Sherman A1
Sherman A1's JournalRussia's Vietnam: Why an Invasion of Ukraine Would Be a Disaster for Putin
Ukraine is about Putin's Post-Imperial Hangover, not NATO, Biden's 'Weakness,' and So On
A Russian invasion of Ukraine would be a disaster for Russia. It would obviously also be a disaster for the Ukrainian population, but geopolitically it is hard to see how Russian President Vladimir Putin would escape either the international isolation which would ensue, or win the war itself with manageable costs.
The media's coverage of Ukraine has missed this; it has been alarmist and hyperbolic. As in the coverage of the Afghanistan withdrawal last summer, the media again has rehearsed exhausted neoconservative tropes about U.S. 'weakness' and the 'strength' of its autocratic opponents who are apparently bent on no less than global domination. The 'blob' seems particularly dazzled by Putin's strength, tactical brilliance, and so on. Just as predictions last summer that the withdrawal from Afghanistan would bring down the world order, this year's hyperventilating will almost certainly be inaccurate.
NATO Expansion is Not to Blame
One variation on this argument is that had NATO not expanded, Putin would not be pressuring Ukraine and other states around Russia. The Russians read NATO as a threat, and its expansion east is the reason Putin supports gangsters like Alexander Lukashenko, the repressive president of Belarus, or maintains 'frozen conflicts,' as in Georgia, along Russia's perimeter. The story goes that U.S. officials made promises to the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, that the U.S. would not expand the alliance towards Russia's borders.
Whether such promises were made and how binding they were given has long been a point of contention, but this entire line of argument misses the real, geopolitical reason NATO expanded – the huge demand for it in Eastern Europe and its massive advance of Western security and values (200 million people and the economies permanently joining the West). The entire Russian argument, for decades, against NATO expansion is premised on the idea that eastern European states do not enjoy full foreign policy autonomy, that they are within a Russian sphere of influence which gives Moscow some measure of veto privilege over their foreign policy choices, such as external alignment. Accepting this line of reasoning is consonant with neither the moral (liberal) values of democratic states, nor in the national interests of the NATO membership.
https://www.military.com/daily-news/opinions/2022/01/25/russias-vietnam-why-invasion-of-ukraine-would-be-disaster-putin.html
Russian ambassador to meet fishermen over naval exercise concerns
Members of the Irish South and West Fish Producers' Organisation are to attend a meeting in the Russian Embassy in Dublin tomorrow.
The Ambassador of Russia to Ireland H.E. Yuriy Filatov issued the invitation to hear directly the fishermen’s concerns over proposed Russian naval exercises which are planned to take place off the southwest coast early next month.
The delegation of fishermen is expected to highlight the potential harm to fish stocks and cetaceans from the effect of military sonar use and possible disruption from live ammunition drills in the area during the drills.
It is expected that they will also formally request that the planned area for the exercises be relocated further south west into deeper water off the continental shelf.
https://www.rte.ie/news/world/2022/0126/1275945-ambassador-ukraine/
A Tall Man was hospitalized after hitting his head on a
Low bridge…….He said, “I would have been okay, if viaduct.” ……………………
As our thoughts 💭 turn to those of warmer weather & springtime remember
To not tell secrets in the garden 🪴.
The potatoes 🥔 have eyes, the corn 🌽 has ears and the beanstalk…………..
At least 6 reported dead in crush at African Cup soccer game
YAOUNDE, Cameroon (AP) — At least six people died in a crush outside a stadium hosting a game at Africa's top soccer tournament in Cameroon on Monday, a local government official said, realizing fears over the capacity of the Central African country to stage the continent's biggest sports event.
Naseri Paul Biya, the governor of the central region of Cameroon, said there could be more deaths.
“We are not in position to give you the total number of casualties,” he said.
https://krcgtv.com/news/nation-world/at-least-6-reported-dead-in-crush-at-african-cup-soccer-game
China Sends 39 Warplanes Toward Taiwan, Largest in New Year
TAIPEI, Taiwan — China flew 39 warplanes toward Taiwan in its largest such sortie of the new year, amid tensions over the self-ruled island's future and as the U.S. pushes to assert its presence in the region.
The Chinese formation Sunday night included 24 J-16 fighter jets and 10 J-10 jets, among other support and electronic warfare aircraft, according to Taiwan's defense ministry.
Taiwan's air force scrambled its own jets and tracked the People's Liberation Army planes on its air defense radar systems, the ministry said.
The Chinese sortie came as the U.S. military said that two of its carrier strike groups were sailing on Sunday in the South China Sea, led by USS Carl Vinson and USS Abraham Lincoln. They engaged in anti-submarine, air and combat readiness operations.
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2022/01/24/china-sends-39-warplanes-toward-taiwan-largest-new-year.html
FBI looks to help St. Louis-area residents secure things that go boom
The St. Louis office of the FBI and six local bomb squads have launched a week-long effort to get military explosives out of the homes of area residents.
Bomb technicians regularly get calls from residents who find old grenades that a loved one brought home as a souvenir of their time in the military, said Spencer Evans, the interim special agent in charge of the FBI locally. Others purchase shells or explosives at gun shows, thinking they are replicas.
“It really takes someone with specific knowledge and experience and training to be able to identify what is a live device and what is inert,” Evans said. “Some of the fakes are very realistic. When in doubt, give us a call so our folks can come and check it out.”
Last month, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers found three Civil War-era cannonballs while dredging the Mississippi River in south St. Louis. FBI bomb technicians transported them to a local firing range and detonated them safely.
https://news.stlpublicradio.org/law-order/2022-01-24/fbi-looks-to-help-residents-secure-things-that-go-boom
St. Louis Symphony's IN UNISON chorus will commission new work with $40,000 NEA grant
A $40,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts will boost the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s efforts to showcase Black artists.
The organization will use the money to commission a new work that its IN UNISON chorus will perform with the orchestra. The May 6 concert at Powell Hall will be the first time in over a decade that IN UNISON has joined the orchestra for a classical concert.
“It just really broadens our footprint. It kind of expands our exposure with more symphonygoers. It just exposes us to a few more people,” said chorus Director Kevin McBeth.
The IN UNISON chorus focuses on work by African and African American composers. The centerpieces of its season typically include a gospel Christmas performance and a concert celebrating Black History Month.
https://news.stlpublicradio.org/arts/2022-01-23/st-louis-symphonys-in-unison-chorus-will-commission-new-work-with-40-000-nea-grant
As Missouri looks to legalize recreational marijuana, expungement gets renewed attention
The push to legalize recreational marijuana use in Missouri is coming from multiple directions, with a handful of proposed initiative petitions and at least one bill, and potentially more, backed by Republican lawmakers.
Each hopes to place the issue on the 2022 ballot for voter approval.
And each proposal also includes a provision that, while often overlooked in the marijuana debate, is considered a transformative piece of the legalization puzzle — the expungement of nonviolent marijuana offenses from criminal records.
The proposals differ on how they handle expungement.
https://news.stlpublicradio.org/government-politics-issues/2022-01-24/as-missouri-looks-to-legalize-recreational-marijuana-expungement-gets-renewed-attention
On Chess: Making (check)mates
At the University of Missouri, the words “Division 1” don’t only apply to intercollegiate athletic programs, such as football, basketball, soccer and softball — they also apply to the Mizzou Chess Team, which is quickly becoming one of the best collegiate chess programs in the United States.
In 2019, Cristian Chirila, a Romanian chess grandmaster, partnered with the St. Louis Chess Club and launched the Mizzou Chess Team. Though MU’s team has only been competing for a few years, Coach Chirila and his players have already earned an impressive list of accomplishments, not to mention compiled a star-studded team roster.
The team is made up largely of international students, who come from countries such as Slovakia, Russia and India.
https://news.stlpublicradio.org/2022-01-24/on-chess-making-checkmates
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