Ukraine Always Get What You Want

Don't count on any meaningful action from China to stop Russia. It's lifted all restrictions on wheat imports from Russia, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs continues to do the "both sides" dance while refusing to call this an "invasion" and insisting everyone heed Russia's "legitimate security concerns". Abstaining at the UNSC was a lay-up for China and India because Russia had veto power.

Beijing is not going to abandon its only major strategic ally and stand with what it sees as its greatest threat over a little thing like ideological consistency. The Chinese leadership sees no problem with continuing to shout about how national sovereignty is sacrosanct and the very foundation of international law while at the same time looking the other way when China or its friends meddle in the internal affairs of other sovereign nations. China's leadership and many of its people have quickly taken to the "might makes right" thinking that great powers have the luxury of enjoying.

 

There's a town in Mississippi named Louisville, and it's pronounced "Lewis-ville."

 

Definitely an LOL for the background music but THE THING is Zelenskyy and his crew telling Putin to go fuck itself in so many words.

Whether he survives the night, week, or Putin's War, Volodymyr Zelenskyy will go down in history as giving one of the greatest wartime speeches ever.

Badass is right but it's just so much more than that.

 

Isn't a lot of Russia's space program still based in Kazakhstan? I wonder if they could futz things up for the Russians if they denied access to those facilities, like cutting off access to their satellites.

 

True enough. OTOH, it is also very much like China to do nothing much to get drawn into Putin's mess, to just stand pat and not get splattered. Isolation is a long held Middle Kingdom strategy.

I still have to think that China's abstention had some significance. We'll see.

 

Revelations About 'Putin's Palace' Have Sparked Widespread Protests in Russia. Here's What's Inside His Secret 'New Versailles'



Makes MAL look like a Howard Johnson's Hotel.

 

If it comes down to it, I honestly think Zelensky will go full Tony Montana when the Chechen death squads break into whatever bunker he happens to be in at the time.

 

SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE COMRADE!

 

It's the launch site

 

I always love watching how CNN pairs its reporters and leading voices.

I watched Jill Dougherty 25-30 years ago and now she's the wizened pro, trying to keep up, while Kaitlan Collins is the young and intense hard charger from Alabama.

Oren Liebermann meanwhile was raised in Israel and brings this Middle East-centric intensity to his reports.

I think Don Lemon needs to stop playing around with so many styles and pick the one that works best.

This is a big moment in his career.

 

Meanwhile, in Ireland:

 

The Ukrainians are braver than about 98 percent of Americans.

Perhaps our issue is we (the entirety of the population) haven’t had to fight for anything for so long. Mostly poor kids found themselves in the body bags in Iraq and Afghanistan. Maybe the draft isn’t a terrible idea after all.