Generational Dynamics World View News

[Tom Mazanec]

By the same thinking Russia has been committing acts of war against the US and various other European states for more than a decade now. I don't see the point.

Both "sides" in this growing conflict are committing acts of war against each other. In this atmosphere sooner or later one will commit the wrong act of war and the missiles will fly.

The difference is that the US's "acts of war" are in supporting a country Russia has invaded. Were Russia to cease invading, those "acts of war" would also cease.

That is thinking logically. That is safe in a High, and Awakening or an Unraveling. Not so much during a Crisis.

[John]

** 08-May-2022 World View: China - Grave jobs situation due to lockdowns


https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/govern ... downs-bite

China Premier Li Keqiang warns of 'grave' jobs situation as Covid-19
lockdowns bite

Mon, May 09, 2022 - 7:04 AM

2022-05-08T074709Z2088867466RC2M1U96WXFLRTRMADP3HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS-SHANGHAI-LOCKDOWN.JPG

China reported 4,384 new Covid-19 cases for May 7.

CHINESE Premier Li Keqiang warned of a "complicated and grave"
employment situation as the country imposes sweeping lockdowns to
contain Covid outbreaks.

Li instructed all government departments and regions to prioritise
measures aimed at helping businesses retain jobs and weather the
current difficulties, according to a statement late Saturday (May 7)
which cited the premier's comments in a nationwide teleconference on
employment.

"Stabilising employment matters to people's livelihoods, it is also a
key support for the economy to operate within a reasonable range," Li
said, urging businesses to resume production with Covid-fighting
measures in place.

China's top leaders doubled down on the nation's Covid-Zero strategy
last week, warning against any attempts to question the
lockdown-dependent approach even as economic activity contracted
sharply in April amid factory closures and supply-chain disruptions.

...

[Guest]

Russia’s Second Collapse | George Friedman

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA_3JlczTW4[/youtube]

[Guest]

Is the "Plunge Protection Team" real, John?

[Cool Breeze]

** 08-May-2022 World View: China - Grave jobs situation due to lockdowns


https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/govern ... downs-bite

China Premier Li Keqiang warns of 'grave' jobs situation as Covid-19
lockdowns bite

Mon, May 09, 2022 - 7:04 AM

2022-05-08T074709Z2088867466RC2M1U96WXFLRTRMADP3HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS-SHANGHAI-LOCKDOWN.JPG

China reported 4,384 new Covid-19 cases for May 7.

CHINESE Premier Li Keqiang warned of a "complicated and grave"
employment situation as the country imposes sweeping lockdowns to
contain Covid outbreaks.

Li instructed all government departments and regions to prioritise
measures aimed at helping businesses retain jobs and weather the
current difficulties, according to a statement late Saturday (May 7)
which cited the premier's comments in a nationwide teleconference on
employment.

"Stabilising employment matters to people's livelihoods, it is also a
key support for the economy to operate within a reasonable range," Li
said, urging businesses to resume production with Covid-fighting
measures in place.

China's top leaders doubled down on the nation's Covid-Zero strategy
last week, warning against any attempts to question the
lockdown-dependent approach even as economic activity contracted
sharply in April amid factory closures and supply-chain disruptions.

...

What's your take on why they bother with lockdowns since none of them work and they don't matter?

[Guest]

Perhaps you consider the danger posed by Russia as equivalent to that of China? Yes we fortified and equiped the Ukraine to bring damage to an old foe. It seems to be working. The less able Taiwan is able to defend itself, the more Japan and then us will be forced to get involved. IF they can't "afford" the necessary defensive measures, we should give them as we have done so generously with the Ukraine. Our difference of perspective is on of Priorities.

I still don't know what you are trying to say.

I think America should come to the defense of liberal democracies whenever they are threatened/attacked by dictatorships like Russia and China. That is America's priority.

We aided Ukraine for a long time. They've done a good job at defense. The missiles we're giving to them are also needed by Taiwan to defend against the future war. The future war is almost here and it's a matter of life and death for our nation. Ukraine is not. Priority means choosing a proxy war in central Asia vs a war for the future in the Pacific. Let Taiwan fight and hold off the dragon with the hope that we won't have to get involved. Or at least slow them down enough for a while as the Ukrainian has done.

It may very well be true Russia doesn't have the tanks, the ships or the planes to pursue a major war.
.
Just bear one key point in mind ...........
Neither do we.
We don't even have a single AWACs now

[John]

** 09-May-2022 World View: Putin's delusional Victory Day speech doesn't declare victory

Monday was Russia's Victory Day, celebrating Russia's 1945 victory
over the Nazi invaders during World War II.

Vladimir Putin has been describing his invasion of Ukraine as a
defensive war against new Nazi invaders of Russia's Motherland, and he
carried that delusional narrative through during his Victory Day
speech.

Putin has very little in the way of "victory" to crow about. Russia
was defeated in the Battle of Kiev, and Putin was forced to retreat to
the Donbas and Mariupol. Putin had certainly hoped to declare victory
over Mariupol by now, but after two months, the Mariupol defenders are
still holding out.

Western analysts had expected Putin to make some spectacular
announcement, such as a declaration of war against Ukraine, or a full
mobilization of Russian forces. However, those announcements would
have contradicted his previous narrative of a quick victory in a
"special operation," not a war.

Instead, he pushed his new narrative that after fighting the Nazi
invaders during WW II, Russia is fighting Nazi invaders again. Does
Putin know that this delusion is false, or does he really believe it?
I don't know.

Since the beginning, Putin has had the problem that Ukrainians have
historically been "brothers" to the Russians, even sharing the
Orthodox Christian religion. Even worse, many of the people living in
Ukraine are Russians, with family and friends across the border in
Russia. Kharkiv, for example, is a Russian-speaking city near the
Russia border, and the people there never dreamed that Russia would
attack innocent Christian Russian women and children in Kharkiv, until
they did, and they continue to do so.

So Putin's problem has to been to dehumanize the Ukrainians by
accusing them of being Nazis. At the beginning, they only accused
Zelenskyy and the government of being Nazis, a claim viewed as ironic,
since Zelenskyy is Jewish. However, as the war continued, and Russian
troops kept getting defeated, Putin had to expand his denumanizing
narrative to claim that ALL Ukrainians are Nazis who want to invade
the Russian motherland. Putin is also expanding the narrative to
claim that Nato and America have become Nazi supporters. It's not
clear how many Russians actually believe this.

Here are some excerpts from his speech:

"Today, as in the past, you are fighting for our
people in Donbass, for the security of our Motherland, for Russia.

May 9, 1945 has been enshrined in world history forever as a
triumph of the united Soviet people, its cohesion and spiritual
power, an unparalleled feat on the front lines and on the home
front.

Victory Day is intimately dear to all of us. There is no family in
Russia that was not burnt by the Great Patriotic War. Its memory
never fades. On this day, children, grandchildren and
great-grandchildren of the heroes march in an endless flow of the
Immortal Regiment. They carry photos of their family members, the
fallen soldiers who remained young forever, and the veterans who
are already gone.

We take pride in the unconquered courageous generation of the
victors, we are proud of being their successors, and it is our
duty to preserve the memory of those who defeated Nazism and
entrusted us with being vigilant and doing everything to thwart
the horror of another global war.

Therefore, despite all controversies in international relations,
Russia has always advocated the establishment of an equal and
indivisible security system which is critically needed for the
entire international community.

Last December we proposed signing a treaty on security
guarantees. Russia urged the West to hold an honest dialogue in
search for meaningful and compromising solutions, and to take
account of each other’s interests. All in vain. NATO countries did
not want to heed us, which means they had totally different
plans. And we saw it.

Another punitive operation in Donbass, an invasion of our historic
lands, including Crimea, was openly in the making. Kiev declared
that it could attain nuclear weapons. The NATO bloc launched an
active military build-up on the territories adjacent to us.

Thus, an absolutely unacceptable threat to us was steadily being
created right on our borders. There was every indication that a
clash with neo-Nazis and Banderites backed by the United States
and their minions was unavoidable.

Let me repeat, we saw the military infrastructure being built up,
hundreds of foreign advisors starting work, and regular supplies
of cutting-edge weaponry being delivered from NATO countries. The
threat grew every day.

Russia launched a pre-emptive strike at the aggression. It was a
forced, timely and the only correct decision. A decision by a
sovereign, strong and independent country.

The United States began claiming their exceptionalism,
particularly after the collapse of the Soviet Union, thus
denigrating not just the entire world but also their satellites,
who have to pretend not to see anything, and to obediently put up
with it.

But we are a different country. Russia has a different
character. We will never give up our love for our Motherland, our
faith and traditional values, our ancestors’ customs and respect
for all peoples and cultures.

Meanwhile, the West seems to be set to cancel these millennia-old
values. Such moral degradation underlies the cynical
falsifications of World War II history, escalating Russophobia,
praising traitors, mocking their victims’ memory and crossing out
the courage of those who won the Victory through suffering.

We are aware that US veterans who wanted to come to the parade in
Moscow were actually forbidden to do so. But I want them to know:
We are proud of your deeds and your contribution to our common
Victory.

We honour all soldiers of the allied armies – the Americans, the
English, the French, Resistance fighters, brave soldiers and
partisans in China – all those who defeated Nazism and
militarism. ...

You are defending today what your fathers, grandfathers and
great-grandfathers fought for. The wellbeing and security of their
Motherland was their top priority in life. Loyalty to our
Fatherland is the main value and a reliable foundation of Russia’s
independence for us, their successors, too.

Those who crushed Nazism during the Great Patriotic War showed us
an example of heroism for all ages. This is the generation of
victors, and we will always look up to them.

Glory to our heroic Armed Forces!

For Russia! For Victory!

Hooray!"

-- Putin speech / Victory Parade on Red Square
http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/68366
(Kremlin.ru, 9-May-2022)

-- Ukraine war: Officials will be interested in what Putin did not say
in Russia's annual Victory Day parade speech
https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-war- ... h-12609293
(Sky News, 9-May-2022)

[FullMoon]

** 08-May-2022 World View: China - Grave jobs situation due to lockdowns


https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/govern ... downs-bite

China Premier Li Keqiang warns of 'grave' jobs situation as Covid-19
lockdowns bite

Mon, May 09, 2022 - 7:04 AM

2022-05-08T074709Z2088867466RC2M1U96WXFLRTRMADP3HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS-SHANGHAI-LOCKDOWN.JPG

China reported 4,384 new Covid-19 cases for May 7.

CHINESE Premier Li Keqiang warned of a "complicated and grave"
employment situation as the country imposes sweeping lockdowns to
contain Covid outbreaks.

Li instructed all government departments and regions to prioritise
measures aimed at helping businesses retain jobs and weather the
current difficulties, according to a statement late Saturday (May 7)
which cited the premier's comments in a nationwide teleconference on
employment.

"Stabilising employment matters to people's livelihoods, it is also a
key support for the economy to operate within a reasonable range," Li
said, urging businesses to resume production with Covid-fighting
measures in place.

China's top leaders doubled down on the nation's Covid-Zero strategy
last week, warning against any attempts to question the
lockdown-dependent approach even as economic activity contracted
sharply in April amid factory closures and supply-chain disruptions.

...

What's your take on why they bother with lockdowns since none of them work and they don't matter?

Northerners (re) establishing control of southern port (treaty) cities. No new virus is needed, just the ability to use the idea of it for political means. Perhaps large-scale Beijing 'bailouts' of private industry. A reversion to the mean of which China is insular and cautious with foreign influence.

[Xeraphim1]

It may very well be true Russia doesn't have the tanks, the ships or the planes to pursue a major war.
.
Just bear one key point in mind ...........
Neither do we.
We don't even have a single AWACs now

Who's we? If you mean the US, it has lots of tanks, ships and planes. And it currently operates 31 E-3 AWACs.

[Tom Mazanec]

Ukraine will prevail as Europe did in 1945, Scholz to say in VE Day speech
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... day-speech