Shoigu has spent his Sunday phoning up anyone who will listen to his BS story about Ukraine using a 'dirty bomb':
EUROPEAN PRAVDA – SUNDAY, 23 OCTOBER 2022, 17:26
www.pravda.com.ua
But it's reassuring to know they were "professional and respectful" throughout the call. We wouldn't be able to put up with any amateurish or disrespectful behaviour by the Russians now, would we?
Statement on Defence Secretary Ben Wallace's call with the Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.
www.gov.uk
This demonstrates what appears to be delusional thinking on the part of Russia's high command. Shoigu may not believe what he's saying, but Putin seems to think that sending Shoigu out there to tell all the defense ministries in NATO that Ukraine is up to something dastardly is going to sway any governments. It probably would have some takers if it was put on Russian television, but it's not going to convince anyone who knows what's really going on.
Friedman/Chomsky is an eye-opener well worth reading.
Noam Chomsky is a complicated figure, but he has some convoluted views that don't really take into account the ways humans behave. I know some people personally who are like Chomsky. These people believe that if you treat everyone compassionately that the whole world will become a utopia. Quite a few people will react well to compassion, but a sociopath will consider you weak and take advantage of you at every turn. There are a lot of rules in this world that the bulk of the population wouldn't consider breaking, even if there were no rules, but it only takes a few people who would break them because the rule isn't there, or isn't enforced to make everyone's life miserable.
Back in the olden days of the internet I was moderating a listserv (email based forum) and when I took the helm, the rules were pretty loose basically just saying "be nice". But the list had grown quite a bit and the person who ran it before me was very hands off. A group of vigil antes grew up to deal with trolls and it often got ugly. I brought together a handful of other moderators and we had to flesh out the rules. Some vigil antes stepped down, but some others liked the power they had accumulated and fought us. The remaining vigil antes would side with the trolls when they showed up and it got messy for a while.
Things calmed down eventually and some of the vigil antes had to be banned. But bring the forum back to peace was difficult, though greatly appreciated by those who hung on through the turmoil.
This is just one corner of the internet where the stakes are extremely low. When there is any kind of real world power involved, and especially money, the hard core sociopaths are attracted like moths to a flame. Russia today is run by them. Not just Putin, but most of the people around him.
I only scanned the interview because I don't have time to watch the whole thing, but in response to one question about what the US should do about the war Chomsky says we need to support Ukraine since they were attacked, but then vaguely goes on to talk about finding a solution to the war to stop the bloodshed as quickly as possible. When dealing with a cornered sociopath like Putin, the only way to get him to stop the war would be to give him everything he demands and then he'll be back for more in a few years. It's the nature of the kind of beast we're dealing with.
Putin is an expansionist dictator. There are no appeasing these kinds of people. The only solution is to make it physically impossible to expand: take away their army. That's messy, gets a lot of people killed on both sides, costs money, and takes time. There is no option for a negotiated settlement until Russia is physically incapable of fighting anymore. It's like the Black Knight fight in Month Python and the Holy Grail. No matter how much damage you do, the knight is going to think he is still in the fight. The only option is to disable him and leave him behind.
People like Chomsky just don't grok the Psychology of people like Putin and that leads to a flawed philosophy.
Article on Wikipedia of Chomsky's political views
Political positions of Noam Chomsky - Wikipedia
There is a reason he's a political radical. His views are not very workable in the real world.
The outcome of the war might be determined by whether the US or Russia first loses the will to continue. I don't know which it will be. Mutiny in the Russian army is exactly what's needed, although Putin undoubtedly also understands the danger and will take steps.
(Hopefully future statements by soldiers who mutiny will say something more resonating than complaining about the guitar they were given.)
The US people are behind supporting Ukraine and one party is too. Putin is holding out hoping the Midterms go his way and his allies take control of Congress, which could happen.
Life during wartime in Kherson. This video brings to life the human aspect of the war. IMO this is a must watch, especially for people who think appeasing Russia is the solution and for people who don't understand why the Ukrainian government reacted so strongly against suggestions of appeasement.
Russia seems to be doing its best to create a generation of Ukrainians who hate Russia and who will forever see them as the enemy.
The Russian leadership is blind to the Psychology of the Ukrainian people and keep repeating what they have done since Moskova was a Mongol puppet. Terror tactics and submission from those tactics is all they know.
amp-theguardian-com.cdn.ampproject.org
cornucopia.se
ca.news.yahoo.com
