I’d suggest we keep an eye on Russian (with Armenia as proxy) moves against Azerbaijan.
Turkey and Israel have an enormous lot of work cut out for themselves and their friends/allies in the Middle East over the remainder of the Biden–Malley regime. They’d best be quick about solidifying their relations, because they’re going to need one another.
So let’s see now:
According to the Reuters report above, Iran is vehemently against Israel helping the Kurds to pipe oil to Europe via Turkey.
Which jibes rather “nicely” with “Biden”‘s decision to scupper the Israel-Cyprus-Greece plan to pipe natural gas to Europe from their offshore natural gas fields in the Mediterranean.
But then “Biden” and Iran are on the same page and have been since 2009 (albeit with a “most unfortunate” four-year interruption due to the rudeness, crassness and belligerence of the dishonorable Orange-Man-Bad—who can’t even honor deals that give away the store and, besides, aren’t even real deals).
IOW, it’s merely a case of two allies (“Biden” and Iran) coordinating policy.
To be sure, one should also add Russia to this (Tripartite?) alliance, since clearly—until the optics became too bizarre to sustain—“Biden”‘s position was that only Russia is authorized to pipe oil and gas to Europe.
“Biden”, Russia and Iran.
Sounds about right (even if it doesn’t sound right—but that was then and this…was also then(!) as well as now—IOW the “not-so-new normal”)…
…To the extent that even this particular joker (though no doubt “well-meaning”) has found it impossible to continue the American-Iran “negotiating” team charade… https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/324846
Blinken is walking a tightrope here and anyone who trusts him (i.e., “Biden”) is going to find themselves up the creek without a paddle…but hey! what’s the alternative??—so make those boilerplate declarations and smile away!!
So the parrot is parroting some dialog, but that whistling is amazing. At first I thought it was a human or the cameraman doing the whistling but it seems the beak movements are well synchronized with it.
Brandon, and Iran, and Russia.
Lions (lyin), and Tigers, and Bears. Oh, my! We aren’t in Kansas any more, Toto.
Nor is Kamala standing in for Glenda.
TommyJay,
That parrot has nothing on this lyrebird. 20 different bird species, camera shutters, camera motors, car alarms, chainsaws… https://youtu.be/mSB71jNq-yQ
So if you look at Youtube, its overwhelmingly the Ukrainian armed forces and apparently some international volunteers kicking the Russian’s ass, with pictured wholesale destruction/capture of Russian tanks, APCs, missile systems, and specialized electronic warfare units, disruption of Russian supplies and supply lines, capture, repair, and repurposing of Russian tanks, ammunition, and other supplies, many shot down Russian fighters and helicopters, 10-15,000 Russian soldiers killed, more than a half dozen Russian general and other high ranking officers killed, Russian troop’s morale is shot–they’re without the right or sufficient equipment and rations so–just walking away, and leaving their tanks and APCs behind, and some fragging officers, plus one or more major Russian Naval ships hit, etc.
Look at other sources, and it’s the Russians who are kicking ass, and the much smaller Ukrainian military force which is being ground down by Russian’s superior numbers and firepower, and the Russian’s attempted advance on Kyiv was just a distraction, to draw Ukrainian forces and attention there, and not towards their vital coastal region.
So, which is the truer picture?
P.S.–One “Russia is winning” analysis made the interesting point that you see no on the ground reports from western journalists, and it seems as if none are apparently embedded with Ukrainian forces.
It’s not just YouTube vs “other” sources. Look at the history and bias of each source that’s reporting, and who they rely on for information.
Russia has gone so far as to criminalize reporting “misinformation” on its handling of the war. In other words, disagree with the government on this and you can go to jail for many years. Even before that, it was clear that Russian sources are highly highly suspect.
And whatever source you have there that says Russia is winning and that there are no Western embeds with Ukraine forces, apparently they didn’t do a simple internet search. I did, and immediately found this one from Radio Free Europe and France24 reporters as well.
I agree that one must be wary of all reports, however.
Well, and the Fox contractors who were killed outside Kyiv, and the American who was airlifted out.
Rufus,
Birds sounding like other birds is one thing, but those camera shutter + motordrive and chainsaw sounds are off-the-charts.
om–Then, there is this–https://redstate.com/streiff/2022/03/29/russia-calling-100000-reservists-to-active-duty-and-moving-wagner-group-from-syria-to-deal-with-ukraine-manpower-crunch-n542494
A quick press core photographer got a shot of Biden’s press conference crib sheet yesterday. Amazing.
I saw that earlier today. Best laid plans of Vlad go agley?
There had been “reports” of Vlad trying to bring in Syrians to fight the Ukrainians. True or false? Who knows.
The various ‘talking’ birds can be just amazing, but they do have limitations as to what sounds they can make. My friend’s bird could not make the initial ‘J’ sound of her name and would call out ‘Yoyce, Yoyce!’ when he wanted her attention. M’s become a drawn out N.
It’s scary though, how much profanity they can master…
African Greys are genuinely spooky birds.
Not in a cute way either. An alien intelligence.
Remarkable bird, the Norwegian Blue, idn’it, ay? Beautiful plumage!
Norwiegan Blues sing in the Celestial Choir.
RE: UFOs–
I wrote here a couple of months ago that Lou Elizondo, former head of the DOD’s formerly secret ATIP program investigating UFOs, and Chris Mellon, former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, were concerned that those in the Pentagon who had thwarted Elizondo’s efforts at getting more transparency about UFOs, and who wanted to stop any further information about UFOs from becoming public, had hurriedly established their own new UFO investigation organization, the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF). *
This ahead of Congressional legislation which became law, and which established a new DOD UFO investigative organization that was intended to be much more transparent.
An organization which would gather information on UFOs from a much broader range of sources, and with a mandate to make regular classified reports to Congress, and unclassified reports to the public.
Well, it certainly looks as if Elizondo was right because Chris Mellon recently wrote an opinion piece in “The Hill” in which he pointed out that the DODs own much more restrictive organization, the UAPTF, last year issued a “Security Classification Guide” “… which appears to classify virtually all data analyzed by the task force…” including videos and images–to include the retroactive re-classification of the three Navy TICTAC, GIMBAL, and FLIR1 videos which the Pentagon had previously declassified and released to the public. *
It is difficult to think about a present that doesn’t include the melancholy, haunting music of Leonard Cohen, the dark and sultry edges of “Hallelujah,” the words of a young man grappling with his faith in “Lover, Lover, Lover.”
But that present almost didn’t exist. In October 1973, the 39-year-old singer-songwriter was living on a Greek island, mourning what he considered to be the end of his career.
And then the Yom Kippur War began.
Cohen hopped a boat to the mainland, and then a flight to Israel, where he found himself wandering in and out of Tel Aviv cafes before being recognized by like-minded musicians. Cohen was soon on the road, where he and the other wartime entertainers — most of them Israelis — traveled from army base to outpost to camp to raise the spirits of disheartened fighters on the brink of catastrophic loss. Less than a year later, he would release one of his most acclaimed albums.
More music, of a different era. SSC also has some more good posts on Ukraine.
Nocturnes (“night pieces”) for piano are so thoroughly associated with Chopin that one might be forgiven for thinking he invented the genre.[*]
The actual inventor was an Irish-born British composer-pianist named John Field (1782-1837), who spent much of his adult career in Russia.
His work is mostly forgotten now, but in his lifetime he was both popular and influential on other composers. Below are some of his nocturnes — it’s not hard to hear where Chopin got the idea.
Video at the link.
Recent post covers a round-up of Ukrainian items.
Which may or may not be accurate.
But always interesting, and wandering a bit off the usual route of the punditry.
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/exclusive-iran-struck-iraq-target-over-gas-talks-involving-israel-officials-2022-03-28/
I’d suggest we keep an eye on Russian (with Armenia as proxy) moves against Azerbaijan.
Turkey and Israel have an enormous lot of work cut out for themselves and their friends/allies in the Middle East over the remainder of the Biden–Malley regime. They’d best be quick about solidifying their relations, because they’re going to need one another.
So let’s see now:
According to the Reuters report above, Iran is vehemently against Israel helping the Kurds to pipe oil to Europe via Turkey.
Which jibes rather “nicely” with “Biden”‘s decision to scupper the Israel-Cyprus-Greece plan to pipe natural gas to Europe from their offshore natural gas fields in the Mediterranean.
But then “Biden” and Iran are on the same page and have been since 2009 (albeit with a “most unfortunate” four-year interruption due to the rudeness, crassness and belligerence of the dishonorable Orange-Man-Bad—who can’t even honor deals that give away the store and, besides, aren’t even real deals).
IOW, it’s merely a case of two allies (“Biden” and Iran) coordinating policy.
To be sure, one should also add Russia to this (Tripartite?) alliance, since clearly—until the optics became too bizarre to sustain—“Biden”‘s position was that only Russia is authorized to pipe oil and gas to Europe.
“Biden”, Russia and Iran.
Sounds about right (even if it doesn’t sound right—but that was then and this…was also then(!) as well as now—IOW the “not-so-new normal”)…
…To the extent that even this particular joker (though no doubt “well-meaning”) has found it impossible to continue the American-Iran “negotiating” team charade…
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/324846
Speaking of “charade”…
‘Did the historic “Negev Summit” offer a fig leaf for US Iran policy? Saudi Arabia stayed away’—
https://www.debka.com/did-the-historic-negev-summit-offer-a-fig-leaf-for-us-iran-policy-saudi-arabia-stayed-away/
Blinken is walking a tightrope here and anyone who trusts him (i.e., “Biden”) is going to find themselves up the creek without a paddle…but hey! what’s the alternative??—so make those boilerplate declarations and smile away!!
So the parrot is parroting some dialog, but that whistling is amazing. At first I thought it was a human or the cameraman doing the whistling but it seems the beak movements are well synchronized with it.
Brandon, and Iran, and Russia.
Lions (lyin), and Tigers, and Bears. Oh, my! We aren’t in Kansas any more, Toto.
Nor is Kamala standing in for Glenda.
TommyJay,
That parrot has nothing on this lyrebird. 20 different bird species, camera shutters, camera motors, car alarms, chainsaws…
https://youtu.be/mSB71jNq-yQ
So if you look at Youtube, its overwhelmingly the Ukrainian armed forces and apparently some international volunteers kicking the Russian’s ass, with pictured wholesale destruction/capture of Russian tanks, APCs, missile systems, and specialized electronic warfare units, disruption of Russian supplies and supply lines, capture, repair, and repurposing of Russian tanks, ammunition, and other supplies, many shot down Russian fighters and helicopters, 10-15,000 Russian soldiers killed, more than a half dozen Russian general and other high ranking officers killed, Russian troop’s morale is shot–they’re without the right or sufficient equipment and rations so–just walking away, and leaving their tanks and APCs behind, and some fragging officers, plus one or more major Russian Naval ships hit, etc.
Look at other sources, and it’s the Russians who are kicking ass, and the much smaller Ukrainian military force which is being ground down by Russian’s superior numbers and firepower, and the Russian’s attempted advance on Kyiv was just a distraction, to draw Ukrainian forces and attention there, and not towards their vital coastal region.
So, which is the truer picture?
P.S.–One “Russia is winning” analysis made the interesting point that you see no on the ground reports from western journalists, and it seems as if none are apparently embedded with Ukrainian forces.
Hmm.
Snow on Pine:
A video for you to view that might help.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=W9pVEP0AzZ4
Snow on Pine:
It’s not just YouTube vs “other” sources. Look at the history and bias of each source that’s reporting, and who they rely on for information.
Russia has gone so far as to criminalize reporting “misinformation” on its handling of the war. In other words, disagree with the government on this and you can go to jail for many years. Even before that, it was clear that Russian sources are highly highly suspect.
And whatever source you have there that says Russia is winning and that there are no Western embeds with Ukraine forces, apparently they didn’t do a simple internet search. I did, and immediately found this one from Radio Free Europe and France24 reporters as well.
I agree that one must be wary of all reports, however.
Well, and the Fox contractors who were killed outside Kyiv, and the American who was airlifted out.
Rufus,
Birds sounding like other birds is one thing, but those camera shutter + motordrive and chainsaw sounds are off-the-charts.
om–Then, there is this–https://redstate.com/streiff/2022/03/29/russia-calling-100000-reservists-to-active-duty-and-moving-wagner-group-from-syria-to-deal-with-ukraine-manpower-crunch-n542494
A quick press core photographer got a shot of Biden’s press conference crib sheet yesterday. Amazing.
https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/03/biden-cheatsheet-005.jpg?quality=90&strip=all
Snow on Pine:
I saw that earlier today. Best laid plans of Vlad go agley?
There had been “reports” of Vlad trying to bring in Syrians to fight the Ukrainians. True or false? Who knows.
The various ‘talking’ birds can be just amazing, but they do have limitations as to what sounds they can make. My friend’s bird could not make the initial ‘J’ sound of her name and would call out ‘Yoyce, Yoyce!’ when he wanted her attention. M’s become a drawn out N.
It’s scary though, how much profanity they can master…
African Greys are genuinely spooky birds.
Not in a cute way either. An alien intelligence.
Remarkable bird, the Norwegian Blue, idn’it, ay? Beautiful plumage!
Norwiegan Blues sing in the Celestial Choir.
RE: UFOs–
I wrote here a couple of months ago that Lou Elizondo, former head of the DOD’s formerly secret ATIP program investigating UFOs, and Chris Mellon, former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, were concerned that those in the Pentagon who had thwarted Elizondo’s efforts at getting more transparency about UFOs, and who wanted to stop any further information about UFOs from becoming public, had hurriedly established their own new UFO investigation organization, the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF). *
This ahead of Congressional legislation which became law, and which established a new DOD UFO investigative organization that was intended to be much more transparent.
An organization which would gather information on UFOs from a much broader range of sources, and with a mandate to make regular classified reports to Congress, and unclassified reports to the public.
Well, it certainly looks as if Elizondo was right because Chris Mellon recently wrote an opinion piece in “The Hill” in which he pointed out that the DODs own much more restrictive organization, the UAPTF, last year issued a “Security Classification Guide” “… which appears to classify virtually all data analyzed by the task force…” including videos and images–to include the retroactive re-classification of the three Navy TICTAC, GIMBAL, and FLIR1 videos which the Pentagon had previously declassified and released to the public. *
* https://thehill.com/opinion/international/583575-a-pentagon-ufo-cover-up-ex-officials-speak-out
* * https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/597039-how-government-over-classification-may-hide-ufo-videos-and-harm-our
For the music fans – an interesting biographical diversion.
(h/t Powerline)
https://jewishinsider.com/2022/03/matti-friedman-who-by-fire-leonard-cohen-book/
More music, of a different era. SSC also has some more good posts on Ukraine.
https://spinstrangenesscharm.wordpress.com/2022/03/26/sabbath-musical-delight-nocturnes-for-piano-by-john-field-inventor-of-the-nocturne/
Video at the link.
Recent post covers a round-up of Ukrainian items.
Which may or may not be accurate.
But always interesting, and wandering a bit off the usual route of the punditry.
https://spinstrangenesscharm.wordpress.com/2022/03/27/biden-goes-off-script-on-ukraine-military-expert-russia-no-more-capable-of-invading-nato-than-mars/