Corporate Media Uses Hyperlinks To Confuse, Not To Clarify

 

If anyone wishes to argue with me that establishment media is NOT beyond abysmal and that many independent journalists are NOT doing vastly superior work, I offer this example, one of many, as exhibit A: https://www.forbes.com/sites/oliviaenos/2022/04/04/ms-bachelet---dont-go-to-xinjiang/?sh=a4e993c14d3e

There is no reason to subject yourself to the painfully obvious propaganda that is the article, I ask you only to focus on the first sentence of the fourth paragraph: “These horrific realities are very well-documented, yet the High Commissioner will see none of it on her visit to Xinjiang.” The words “well-documented” are underlined and in blue, meaning it is a hyperlink. One would think it would be a hyperlink to what it actually suggests, well-documented evidence of HORRIFIC REALITIES! Click on it. Go ahead, click on it.

It takes you to a blog post from the Heritage Foundation website. Look them up if you don’t know who they are. Suffice it for me to say they are not a source you should consider when you want reliable, unbiased information. But forget the source, even that doesn’t matter. The link takes you to a blog post titled “China Transparency Report”.

I thought the issue was a genocide of an ethnic minority. The Forbes article mentions “ongoing crimes against the Uyghurs”, talks about “China’s mounting atrocity crimes against Uyghurs” and “ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity”. “Today, an estimated 1.8 million to 3 million Uyghurs are held in political reeducation camps.” Imagine having that kind of build-up, and clicking on a link promising that “These horrific realities are very well-documented”, only to see the title “China Transparency Report”.

Yeah, I read it. Not many people read the links provided by mainstream media. You should, because even if you trust mainstream corporate media (you shouldn’t), you should trust but verify. But I read the China Transparency Report and it didn’t mention Uyghurs once. Nor the Xinjiang province. Nor crimes against humanity. Nor genocide. It is at this point where a rational person begins to believe that something irrational is unfolding.

There was, however, this hyperlink at the bottom of the blog post:

This is one step further than anyone would expect an honest source to ask of readers in search of truth. Any earnest and experienced searcher of truth would start thinking their chain was being yanked. But someone trying to prove a point, such as myself, would be willing to push that button and waste his time in order to prove exactly how useless establishment journalism is in providing people with useful information.

So I clicked it, confident at this point that I would not find any supporting evidence. I clicked it, knowing that I would have to concentrate very hard on a stream of nonsense in order to prove to others just how vapid the reporting of mainstream media really was.

Click.

You’ll have to concentrate on the upper right hand part of the screen. I tried to use the Snip And Sketch program in order to show you the warning I received, but the warnings disappeared when I tried it. It says “File Not Downloaded, Potential Security Risk”.

You’ll forgive me if I do not investigate further, I believe I’ve made my point to those willing to consider it, whereas no matter how far down I dig I will never make my point to those set in their beliefs. If anyone would care to do the download despite the warning, please let me know if you have found any “well documented” “horrific realities”. I do not hold out any great hope that such evidence is forthcoming. One does not light a lamp only to put it under a blanket.

Keep in mind that this is not my first rodeo and this if not the first time I have followed link after link without finding any substance to what is presented me. Rather, I find only obfuscation and — pardon the term — bullshit. Here is my attempt to dig down and find sources using the provided hyperlinks on the Uyghur Muslim assertions in the Guardian. Here is another article that not only has hyperlinks that do not mention what the headline promises, the article itself does not even mention Russia or Russians. Although it is a lot of work on my part, I promise to bring you more evidence on this subject in the future. I come across it all the time and you will too once you stop making the assumptions that their hyperlinks will always lead you to actual evidence.

This isn’t an accident. This is not an anomaly or a “whoopsie”. This is happening all the time at the most respected journalistic institutions. This is the media showing their contempt for their readers by asserting or promising what it does not deliver. And, might I emphasize, getting away with it. You are letting them get away with it because you trust them even though they are time and again proving themselves untrustworthy. This, my friend, is on you, as it is on me, as it is on all of us. We need to hold the media up to basic standards and we need to hold people accountable when they fail to meet basic journalistic standards. This will not be a small task.

This is journalism in the 21st Century. Don’t ask me to explain it — it is not rational — but please allow me to point out its many failings. This is simply me, a metal fabricator, pointing out what is wrong with establishment media. I welcome any contrary views from those who have a better understanding than myself. I only ask of you not to yank my chain, as establishment media has time and again done. Be honest, be open, be critical, but do not provide me links to evidence that does not reinforce your claims.

 

If you liked what I write enough to support me, you can buy me a coffee. If you liked it but don't have a credit card handy, please share. Also, follow me on Twitter or Facebook, sign up for my newsletter, or check me out on Amazon.

 

A Dream Of A Ridiculous Man (With Apologies To Dostoyevski)

 

This may sound crazy to you, but I believe we are ripe for a paradigm shift the likes of which the human race has scarcely ever seen. A paradigm shift the likes of which, after it has taken hold, will completely alter our priorities, rendering worthless most of what we now hold dear.

I say this because the Earth can no longer sustain a warlike species capable of creating planet-destroying weapons. I say it because our planet cannot much longer continue to supply a species that is unceasingly ravenous, gluttonous, and wasteful. I say we are about to make what seems like a once in a millennium paradigm shift because that is what appears to be necessary, and I am optimistic enough to say it is going to happen. Don’t get me wrong, I believe the odds are stacked against us, but I am an optimistic person. Why be optimistic when being realistic is much more, well, realistic? It is because I think we need a little optimism to get us started. When you’re facing great odds in a struggle for survival, being realistic is merely weighing the odds in order to be right, rather than victorious. Truth be told, when it comes down to it, I don’t think there is such a thing as being realistic. Deep down you’re either an optimist or a pessimist, and you approach life from one position or the other.

I say that we are about to undergo a radical paradigm shift because Leo Tolstoy already envisioned it and explained how it would take place well over a century ago (see excerpt in comments).

I say it because the way has been pointed out by visionaries and prophets for over three thousand years. The fingers of Jesus Christ, Lao Tzu, Plato, and many others have been pointing the way. Though they may have been considered radical in their day, it is pointless to believe them radical today.

I say it because the 1960’s were an early tremor indicating what is to come, a warning tremor so intense in itself that it nearly toppled existing paradigms. As it was, the ‘60’s created unseen cracks in the foundations of the existing structures and showed just how vulnerable they are.

I say it because it is so obvious that change is coming that only those capable of living a life of delusion are able to deny it. People want it, which is understandable. People fear it, which is also understandable. It is frightening, just as the prospect of walking is frightening to a toddler and riding a bike is frightening to a kindergartner. But change that cannot be avoided must be embraced, and change in this instance cannot be avoided.

I say a radical paradigm shift is happening because I feel the switch has already been flipped on in me. I really don’t feel it is my obligation to support endless war and exploitation against other nations or endless war and exploitation against the earth itself. I say it because I’ve seen it switch on in so many others, and because I see so many others awakening. We are quite willing to stand alone if need be, but we are not alone.

I see the change. They say “buy this” and we say “no”. They say “believe this” and it induces laughter in us. Not a cruel laughter, but a pure and rejuvenating laughter. They say “obey us”, and we use the entirety of our humanity to resist or sidestep their alleged authority. They have the law on their side, but there is a greater weapon we can draw upon, the sympathy of the masses who yet recognize timeless values such as justice and fairness, despite all of their indoctrination. We know they fear us as we once feared them.

“Madness”, you might say. “The mutterings of conspiracy theorists who live within their deranged fantasies. Who or what is this cabal, this star chamber, this alleged but secret group of lizard people or illuminati that controls the world behind an impenetrable curtain?” It is no deep mystery, they are not hidden, nor do they even bother to hide their plans or their motivations. They are simply those who believe the world should be run through domination and subjugation of others, all those who cling to primitive beliefs and attitudes and practices that even 3,000 years ago were seen through by the wise. They belong to no one race, or culture, or gender, or nation, or religion. They are those who use race, culture, gender, nationality, and religion to divide us and thus subjugate us.

We are a dangerous group to those who wish to continue to rule through power and propaganda, because we realize the importance of our cause. There is nothing more worth living for. We cannot live for our progeny, for they are bound up in this. We cannot help but know what we are damning them too should we forsake this transition for the sake of giving them a better position aboard a sinking ship. Nor can we live for our own creature comforts, knowing that the truth will eat into our subconscious minds, allowing us to derive no pleasure from our attempts of escape through denial. Our generation will not pass without witnessing a world of robot dogs and climate breakdown. Our delusions, we feel if not admit, will not endure.

Is it too late? Perhaps. No individual can know his own future, let alone can he predict humanity’s. It is merely our job to awaken, to cease to support that which is killing our planet, our species, and everything we hold dear, and to begin to act according to a higher law, a law of conscience rather than obedience, of faith instead of fear, of mutual assistance rather than competition.

Capitalistic Endeavors Always Start Out Promising, Then They Give You Honey Boo Boo

 

Capitalism always starts off good. Just like that incident in the Garden Of Eden started with the serpent offering a tasty treat. Seriously, though, I can’t count the many times I’ve encountered a new idea that has hit the market and I’ve thought to myself: “Man, I am lucky to be living in the era and country that I am”. I believe capitalism may just well be the best system for generating innovation.

The problem is, the honeymoon always ends and you realize she was only in it for the money the whole time. What am I talking about? I’m talking about MTV, which started out as a way for unknown musicians to make a cheap but innovative video and have it connect with fans. Then Michael Jackson put out the first million dollar video and changed the whole scene from small-time bands finding an audience to a bigtime star investing money to make money. Was Thriller a good video and a good song. Yeah, but the price paid by all the small-time artists who could not compete wasn’t worth it. And that was just the start. Take a look at MTV today. It still exists, right? Hear any good new artists lately?

Or look at the music industry as a whole. From 1964 to 1967, rock and roll went from I Want To Hold Your Hand to Tomorrow Never Knows, Sunshine Of Your Love, Are You Experienced?, and See Emily Play. An amazing leap of innovation and exploration by an industry that wasn’t yet sure what it was doing. But then the suits took over and maximized profit by replacing risk-taking with marketing. The result was more superstars and less good music. Correct me if I’m wrong.

MTV wasn’t the only TV station that went down the toilet. Once upon a time the History Channel had interesting and informative history programs on it. Once upon a time A&E actually had real arts programming on it. Hell, before striking it rich with Honey Boo Boo, TLC was known as The Learning Channel.

This life-cycle can be seen everywhere you have a good idea reach a certain measure of success. YouTube, which was once watchable, now has a commercial (or two) before and within most every video you watch. But much worse than that, they have manipulated their algorithms so that you no longer find what you want to see so much as what they want to show you. And like everything else from Netflix to Hulu, they constantly feed you their preferred next choice rather than waiting for you to choose what you want to watch. What once was the servant soon becomes the master.

The problem is that innovation which leads to success soon becomes business. And I’m not against people who are successful making a buck, don’t get me wrong. The problem begins when those who are not successful in anything other than turning a profit notice the success of artists and entrepreneurs, see an opportunity to make a buck, and soon have the people who have created something that resonates with others working for them.

Small capitalists are, to a large degree, people who want to do what they enjoy and hope others will appreciate what they do. Or else they are people who are willing to work hard in order to meet the needs of others. Not all of them succeed, and they pay the price for their failures. But those who do succeed, to a large degree encounter the profiteers who have no interest in their vision or in serving others but simply see a way of maximizing short term profit. I’m often shocked that those who call themselves small businessmen do not see the difference between the two.

I do not propose to you any clear-cut solution to the problem of corporate capitalists, but perhaps pointing out the difference between those with genuine creativity and willingness to work hard and those who only wish to spend a buck to make seven might prove useful. There is a life cycle to capitalism, one phase being where innovation is allowed to prosper, and another where rot sets in. If I can help you to realize the difference, I feel I have done something useful, just as the lady at the grocery the other day helped me to pick out the best peaches. But really, the best advice is universal: give it the smell test and watch out for maggots.

Our Newfound Love For Censorship

 Written a year ago today and sadly even more appropriate:

A bit of advice: If you pull out a weapon to beat your enemy with, a weapon you are unfamiliar with that feels awkward in your hands, don’t be surprised if your enemy takes if from you and beats your ass with it.

 

Another piece of advice: If you’re starting a fight with the people to the right of you, don’t start clubbing people on your left, too. It puts you in a very exposed position.

 

This is advice the Democratic Party would do well to heed. The weapon in this case is censorship, and they are using it to bash those both on their right and their left. They may think they have control over the weapon, but I can’t help feeling they have a surprise in store.

 

Of course, the Democrats aren’t actually wielding the weapon themselves, they’ve called upon thugs (AKA the intelligence agencies and NATO-related think tanks) to deliver the beatings, thugs already inclined to do what the Democrats are asking them to do. 

 

What the hell are the Democrats thinking? That’s like making a deal with the mafia in order to get rid of some local street punk (AKA Donald Trump). It’s like being a black man calling the police to settle an argument with his white neighbor. In the South. In the 50’s. Do they really think the people providing arms to ISIS and Al Qaeda are on their side? Do they think the United Arab Emirates, a million dollar donor to the Atlantic Council (the ones who get to decide who gets censored) cares about women’s rights? Do they think Burisma, the Ukranian energy company that hired Hunter Biden and another major contributor to the Atlantic Council, is interested in open and honest government? Do they think BP and Chevron (also major AC donors) are interested in protecting legitimate climate change science? Do they think the CIA is interested in protecting transgendered people from being bullied online? Democrats have unsheathed a weapon that is too heavy for them to control. And they just haven’t gotten it through their thick skulls yet.

 

But the time will come when their thick skulls will be bludgeoned by the same weapon they foolishly imagined would protect them. And though I and many others on the left will speak up in their defense when that day comes, we will by that time have no platform upon which we can voice our support for those who are being censored. On that day they will learn in earnest the lesson Martin Niemöller sought to teach the world not all that long ago.

 

But for the moment voices are daily being suppressed while many who once wore F*CK CENSORSHIP T-shirts embrace and excuse it. As long as they can still listen to NWA, they still feel like they’re standing for something. Because only censorship can save us from being corrupted by the sight of Bernie Sanders in a speedo. Only censorship can save us from a hillbilly uprising. Only censorship can save us from the anti-vaxxers and the anti-maskers. Only censorship can save us from bad-faith actors and those who just don’t know enough to not argue with the benevolent individuals who sit above us and whose goal it is to make life better for all of us. 

 

I remember a decade ago—how very long ago it does seem and how very different a world—when the most immediate concern for a Wisconsinite such as myself was our Republican Governor who was dismantling the political environment as we knew it. At one point, a certain section of the University of Wisconsin’s “The Wisconsin Idea” was omitted, the Walker administration would say accidentally. The words read “In all lines of academic investigation it is of the utmost importance that the investigator should be absolutely free to follow the indications of truth wherever they may lead. Whatever may be the limitations which trammel inquiry elsewhere we believe the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.” A decade ago I feared that idea’s greatest threat was from the right. 

 

Funny how we could tolerate nearly 60 years of JFK conspiracy theories and 20 years of 9/11 theories, only to come undone over some anti-vaxxers, some puppy pictures on Facebook, and some accusations of a rigged election. You’ll recall that JFK conspiracy theorists were not merely claiming that the election was rigged but that a president was murdered. And yet nobody attempted to silence them. What is different now? Perhaps it is that the lies have become too big and too many to be propped up in any other way than by shutting down open communication.

 

Or maybe censorship and unelected government agencies are just what our democracy needs.

The Voices Of Individuals Are Being Silenced, The Voice Of The Machine Reigns Supreme

I woke up this morning thinking I must write like the world depended on it. Because it does. I truly believe the pen is mightier than the sword, that thoughtful words intent on peace can end wars. The war machine knows this too, which is why it has its claws deeply embedded into corporate media. Never will you hear the words of peace uttered in the media, seldom if ever will you hear the names of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, or Jesus Christ mentioned. What voices for peace that once existed in corporate media have long since been banished. The corporate press has so lost itself in its role of cheerleader for war that the only time they now question government spokespersons is to ask why the United States is not instituting a no-fly zone in Ukraine, a measure likely to open the floodgates to nuclear Armageddon. I write like the world depends on it, because all nuance and perspective have been stripped from the official narrative. To dare to provide context, to point out just how completely the corporate media are failing at their jobs, is to invite the label of Putin puppet. I tell myself to write like the world depended on it because otherwise the urge to keep quiet and go along would overwhelm me. Because the power of group-think is immense and I do not wish to cause undue trouble or concern to friends and loved ones. I want my life to be a normal one, filled with the simple pleasures life provides. I’ve never been the type to draw attention to myself. I like to think I am not one who is addicted to drama, does not like to cause scenes, or make enemies. Believe me when I tell you I have other things I would rather be doing if I did not feel the world depended on me not being silent. There are many books by great thinkers and storytellers that I have not yet opened. The desire to keep quiet is great. The more the official narrative attains unanimity, the harder it is to speak of anything that is not officially sanctioned, to speak any thought that is my own and not merely repeated from the media. The urge to not simply silence my voice but silence my inner voice as well is hard to resist. To bow to the supposed greater knowledge and wisdom of those in places of power would be such an easing of that weight that is on my mind. It is greatly to be wished. But when I turn on the media I realize how impossible that is for me to do. To spend thirty seconds watching any mainstream media outlet is to do damage to my mind, my emotional state of wellbeing, my soul, and my artistic sensibility. Their sense of proportionality is utterly lacking, so that the speck in another’s eye is amplified while the moat in their own is ignored. Their desire to dig deeper into issues is absent, their grasp of the subject matter does not extend beyond talking points, their lack of concern for the lives that are ruined by what they are pushing lacks humanity, their inability to speak to spiritual matters betrays their soullessness. I had this feeling decades ago when I watched the FOX News channel, but now it has spread everywhere. Where once conservative Sean Hannity was forced to argue with liberal Alan Colmes, now there is no challenge to his pronouncements. And so it goes across the spectrum, each personality speaking to an audience that is not challenged to think, each personality in their own way spouting the official narrative with a local vernacular that appeals to their particular audience. The voices of the talking heads speak not merely with authority but with a demand for compliance. To doubt the media nowadays is to doubt the pronouncements of the church in centuries past. To doubt the information coming from anonymous sources within intelligence agencies is to doubt the proclamations of the king. The term excommunicated has been replaced with the term cancelled, but the effects of such an edict can still ruin careers and end in censorship. I feel the call for uniformity more strongly now than I ever have in my entire life. During the time of 9/11 and the Iraq War, there was still a feeling of party differences, where one could oppose the actions of an administration and still feel part of the political party not in charge. But now the calls for conformity are coming from within the party I once considered my own, and they are not simply calls but shrieks. I write like the world depends on it, not because I hold any particular insight or knowledge that the world needs to hear but because I know the voice of the individual and the outsider still needs to be heard. The lies and even the truths of those not annointed by the establishment press and the establishment political parties are being silenced, while the lies of the establishment are amplified even when incontrovertible evidence to the contrary is easily obtained. I write like the world depends on it, because I believe each of us speaking from the truth that is inside of us will shape the world towards beauty and truth far more than us conforming ourselves to work within a machine that seeks to steamroller all unapproved and dissenting voices. I write like the world depends on it, not because I believe there is greatness in what I say, but from my belief that people communicating openly and without coercion can together achieve greatness. The narrative by which we all now live our lives is one that is being written not by people motivated by their own inner ideas, but by those willing to serve the machine. And while the machine rewards those who provide value to it, the machine has an agenda of its own. It will squash everything in its path that does not provide it value. Every living thing on this planet is now in its path. I write like the world depends on it because my voice is a human voice. For all its flaws and shortcomings it is a voice of an individual in a world filled with the sound of machinery and conformity. Too many of us only see our value in terms of how we can serve the machine, too few of us willing to ask if the machine serves humanity or the long-term viability of life on Earth.

The Carpenter Who Never Fixed But Only Destroyed

 

There was a sad and decrepit carpenter who saw a crisis looming in every house on his block. He informed one neighbor that his front porch was in danger of collapsing and that he was just the person who could fix it. The neighbor was alarmed because he knew little of such matters, and so he trusted the carpenter to take care of his front porch.

 That very day, truckfuls of material were delivered and the carpenter and a large crew of helpers immediately got to work. With sledgehammers and jackhammers they went at it, instantly demolishing the front porch, along with a bit of the front wall of the house (it seems there was some dry rot there as well). In no time at all what once was a front porch was now a pile of rubble.

 But after that, things went more slowly. And soon the owner of the house with the demolished porch discovered that the carpenter was spending all his time talking his neighbors into getting their houses fixed instead of keeping an eye on the few workers who were still on the job around the clock and yet didn’t seem to fix anything.

 After landing a job replacing someone’s garage, the carpenter moved even these few workers off the job and moved them all on to the next one. Again, in no time at all, the crew demolished the garage to nothing more than a pile of rubble. But after this was accomplished, along with a little collateral damage caused to the next-door neighbor’s tree (which was in the way of the wrecking ball they brought in), the promised improvements were slow to be delivered. In fact, things were much worse than they were, because while the garage the man once had was far from perfect, at least he could park his car in it. Now, men with expensive equipment stood around as if nobody had told them what the job was they were sent to accomplish. And then one day, the little carpenter ceased to appear at the job site at all, leaving behind a small contingent of hired hands who did little to nothing to make things better.

 And so it went, the little carpenter time and again warned people of the imminent danger they faced should they not place all their faith in him and allow him to use all the force necessary to fix the problem.

 Soon, half the houses in the neighborhood had piles of rubble where imperfect but serviceable edifices once stood. Many people were forced to leave their homes because they could no longer live there. And yet the little carpenter continued to convince people that he and only he could save the neighborhood from the looming disasters that no one really noticed until he gave them a good thorough investigation.

 Never once did the carpenter fix a house the way he said he was going to, although the prosperity he brought to himself and his partners was incontestable. Yet never once did anyone in the neighborhood seriously question him about the terrible work he was doing, for as soon as the subject was broached, a new catastrophe was discovered which needed the focus and attention of everyone if they did not want property values in the neighborhood to plummet.

 The moral of the story goes, if the word “moral” can be used regarding such a story, is that if you are a horrible carpenter that can only destroy and never improve, you better have one hell of a public relations firm to back you up.

Analysis And Conjecture Regarding The Ukraine Crisis

 

 Like everyone else, I am not privy to the plans of Vladimir Putin, nor am I able to guess his endgame. But unlike many, I’m unwilling to just accept the explanations given to me by the experts within the intelligence agencies, knowing they have an agenda and secrets of their own. For God’s sake, they won’t even tell us what they know about the Kennedy assassination yet, let alone provide any evidence for their assertions regarding current events. With that thought in mind, I decided to perform a brief little analysis of the facts as I know them, along with a little conjecture.

 Some view Vladimir Putin as John Wayne, others as Adolph Hitler, but in either case we’re talking about someone who’s not afraid to state his true ambitions. And he stated quite openly on more than one occasion that his desire is to change the unipolar world in which we’re living into a multi-polar one. In other words, and I think having lived in Russia that Putin would see this more clearly than others, the direction of the world for the last three decades has been dictated by the United States. You can argue whether or not it has gone in a positive direction, but it’s hard to argue that any other nation has been at the helm.

 This can perhaps be seen most clearly in The Project For The New American Century, a think tank dedicated to the idea that the United States must not merely lead the world, it must also do so with a robust military in case anyone should object. Their defining moment was the Iraq War. Embracing America’s right to not only lead the world but do so militarily was played out during the Bush Administration, which was heavily stacked with members of The Project (which we shall hereafter refer to as PNAC).

 With Iraq in 2003, as was the case in NATO’s attack on Serbia in 1999, Russia was in no position to dispute these military incursions, though they surely did not sit well. Russia did what any weak country would do with such an option, it acquiesced to the greater power while stating its concerns.

 As Russia watched the military might of the United States extend itself around the globe, it also watched as NATO, the military alliance directed by the United States, reached further and further towards Russia, until it abutted its borders.

 It is said the Russian soul is a patient one. Perhaps it is the very vastness of the country itself that has shown its people the wisdom of ceding territory until the enemy has overextended itself. I’m not sure if Putin saw the United States as an enemy the way we so often throw the word “enemy” around when referring to countries that pose obstacles to our interests, but he must have clearly seen the direction the United States was heading and its intent as laid out by PNAC. With the fall of the Soviet Union, there was no countervailing force that could stand in the way of the United States shaping the next two decades.

 It's pretty easy to spot the overall intentions of PNAC, but their individual priorities can sometimes be hard to discern. Evidently, Ukraine was an essential piece of the puzzle, as PNAC founder Robert Kagan’s wife, Victoria Nuland, was put in charge of operations there. Type in “F*ck The EU” and you can listen to her explaining who the United States would choose to lead the country after the democratically elected president would be deposed in the kind of inserrection that would make January 6^th look like a Downton Abbey tea party. In the audio, she clearly says Joe Biden was overseeing the project. Oddly enough, nobody in the U.S. government or media likes to make mention of that.

 I’m not sure exactly why Ukraine seems to be such an essential part of the puzzle regarding Russia. Perhaps it is merely the capstone that would finish off the Western encirclement of Russia, which already included recently added Poland, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. Perhaps it is that once one becomes a serious collector there is always a need to add one more to what you possess. Perhaps it is that Russia and Ukraine are so intimately tied to each other that it’s hard to tell the difference between the history of one or the other. While I cannot provide an authoritive explanation, suffice it to say that both Russia and the United States see it as a critical square on the chessboard.

 Why did Putin decide to make this rather bold move now? Perhaps he had long ago drawn a red line in his own mind which he vowed never to permit the United States to cross. Perhaps, patient though he may be, he realized that he would soon reach an age where he would no longer be vital enough to rise to a crisis and thought he better deal with this long planned-for confrontation before he reached the point Biden is at now.

 Or perhaps he sees the moment as supremely advantageous. Perhaps he sees weakness in the United States and its hold over its allies that is not quite so obvious to the rest of us. He is, after all, not unaware of the costs that Russia will have to pay in the foreseeable future. The U.S. will throw every possible sanction at Russia and twist every arm of every ally to make sure they follow suit. Whatever you think of Putin, he is not stupid, and he did not make this bold move lightly.

 Putin does have certain advantages. The propaganda ploys of the Russians are crude, but they are for the most part not divisive, unlike the sophisticated propaganda the U.S. uses on its people. The Russian people are more or less united, whereas the propaganda employed by the United States divides the people in order to conquer by making them hate each other according to which political party they support. It is hard to think of a time when the American public was so divided, so unable to agree on any single issue. And so willing to take to the streets in protest on either side of the political divide.

 Putin knows, too, that his people have not forgotten the history of the last world war. They know of the tremendous sacrifices and the tremendous victory achieved by the Russians and others that were part of the Soviet Union’s Great Patriotic War, though the West has seemed to all but block any memory of it from their minds. Whether it be through propaganda or a genuine grasp of the situation, the Russian people have a sense of impending danger from the West, and they have the memories of great deeds and sacrifice that will permit them to endure things like slightly higher prices on produce or car parts.

 It's hard to see the American people uniting behind a great patriotic war fought thousands of miles from home, especially if they’re paying more for gas as a result. Consider the fact that in the best of times and with some of the world’s lowest gas prices, paying a few more cents at the pump can drive the typical American to vent rage at whatever political party holds office.

 I have no way of knowing what gave Putin the confidence to back independence for the breakaway Ukrainian regions. Perhaps in meeting with individual NATO members he has assessed a certain reluctance among one or more of them to always toe the Washington line on things. Perhaps Germany, already forced to take in vast numbers of immigrants that are fleeing from America’s wars of choice, now feels doubly burdened by the idea of having to rely on more expensive and perhaps less reliable gas supplies from the U.S. when they have spent a considerable amount of energy and time making Nord Stream 2 a reality.

 China is another unknown factor, and when I say unknown I mean to myself, at least. One would have to assume that Putin has a degree of confidence that China is to be relied upon in the days to come when the West will do its best to isolate and ostracize Russia into submission. Russia and China must share some important objective in order for Putin to push forward on the offensive.

 The biggest question to my mind is how Putin expects to resolve the crisis he has clearly had a hand in creating. At what point does he feel he is ready to come to the negotiating table? And perhaps more importantly, with whom does he negotiate.? Not to be rude, but I cannot see Vladimir Putin and Sergey Lavrov sitting down to negotiate terms with Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, or Antony Blinken.

 Quite frankly, these are not serious people. One cannot hope to get serious commitments from people incapable of talking intelligently. They are, all of them, geared for 30-second sound bites rather than hammering out very serious and very involved discussions and meaningful commitments. No offense intended, but if I were to conduct a transaction at a convenience store and any one of them were the person in charge of the cash register, I would count my money before walking away from the counter.

 Perhaps, in the end, Russia will insist that Victoria Nuland come to the table to negotiate. Or perhaps she will be one of the bargaining chips Putin insists must be sacrificed in order to make the deal acceptable. Or perhaps those truly responsible for our foreign policy will be forced to reveal themselves. From them only can ever come assurances that can be relied upon. The rest is spectacle. The vast majority of American voters may believe they know who runs our country, but Vladimir Putin knows there is little to no difference between the administrations he deals with.

 At the bear minimum, Putin and others in Russia are aware of something that the U.S. media will never permit the average American to know. I ask these questions and speculate in order that I might get the input and enlightenment of others. Make no mistake, I am frightened by the situation we are now in, have blame to share for all parties, but I am only slightly more frightened by the events of the last day or two than I was before. Anyone who’s been paying attention knows the situation’s long been coming to a head.

 Whatever comes of this, we need to work towards a world where our leaders do not have the power to put the lives of all of us and the life of the planet at risk every time they feel the need to assert power. We need to build systems where ordinary people have more say in how their governments run and that give less power to the kind of sociopaths that tend to find their way to positions of power. And we must do whatever it takes to limit the kinds of weapons they are permitted to play with.