Some Articles for Sunday and Easy Reading
I know the first article is readily accessible to read if you have no membership. I believe the other two articles are open reading also. If not let me know. I can access them.
Ukraine is waiting for US aid. Prof. Heather looks at how we find ourselves at this point. A point of abandoning of a country willing to fight.
- February 23, 2024 – Letters from an American– Heather Cox Richardson;
Two years ago today, Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky made a passionate plea to the people of Russia, begging them to avoid war. He gave the speech in Russian, his own primary language, and, reminding Russians of their shared border and history, told them to “listen to the voice of reason”: Ukrainians want peace.
“You’ve been told I’m going to bomb Donbass,” he said. “Bomb what? The Donetsk stadium where the locals and I cheered for our team at Euro 2012? The bar where we drank when they lost? Luhansk, where my best friend’s mom lives?” Zelensky tried to make the human cost of this conflict clear. Observers lauded the speech and contrasted its statesmanship with the ramblings in which Putin had recently engaged.
And yet Zelensky’s speech stood only as a marker. Early the next day, Russian president Vladimir Putin launched a “special military operation” involving dozens of missile strikes on Ukrainian cities before dawn. He claimed in a statement that was transparently false that he needed to defend the people in the “new republics” within Ukraine that he had recognized two days before from “persecution and genocide by the Kyiv regime.” He called for “demilitarization” of Ukraine, demanding that soldiers lay down their weapons and saying that any bloodshed would be on their hands.
Putin called for the murder of Ukrainian leaders in the executive branch and parliament and intended to seize or kill those involved in the 2014 Maidan Revolution, which sought to turn the country away from Russia and toward a democratic government within Europe, and which itself prompted a Russian invasion. He planned for his troops to seize Ukraine’s electric, heating, and financial systems so the people would have to do as he wished. The operation was to be lightning fast.
- Five Questions with Heidi Przybyla, Civil Discourse, Joyce Vance.
Politico’s Heidi Przybyla is one of my (Joyce) favorite journalists. So when she ran a story this past Tuesday headlined, “Trump allies prepare to infuse ‘Christian nationalism’ in second administration,” I stopped what I was doing to read it. And then I wanted to know still more.
Heidi writes about Trump, “In a December campaign speech in Iowa, he said ‘Marxists and fascists’ are ‘going hard’ against Catholics. ‘Upon taking office, I will create a new federal task force on fighting anti-Christian bias to be led by a fully reformed Department of Justice. It will be fair and equitable’ and that will ‘investigate all forms of illegal discrimination.’” She reminds us that “On the eve of the Iowa caucuses, Trump promoted on his social media a video that suggests his campaign is, actually, a divine mission from God.”
Heidi graciously agreed to be our guest for “Five Questions” tonight. This is an important chance for us to add detail and nuance to what it means when we hear people say Trump has authoritarian plans for the future of America.
- What’s at Stake at the WTO’s 13th Ministerial Conference This Month in Abu Dhabi? Center for Economic and Policy Research, Deborah James.
From February 26–29, 2024, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will host the 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Governments from 164 countries will be joined by Timor-Leste and Comoros, the first two nations to join the group since 2017.
At stake is a fight between two visions of what role the WTO, as the world’s most powerful rule-making body in the global economy, should play.
Should the institution expand as an even more corporate-influenced body, with rich countries allowed to set agendas, impose negotiation mechanisms in their favor, and leave poorer countries — and multilateralism itself — in the dustbin of history?
Or should members of the institution recognize the constraints that the current rules place on developing economies, including the harm caused to workers, farmers, and the global environment, and increase flexibilities so that these countries can use trade for their development?
Delegate Math and the Futility of Haley’s Challenge to Trump
NY Times – Nate Cohen – subscriber newsletter
(Ironic no doubt, but former SC guv’nah & Trump’s UN ambassador lost to the previous president in yesterday’s GOP primary in her home state. It seems however that she will stay in the race at least a little while longer, because she may do better in one or more Super Tuesday votes, nine days away. She could win Massachusetts, but polls say otherwise.)
‘They moved to MAGA.’ Nikki Haley’s home state of South Carolina takes a hard pass on her presidential run.
Boston Globe – this morning
The story of Nikki Haley’s arc in South Carolina is one of both path-breaking insurgency and fundamental change in this country’s politics. Now, she is decidedly on the outs in her home state. …
5 Takeaways From Trump’s Big Win Over Nikki Haley in South Carolina
NY Times – yesterday
Ms. Haley campaigned more aggressively. She spent more on television advertisements. She raked in more money. She lost decisively.
In other news…
Phillips campaign distances itself from consultant who allegedly commissioned fake Biden robocall
CNN – February 23
I am getting warnings from Norton every time I visit this website.
So I’ll catch up with you later, I hope.
I am going to try using Norton’s private browser for a while, to see if that helps.
Not too far off topic: while pondering the inevitable migrations across the boundaries of “nation/states” our deteriorating atmosphere does not recognize it occurs to me that as the third (3rd) rock from the sun all “countries” are third world countries
Ten Bears
ha! brilliant!
$1 Billion Donation Will Provide Free Tuition at a Bronx Medical School
NY Times – about 5 hours ago
Fred:
You have been deleted so many times by the system for posts with too many links, etc.; it now just tosses you into trash automatically. I will try to help; but, I can not do it all the time.
There are times when I can’t post anything, links or no links. This is one of those times.
But sometimes I can post stuff that is like the above.
But I can’t post an observation that when Dr Ruth Gottesman (D.Ed.), chair of the board of Albert Einstein School was asked if they should change the name of the school to honor her family, she said to keep it the way it is.
Ruth Gottesman, board chair of the Einstein School of Med, declined the offer to change the name of the school to honor her family, let that honor stay with Al.
My only post with links, in this particular thread, was one which had 2 links, with details about Dr Gottesman, her generosity & humility. Just links.
Fred:
The system has identified you as a spammer due to the number of “your” posts going into trash. You had numerous links in the past or extra long comments so now it does not care. You are a spammer to the system. Do not do multiple comments on the same topic to try to make it work. You make things worst. Just do it once. When I come around I always check trash and spam.
$1 Billion Donation Will Provide Free Tuition at a Bronx Medical School
NY Times – about 5 hours ago
Dr. Ruth Gottesman, a longtime professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, is making free tuition available to all students going forward. …