Det mest skrämmande är väl att det kommer "dubbla budskap" från Washington DC. Är Trump för eller mot Ryssland? Vad anser han om Ukraina, egentligen? Vem representerar CIA-chefen? Och så vidare.
Och varför lämnade Trump sin egen utrikesminister (Rubio) på det mångomtalade "decoy plane"? Rubio är Trumps nykonservativa / interventionistiska förkläde...
Det börjar kanske dra ihop sig till något slags slutkläm på den här historien. October surprise!
Har Trump någon lösning på detta? Han kanske vill byta namn på Sydkinesiska sjön till Lake America eller något sådant. Eller så tänker han stämma tidningarna som avslöjade detta...
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| - Yes, Korea is here somewhere! Never heard of Oman... |
Marx said that world history always repeats itself twice: the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce. Somebody has proposed burlesque as the third repetition. I´m not sure what stage Trump´s foreign policy has reached, but it´s certainly beyond farce at this point.
Trump recently said that he will declare the Strait of Hormuz American territory. A few days later some spokesman of the Trump administration dismissed the statement as a joke?! Then, the erratic president threatened to "bomb the shit" out of Oman.
Another jocular remark, I suppose?
But perhaps Trump can still do something properly tragic, since he decided to scale down US involvement in a joint military exercise with South Korea, citing the ROK´s refusal to back his increasingly quixotic adventure in the Gulf. Instead, he bragged about having good relations with North Korea! The same North Korea which may be in the process of sending tens of thousands of fresh troops to aid the Russians in Ukraine.
It will be interesting to see if Trump´s end will be a tragedy, a farce or even a burlesque. Maybe the Don could at least give us one more performance? For old times sake.
Putin says that the Russian Federation may seize EU-related ships operating under a flag of convenience, in response to EU actions against the Russian "shadow fleet". Well, at least he isn´t threatening to nuke us! Always something.
It would be ironic if the war in Ukraine would lead to the effective collapse of flags of convenience...
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| Credit: Nicor |
50,000 North Korean soldiers may be deployed in Russia soon, according to Ukrainian president Zelensky. Something tells me they´re not there on vacation! Their end destination may very well be Ukraine itself.
That Russia needs cannon fodder from *North Korea* does show that Putin´s war isn´t going entirely according to plan. On the other hand, nobody cares where the soldiers come from if the trick turns out to work...
Last time around, Russia and their original ally (then about 15,000 strong) did manage to take back control over the portions of the Kursk region which had been captured by Ukraine during a surprise offensive. However, this obviously wasn´t enough to defeat the Ukrainian military overall.
I assume this is another "trial balloon". And since the Korean People´s Army is supposedly two million men strong, Putin could potentially keep up the pressure for years. Assuming Kim Jong-un is interested, obviously.
We live in "interesting" times.
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| Credit: Artyom Vasiliev |
Det är tydligen en russifierad korean som äger Wildberries, Rysslands största e-handelsföretag. Ukraina har under en period bombad företagets lagerlokaler av diverse orsaker. Hübinette har kvittona.
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| Credit: Paul Gear |
Senator Lindsey Graham has suddenly passed away. WTF. In Swedish media, Graham is described as a "Trump loyalist", but the truth is that he wasn´t *really* a Trump aficionado but a more regular Republican who supported the erratic POTUS for tactical reasons.
Graham´s role was to constantly push Trump in a more pro-Ukrainian direction, hence acting as a counterweight to the "isolationist" Vance and similar types. Graham was also extremely pro-Israeli, but on *that* score, the Donald didn´t need much pushing! It´s probably bad news that the senator passed away exactly when Trump is (at least seemingly) making a pro-Ukrainian gyration, for instance by letting them produce Patriot missiles. What if Trump changes his mind...?
It would be very good indeed if somebody on the other side could suddenly drop dead, too. Witkoff, for instance. Or what about Putin himself? One thing is certain: this shit (evidently) isn´t over yet.
Aftonbladets Anders Lindberg vill ha en nordisk förbundsstat. LOL! Be careful what you wish for, tror inte att du vill ha en Nordische Bundesstaat dominerad av Danmark. Du vet, deras invandringspolitik...
Planen är kanhända att den ska domineras av Sverige! Eller?
Fast lite roligt är det ju att den gamle sossekoryfén plötsligt låter som en nationalist. Han citerar t.o.m. nationalsången. Det hela blir ännu roligare om man betänker att Lindberg är en rent usel stilist. En stor del av artikeln är skriven på det där infantiliserade kvasi-talspråket som Aftonbladet verkar älska.
Lär dig högsvenska, Anders. Eller danska...
Taylor Swift´s silence on the recent fall of Kostiantynivka is not a little damning, and given the extremely serious nature of the present geopolitical situation, entirely disqualifying!
Det var länge sedan Göran Greider hade något intressant att säga. Flera årtionden sedan, faktiskt. I sin senaste krönika i Aftonbladet (länk nedan) säger han att vi måste lära oss leva med ett imperialistiskt Ryssland?! Kan ju bli lite svårt om Ryssland invaderar sina grannländer, eller hur? Utsträcker Greider samma erkännande även till USA? Sedan skriver han att Ryssland i framtiden kanske kommer att bli demokratiskt. Visst, och Månen är gjord av grön ost.
Greider gör även en märklig jämförelse mellan Ryssland (?) och den invasiva växtarten parkslide, som han menar har "demoniserats" och kan bekämpas med "diplomati". Vilken tur att naiva poeter varken styr vår försvarspolitik eller miljöpolitiken. Gjorde nämligen en liten djupdykning i parkslide och varför arten anses vara invasiv. Verkar vara en väldigt bra metafor för "folkutbyte", måste jag säga...
De andra länkarna är till Naturvårdsverket. Här är förresten ett citat:
>>>Parksliden kan konkurrera ut andra växter på platser där den etablerarat sig och bildar ibland rena monokulturer. Detta kan förändra livsmiljöerna för arter som groddjur, kräldjur, fåglar och däggdjur mycket negativt.
>>>Parksliden har även negativa effekter på ekosystemtjänster. Områden kan helt växa igen och möjligheten till markanvändning begränsas; det går inte längre att promenera i områden och trädgårdar kan inte längre odlas.
>>>De kraftiga rötterna kan också tränga in i byggnader och vattenledningar men i Sverige är detta fortfarande ovanligt. Problemet kan framförallt uppstå i äldre byggnader där det redan finns sprickor och håligheter för parksliden att ta sig in genom.
Bekämpa både krig och parkslide med diplomati
Tar den här skiten aldrig slut? Fast observera att "Maniac Murder Cult" faktiskt kallas satanistisk i den andra artikeln! Måste dock säga att bevisen för en rysskoppling verkar ganska svaga.
Very little about Iran on pro-Trump "news site" Breitbart News just now. Sure wonder why. Imagine if Biden had fucked up this hard somewhere in the Greater Middle East, I mean, Breitbart would have been all over the place attacking him for betraying Amerika, sounding almost like bellicose Neo-Cons in the process...
I *know* they would sound like that. Because, you see, they did...in 2021, at the fall of Kabul. But now, radio silence is apparently the more prudent course of action.
Oh, and I sure wonder who negotiated that take-over deal with the Taliban in the first place? Right.
Not sure if this is good news or bad news. Especially since Trump is currently negotiating America´s terms of surrender in the recent (phoney) war against Iran...
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| Remover of obstacles? |
So the United States abducted one foreign head of state and killed another one. So far, the success rate seems to be 50/50. It worked in Venezuela, but the jury is still out on Iran. It certainly doesn´t *seem* to be working.
Still, a 50% success rate is pretty high. Especially since the succesful example was in the US sphere of influence (a.k.a. backyard). Sure wonder how the Russians and Chinese are calculating the odds right now. For instance, would killing or abducting Zelensky work if your last name is Putin? What about Taiwan?
Of course, the opposite is true as well. Could killing *Putin* work for Ukraine, for instance? And, more importantly, Ukraine´s backers...
How long before somebody starts calculating whether or not a direct hit at a certain white house close to the Potomac might yield geopolitical dividends? But thanx for the crude oil, I suppose.
So Russia can´t defeat Ukraine in a real war, and the US (you know, NATO´s supposed top doggie) can´t defeat Iran in a phoney war. Sure wonder if there´s a great power which can take advantage of this little situation?
China, maybe...?
Maybe the PRC can "take over the world" through a combination of heavy handed diplomacy and very lucrative trade deals / investment opportunities. I mean, I *can* see it happening. They have rare earth minerals and gold reserves, too.
Until somebody decides to test China´s resolve to send in the People´s Liberation Army outside its Near Abroad.
I suppose we live in interesting times...
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| Credit: Alnus |
Trump can´t even win a PHONEY war. Conclusions are currently being drawn in all national capitals of the world...
