Ukraine Fights for Its Life NATO totters towards Putin’s Plan B
Is Europe, with the acquiescence of Biden, about to cave before Russian aggression?
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine approaches it’s 4th month of slaughter, some NATO members are talking about pushing Ukraine to give up a portion of its occupied land to provide Putin a face-saving out. The fear is that Putin will employ nuclear weapons and that he may spread his invasion into other vulnerable nations like Finland, the Baltic States, Georgia and Moldova. He can keep the area he’s captured, in return for peace. By sacrificing 20% of Ukraine perhaps everyone else will be safe. Chamberlain would be proud.
This is playing into Putin’s Plan B. If he can’t take his objectives by force, he can secure them through threats and brutal attacks against civilians. And, as we’ve had seen, Putin’s word is worth nothing. He can not be trusted. So why base the future on an agreement with a man you know you can’t trust and who has a history of bloody aggression.
History is replete with examples of how the US and Europe have failed to answer the cries for help by other people fighting for their freedom; Hungary – 1956, Czechoslovakia’s Prague Spring – 1968, the betrayal of the Kurds – 2019, and others. Is the US and NATO about to try to force Ukraine to surrender its territory because they (we) don’t have the stomach to do what is necessary?
Simple Truth Anything short of defeating the Russians in Ukraine and liberating the areas currently occupied, including Crimea, is a defeat for the West and only sets the stage for another conflict in a few years.
I think Henry Kissinger was one of the first to suggest Ukraine should conceded land for peace. A close look at Kissinger’s career should warn all of us. His Machiavellian Politik is worn out and belongs on the dump pile of history.
So, if I were speaking directly to Biden and NATO I would say, “You have a moral obligation to ensure Ukraine defeats Russia. Being willing to sacrifice Ukraine to shield ourselves is cowardice. What is needed is a rapid rearmament and resupply. Quit clutching your pearls and kick our bureaucratic system in the butt. Get the Ukrainians what they need, including long-range artillery and missiles.”
As for Putin, “NATO and the US have no intention of setting foot on Russian soil or demanding regime change. We are and will continue to provide all the weapons Ukraine needs to defend itself and recapture land occupied by Russian forces. “
“If Russia uses chemical and/or biological weapons, the US and NATO will launch counter strikes with powerful conventional weapons on Russian positions in Ukraine and in Russia along its border with Ukraine. NATO and the US will not use nuclear weapons unless Russia uses them first. In which case, we will respond in kind. Period. ”
I have come to the conclusion that Humanity is too stupid to live. Every day is chock-full of examples, both by individuals and groups, of short-sighted, self-serving, decisions that are clearly self-destructive. Gun control is one example.
Twenty-one bullets. Cost per round, less than $1.00. 21 lives = $21. Life in the United States is cheap.
Good Guys With Guns?
It’s been weeks and I’m still struggling to write something about the massacre of innocents in Uvalde Texas. However my anger and frustration make it difficult. There are so many things I want to say but they would be redundant after better minds than mine have spoken out.
Facts and figures do not carry weight with about 20% of Americans. These “normal Americans” are victims of the steady flood of propaganda from Fox News, Trump, Republicans, Christian White Nationalists and Russian provocateurs. Their minds have been poisoned and they are now an undeniable threat to our freedoms and nation.
I’m tired of trying to cajole, convince, educate, “see their side”, etc in an effort to reason with a rabid minority and their cowardly politicians. In my opinion, any politician that obstructs comprehensive gun reform is an accomplice to murder for every gun death that now occurs. And the average “everyday day” Americans who support them are guilty of reckless endangerment and manslaughter. Actions have consequences.
As for all the slippery slope and 2nd Amendment arguments; that’s all fiction. Bottom-line, we need much tighter gun regulations that reflect the real anger these devices pose when in the hands of an American. We need tight controls because a large segment of Americans can’t be trusted with a gun. As for the Good Guys with guns, they’re good only until they go bad. The mere presence of a gun in a house increases the likelihood of injury and death by accident, domestic violence and suicide.
As for all those who identify themselves as Good Guys and then parade around armed at demonstrations and political activities, I’ve got news: The act of displaying a firearm is a threat and the belligerent attitude often shown towards others is a threat. Good Guys don’t go around threatening people. Bad Guys do. That is why we need tighter controls. You’re part of the problem.
Photo: M-1 carbine magazine with 30 cal. rounds. Circa WWII.
Today is the 52nd Earth Day. It is the largest annual secular event in the world with over one billion participants since its start. The first Earth Day, April 22, 1970, marks the beginning of the modern, global environmental movement. It’s been a long journey.
In 1962 Rachel Carson published her book Silent Spring. It was and remains a must read for two reasons. First, it brought the environmental issue of the use of pesticides and the devastation they caused to the public’s attention, like no one else had. The United States has tradition of authors who write about Humanity’s relationship with Nature and Wilderness. These writers, such as Henry David Thoreau (1854), John Muir (1911) and Aldo Leopold (1949), slowly moved the public’s environmental awareness forward. But it was Silent Spring that fired the public’s imagination by vividly describing the links between pollution, its impact on wildlife and public health. The book sold 500,000 copies world-wide.
The second reason is that Carson and her book were attacked mercilessly in a way that became the blueprint for future assaults by corporations against their enemies, such as auto safety, tobacco’s addictive and poisonous nature, climate change with its existential threat to humanity, and anything else that threatens the status quo and profits. The strategy is familiar and effective.
It began by claiming the book was full of inaccuracies, then effort to discredit the Carson in an attempt to destroy her career and confuse the public by claiming that the observations and evidence were not conclusive. The chemical companies who made the pesticides argued that there was a legitimate disagreement in the scientific community as to whether or not these chemicals were dangerous. Even though the science had been verified time and again. It was a campaign of lies and misdirection. Today we see the same arguments used to delay effective action on climate change and, in politics, the claims of voter fraud and a stolen election.
In spite of this relentless wind of deception, Silent Spring’s spark ignited a fire. Public awareness grew, particularly among members of the counterculture and college students. The astronauts’ powerful photos of Earth as seen from the moon reinforced the growing realization that Earth was not limitless and needed to be protected. The tipping point was an oil spill offshore of Santa Barbara, California. At the time it was the largest spill in US history. Today it ranks third behind the Exxon Valdez in Prince William Sound, Alaska (1989) and the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico (2010).
On January 28, 1969, a blowout on a drilling platform began hemorrhaging crude oil. Within 24 hours an oil slick covering 50 square miles had formed. It gushed until February 7 and then continued to leak until April, releasing 100,000 barrels, about 500,000 gallons of oil. The results were devastating. In some areas, beaches were covered in six inches of the gelatinous poison. The fouling of the coast with the gruesome deaths of up to 9,000 sea birds. The disturbing photos of the dying birds was a grim counterpoint to the astronauts’ blue marble images of Earth. The American public was sickened. This with other recent pollution events and Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring triggered what was to happen next.
Two visitors to the spill, President Richard Nixon and Senator Gaylord Nelson, would be instrumental in creating the environmental movement we are familiar with today. Nixon, an owner of California beach front property, stated that, “The Santa Barbara incident has frankly touched the conscience of the American people.” Nixon would then go on to establish the Environmental Protection Agency in December 1970. In December of 1970, Nixon signed the Clean Air Act, and the EPA began enforcement a few months later in 1971. The American public demanded action and they got it.
Note: The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), January 01, 1970, is often overlooked for its importance. NEPA holds federal agencies accountable for the environmental impact their actions may have. Actions such as, how permit applications are decided, the adoption of land management decisions, and the environmental impact of the construction of government facilities, including highways. NEPA provides the authority and procedures necessary to ensure that government entities are true to the law and spirit of environmental legislation. Recently, President Biden announced that he would roll back certain Trump orders that were used to hobble the NEPA, permitting looser interpretations that favored business over the environment and public health.
Senator Gaylord Nelson, a Democrat from Wisconsin who was active in the environmental movement, also visited the disaster. After witnessing the carnage, Nelson left Santa Barbara to go speak at a Vietnam anti-war teach-in. He was pondering how to further engage the public in the fight against pollution’s environmental impact. At the time, American support was growing but was disorganized. What was needed was a way to pull everyone together. Senator Nelson realized that teach-ins were the answer. The teach-ins would inform the public, build relationships between groups through dialog, and provide a framework for coordinated action.
Initially, Nelson had planned Earth Day as a peaceful national demonstration with the goal of showing the nation and DC the depth of support for the evolving environmental movement. He later recalled, “While I was confident that a nationwide peaceful demonstration of concern would be impressive, I was not quite prepared for the overwhelming response that occurred on that day. Two thousand colleges and universities, ten thousand high schools and grade schools, and several thousand communities in all, more than twenty million Americans participated in one of the most exciting and significant grassroots efforts in the history of this country.”
In the decade that followed the first Earth Day numerous laws were passed, creating the foundation of environmental rules and regulations we take for granted today. They are,
the Clean Air Act,
the Water Quality Improvement Act,
the Water Pollution and Control Act Amendments,
the Resource Recovery Act,
the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act,
the Toxic Substances Control Act,
the Occupational Safety and Health Act,
the Federal Environmental Pesticide Control Act,
the Endangered Species Act,
the Safe Drinking Water Act,
the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, and
the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act.
It is important to note that these laws and many others were passed with bipartisan votes and signed into law by both Democrat and Republican Presidents. Today’s fractured legislature and its relationship with the President is dramatically different.
However, even by 1980, the public’ environmental concerns and political dynamics were changing. The importance of Earth Day would grow both as a demonstration of the public’s awareness of the environmental crisis and as a marker for the progress that was and was not made.
PART 2 picks up with the continuing growth of the Environmental Movement and the rise of corporate aggression against it.
Resources
EarthDay.Org Even when it isn’t April 22, it’s still an earth day. EarthDay.Org is the world’s largest recruiter to the environmental movement, working with more than 150,000 partners in over 192 countries to drive positive action for our planet. A good source of info and opportunities to get involved.
Earth Day ’70: What It Meant, Gaylord Nelson, 04/1980, EPA Journal, Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson, reflects on what led up to the first Earth Day, what it accomplished, and the challenges that still existed in 1980 (and continue now).
Medical Training for Ukrainian Defense Volunteers, Small Village Outside Kyiv
The image above is from a recently posted video from a small village outside of Kyiv. Provided through Radio Free Europe, Liberty Radio, there are many more on YouTube and other media. In this video you see regular citizens who have picked up weapons, volunteered for the defense forces and are fighting. In this clip, a squad of volunteers is receiving instructions on how to apply a tourniquet.
What caught my eye, was the soldier in the grey hoodie with the message, Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon. There, amidst the clamor of battle, is a faint echo of home. Our world is tightly bound together by media. We have an evolving, shared 21st Century Culture, global economy, and desire for democracy and rule of law.
The idea that we can hunker down in the USA, letting the rest of the world fend for itself, died in 1914 with the start of World War One. Like it or not, every nation is bound to every other and when one suffers, it’s effects ripple out across the world. The the impact isn’t always immediate or obvious. But, like the Sahara desert’s dust that is blown over the Atlantic and fertilizes the Amazon rain forest, it is real and, in the long-term, consequential. No matter where it occurs, war, injustice, famine, disease, and climate change, it eventually touches us all. It requires that we all act together to stop oppression, end human misery, and cease murdering our planet. The world’s response to Ukraine’s tragedy demonstrates we have the capability to unify and act in each other’s behalf.
So, there stands some guy, sworn to defend his homeland, wearing a hoodie with the name of a Minnesota company that develops and manufactures pacemakers. A device that, two weeks ago, was inserted into my chest. Who is this warrior? Is his connection with the Twin Cities intimate or circumstantial? Did he run in the TC Marathon? Does he have family or friends here? Or, perhaps the hoodie was part of a package of supplies gathered here and sent there?
Regardless, I send him my greetings and prayers that he and his comrades make it through these dark days and be victorious in defending Ukraine.
It Must Be True, I Saw It On The Internet
Part of my daily news collection, I check out a variety of international news sources; Alazeera, BBC News, France24, and US news CNN and MSNBC. I also read the New York Times, Washington Post, The Atlantic, The Nation, Inside Climate News and a variety of other sources.
The videos coming from Ukraine deserve critical analysis as to who is providing them and why. Often, clips from the same event are presented multiple times with different titles and claims. If you watch enough of these grim glimpses into the invasion of Ukraine and compare to other known sources, it’s possible to begin to identify what is reasonably credible, considering their intent. Radio Free Europe / Liberty Radio, is one. It’s an independent US government information organization associated diplomatic efforts. It’s parent agency is the U.S. Agency for Global Media, whose mission is,”vital to US national interests”, and to “inform, engage, and connect people around the world in support of freedom and democracy.” My experience has been that RFE/LR has been accurate. Another important source is Voice of America, VOA, which is the USA’s official international news broadcast system.
This morning, I listened to Ukrainian President Zelenskyy speak to the U.S. Congress from a secure location in Kyiv. He appeared before them, sitting at his desk, wearing an olive drab military t-shirt. There is no doubting that he is a leader at war, fighting for his people and nation, and in turn, Western Europe and democracies around the world, including our threatened democracy.
Here is Zelenskyy’s address. Whether you listened to him earlier or not, reading his address is worth the time. He asks us to think globally. Not as citizens of a particular country, but as members of a world-wide community dedicated to democracy, freedom and human dignity.
Mrs. Speaker, Members of Congress, Ladies and Gentlemen, Americans! Friends!
I am proud to greet you from Ukraine, from our capital – Kyiv. From a city that is under missile and air strikes by Russian troops. Daily. But it does not give up. And it didn’t even think to give up for a single minute! Just as dozens of other cities and communities in our country, which found themselves in the worst war since World War II.
I have the honor to greet you on behalf of the Ukrainian people, brave and freedom-loving people. For eight years they have been resisting the aggression of the Russian Federation. They sacrifice the best children – sons and daughters to stop the full-scale Russian invasion.
Now the fate of our state is being decided. The fate of our people. It is being decided whether Ukrainians will be free. Whether they will preserve their democracy.
Russia has attacked more than just our land and our cities. It went on a brutal offensive against our values. Basic human values. It threw tanks and planes against our freedom. Against our right to live freely in our country, choosing our own future. Against our desire for happiness. Against our national dreams. Just like yours, ordinary people of America. Just like those of everyone in the United States.
I remember your Rushmore National Memorial. The faces of your prominent presidents. Those who laid the foundations of America. As it is today. Democracy, independence, freedom and care for everyone. Everyone who works diligently. Who lives honestly. Who respects the law.
We in Ukraine want the same for ourselves. All that is a normal part of life for you.
Ladies and Gentlemen! Americans!
In your great history you have pages that will allow you to understand Ukrainians. Understand us now. When it is needed most.
Remember Pearl Harbor. Terrible morning of December 7, 1941. When your sky was black from the planes attacking you. Just remember that.
Remember September 11th. A terrible day in 2001, when evil tried to turn your cities into a battlefield. When innocent people were attacked. Attacked from the air. In a way no one expected.
In a way you could not stop it. Our state experiences this every day! Every night! For three weeks now! Different Ukrainian cities… Odesa and Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Sumy, Zhytomyr and Lviv, Mariupol and Dnipro. Russia has turned the Ukrainian sky into a source of death. For thousands of people.
Russian troops have already fired nearly a thousand missiles at Ukraine. Countless bombs. They use drones to kill more precisely. This is a terror Europe has not seen for 80 years! And we ask for a response. For the response from the world. For the response to terror. Is this too much of a request?
To establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine is to save people. Humanitarian no-fly zone. Conditions under which Russia will no longer be able to terrorize our peaceful cities every day and night. If that’s too much, we offer an alternative.
You know what defense systems we need. C-300 and other similar systems.
You know how much depends on the battlefield on the ability to use aircraft. Powerful, strong aircraft. To protect your people. Your freedom. Your land. Aircraft that can help Ukraine. That can help Europe.
And you also know that they are available. But on land. Not in the Ukrainian sky. They do not protect our people.
“I have a dream” – these words are known to each of you. Today I can say: I have a necessity. The necessity to protect our sky. The necessity for your decision. Your help. And it will mean exactly the same thing. The same thing you feel. When you hear: I have a dream.
Ladies and Gentlemen! Friends!
Ukraine is grateful to the United States for its overwhelming support. For all that your state and your people have already done for our freedom. For weapons and ammunition, for training and funding, for leadership in the free world, which helps put pressure on the aggressor economically.
I am grateful to President Biden for his personal involvement, for his sincere commitment to the defense of Ukraine and democracy around the world.
I am grateful to you for the resolution, which recognizes all those who commit crimes against the Ukrainian people as war criminals.
However, now, in the darkest time for our country, for the whole of Europe, I urge you to do more! New packages of sanctions are needed every week. Until the Russian military machine stops. Restrictions are needed as regards everyone on whom this unjust regime is based.
We offer the United States to impose sanctions against all politicians in the Russian Federation who remain in office and do not sever ties with those responsible for the aggression against Ukraine. From State Duma deputies to the last official who lacks the morale to sever ties with state terror. All American companies must leave Russia, their market. Leave this market flooded with our blood.
Ladies and Gentlemen. Members of Congress!
Take the lead! If you have companies in the constituencies that sponsor the Russian military machine, keeping their business in Russia… You have to put pressure. So that the Russian state does not receive a single dollar, which it spends on the destruction of Ukraine. On the destruction of Europe.
All American ports must be closed to Russian goods and ships. Peace is more important than profit. And we must defend this principle throughout the world together.
We have already become part of the anti-war coalition. The great anti-war coalition, which unites many states, dozens of states. Those who reacted in a principled manner to President Putin’s decision – to Russia’s invasion of our state.
But we have to move on. We have to create new tools. To respond quickly! And stop the war. The full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine began on February 24. And it would be fair if it ended in a day. In 24 hours. So that evil is punished immediately. Today the world does not have such tools.
The wars of the past have prompted our predecessors to create institutions that were supposed to protect us from war. But… They don’t work. We see it. You see it. So, we need new ones. New institutions. New alliances.
And we offer them.
We offer to create an association – U-24. United for peace. A union of responsible states that have the strength and conscience to stop conflicts. Immediately. Provide all necessary assistance in 24 hours. If necessary – weapons. If necessary – sanctions. Humanitarian support. Political support. Funding. Everything necessary to preserve peace quickly. To save lives.
In addition, such an association could provide assistance to those who are experiencing natural disasters, man-made disasters. Who fell victim to a humanitarian crisis or epidemic.
Remember how difficult it was for the world to do the simplest thing – to give everyone vaccines. Vaccines against Covid. To save lives. To prevent new strains. The world spent months and years doing things that could have been done much faster. So that there were no human losses.
Ladies and Gentlemen! Americans!
If such an alliance, the U-24, had already been formed, I believe it would have saved thousands of lives. In our country, many other countries that need peace so crucially, that suffered inhuman destruction… I ask you to watch one video now. Video of what Russian troops did on our land. We have to stop this. We must prevent such things. Preventively destroy every aggressor who seeks to conquer another nation.
Please watch…
And in the end to sum it up.
Today it is not enough to be the leader of the nation.
Today it takes to be the Leader of the world. Being the Leader of the world means to be the Leader of Peace.
Peace in your country does not depend anymore only on you and your people.
It depends on those next to you, on those who are strong.
Strong does not mean big. Strong is brave and ready to fight for the life of his citizens and citizens of the world.
For human rights, for freedom, for the right to live decently and to die when your time comes, not when it is wanted by someone else, by your neighbor.
Today the Ukrainian people are defending not only Ukraine, we are fighting for the values of Europe and the world, sacrificing our lives in the name of the Future.
That’s why today the American people are helping not just Ukraine, but Europe and the world to keep the planet alive, to keep justice in history.
Now I am almost 45 years old. Today my age stopped when the hearts of more than 100 children stopped beating. I see no sense in life if it cannot stop death. And this is my main mission as the Leader of my people – great Ukrainians.
And as the Leader of my nation I am addressing President Biden.
You are the Leader of the nation, of your great nation.
I wish you to be the Leader of the world. Being the Leader of the world means to be the Leader of Peace.
When Speaker Pelosi introduced Zelenskyy, Congress stood as one applauding and cheering. It was a moment I couldn’t believe. Democrat, Independent, and Republican sharing the same emotion. It was odd, and I wasn’t certain how I felt. At an earlier time, I’d have been proud. I would have thought that this was an example of a strong democracy. This morning, I watched the apparent unanimity with skepticism. Two weeks ago, Republicans were parroting the pro Russian opinions Trump was spouting. Three years ago, these same people supported Trump’s attempted blackmailing of Zelenskyy by withholding weapons desperately needed by Ukraine to defend itself.
At the moment, Republicans cheered a genuine hero. Later, they will return to their programs to suppress voting, reinstate sexual oppression of women, ostracize members of the LGBTQ community, and destroy our climate for profit and power. How could they cheer Zelenskyy while disavowing the Insurrection of January 6th and obstructing the resulting investigations?
In the end, I was deeply moved by President Zelenskyy’s words and disgusted by the blatant hypocrisy of the Republicans.
About the Image and Artist The painting of Volodomyr Zelenskyy is by Adam Johnson. Adam told me that he paints to help process what is happening. His portraits are of people who have through their efforts or suffering have advanced our social conscience and the fight for justice. It is quite possible you have seen his dramatic portraits in the news. His image of George Floyd is iconic.
Adam is originally from Minneapolis and attended Ramsey middle-school, now Justice Page, which is in my neighborhood. Adam became a teacher. He described his career, “I taught middle school math (grades 6-8) in the South Bronx from 2010-2015, middle school math and science in LA from 2015-2019, and middle school math and English Language Developed at Hiawatha College Prep Kingfield on 38th and Pleasant for the 2019-2020 year.”
How did he become an artist? He explained, “I loved drawing and painting as a child, but I really grew as an artist when I started painting with my middle school students in the South Bronx twelve years ago. The math curriculum was not engaging students and I was searching for ways to build relationships with them. I started integrating drawing, designing and painting into my lessons and began an after school art club. My students’ self-esteem increased, they fostered new thinking strategies and I noticed an improvement in their sense of identity. We also built strong trusting relationships. I grew as an artist along with my students. I continue to paint with my students and at home in South Minneapolis. Painting is a way for me to express my emotions, beliefs, hopes and fears.”
Adam’s original paintings can be seen and purchased at the Colorwheel Gallery, 46y Street and Grand Avenue, Minneapolis. He is on Etsy and has a website MrJohnsonPaints.com.
