Category: Ukraine

9/11 Memorial In U.S. While Ukraine Hangs On

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9/11 Memorial In U.S. While Ukraine Hangs On

The war in Ukraine drags on as Putin seeks additional weapons to hammer the country in to submission.

9/11 Memorial In U.S. While Ukraine Hangs On

By D. S. Mitchell

Way Too Early

I fell asleep again with the TV playing. The only problem with that is when some damn commercial suddenly blares multiple octaves louder than any of the previous pronouncements, waking me up unceremoniously at an ungodly hour. In this case, I woke up to the memorial service for the victims of 9/11, playing early this morning on MSNBC.

Jonathan Lemire

So, I wake up to a replay of the twin towers collapsing and the reading of the names of the 3500 known dead. I lay there in bed, watching a montage of clips from that terrible day and I am sad. Broken hearted. I couldn’t stop the tears. Its 4:30 on the west coast and I’m literally sitting in bed crying like a baby missing her mother. I had been pretty much okay until Jonathan Lemire spoke of the brave Americans that fought the terrorists and intentionally brought down United Flight#93 in a rural field in Pennsylvania, killing everyone on board, most likely preventing the plane from slamming into the Capitol, or perhaps the White House.

I Take a Propranolol

Recently, I have been a bit more anxious than usual. After a brief sit down with my PCP she ordered me something for my “nerves”. I headed to the bathroom and found the bottle with its pretty blue pills and took one tab with a glass of water.  I expelled a whoosh of breath from puffed cheeks and resumed my place in front of the tellie watching the pomp and ceremony.

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What’s Going On In Russia?

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What’s Going On In Russia?

Russia Has The World Watching

D. S. Mitchell

 

Loud Noise

I fell asleep last night watching television. In my own defense I’d had a long and busy day. So, at about 11:30, my sleep was interrupted when the volume on the television rose a dozen decibels, bringing me unceremoniously awake. As I’m looking for the elusive TV remote to shut off the offensive noise I hear an amazing news drop.

Marching On Moscow

My eyes flickered stupidly as I listened to a CNN commentator announce that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Group, Russia’s state sponsored mercenary army, had pulled out of Ukraine and was instead pointing 25,000 troops under his control toward Moscow.  What the hell?

Prigozhin Screaming Mad

Prigozhin has been raging on social media for weeks against the military generals in the Kremlin, accusing them of lying to Putin and the Russian people. As the situation deteriorated between the sides; Prigozhin claimed that Russian military forces attacked his Russian mercenary forces, killing at least 2500 of his men encamped along a defensive line in Ukraine.

Move On Moscow

After weeks of complaints of no food, equipment, armament, weaponry, or ammunition; Prigozhin had a new and greater outrage to fume about. The killing of Wagner mercenaries threatened the very seat of power as Prigozhin began moving his troops toward Moscow. By this time I was channel surfing the cable news channels to get the most recent information. Holy, moly this was the biggest news on the Russian front since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

A Quick Snooze

I fell asleep sometime after 2 am and woke up about 8 am. The first thing I did was turn on the TV to see what was going on in Russia. Streaming pictures from the streets around the Kremlin showed a military defensive build up. All the cable channels were playing video of Putin reassuring the Russian people in a speech. Yikes.

Belarus Calling Prigozhin

After about 12 hours of chaos, Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus announced to the world that he has fixed everything, and that Prigozhin had agreed to stop his rebellion and turn his troops around. Prigozhin states he does not want to spill Russian blood. Just like that? What the fuc? It’s over?

What The Kremlin Is Saying

In a whiplash move, Putin’s communication office indicates that the criminal complaint against Prigozhin will be withdrawn. Prigozhin agrees to exile to Belarus. Lukashenko promised him a hotel without windows; so he signed on for exile. Wagner mercenaries will be given amnesty and are encouraged rejoin the fight against Ukrainian defense forces.

Looks Weak

Putin’s debacle in Ukraine has shown clearly that the Russian military is second rate at best. If it weren’t for Iranian drones, and conscripted prisoners working as mercenaries the Russian military would have already lost in Ukraine. After 23 years in power, Putin looks as weak and anemic as his army. It looks like Vladimir Putin just got kicked in the head and he’s still seeing stars. Whatever happens, Putin’s image has been damaged severely.

The Potential

The Ukrainians need to make advances on the battlefield while the Russians fight amongst themselves.  I’m sure Volodymyr Zelensky realizes Ukrainian forces have a very narrow window to take advantage of the current chaos. And what about Putin? Will he be able to hold onto power or does his weakness embolden his enemies? These are questions that only time will answer.

OPINION: My Fear for Ukraine

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My Fear for Ukraine

OPINION: My Fear for Ukraine

By David L. Shadrick

 

A Long Time

My fear for Ukraine is apathy. It’s been a long time since Putin decided to slam into Ukraine on 24 February 2022 . That’s 6 months! We’ve all watched this go on and cheered for the successes of the Ukrainian army. There is no doubt that they’ve had remarkable success. Blowing Russian tanks into little pieces, bombing oil facilities well behind enemy lines, and kicking the Russians off Snake Island over and over again. But let’s not forget that the Russians continue to grind forward destroying city after city and reducing them to piles of rubble.

Limitless Resources

Russia has the advantage of being able to continually replenish their supplies while Ukraine has to rely on the kindness of its’ neighbors to get the weapons it needs to fight off the Russian advances. What my fear for Ukraine is that we will forget this in another 6 months. As time rolls on in, and the war grumbles forward, without a clear victor, we can become bored with the struggle.

Story of the Moment

Just weeks ago Ukraine was the story of the moment and was in the headlines constantly. Now they’ve been relegated to page three of the news. I’m not saying that we should pound this war into everybody’s head over and over again. But we need to keep up the enthusiasm. We need the help with refugees, we need to keep supplying them with weapons, and maintaining their infrastructure despite the war. Don’t let my fear for Ukraine become a reality. Don’t be apathetic!

The Coming Plague

The Russian army waits. It waits for reinforcements. For more troops and for more equipment. Once the cities are destroyed the Russians will move in to rebuild and use this as a propaganda victory. They will brag about how they helped Ukrainian cities rebuild the buildings they had destroyed. The Free World needs to recognize that my fear for Ukraine could come true.

Conclusion

So in conclusion, I’m once again asking you not to make my fear for Ukraine come true. Please continue to talk about the conflict, send your money to the appropriate agencies, and keep up to date on war information. Just remember that keeping up means watching footage of exploding tanks, burning oil refineries, sinking warships, and downed aircraft. Mwahaha!

Black Sabbath “War Pigs”

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Black Sabbath “War Pigs”

Black Sabbath “War Pigs”

The Calamity News and Politics Jukebox Choice of the Day is from the premier metal band (my opinion) BLACK SABBATH doing their powerful anti war song, “War Pigs”.  Support Ukraine. Donate to UNICEF Ukraine Relief.

Putin’s War On Humanity

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Putin’s War On Humanity

The people of Ukraine are valiantly fighting to halt Russian assault.

Putin’s War On Humanity

By Anonymous

 

No Words

Empathy is a word that gets tossed around a lot. And yet, when we put it to use in times of tragedy, it does little to solve the matters at hand—except, perhaps, to stay that hand from causing further destruction.

I Can Imagine

Right now, I’m mother of one with another on the way. I could be one of those terrified Ukrainians running from bombs, one hand holding my child’s and the other clutching my belly. For a moment, I can place myself there: terror, frustration, and determination all coursing through my veins as I fear for my family’s wellbeing, wondering if my husband would be running with us or staying behind to defend our country and our democratic way of life.

Loud and Ugly

There is much at stake, and although it doesn’t always feel real to us, as we’re scrolling through the news on our phones and sipping our coffee, the reality of injury and death is a stark possibility for those simply living in any war torn region of the world. Now, Ukraine has become a war zone due to the madness of one man, Vladimir Putin. Putin’s ilk is nothing new. Sadly, such strongmen take over countries and strip citizens of self determination, someplace in the world on a nearly daily basis. Some countries fall quietly. Such is not the case with Ukraine, the fight there is loud and ugly, as Ukrainian civilians take up arms to fight back against the Russian invaders.

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