 1945 during the creation of a global international security organization have not been achieved. And it is impossible to achieve them without reforms.

Therefore, we must do everything in our power to pass on to the next generations an effective UN with the ability to respond preventively to security challenges and thus guarantee peace.

Prevent aggression and force aggressors to peace. Have the determination and ability to punish if the principles of peace are violated.

There can be no more exceptions, privileges. Everyone must be equal. All participants in international relations. Regardless of economic strength, geographical area and individual ambitions.

The power of peace must become dominant. The power of justice and the power of security. As humanity has always dreamed of.

Ukraine is ready to provide a platform for one of the main offices of the updated security system.

Just as the Geneva office specializes in human rights, just as the Nairobi office specializes in the field of environmental protection, the Kyiv U-24 Office can specialize in preventive measures to maintain peace.

I want to remind you of our peaceful mission in Afghanistan. When, at our own expense, we Ukrainians evacuated more than a thousand people from this country. And it was the hottest phase. But people needed help - and Ukraine came. Just like other states.

We evacuated people of different nationalities, different faiths. Afghans, citizens of European countries, USA, Canada. We did not distinguish who needs help, whether these are our people or not. We saved everyone.

If every time there was a need everyone in the world was confident that help would come, the world would be definitely safer.

Therefore, Ukraine has the necessary moral right to propose a reform of the world security system. We have proven that we help others not only in good times, but also in dark times.

And now we need decisions from the Security Council. For peace in Ukraine. If you do not know how to adopt this decision, you can do two things.

Remove Russia as an aggressor and a source of war from blocking decisions about its own aggression, its own war. And then do everything that can establish peace.  Or show how you can reformat and really work for peace. Or if your current format is unalterable and there is simply no way out, then the only option would be to dissolve yourself altogether.

I am convinced that you can do without the third option.

Ukraine needs peace. We need peace. Europe needs peace. The world needs peace.

And finally, I’m asking you to watch the video. A short one.

A video of what has come to replace your power because someone alone can abuse his rights.  This is what impunity leads to.

If possible - watch this video. Because there is no opportunity for everyone to come to us and see it. So watch it.

Thank you.


Original speech & full video

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Music Association: AC/DC - Highway To Hell









The Lie of the Land
U.S. Overestimated Russia's Might (Again)
March 30, 2022


Testifying at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing yesterday, U.S. European Command Gen. Tod Wolters was asked by Sen. Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican, if there was an intelligence gap that caused the United States to overestimate Russia’s strength and underestimate the Ukrainian defenses. “There could be,” Wolters responded. Another news flash: today is tomorrow's yesterday.

The U.S. wants to believe in a big adversary to justify its huge military. No, not the entire U.S. The U.S. military contractors want Americans to believe in a big adversary to justify their huge revenue. Here are the top five government contractors, who are also the top military contractors.

Top U.S. Military Contractors
1.     Lockheed Martin	$48.6 billion annually
2.     Boeing	$28 billion annually
3.     General Dynamics	$20.9 billion annually
4.     Raytheon Company	$16.3 billion annually
5.     Northrop Grumman	$16.1 billion annually

Lockheed Martin is a military behemoth that says they are a global security and aerospace company because that sounds better than “military behemoth.” Lockheed is the maker of the problematic F-35 fighter jet. They are also the makers of the FGM-148 Javelin portable anti-tank missile system that Ukraine has been using to destroy Russian tanks. 

What helps military contractors is that they swap personnel regularly with the Pentagon. In the last seven years, all four Senate-confirmed defense secretaries came from the defense industry, as did three of the five acting defense secretaries.

Raytheon CEO Greg Hayes offered investors this ghoulish assessment of the rising tensions in eastern Europe and the South China Sea: “I fully expect we’re going to see some benefit from it.” Hayes cautioned shareholders not to be too disappointed if the possible bloodshed doesn’t yield a quick return on investment, saying, “You’re not going to see an immediate benefit here because what you'll see is a reallocation of inventory that we already have out there with the services.” And that was weeks ago, before Russia revealed its military weaknesses.

To be fair, the nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Russia is only 7% of the U.S. GDP and the 11th highest in the world. Taking into account just how poor most Russians are, the per capita GDP of Russia is the 64th highest in the world.

Russia has three advantages. Two advantages provide military strength to Russia -- the vastness of the land and the harshness of the climate.


Russian mythology provides a third advantage: the Potemkin village. Kick your feet up. It's story time.

Catherine the Great was the German-born empress of Russia and was fighting the Ottoman Empire. If you have seen season two of The Great, you already know this part, but that isn't a history and neither is this. Now back to the story. Russia swiped Crimea from the Ottomans. Catherine appointed her lover Grigory Potemkin as the governor of Crimea. His job was to pacify the Muslim Tatar inhabitants of Crimea and to rebuild the land by bringing in Russian settlers. Catherine, her court, and her ambassadors went to Crimea to impress her allies with the rebuilding of the land. Potemkin set up mobile villages on the banks of the Dnieper River. As the barge carrying the Empress and ambassadors arrived, Potemkin's men, dressed as peasants, would populate the village. Once the barge left, the village was disassembled, then rebuilt downstream overnight. A Potemkin village is a facade that makes things seem better, or more prosperous than they are.

You may have missed the Aviation Week magazine from February 15, 1954 that described new Soviet jet bombers, the Myasishchev M-4 Bison, capable of carrying a nuclear bomb from Russian bases to the U.S. It was the bomb and it led to Congress and the press discussing a bomber gap between the U.S. and the Soviets. The Soviet Aviation Day air show in July 1955 added to the bomber gap fears. Ten Bison bombers flew past the reviewing stand, flew out of sight, quickly turned around, and flew past the stands again with eight more. Western analysts, extrapolating from the illusionary 28 aircraft, judged that by 1960 the Soviets would have 800. It wasn't until December of 1959 that the bomber gap had been disproved, at least in official circles. And the M-4 never had a range of more than 5,000 miles.

By that point, a new Soviet threat was looming -- the missile gap. The missile gap was born from a combination of Americans not really understanding Sputnik, the Soviets boasting of rockets they didn't have, and John F. Kennedy campaigning that Eisenhower was weak on defense. Kennedy coined the term, missile gap. The reality was the U.S. had 57 Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. The Soviets had 10.  The Soviet SS-6 and SS-7 missiles took hours to fuel and had to have their unstable liquid propellant drained every thirty days to prevent them from blowing up on the launch pad. The new U.S. Minuteman missile, entering final testing, was powered by solid propellant and could be launched in minutes.

The Soviet Union paraded fake missiles through Red Square on May 9, 1965. The Global Missile (GR-1) was a failed missile that was paraded as though it was a reality. Two mobile ballistic missiles in the parade were also fakes. Soviet radio commentators read a prepared speech: “The parade of considerable military might is concluded with gigantic defense missiles. Their maintenance is entirely automated. There are no limits to what these missiles can do.” The fake missiles caused (or allowed) the U.S. to invest in an anti-missile defense system that cost billions of dollars.

Just a few years ago, Russia said they would not invade Ukraine, but they did.

Just yesterday, Russia said they were moving their troops away from Kyiv. The U.S. interpreted them to mean Russian troops were redeploying. Today's shelling from the Russian troops proved they were being redeployed, not moving away.

Ruse is the key to Russia.



A fake Soviet mobile nuclear missile on parade, in Red Square, Moscow, USSR on May 9, 1965


A fake Soviet global nuclear missile (GR-1) on parade, May 9, 1965. An engineer had to create a support system to prevent the missile from bouncing on the stone-paved Red Square.

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Music Associations: The Beatles - Back In The USSR & Wings - Jet
Movie Association: The Truman Show












Russian War Crimes
Russia's Murder of Ukrainian Civilians
March 27, 2022


The Russians bombed the Donetsk Regional Drama Theatre of Mariupol on March 16th. The theatre sheltered women and children. The Mariupol city council recently estimated that at least 300 people were killed in the attack.

On March 9th, the Russians bombed Mariupol Maternity Hospital 3, killing at least 4 people and injuring 16.

On March 1st and 2nd, the Russians shelled a densely populated neighbourhood of Mariupol for nearly 15 hours, killing at least hundreds, if not a thousand civilians.


Here's an on-going list of Russian war crimes.

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Music Association: Talking Heads - Psycho Killer








The sinking of the Russian ship Saratov in Berniansk, Ukraine on March 24, 2022
 









Putin's War on Ukrainian Civilians
How a Ukrainian village armed with 2 Ukrainian flags, Destroyed 4 Russian tanks
March 12, 2022


Stop me if you've heard this one.  

Four Russian tanks enter a village. Villagers watch carefully from a distance. The Russians transfer fuel from two of the tanks to the other two, get onto those two, and leave the two dry tanks in the village.

Villagers plant Ukrainian flags on the two dry tanks.

The other two tanks return, see the two dry tanks with Ukrainian flags, and open fire, destroying them both completely. Then they keep driving around looking for their other two tanks.

One of them drives onto a bridge with a five ton weight limit. The bridge collapses, the tank falls into the river below, and everyone inside the tank dies.

The other tank keeps driving around, gets lost, and finally gets stuck in a ditch. Russian soldiers then get out of it and walk away.


It's a charming story. Really good. Almost believable.

And yet, wouldn't the Russians be able to tell the difference between Russian tanks and Soviet tanks?

Oryxspioenkop, a Turkish website, is maintaining an organized list of verified equipment losses by Russia and Ukraine, with pictures as proof. The equipment is sorted by identification numbers, including flags to differentiate between Soviet era equipment on both sides (1991 and before, with the Soviet hammer and sickle red flag) and more modern equipment with Russian or Ukrainian flags.

As of today (March 12, 2022), Oryxspioenkop verified 193 Russian tanks lost, with 65 destroyed, 2 damaged, 38 abandoned, and 88 captured. My math shows 53 of those tanks have the Soviet flag, indicating they are more than 30 years old. They show Ukraine has lost 56 tanks and all of them are Soviet tanks.

So Russians may have mistook Russian tanks as Ukrainian.

It might be funny if it weren't for all the deaths and attacks on schools and hospitals.

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Music Associations: Dido - Tank You & White Flag










By The Numbers
Russia's Invasion and War Against Ukraine
March 8, 2022


Stop me if you've heard this one. What's the difference between a ruble and a dollar?


Answer: A dollar.

At last count, it would take 152 rubles to equal a dollar. A ruble is not even a penny. It would take more than 3 rubles to equal 2 cents.

Ukraine President Zelenskyy felt he had to prove through video that he was in his office last night and this morning. He doesn't need to be that easy of a target. He reported the Ukrainian success at not allowing a single Russian cruise missile to hit Kyiv over night. May that success continue.

As of this morning, Russia has lost more than 12,000 troops, 1,036 armored personnel carriers, 474 cars, 303 tanks, 120 artillery pieces, 80 helicopters, 60 fuel trucks, 56 MLRS, 48 planes, 27 anti-aircraft vehicles, seven drones, and two boats.

Russia also lost Facebook, Coca-Cola, McDonalds, and KFC.

But what they've gained is terrific. Ukraine has given Russians a hotline to call to find out about individual Russian soldiers who invaded Ukraine. Ukraine set up the hotline partly due to the fact that Russia is leaving its dead behind, unburied. Well done, Ukraine.

The hotline is called “Come Back From Ukraine Alive” and was set up on February 26th. The numbers are +380894201860, +380894201861, & +380894201862. It has received over 6,000 calls from Russians looking for their dead or captured soldiers. CNN reported on some of the calls. A pair of related Ukrainian websites called “Ishi Svouik” (“Find Your Missing”)  were established to help Russians identify the bodies of their dead: 200rf.com & t.me/rf200_new/79  The website URLs are references to Cargo 200, a code for the bodies of soldiers being returned.

It's been a century since the last Russian Revolution. Maybe it's time for another one. It's a real solution.

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Music Association: The Beatles - Revolution









Putin's War Crimes
Russia vs. Ukraine (& The World)
March Forth, 2022


Targeting a civilian is a war crime. Russians have killed more than 2000 Ukrainian civilians. In Kharkiv, Russian missiles hit at least three schools and a cathedral. In Okhtyrka, dozens of residential buildings were destroyed.

Targeting a nuclear power plant is a war crime. The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Europe's largest nuclear power plant, was shelled by Russian forces and was on fire earlier today.

Over 1.2 million Ukrainians have fled their country.

Ukraine President Zelenskyy has survived three assassination attempts.

War maps show solid areas captured by the Russians. Ukraine has said the maps are distortions. In reality the Russian troops have only held main roads in all oblasts.


Google is blocking all advertising, new reviews, photos, and videos in Russia

The Russian stock market remains closed for a fifth day, while sell orders stack up.

Fitch and Moody's cut Russia's credit rating to “junk.” The rating agencies slashed Russia’s credit rating by six notches as a result of the Western sanctions.

Foreign ministers gathered in Brussels today to discuss what other measures to take against Russia as it continues its aggression in Ukraine.

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Music Association: Queen - Killer Queen













Putin's War
Forcing Russian Forces
March 1st, 2022


Yesterday, Mastercard blocked multiple financial institutions from the Mastercard payment network as a result of sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. Mastercard also promised $2 million in humanitarian relief to Ukraine. Visa has also blocked sanctioned financial institutions and will also donate $2 million.

Shipping companies Maersk (Denmark), Ocean Network Express (Singapore), Hapag-Lloyd (Germany), and MSC (Switzerland-Italy) have halted all container shipping (except food and humanitarian aid) to and from Russia in response to  its invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine President Zelenskyy signed an application to join the European Union (EU) yesterday. Today the EU Parliament voted to accept the application (637-13-26), which begins the membership process (4-10 years, previously).

Russian missiles killed five people when they hit the Kyiv TV Tower and the Babi Yar Holocaust Memorial Center. Freedom Square in central Kharkiv, Ukraine's second city, was also hit by a missile, killing at least 11 civilians. About 70 miles to the northwest of Kharkiv, a missile strike killed more than 70 Ukrainian soldiers.

And a 40 mile long Russian convoy from Belarus is about 17 miles from the center of Kyiv. Estimates show 80% of the Russian forces amassed on the borders of Ukraine have now been deployed.

The worst is yet to come.

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Music Association: C.W. McCall - Convoy













Putin's War
Russia vs. Ukraine (& The World)
February 27, 2022


Russian troops have attacked a hospital, an ambulance, a civilian family & dog, kindergartens, residential buildings, and power plants. They have robbed banks, grocery stores, and jewelry stores. They have rolled a tank over an old woman in a small car. They have planted mines in Russian flags. They have painted trees with ultraviolet paint. And they have dressed in Ukrainian military fatigues to cause more chaos.

Russians have also surrendered, asked for directions, wept, and abandoned vehicles and equipment -- including tanks stuck in three foot thick mud.


Russia will be cut off from the SWIFT banking system.

Turkey has cut off Russian access to the Black Sea.

Canada, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Romania, and Bolivia have closed their airspace to Russian planes.

Belgium sent 2000 machine guns and 3800 tons of fuel to Ukraine yesterday. Today they announced another 3000 machine guns and 200 anti-tank weapons. Germany will be sending 1000 anti-tank weapons, 500 anti-air weapons, 14 armored vehicles, and 10,000 tons of fuel.


Pressure Visa and MasterCard to stop Russian transactions.

The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has appealed to the international payment systems Visa and MasterCard with demands to stop servicing payment cards issued by banks – residents of the Russian Federation, the regulator's press service reported on Sunday. “We consider it unacceptable that financial support for armed aggression against our state is provided through Visa and MasterCard international payment systems. I hope that Visa and MasterCard companies will make a fair decision in the name of world peace in Ukraine,” the press service quoted Governor of the National Bank Kyrylo Shevchenko.

Contact Visa at 1-800-847-2911 or on Twitter or Facebook:

Contact MasterCard at 1-800-627-8372 or on Twitter or Facebook:

And keep fighting Putin, the Russian military, and their reckless stupidity.

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International Keyboard Defenders of Ukraine - hey that's us!
Music Association: Frank Sinatra - Something Stupid






Blood Money
The Russian Oligarchs
February 26, 2022


“I need anti-tank ammo, not a ride” - Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (responding to the U.S. offer to extract him from Kyiv)


The attack on Ukraine was authorized by all of the tsarist Russian Oligarchs, not just Vladimir Putin. Due to the attack on Ukraine, Russia must be cut off from the SWIFT banking system, and sanctions must be imposed on all the Russian Oligarchs (financially convenient or inconvenient).

The United States has announced new sanctions against Russian Oligarchs and their companies (2-22, 2-24, & 2-25-2022). That's not enough. These Russian Oligarchs must face the wrath of all countries and municipalities.

Some are listed below with their approximate net worth:


[sources: CNN list of 210 Oligarchs, Forbes, Business Insider]

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Music Association: The Beatles - Ticket To Ride
#sweatersforukraine  (Germany, France, Italy - turn down your thermostats)







The Empire Strikes Back
Russia Invades Ukraine
February 24, 2022


Russian Oligarchy President Vladimir Putin has ordered the Russian military to invade Ukraine, bombing residential and military targets and crossing borders with tanks, other mechanized units, and airpower.

Kenyan U.N. Ambassador Martin Kimani, speaking at the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday said:

“This situation echoes our history. Kenya and almost every African country was birthed by the ending of empire. Our borders were not of our own drawing. They were drawn in the distant colonial metropoles of London, Paris and Lisbon, with no regard for the ancient nations that they cleaved apart.

Today, across the border of every single African country, live our countrymen with whom we share deep historical, cultural and linguistic bonds.

At independence, had we chosen to pursue states on the basis of ethnic, racial or religious homogeneity, we would still be waging bloody wars these many decades later.

Instead, we agreed that we would settle for the borders that we inherited, but we would still pursue continental political, economic and legal integration. Rather than form nations that looked ever backward into history with a dangerous nostalgia, we chose to look forward to a greatness none of our many nations and peoples had ever known.

We chose to follow the rules of the Organisation of African Unity and the United Nations charter, not because our borders satisfied us, but because we wanted something greater, forged in peace.

We believe that all states formed from empires that have collapsed or retreated have many peoples in them yearning for integration with peoples in neighboring states. This is normal and understandable. After all, who does not want to be joined to their brethren and to make common purpose with them?

However, Kenya rejects such a yearning from being pursued by force. We must complete our recovery from the embers of dead empires in a way that does not plunge us back into new forms of domination and oppression.

We rejected irredentism and expansionism on any basis, including racial, ethnic, religious or cultural factors. We reject it again today.

Kenya registers its strong concern and opposition to the recognition of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states. We further strongly condemn the trend in the last few decades of powerful states, including members of this Security Council, breaching international law with little regard.

Multilateralism lies on its deathbed tonight. It has been assaulted today as it has been by other powerful states in the recent past.

We call on all members to rally behind the Secretary-General in asking him to rally us all to the standard that defends multilateralism. We also call on him to bring his good offices to bear to help the concerned parties resolve this situation by peaceful means.

Let me conclude, Mr. President, by reaffirming Kenya's respect for the territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.”


Today, Poland has opened its border to Ukrainian refugees without visas. Poland is offering shelter, food, medical and legal aid.

• In Ukrainian -- https://www.gov.pl/web/udsc/ukraina---ua
• In English -- https://www.gov.pl/web/udsc/ukraina-en

Today, a Ukrainian woman told a Russian soldier to “put sunflower seeds in their pockets so that sunflowers will grow after they die on Ukrainian land.”

Today, we are all Ukrainians.

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Music Associations: Billie Holiday - They Can't Take That Away
& Coven - One Tin Soldier
& The Clash - Call Up

Irredentism - noun - the doctrine that irredenta should be controlled by the country to which they are ethnically or historically related.
Irredenta - noun - a region that is related ethnically or historically to one country but is controlled politically by another.









Two For Tuesday
February 22, 2022


It's 2-22-2022!

Today is the most numerically superior day since about 20 years ago (2-2-2002).

The celebration here on Second Street was canceled due to the blowing and drifting snow.

Blowing and drifting. Why do we need two words to describe blowing and drifting? The snow doesn't just blow and settle on a second location. And it certainly doesn't just drift. This blowing and drifting snow is the sort of snow that lands on rooftops, skis down the roofs, does a giant loop up, around, and down some distance away, only to gather in numerically advantaged groups both shallow and deep.

Blifting.

The snow is blifting.

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Music Associations: Bob Dylan - Bliftin' In The Wind
& Drifters - Up On The Roof






Two For Sunday
February 20, 2022


Today is 02 - 20 - 2022.

I can't wait for 02 - 22 - 2022 or 2022 - 02 - 22 on Tuesday.

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Music Associations: Grass Roots - Two Divided By Love
& Steely Dan - Rikki Don't Lose That Number 










Abortion




Russia - Ukraine War







end Israeli apartheid



China in 1989




George Floyd




Covid-19




Trump Timeline (PDF)




Voter Suppression




Music Videos

Landmine Hopscotch


Superman


Impact Investing



Holiday Gifs of Cats and Kittens Part 1   Part 2   Part 3   Part 4   Part 5  




Southdale Hennepin Library  Edina Library  


Wonder Woman


Food Fraud