The fifth day of this Russian invasion of Ukraine, or the Russian-Ukrainian war, has now passed. Not surprisingly, there was no shortage of developments.
And while it has only been five days, Ukrainian forces have managed to keep a stiff resistance. They have attacked Russian supply lines, which has obviously made it difficult for the invading Russians to eat or keep moving with any efficiency.
Putin and Russia continue to see far tougher resistance by Ukrainian forces than they likely expected. It seemed that everyone expected this to be a military cakewalk for the Russians. And while this invasion is not yet a week old, it nevertheless seems clear that Russians are not advancing as quickly as they (and many around the world) had expected or hoped.
However, Russians are certainly trying. They have increased troop presence and there is a Russian military convoy that is estimated to be five kilometers long headed towards Kyiv, and approaching.
One thing that seems almost certain is that Putin did not expect either the fierce Ukrainian resistance, nor the immediate and widespread worldwide condemnation. In Iran, protesters went to the Russian Embassy in Tehran and angrily condemned Russia's actions in Ukraine. There were antiwar protests all around the world, in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The antiwar protests were even in evidence in Russia itself, where it is generally known that protesters will face arrest and penalties that will have lasting impacts on their lives, which speaks to their bravery. Nearly 500 protesters were arrested on Saturday across well over 30 cities across Russia. This added to the total of nearly 5,000 Russian antiwar protesters arrested since the beginning of the invasion.
But protests are one thing. By themselves, I would suspect that these do not trouble Vladimir Putin at all, quite frankly. However, what surely does frustrate him is the slow and limited progress of the Russian invasion forces in Ukraine, and the already widespread, and still rapidly growing, condemnation and economic boycotts against Russia spreading around the world.
Earlier today, FIFA banned Russia from international games, something that might not hit so much economically, but serves as a major source of embarrassment and anger internally. This was done to South Africa during the days of apartheid, and while it did not hurt white South Africans financially, but it nevertheless bothered them quite a bit to not have their teams be able to compete in major international sorts competitions.
Yet, the actions taken by other countries went much further than that, and many of them are hitting the Russian economy. Many European countries closed their airspace to Russian planes. Germany closed the oil pipeline from Russia, even though they will now need to pay higher prices. Germany and Sweden broke their neutrality and pledged military support for Ukraine. Even traditionally neutral Switzerland supported and imposed sanctions on Russia.
All of this, in addition to the sanctions that targeted Russian banks and other institutions, are beginning to hit inside of Russia. The ruble fell fairly dramatically, and continues to lose ground to the dollar and the euro. Inflation is increasing dramatically. From reports on television by BBC News, there is no panic in Russia...yet. But there certainly are worries, and the war is not especially popular.
So it seems like both the military resistance inside of Ukraine, as well as the resistance to the Russian invasion outside of Ukraine, is far stronger than Putin surely expected or calculated. My guess is that he expected the West to not be happy, but for them to get over it quickly, much like they admittedly did when Russia took over Crimea in 2014. However, this feels different, at least thus far. The condemnation is very widespread, and it feels like Russia is increasingly isolated from the world community.
The two sides talked for the first time since the invasion began last Thursday. Ukrainians and Russians met in a border town in Belarus, near the Ukrainian border. But the talks did not produce any serious results. The two sides were too far apart. Putin demanded that Crimea be recognized as Russia, and that Ukraine be officially designated as a neutral state, and not be permitted to join other the European Union or NATO, among other conditions. And these are things that Putin had demanded in the days leading up to the invasion. The West and Ukraine said no then, and they still say no now.
It is early yet, and so both the Ukrainians inside of Ukraine and the Russians inside of Russia are not giving into the pressure that they each respectively face. But right now, it is hard to imagine that both of those situations will continue without changes of some sort or other, at some point. It feels like something has to give, to break.
The unanswerable question, right now, is what - or who - will give, and when?
Then, when something does finally break, it will surely open up even more questions. These will also need to be answered as well, surely.
Antiwar protesters take to the streets around the world in support of Ukraine by Matthew S. Schwartz, February 26, 2022:
Like everyone else, I have been glued to images on the internet and/or television for updates on the conflict in Ukraine. To some extent, it still almost feels surreal to think that such a major land conflict is actually happening again on the European continent, the largest such conflict that Europe has seen since the end of World War II.
Yet here we are. Shocking or not, it is happening.
But I began to wonder how this came about, and decided to do a little bit o exploring. Frankly, I learned about some historic tensions between Poland and Ukraine (as well as Poland the Russia/Soviet Union) back during my first visit to Poland in 2013, when I visited my girlfriend’s hometown, which is not far at all from the borders of both Ukraine and Slovakia. There is real hard feeling in Poland among the people I met towards both Ukrainians and Russians. Yet, there is a notable absence towards other neighbors, including Slovakia and Czechs, as well, surprisingly, as Germans. I would have thought that many Poles would still feel angry and distrustful towards Germans. But it did not seem to be the case. Perhaps there is no longer the same sense of military threat from Germany. Also, Germany is the neighbor to the west, and it seems that Poles generally are attracted to western Europe, far more than eastern Europe. Finally, many Polish people migrate to Germany to find work. There were a number of such people just in that small hometown which I spent a couple of weeks in 2013, and one week again in 2019.
Well, this complicated history - often unfamiliar to us westerners - obviously includes a complicated history between Russians and Ukrainians, as well. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, I tried to do a bit of research to try and learn more and better understand the background of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. This relatively short video was one of the best sources that I found, because it is short, yet quite comprehensive for a video of such short duration. She talks a bit fast, so I had to watch it a couple of times, and I paused it several times and took notes, which I used below for this particular blog entry. So almost all of the information below - with the notable exception of the Holodomor - were basically taken from this video as talking points.
So, please watch the video above. I have tried to sum up some of the most important points below. Hopefully, this clarifies how this conflict came to be, and why it grew so tense, to the point where war broke out, and the entire world is now watching.
Vladmir Putin has invaded Ukraine, ostensibly with the idea of bringing Russians and Ukrainains together. He calls it "Holy Rus," and he has said that Russians and Ukrainians are one people. Indeed, he is not entirely wrong. One in six Ukrainians are ethnically Russian, and one in three Ukrainians speak Russian as their native tongue. So it is not simply a crazy idea that should be dismissed automatically. There is a reason why he feels this way, and indeed, many Russians would agree with him, and are supportive of his efforts in Ukraine right now.
However, his efforts to unite the two countries - if that is indeed what he is trying to do - seems a little contradictory. It brings to my mind some lyrics penned by Jello Biafra, the frontman of the legendary punk band the Dead Kennedys, and the creator of the Alternative Tentacles label. He wrote lyrics to one song, "Chickenshit Conformist," that I have been thinking about on occasion since the beginning of this Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here they are:
Unity is bullshit.
When it's under someone's fat boot.
Another way to put it is that Putin wants to unify Russia and Ukrainians, but this invasion shows that his idea, both figuratively and literally, is to do so at the point of a gun.
Some unity.
Yes, Putin believes that Russians and Ukrainians are one people, and many Russians agree with this notion. Indeed, I have seen video - I only wish that I could remember where, but they are available on Youtube clips and elsewhere on the internet, surely - where Russians claim that Ukraine is a part of Russia.
However, many Ukrainians hold a very different view. A vast majority - a whopping 70 percent - of Ukrainians reject this notion, and even more - 72 percent - view Russia outright as a hostile state. Remember, this was before the current invasion began.
There is a historical and cultural divide within Ukraine, based on geographical, and to some extent, historical, lines. Western Ukrainians identify more closely with Europeans to the west, while in the east, the majority Russian Ukrainians identify more closely with Russia. More than two-thirds of Ukrainians - again, mostly those in western Ukraine - want to join the European Union. Slightly less, although still a majority at 59 percent, want to join NATO.
Now, NATO is a major bone of contention in this conflict. Perhaps it is even the main issue. NATO, historically, was a military alliance, originally consisting exclusively of countries on the western (American) side of the Iron Curtain. However, some people started to question the use of NATO after the fall of the Soviet Union, and the end of that nation as one of the world's two superpowers. But not only did NATO continue to exist, but it grew. At first, NATO promised not to expand to countries formerly on the eastern side of the Iron Curtain, or members of the Warsaw Pact, but they did. This, to many Russians, felt like a threat. Many felt like westerns were still targeting Russia, that they had it in for them. Indeed, many Russians still feel this skepticism, perhaps even more now in the 21st century, as NATO expanded to members that outright border Russia, which again feels to them like a threat. And right or wrong, for better or for worse, this is one of the main points of conflict with Russia and Ukraine. Putin wants NATO to exclude every former Soviet state. Obviously, that would include Ukraine, as it used to be part of the Soviet Union. Then again, so did the Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, yet they also are members of NATO.
Now, let us return to the direction that Ukrainians wanted to take their country. As mentioned earlier, a majority of Ukrainians wanted to align their country more closely with western Europe. A vast majority wanted Ukraine to join the EU, and a smaller majority - but still a clear majority - wanted it to join NATO. Putin is opposed to both of those actions, particularly the idea of Ukraine joining NATO. Yet, it did appear that Ukraine was heading in the direction of joining the EU, at the very least. But then President Viktor Yanukovych rejected this notion. He was more closely aligned with Russia, and signed a $15 billion bailout by Putin's Russia. So there was a revolution. Yanukovych was forced out of the country, and a new government was put in place. This event also has different interpretations, depending on who you ask. Ukrainians sympathetic to the West (and obviously, Westerners) feel that this was a legitimate political movement, something that was inevitable, as it represents the will of the majority. But for Russians, both in the Ukraine and in Russia itself, felt that this was nothing short of a coup d'état, illegally orchestrated and funded by the West, especially the United States.
For most of us, this conflict seemed to explode to the front and center of the world's attention in 2014, just after Russia hosted the Winter Olympics in Sochi. Russia took over Crimea. A vote was held, and a majority voted in favor of joining Russia, although many people would question the legitimacy of this election. Whether or not it was legitimate, Russia annexed Crimea. For all intents and purposes, since then, Crimea has belonged to Russia. Also, Russia intervened in the eastern regions of Ukraine, particularly in what is known as the Donbas region, which consists of Luhansk and Donetsk. These two regions are the most Russian regions in present-day Ukraine.
Returning to Crimea, the world condemned the Russian annexation of Crimea. However, the vast majority of Crimeans are Russians, historically. In fact, as a gesture of goodwill, then Soviet Premiere Nikita Khrushchev gave Crimea from the Russian Soviet Socialist Republic to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. This was done, according to Khrushchev as a gesture to strengthen the "brotherly ties between the Ukrainian and Russian people." But this goodwill gesture meant little at the time, as they both were part of the same country.
It became a bone of contention, however, once the Soviet Union broke up. Many felt that Crimea should no longer belong to Ukraine. But officially, it did. So that was why Russia felt entitled to do what they did in taking over Crimea. Even former Soviet Premiere Gorbachev said that Putin was right to do what he did, because Crimea, he felt, belonged to Russia. Indeed, this is a common sentiment in Russia, as Putin's approval ratings soared after Russia annexed Crimea.
Earlier, I mentioned that there are indeed historical ties between Ukrainians and Russians. However, quite a bit of this is due to colonialism, dating back all the way to the age of Catherine the Great. It was then that the first efforts to Russify Ukraine were begun, and with considerable success. Many Russians were brought to Ukraine, and schools were instructed to teach in Russian. In 1800, Ukrainian as a language was banned.
That particular chapter did not simply end there, nor is it the worst aspects of this rocky history. In 1930, Josef Stalin was attempting to modernize the Soviet Union. This had particularly tragic consequences for Ukraine, resulting in what is known as the Holodomor. The Holodomor, also known as the Terror-Famine or the Great Famine, saw millions of Ukrainians die. Estimates of just how many vary, but most people will place the number at least at four million, and there are some estimates that are closer to seven million. Indeed, according to some of these estimates, more people died in this tragedy than in the Holocaust which followed in other parts of Europe just a few years later. Ukrainians who perished were replaced by ethnic Russians, who re-populated the region. Indeed, it becomes more understandable how many Ukrainians actually view this terrible chapter in their history as a genocide, although many Russians generally reject this idea.
Then in the 1940's, ethnic Tartars were also relocated. They, also, were replaced by ethnic Russians. That is at least part of the reason why so many ethnic Russians are located in eastern Ukraine. Also, eastern Ukraine is rich in natural resources, including coal, iron, and some of the richest farmland in Europe.
So, it is understandable how Putin, and Russians more generally, regard at least parts of Ukraine as enviable land to either have friendly neighbors, or perhaps to outright bring into the fold of their country. But a majority of Ukrainians do not feel this same sense of kinship towards Russians. Fully one-third of Ukrainians already felt ready to take up arms against Russia before this invasion even began. By now, with Russia outright having invaded, that number likely has spiked up.
Volodymyr Zolensky right now serves as the face and voice of Ukrainians strongly, even militantly now opposed to Russia and it's invasion of their country. Zolensky won the presidency in a landslide election in 2019, garnering 73 percent of the vote. He has made no secret of his opposition to Russian intervention in eastern Ukraine. Many Russian reports tried to convince people that Zolensky fled the country, implying that he is a coward. But Zolensky released video clips showing that he was still in Kyiv, the capital city that Russians are presently still trying to reach.
So, there we have it. I think that this video helped to clarify some of the ambiguities in this complicated history, where history - often bitter - threads it's way in and out of almost every important event that occurs. Keeping this history in mind, and understanding the positions and objections on both sides, can at least help us to understand this situation better, if nothing else. And that is something, at least, even as we stand on the sidelines.
Obviously, the news in Ukraine has dominated the world’s headlines for the past few days, and for good reason.
However, there is some other news going on in the world. And in a bit of levity, I will briefly turn my attention on this blog page to sports. In this case, namely tennis.
History was made in recent days. Novak Djokovic will lose the number one ranking, which he has owned for slightly more than two years continuously, without interruption, having reached it on February 3, 2020, just weeks before the Covid-19 pandemic really hit the world full force. He has been the number one ranked man since then.
That was not the first time that he was ranked number one, of course. In fact, Djokovic has owned the number one ranking for a record number of weeks, longer than any other man in tennis history. Yes, Djokovic has been the number one ranked man in tennis for a total of 361 weeks, which is significantly more than Roger Federer, who previously owned that record with 310 weeks. Just for the record, Nadal has owned the number one ranking for 209 weeks overall, which still places him very high on the list, obviously among the very elites in the sport.
Combined, Djokovic, Federer, and Nadal have largely owned the number one ranking ever since early 2004, when Federer first ascended to the top ranking in the tennis world, and held onto it for well over four straight years, still easily a record for longest straight period for any many holding the number one ranking. Then Nadal broke through and took it from him. Since then, Nadal, Federer and Djokovic have seemingly taken turns with the top overall ranking, although Andy Murray did break through for a bit of time, holding it for 41 weeks and ending 2016 as the number one ranked tennis player in the world.
At the time, they were known as the Big Four. But really, Murray did not quite rank as high as those other guys in terms of either holding the number one ranking or winning grand slam titles. But the “Big Three” of Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer simply were on another level, one not really seen before in tennis.
But that era may very well be over. Djokovic just suffered a surprise loss, 6-4, 7-6 (4) to Czech qualifier Jiri Vesely in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Championships a couple of days ago. Djokovic, of course, missed the Australian Open, generating no shortage of controversy for himself in the process. And he has not played a ton of tennis lately, while others began to enjoy glory. One of them was Rafa Nadal, who of course won the Australian Open, matching Djokovic in terms of having won each of the Grand Slam titles multiple times each, and at least temporarily surpassing Djokovic with 21 Grand Slam championships in his career, moving ahead also of Roger Federer. The “Big Three” had previously been tied at 20 Grand Slam titles apiece, but Nadal right now holds the record.
And now, Djokovic is seeing someone else at least temporarily put him in the shadow. Again, it might be temporary. Then again, it might not be.
For the first time since Andy Murray in 2016, someone other than Djokovic, Federer, or Nadal will hold the number one ranking of men’s tennis. In face, even more impressively, it will be the first time since very early in 2004 (February 1st, to be specific) that a man other than those four mentioned earlier will hold the number one ranking. If you are keeping count, that is 18 years, or slightly less than two years shy of being two full decades. Frankly, that is an awful long time for literally every other man but those four to be shut out from reaching that elusive number one ranking. You would have to be at least in your twenties to remember any other man but one of those four holding the number one ranking.
But that will now change. Russian Daniil Medvedev, who denied Djokovic a calendar Grand Slam by handing him a shocking loss in the US Open Men’s Final, has ascended to the number one ranking. Medvedev will officially be the number one ranked man in tennis on Monday, just days away.
This would probably be much bigger news had it happened even a few weeks ago, and especially months ago. But given all that seems to be happening in a very busy news week, this historic event in men’s tennis has clearly flown under the radar.
We are now entering the fourth day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, or the Russian-Ukrainian war.
So far, Ukrainian forces have managed to put up a pretty decent fight, actually. Ukrainian President Zelensky (I have seen various different spellings of his name, but this seems to be the easiest for me to remember, so this spelling will likely be what I try to use from here on out) had stated a couple of nights ago that Russian forces would likely launch an all-out assault to try and capture Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine. He warned that it would be a rough night.
Well, it was. But when dawn came, the Russians still had not captured Kyiv. In fact, as I write this, Ukraine still holds the capital city, although Russian forces have reached the outskirts, the suburbs, particularly in the north, as I understand it.
Looking at the live updates just now, and it is reported that there was heavy fighting overnight and into early Sunday morning in and around Kyiv, with what were described by CNN as "massive explosions" being seen and heard near the capital city.
More than 120,000 people have fled Ukraine, and the numbers trying to cross borders - particularly to Romania and especially Poland, as I understand it - keep swelling. My girlfriend and I were watching BBC News earlier, and they estimated that Poland has already seen well over 100,000 Ukrainians flee their country and come to Poland, particularly to border crossings right near her own home village. They have been coming by car and by train, and even in some cases, by foot, despite truly frigid temperatures and conditions.
The Biden White House, as well as several European nations, declared that they would seek to expel certain Russian banks from SWIFT. SWIFT was described by CNN as "a high-security network connecting thousands of financial institutions around the world."
I heard some Ukrainians say that they feel moved by the show of support around the world for the Ukrainian cause. There were images that I saw online showing various landmarks around the world bathed in the gold and blue colors of Ukraine. These included - but were not necessarily limited to - the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Empire States Building in New York, Cinquantenaire Park in Brussels, the Colisseum in Rome, Flinders Street Station in Melbourne, and the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Skopje, as well as similar shows of support in London and other major cities. Also, there were literally hundreds of massive antiwar rallies in cities all around the world, all expressing support for Ukraine and condemnation of Russia's military aggression.
However, that is obviously not military support. For now, Ukrainian forces have held their ground against Russian military attacks, especially around Kyiv. However, with clear military superiority, and especially in the air, it still feels like just a matter of time before Russia has some kind of major breakthrough.
What the NATO members, and particularly American President Joe Biden, have continually reiterated, almost excessively, is that they would defend every inch of NATO territory. As everyone surely knows by now, NATO has a longstanding policy that an attack on one member is regarded as an attack on all NATO members. Numerous nations have escalated troop presence in the NATO member nations bordering Ukraine, particularly in Poland and Romania.
One thing that has not failed to garner much admiration and support the world over is the bravery of Ukrainian President Zelensky. He has urged Ukrainians to fight no matter what, to give the Russians a hard time on their march to Kyiv. He himself acknowledged that he would that he would be the number one target, and his family would be number two. While his family is in hiding, Zelensky himself has remained in Kyiv and vows to continue to fight, along with other Ukrainian politicians. He contradicted false claims that he had fled the country. In fact, he was offered an escape route, as Americans offered to evacuate him from the country. He responded by saying that he needed ammunition, and not a ride.
Zelensky has released several videos as proof that he is still in Kyiv, despite the danger to himself by staying. As indeed the primary target for Russians, he could face assassination or possibly capture and, let's face it, possibly torture. Who knows what he might face if he is indeed captured? Yet, he remains in the capital, and is urging all of his countrymen to fight on, leading by example. My girlfriend and I saw videos released by him, and both agreed that this is real leadership, not to mention bravery.
Also, for the first time, I actually heard a gunfight on the live Youtube feeds from various sites around Ukraine. Up to this point, all of the scenes that I had seen or heard had appeared surprisingly - albeit surely deceptively - calm, with no obvious evidence of a war going on. People driving and walking around like normal, attending to no obvious business, until just moments ago, when I heard clear signs of fighting from the audio on the left bottom corner camera of the below Youtube feed. This was where I heard it, just less than a minute ago as I write this (2241 EST). Also, I saw a bunch of cars (they look like regular cars, although it is dark and mostly I just see headlights and taillights) going back and forth on that lower bottom left camera. Finally, there was an fire emergency evacuation message that kept playing minutes after the firefight, so I am guessing that the firefight happened either at or near the building where this camera is video taping from:
🔴LIVE: War in Ukraine | View of Maidan square in #Kyiv #War_in_Ukraine after #Russian_invasion
LIVE UPDATES Russia invades Ukraine By Adrienne Vogt, Lauren Said-Moorhouse, Jeevan Ravindran, Peter Wilkinson, Jessie Yeung, Brad Lendon, Steve George, Meg Wagner and Amir Vera, CNN Updated 10:10 p.m. ET, February 26, 2022:
Pics: Ukraine Flag Colours Light Up Buildings In Global Solidarity Show Ukraine-Russia crisis: The buildings are Cinquantenaire Park in Brussels, the Colisseum in Rome, Flinders Street Station in Melbourne, and the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Skopje WorldEdited by Debanish Achom (with inputs from AFP)Updated: February 25, 2022:
Stiff Ukrainian resistance slowing Russian march to Kyiv; Zelenskyy vows to fight - live updates Luciana Lopez Craig Harris Caren Bohan Mike Snider Tom Vanden Brook USA TODAY
Here is rather shocking video footage of a tank running over a car in a suburb of the Ukrainian capital city of Kyiv.
Rather astonishingly, the elderly man in the car somehow survived.
This feels like one of those rare videos when the brutal realities of war have been caught on camera. There is indeed a warning at the beginning of the video, and if anyone is horrified by it, I apologize. However, this is apparently a real video from an actual war zone, and thus, it serves as one grim reminder of the reality of war.
There have been various - and too often conflicting - reports that radiation levels from the former nuclear power plant in Chernobyl have been going up since Russian forces captured it.
As of right now, it is difficult, if not impossible, to know what exactly to believe in this regard. Let us hope that these reports are exaggerated.
In any case, below is a link to a news article from Aljazeera regarding this alarming story:
Conflicting reports on Chernobyl radiation after Russian capture by Aljazeera, 25 February, 2022:
The stricken nuclear facility was captured by Russian forces on Thursday after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Okay, so here is a bit more on the war in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has obviously been very active. He first appealed to Putin in Russian, obviously to no avail. He then cut all diplomatic ties with Russia, closed off Ukrainian airspace, and declared martial law throughout Ukraine, urging Ukrainian citizens to stay inside of their homes and setting a curfew. All of that was on the first day of the war.
He has also vowed to stay put, even as Russian forces advance on Kyiv, the capital city, and even while he said that he himself was target number 1 for the Russians, and his family was target number 2. As the war is not going well for his Ukrainian forces, he also urged citizens to fight by making Molotov cocktails. Instructions on how to specifically make them were broadcast.
Zelensky is vowing to stay put in Kyiv, even as the Russians are fast approaching. As I write this (early Friday evening, eastern time), he predicted that there would be an all-out assault on the Ukrainian capital tonight. He warned the west that the time to take urgent action was now, and that the images and video of him being broadcast in these first days of war may be the last time that we in the West see him alive. So far, it seems that all western nations agree that sanctions are the best way, and they have strongly opposed actual military intervention, particularly boots on the ground. Such a military response would indeed seem to increase the chances of this drastically escalating, quite possibly to World War III.
Last I heard on reports from a few hours ago, Russian forces were nearing the capital city of Kyiv. They and their tanks were seen to the north, and there was a Russian presence there from the west, as well. There is heavy fighting on multiple fronts, although it is most heavy in and around the capital city of Kyiv and the eastern regions, as well as
The United States, Britain, Japan, Canada, Australia and the European Union revealed still more sanctions on Russia on top of the earlier economic penalties they launched earlier this week. These included a move by Germany to stop an $11 billion gas pipeline from Russia. The United Nations Security Council voted today on taking action against the Russian invasion, particularly condemning the invasion and requiring an immediate Russian withdrawal. However, this was obviously going to be vetoed by Russia itself. It is also worth noting that China abstained, confirming what many suspect may be designs for a similar military takeover of Taiwan by the Chinese military which might not be very far off. China has been under pressure by other nations because they have refused to refer to this military incursion by Russian forces in Ukraine as an invasion.
The fighting is still quite intense in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, the two regions that Putin is suggesting that Russians are being seriously mistreated and facing persecution by what he termed as neo-Nazi Ukrainian extremists. He is demanding the need for these two regions to gain their independence. Putin himself described this Russian presence in Ukraine as "a special military operation."
Here is the news source from which I obtained most of the information for this particular blog entry, although I also did receive some of the information from televised BBC News reports:
Ukraine's president vows to stay put as Russian invaders approach by Natalia Zinets, February 25, 2022:
Today, there really is only one major topic to talk about. Obviously, that would be Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
This has been building up for some time. Putin had moved a huge amount of Russian military forces and equipment along the border with Ukraine. He also received much condemnation from countries around the world. He defended it, claiming initially that they were simply conducting military exercises. But it was obvious that something more was up. Indeed, the world seemed to warn Putin that a Russian invasion would have consequences. Severe economic sanctions are set to be imposed on Russia, and there was still hope
Well, it has happened.
Last night, Putin announced special military operations in Ukraine. In other words, Russian military intervention, or an invasion.
For a while, I was quite skeptical of the reports from western media and government sources, since we kept hearing about the "imminent" invasion that was inevitable. I had kind of half expected Putin to be playing an elaborate game of chicken, to see how united western alliances would be. It did not seem certain to me that he actually would go ahead and commit his own troops to a war that was widely unpopular and has been nearly universally condemned by other world leaders.
But I can admit when I am wrong. Putin has been intervening in other countries for a long time now. He got Russia involved in Georgia. He intervened in the civil war in Syria. And he has obviously been involved in Ukraine for many years now already. They outright took Crimea, annexing it. I know that this bothers some people, although a part of me, understanding that 90 percent of the population there was apparently Russian, and that this region was historically Russian, was not so bothered by this.
Now, here we are again. It feels increasingly obvious that Putin means to test the West, and indeed much of the rest of the world, with his actions. And this is not justified simply because of western hypocrisy, since the west - and especially the United States - itself has a very long history of involving itself rather unnecessarily in the conflicts of other countries, or perhaps even creating these conflicts. All of this is part of the reason why I was so cynical about what seemingly were exaggerated reports about Russian military aggression. But then, he took the plunge last night.
For the first time since the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, there is a major land war in Europe. Russian military forces right now are in Ukraine as I write this. Obviously, it has dominated the news cycle on this day, with everyone speculating on what will happen, and what it all means. Nobody is sure what we can expect. The only thing that we really know is that no western leader is ready to commit their own troops to help Ukraine, because such an action likely would literally begin World War III. That is not an exaggeration. So that in turn means that Ukraine appears to be on it's own. That at least is the unspoken, but very real, message. Many sympathies in other countries are with Ukraine. That includes all of the Polish people I have come to know through my Polish girlfriend. For very good reason, I think, they distrust Russia, and particularly Putin.
Obviously, I am no expert. Hell, I was not even sure that Putin would go ahead with the invasion, thinking that he might just be playing games and testing the waters, but not yet ready to actually plunge into a conflict that could potentially grow much bigger and far more serious quickly. For what it is worth, here is what I think will happen: Ukrainian forces will resist, but Russia's much bigger and generally superior military will ultimately win. The two republics that Putin is demanding independence for will gain nominal independence, but will most likely vote on whether to join Russia, much like we saw in Crimea. My guess is that they will indeed vote to become a part of Russia, and that Russia will annex these territories outright. As for the other parts of Ukraine, either a puppet state will be implemented - and the current Ukrainian government be forced into exile in the process - or perhaps even the rather large republic will be split even more, with perhaps a western Ukraine and an eastern Ukraine, and very possibly, both will be puppet states. If I am wrong about those two regions in eastern Ukraine hugging the Russian border outright being annexed by Russia eventually, then they also will become effectively puppet states. I am not saying that this is what I want to happen, by the way. Only what I think will happen, which is an entirely different thing. And the world will protest, but will let it happen, much like they already allowed the annexation of Crimea to become a reality.
My own experiences are limited in this region. Back in 2019, when my girlfriend, my son, and I took a trip to Europe in the summer, we actually went into Ukraine for a day, mostly to visit L'viv, a western city close to the Polish border which is considered to be the cultural capital of Ukraine. Mostly, we went at my insistence, because I have always wanted to visit more eastern Europe, particularly countries like Russia and Ukraine, with such a different language and culture. That was not Russia, but it felt much more Russian than anyplace I had been to before. L'viv is a beautiful city, albeit a bit run down. What would be major tourist sites in Europe with a lot of advertisements and a major tourist industry were, instead, mostly old and run down. You could see that it is beautiful, and could be more so. Someday, perhaps many years from now, depending on how this war goes and when it recovers, the city could become a much bigger tourist destination, although obviously there will basically be no tourism there on any major level for a while to come.
While I was impressed by our visit to L'viv, and glad that we made the trip, it was not the only aspect of the trip where the impression stayed with me. When I first went to Poland in 2013, it felt very different from the western European nations that I had known, and noticeably less affluent. But this was almost nothing compared with the obvious differences going from Poland to Ukraine It was hard not to notice how different it felt, going from Poland - a member of the European Union that has grown noticeably wealthier from the old, Communist days - to Ukraine, which at the time was the poorest country in Europe. Several times, the bus had to slow down and wait to pass horse drawn carriages, and these were not on the roads as some kind of touristy gimmick. The villages and houses looked more run down. In Poland, one thing that I noticed in many villages, including the one where my girlfriend and her family are from, is that the old houses often were kind of placed on the side, with much larger and more impressive houses now serving as the main residence. The old house, which was tiny, now serves almost as a mixture of a wood shop and barn in their case. Many other properties also had the two houses in place, the old one, and the newer one. In Ukraine, they still only had the original houses, and they were generally significantly smaller than those just across the border in Poland.
What I remember also was the border crossing, which was unlike any other border crossing that I have been involved with. We were stopped on both sides, both going into Ukraine, and then coming back. We were there for hours each time, and the drivers were aware of this, and had made sure that we left early to get through earlier, so that we actually could and would get a good day of visiting L'viv in. There were armed personnel on both sides wearing paramilitary gear and holding assault weapons, something that I had seen in and around New York City shortly after September 11th. Whether or not the guns were just for show, as in New York or if they were loaded and ready for action if needed, I could not tell.
In short, it was tense. The only thing even remotely comparable in terms of border crossings was when my son and I crossed from Nogales, Arizona into Nogales, Mexico. But there were no border personnel who were holding assault rifles or dressed in camouflage. But the immediate differences in affluence, and the waiting time, was somewhat similar, at least coming back into the United States. But the Polish-Ukraine border crossing was slow going in both directions. Heading into Ukraine in the morning, there were soldiers maybe a kilometer or so in, also holding assault weapons. You really were reminded that Ukraine was kind of a war zone, even if the active part of the war had been largely minimized at that point. Also, there was palpable tension on the bus once we actually started driving in and passing homes and villages. While there was quite a bit of small talk and conversation among the passengers before we actually reached the border, absolutely no one spoke for maybe thirty or so minutes. Again, you could almost feel the tension. That in and of itself was a unique experience for me.
So on this day, given what has happened, I will publish again my thoughts about crossing the border, and our visit to Ukraine back in the summer of 2019. I will not add as many pictures, because this is not about tourism, although there is one picture from L'viv which I did keep. This was when I saw toilet paper with Putin's image on it. I would imagine that this might sell particularly well in Ukraine right now. Otherwise, I also posted a picture of the same border crossing that we apparently took, which my girlfriend found and confirmed was the same one that we used. The picture was taken earlier today, and shows already the mass migration out of Ukraine, which is suddenly a country at the center of a major war, the first major land war that Europe has seen since the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, and possibly the biggest one now since World War II. Here were some of my thoughts (again, I did not simply repost the whole thing, but just added the most relevant parts relating to the tension I just mentioned) on the border crossing from our admittedly brief visit to Ukraine back in August of 2019:
I can only post a few pictures of our visit to L'viv, Ukraine yesterday, because the internet is unusually slow so far this morning. Pictures were taking too long to upload, and so I will return to this later with more pics from L'viv specifically, and from our day in Ukraine, more generally.
Some of the places that we visited in L'viv included Lychakiv Cemetery, which was, strangely enough, I thought, the first place that we visited. We also visited several old churches, the Old Town, and the L'viv Opera, which was quite lovely.
First, though, it was a very early start. I had set the alarm for 4:30, as we had to be at the bus stop by 5 a.m.. As it turned out, we ended up being almost ten minutes late. But, we got on the bus. It was still dark and cool, which I always enjoy early in the morning like this.
Part of the reason why we needed to leave so early was that the border between Poland and the Ukraine is not a joke. On our trip through the Bieszczady a few days ago, we saw the Polish border patrol several times, reminding me of the American border patrol presence near the Mexican border. We took our trip to L'viv on a Wednesday, because Tuesday was booked up. The tour guide informed us that Wednesday and Friday are the quiet days crossing the border. Even then, it can take up to three to four hours to cross.
I have crossed between Canada and the United States numerous times, and my experience has always been that they check you in the country that you are entering. It was the same at the American-Mexican border. But here, we were checked by both sides, both times. The Ukrainian border patrol was wearing camouflage and assault rifles, and we saw some guards standing at a post very near the border, looking very much like prison guards on watch duty. Again, this border crossing was no joke. Remember, Ukraine was at war just a few years ago, and lost Crimea to the Russians. While Poland was not involved, there have long been tensions and hard feelings still exist between the two peoples. Many Polish people shared stories of horrors perpetrated by the Ukrainians both before and towards the end of World War II, and even after. The Ukrainians, though, also have stories of horrors perpetrated by the Polish. Each side has committed atrocities against one another. Hard feelings and suspicions remain, and have never really been fully resolved.
Just after getting back last night, I posted just a few photos of our trip. My brother wrote that I had crossed into the country where our grandfather on my mom's side, as well as some other family members, had lived the earliest years of their lives. That is true, although it should be noted that the borders have changed dramatically since then. At the time when they were living there, in fact, the part of Ukraine that we visited, including L'viv, was still a part of Poland, although Poland itself was a part of the German, Russian, and Austro-Hungarian empires.
Still, it was a thrill to visit this place, and see the current Ukraine for the first time. The lettering on signs included letters that were so different than anywhere else that I have been to, and so even this was a thrill for me.
Below is the picture of that same border crossing today, with a line of exodus on the Ukrainian side where you cannot even see the end of the line of cars trying to escape into Poland:
Here is the one picture from our visit to L'viv that I added for this post. I did not add all of my thoughts, nor obviously all of my pictures, from our visit to western Ukraine on that day. But this picture speaks for itself, and reveals how Ukrainians view Russia's leader, Vladimir Putin. Putin's face is featured prominently on toilet paper sold in L'viv. We had heard about this, and I could not resist taking a picture, even though I didn't want to actually buy it.
Here was some big astronomy news that just occurred a bit over one week ago.
The largest galaxy ever found was discovered, which is actually pretty amazing. The scale of this galaxy is almost beyond our comprehension to grasp.
It is known as Alcyoneus, and is three billion light years away. Furthermore, it was described as being "a giant radio galaxy reaching 5 megaparsecs into space. That's 16.3 million light-years long, and constitutes the largest known structure of galactic origin."
Now, if you are anything like me, there will be an obvious question. Probably, it goes a little something like this: "What in the hell is a radio galaxy, and what is it reaching 5 megaparsecs into space even supposed to mean?"
Well, in layman's terms, here is how is was described:
Giant radio galaxies are yet another mystery in a Universe full of mysteries. They consist of a host galaxy (that's the cluster of stars orbiting a galactic nucleus containing a supermassive black hole), as well as colossal jets and lobes that erupt forth from the galactic center.
These jets and lobes, interacting with the intergalactic medium, act as a synchrotron to accelerate electrons that produce radio emission.
Alrighty, then. Hope that clears things up for you, as it obviously cleared it up for me.
This stuff really is fascinating. But it is also difficult to keep track and/or understand everything that goes on. I love science, or at least the idea of it. However, I just seem to lack the intelligence to fully grasp it, although I do at least keep trying.
Below is the link to the article:
The Biggest Galaxy Ever Found Has Just Been Discovered, And It Will Break Your Brain MICHELLE STARR15 FEBRUARY 2022:
Sad news in the music world today. Another icon from the Seattle music scene is gone.
Mark Lanegan, the frontman for the Screaming Trees, died earlier today in his home in Killarney, Ireland. He was just 57.
I saw him in concert twice. The first time was when he still fronted the Trees, and I saw them perform up close and personal at Lollapalooza in 1996 at Randall's Island. The second time that I saw him was at the Clausfest at the old Nassau Coliseum on Long Island back in December of 2002. Ironically, both times, he performed at concerts where I saw Chris Cornell, another departed icon of the Seattle music scene. At Lollapalooza, Cornell was still with Soundgarden. At the Clausfest, he and former members of Rage Against the Machine were still largely introducing themselves as Audioslave.
Lanegan and his band, the Screaming Trees, were among the earliest pioneers of the Seattle music scene, or "grunge." They were very widely respected, and they did enjoy some mainstream success, particularly with their biggest hit, "Nearly Lost You." However, they never did make it as big as some of the other major Seattle bands of the time. Lanegan worked with other well-known musical acts, most notably the Queens of the Stone Age, the band I saw him with back in 2002. He had one of the most unique and distinctive voices in music, instantly recognizable and with a strained, rough sound to it. On some levels, he may have been the most "grungy" of the so-called grunge bands.
It seems so strange to me that all of these guys who I grew up as a teenager and a young man listening to are dying off already. These guys used to represent a youthful, vibrant music scene centered in a city that itself seemed to appeal to youthful culture and energy. True, that was a while ago. Hard to believe that it was 30 years ago, but even that was not all that long ago. Again, Lanegan was only 57, which is hardly a very old age. He might not have been a household name, like the aforementioned Chris Cornell, or Kurt Cobain, or Eddie Vedder. Still, he was an important figure in the then burgeoning Seattle music scene of the early nineties, often lumped into the "grunge" category.
I enjoyed his music, and was pleased to see him both times that I did in fact see him. He will be missed.
RIP, Mark Lanegan.
Here is what the Facebook pages for both the Screaming Trees and Gary Lee Conner (a member of the Trees who, I believe, was the author of the Screaming Trees Facebook page) had to say as tribute to their former bandmate today:
Mark William Lanegan passed away today, 2.22.2022, at his home in Killarney, Ireland.
He was our true brother and we all truly loved him..
In this city built on broken glass
And the carcasses of a million dead sheep
Where the blood runs thick down third street
Down the gutter to the railroad station
And takes a train
Up, over these big mountains to the sea
That's where you gotta be You gotta go to the sea
Strange Out Here, Mark Lanegan
As we say goodbye to Mark, a member of our family,
Rudy Giuliani took exception to Eminem taking a knee during the Super Bowl halftime show, and suggested that he should leave the country. I always find it ironic that people like Giuliani, who will claim to love the freedom that we are supposed to have in this country to express ourselves, then turn around and tell people to "love it or leave it," essentially, when they actually do express themselves (and peacefully, at that).
By now, everyone in America - and perhaps many around the world - are aware of the trend of professional athletes taking a knee during the playing of the national anthem at sports events. This spread to other venues in the public domain. During the Super Bowl halftime show, Eminem also took a knee, and there was debate which followed regarding why he did that. Some suggested that it was not a protest, and had no significant relevance, a position which seems unrealistic and designed to try and undermine the meaning of such a protest. Others seemed supportive. Then, there are those who are opposed to these protests regardless of who does it or what it is supposed to mean. Obviously, Trump people are among this group, and there are few people as invested in Trumpism than former New York mayor, and former Trump legal advisor, known best for some ridiculous incidents while attempting to prove to the public - and notably, not in the legal courts, where false accusations could have serious consequences - that there indeed was massive voter fraud, and that Trump and his team were illegally robbed of another term.
Yes, Giuliani clearly was not pleased with Eminem and this protest. He responded in predictable fashion, the kind where someone like him asks "what the hell is going on in this country?" Then, in another typical stance, he basically suggested that if Eminem does not like it here in America, he can move to another country. Love it or leave it. Very original. Also, meant to shut down discussions or debates, rather than actually seriously examine some major issues and perhaps do something to at least work to try and resolve them. Heaven forbid!
So here was a song done in response to Giuliani.
No, this was not actually Eminem singing or anything. However, it was funny. Funny enough to feel like it was worth sharing here.
My son and I decided to take advantage of an unseasonably warm day earlier today in northern New Jersey. We went to Wawayanda State Park, with the intention of doing the usual loop walk, which is approximately two miles.
However, when we got out of the car, we noticed that there were a lot of people - at least a dozen people were on the lake while we were there, maybe two dozen - walking around on the iced over lake. I asked if he wanted to go on the ice, and he said yes. So, we went.
He told me that he had never before walked atop on iced over lake. I was surprised that we never had done that, but I also could not remember any specific times having brought him. It was time.
So we went on the ice, and we went farther and farther. There was an island that I once explored during a boating trip, but we were able to walk there this time. Once we got there, we did a little bit of exploring on it. There was the remnants of a chimney, but not much else. Few had been on it recently. But it was cool to explore.
Both of us came close to slipping and possibly falling at points, although neither of us did. We just went slow and steady.
There was one incident. When I stepped off the little island on the far side (the one not facing the Wawayanda Beach), it was on literal thin ice. My foot went right through, but my momentum was already unstoppable, and I found myself suddenly submerging. It was my foot at first, then down to my knee, and then to my waist. My other leg went in, mostly on reflex to "catch" the fall before it grew worse. In the process of the fall, I banged my leg, and it did hurt. Also, the partial submergence in the cold water seemed to drop my body temperature, as I went from feeling comfortable to cold almost right away.
Another strange thing: suddenly, I felt hungry. We decided to go back and get into the car, so I could crank up the heat and hopefully dry off. We had a good meal together, and by chance, both my brother and my mom called within short order. So they got to speak to my son, and he was willing to talk longer than he normally does, which both of them appreciated.
So, it was a good day overall. Took some pictures (more than just these), and also, both my son and I took some video. Will try and get that out in the near future. In the meantime, please enjoy these pictures of this cool day.
Even as I write this now (and am about to publish it), my toes are still cold from the unexpected dip in the cold lake on a February afternoon. That is one reminder of this day. These pictures are other reminders, and I am glad to have them.
This was the picture of me taken just minutes after my little, unexpected dip in the waters of Wawayanda. As you can see, I was submerged up to my waste or so, even though I had expected the water to not be deep enough to go past my knees. Also, I fell onto some rocks on the side of the island that we were exploring, banging my knee in the process, but also allowing me to get out of the water before things ever grew more serious than they did. We basically turned around and went back to the car to warm up after this.
Today marks the 60th anniversary of John Glenn becoming the first American to orbit the Earth in space.
Of course, that was a very different era in this country's history, and indeed, the world's history. The United States had a young and dynamic man in the Oval Office who seemed to represent everything that the country saw itself as and aspired to.
Yet, the United States faced challenges. One of them, of course, was the Cold War. And one aspect of the Cold War that actually probably brought out the best on both sides of the Iron Curtain was the space race. It seems to me that the space race, such as it was, came in two different parts. In the early part, the Soviets clearly led the way. On October 4, 1957, the Soviets successfully launched Sputnik I ("Sputnik" is Russian for "traveler"), the first human made satellite into space. In 1959, the Soviet space program scored another victory when they successfully launched Luna 2, which became the first space probe to reach the moon. Then, they won another major aspect of the space race when cosmonaut Yuri A. Gagarin became the first man to go into space, as well as to orbit the Earth, in April of 1961. By this point, not only were the Soviets winning the space race, but they were winning it very decisively.
Many Americans were shocked and even embarrassed that the Soviets had scored so many early successes. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) obviously felt pressure to respond. They launched Explorer I, which was the first American satellite into space. Then, they had the mission that got John Glenn to orbit the Earth on this day in 1962, less than one year after Gagarin and the Soviets had orbited the Earth.
Of course, the major accomplishment, the one that many Americans feel "won" the space race, was when the United States landed men on the moon in July of 1969. That young American president of the early 1960's, John F. Kennedy, had set the goal clearly for the country to aim for the moon and get a man there and back within a decade. This was indeed achieved, and seemed to be one of the last major triumphs for the United States during an era where most people now will acknowledge seemed to mark a decline.
However, I personally view all of these landmarks as huge, historic level achievements not just for individual countries, but for humanity more generally. Those early victories by the Soviets only mark a failure by the United States if one is determined to view it as such. In fact, these were tremendous achievements and triumphs for all of humankind. Frankly, even if we were not able to do so back then, we should now be able to recognize each of these events as almost mindboggling leaps in human technological ingenuity and understanding. Both countries push the other to achieve greater things in the space race, even if the motivation behind these were not always incredibly noble. Indeed, we are likely a better world more generally as a result of them.
To that end, I honor the achievement of sending an American to orbit the Earth on this day 60 years ago, as the country prepared or the ultimate challenge of making good on Kennedy's stated goal of putting a man on the moon and bringing him back safely to Earth within a decade.
Again, perhaps the reasons that drove the two nations to such achievements often tended to be selfish and petty. Indeed, often times they were. However, if it is like a high stakes chess match, only using space as the board, and perhaps differing ideologies as strategies, maybe we would best remember these words by a famous French essayist, which should put into perspective that each of these landmark achievements were a victory for all of humanity, and not for a single country and/or political ideology:
"The aim of argument, or of discussion, should not be victory, but progress."
~ Joseph Joubert
It seems to me safe enough to suggest that the progress in the space race decades ago belongs to all of humanity now, regardless of the individual country that managed to achieve it at the time. All of it marked human progress. And one of those important chapters in progress occurred on this day exactly sixty years ago.
PSG had a showdown with Real Madrid yesterday at the Parc des Princes.
Just days after pulling off an impressive win against one of the most elite franchises in European football, PSG returned back to Ligue 1 action yesterday and suffered an uncharacteristic setback.
They not only lost to Nantes, but they got dominated almost from the first. Nantes took the game over early. They knocked PSG down early, and never really allowed PSG to get back up or get back in the game.
Nantes got started early on when forward Randal Kolo Muani broke through with a goal in the 4th minute, getting the home crowd excited about the possibility of an upset – and a huge win for the hometown team – early on.
After that, the other Nantes forward, Quentin Merlin, broke through with a goal in the 16th minute, adding some cushion to their lead.
PSG was able to more or less keep the game from getting worse almost right to the end of the first half. However, Nantes midfielder Ludovic Blas was able to get a goal off a penalty in the 6th minute of extra time just before halftime. Just like that, Nantes enjoyed a very commanding, and frankly a bit surprising, 3-0 lead as the two teams went into the lockers for halftime. Barring some kind of almost miraculous turnaround, this game was going to be a huge upset win for Nantes.
PSG finally got a goal when Neymar broke through in the 47th minute to at least start the second half off right. Neymar also had another chance on a penalty, but it was not successfully converted. Overall, he did not have anything resembling a solid day, despite him scoring the only goal PSG would managed all day.
Kylian Mbappé also missed a golden opportunity in the game. This just was not going to be PSG’s day. They were unable to score another goal to make it a close game or apply much more pressure on Nantes.
In the end, Nantes won decisively, 3-1.
PSG remains comfortably ahead of everyone in the Ligue 1 standings, maintaining he first place position that they have held since pretty much the beginning of the season. They have earned 59 points in the 25 games that they have played so far this season. That places them well ahead of Olympique Marseille, who have earned 46 points in 24 games played to date. Nice is in third place currently with 42 points earned after 24 games played. Strasbourg is currently in fourth with 41 points in 24 games played. Finally, Nantes – the team that just stunned PSG – and Lyon are both tied for fifth place, each with 38 points earned after 25 games played, although Nantes would get the nod because of the better Goal Differential, which they have by two goals – the same margin of victory that they earned against PSG in yesterday’s big win.
