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© KEN CEDENO/UPI/NewscomU.S. Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA)
President Joe Biden is currently 79; he's the oldest person to have ever assumed the office of the presidency. His 2020 presidential opponent (and possible 2024 GOP nominee) Donald Trump is currently 75. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is 82. At 71, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is practically a spring chicken. When the 117th Congress began last year, the average age of a House member was 58; the average senator was 64. Over time, the average age of a member of Congress has gotten older. America is being ruled by a gerontocracy.
Some of this is just a result of longer lifespans and longer working lives. And some of it is a byproduct of the graying of America, which has grown older in the years past the baby boom.
Comment: It seems questions abound on the mental fitness of aging American politicians, Biden being the most high profile. It makes for a solid argument for forced retirement cap.
See also:
- Gerontocracy: House Democrats elect Nancy Pelosi as Speaker for fourth time
- Country for old politicians: US gerontocracy wins big, with more years in Congress for Pelosi, 80, McConnell, 78, & other seniors
- US politicians are too old: The short-term philosophy this encourages creates a vicious circle that is dooming the country
© Vadim Savitsky/Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via APIn this 2015 photo, the Russian navy missile cruiser Moskva sails across the water.
CNN's Jake Tapper made the comment while describing an interview he just conducted with Zelensky about the state of Russia's seven-week-old war in Ukraine, after anchor Brianna Keilar noted there are "different stories" coming from the warring countries.
"Of course, I asked him about the warship, and he actually was pretty cagey about it, saying that history will record what exactly happened with that warship, but he noted, of course, that it is now at the bottom of the Black Sea," Tapper said.
Comment: See also:
- Russia destroys tank factory & 16 military other targets in Kiev, claims loss of Moskva ship was due to 'detonation of onboard ammunition'
- 'WWIII has started': Russian state TV says after warship Moskva sinks in Black Sea
- Damaged Russian Navy cruiser underway toward Black Sea homeport - Pentagon
"What they are trying to do is deliberately poke the bear. . . . They are increasing the pressure on just about everything under the sun. The West needs World War III. They just need it. The real problem here is they went to negative interest rates in 2014 in Europe. They have been unable to stimulate the economy, and Keynesian economics have completely failed. . . . I would say this is mismanagement of government on a global scale. The problem is that central banks have no control over the economy. Add to this, this type of inflation is substantially different than a speculative boom. This inflation is based upon shortages. These morons with covid . . . with lockdowns, ended up destroying the supply chains. . . . Things that are there, I buy extra of because next time it might be gone. So, everybody is increasing their hoarding. . . . So, what we have with Europe, with its negative interest rates, they have wiped out all the pension funds. They need 8% to break even, not negative rates. There is not a pension fund in Europe that is solvent at this stage of the game. . . . The European government is collapsing. If they end up defaulting, you are going to have millions of people down there with pitch forks storming the parliament. So, to avoid that, they need war. . . . The Biden Administration has deliberately destroyed the world economy."
© Moscow Museum of Modern Art"Medal in Khankala," by I.S. Araslanov; painted in 2007.
As of March 25, 2022, our analysis of the situation confirms the observations and conclusions made in mid-March.
The offensive launched on February 24 is articulated in two lines of effort, in accordance with Russian operational doctrine:
1) A main effort directed toward the south of the country, in the Donbass region, and along the Azov Sea coast. As the doctrine states, the main objectives are — the neutralization of the Ukrainian armed forces (the objective of "demilitarization"), and the neutralization of ultra-nationalist, paramilitary militias in the cities of Kharkov and Mariupol (the objective of "denazification"). This primary push is being led by a coalition of forces: through Kharkov and Crimea are Russian forces from the Southern Military District; in the center are militia forces from the Donetsk and Lugansk republics; the Chechen National Guard is contributing with engagement in the urban area of Mariupol;
2) A secondary effort on Kiev, aimed at "pinning down" Ukrainian (and Western) forces, so as to prevent them from carrying out operations against the main thrust or even taking Russian coalition forces from the rear.
This offensive follows, to the letter, the objectives defined by Vladimir Putin on February 24. But, listening only to their own bias, Western "experts" and politicians have gotten it into their heads that Russia's objective is to take over the Ukraine and overthrow its government. Applying a very Western logic, they see Kiev as the "center of gravity" (Schwerpunkt) of Ukrainian forces. According to Clausewitz, the "center of gravity" is the element from which a belligerent derives his strength and ability to act, and is therefore the primary objective of an adversary's strategy. This is why Westerners have systematically tried to take control of capitals in the wars they have fought. Trained and advised by NATO experts, the Ukrainian General Staff has, predictably enough, applied the same logic, focusing on strengthening the defense of Kiev and its surroundings, while leaving its troops helpless in the Donbass, along the axis of the main Russian effort.
Comment: Baud's previous piece can be read here: Retired Swiss Military-Intelligence Officer: 'Is it Possible to Actually Know What Has Been And is Going on in Ukraine?'
"You will have to ask yourselves a question, whether you really need to take a hot shower seven days a week - with gas heating," the head of the Federal Network Agency of Germany, Klaus Mueller, said in an interview with n-tv.
His words echoed a similar statement earlier by European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager, who advised EU residents to "control your own and your teenager's showers, and when you turn off that water, say, 'take that, Putin.'"
Comment: All these requests are currently theoretical and the vast majority of people are probably only cutting back to save money on their bills. However if the pathocrats and their lackeys get their way this upcoming winter could lead to significant unrest as people realise that they can't simply change their profile picture to show that they 'stand with Ukraine', they'll have to suffer for it; and, perhaps only then, will they begin to realise they've been had.
© TelegramFILE PHOTO: Russian airstrike damage
He added that 16 targets were hit overnight, including Ukrainian military units, weapons and ammunition depots, and radar facilities.
Moscow warned that it would step up strikes on Kiev after accusing Ukraine of shelling Russian territory on Thursday. Kiev has denied launching attacks on Russian soil.
Comment: New York Post reports that Moscow declared it will be stepping up airstrikes on Kiev following the helicopter attacks on Russia border towns and the missile strike that took out its Moskva vessel:
"The number and scale of missile strikes against targets in Kyiv will increase in response to the Kiev nationalist regime committing any terrorist attacks or sabotage on Russian territory," Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told state-run news agency TASS.Also check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: Kramatorsk False-Flag - Ukraine EU Delusion - Khan Ousted in PakistanKonashenkov said the aggression was in retaliation for alleged cross-border strikes by Ukrainian helicopters and artillery, one of which Russia says hit civilians in the village of Klimovo.© Russian Defence Ministry/AFP viaRussian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov says the airstrikes would be in retaliation for Ukrainian strikes inside Russia.
The announcement was made as Russia reels from the loss of its Black Sea flagship, the Moskva, a guided-missile cruiser that sank Thursday after suffering a massive explosion.Ukrainian forces claimed the kill, saying they struck the warship with an anti-ship missile. The Russian ministry of defense has denied the claim, saying the damage was caused by a fire onboard the vessel© Associated PressUkraine has taken credit for sinking the Russian Black Sea flagship the Moskva, but Russia denies this.
Moscow's threat of further bombardment comes as Kyiv displays new signs of life after seven weeks of fighting.
Since the retreat last month of Russian forces that nearly encircled the capital, the city has played host to a bevy of Western leaders showcasing their support for the embattled nation.
Russia's move towards Kiev was intended to lure fighters away from Donbass so Russia could secure the region more easily, and it worked.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a surprise visit to Kyiv last weekend, touring the streets alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Four more NATO nations followed suit days later, with the presidents of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia traveling to Kyiv by train.
That they can visit Kiev just shows how considered and precise Russia's special operation in Ukraine is, not the 'bombardment by barbarians' the Western press has tried to sell it as.
France announced plans Thursday to move its embassy back to the Ukrainian capital, the same day the White House said it was considering sending an emissary to the war-torn city.
It may be 'war-torn' in some ways, but the trains were still running...
It is unlikely those would continue amid renewed Russian shelling.
"Of course, Russia still has the capability to strike Kyiv," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Thursday. "The Russians still have long-range airstrike capabilities available to them, whether it's from ballistic missiles or from air-launched cruise missiles."
"We never, for a moment, even as the Russians began to reposition, felt that Kyiv wasn't potentially still under threat," he added.
Russia could have taken out Kiev from day 1, but it wants to limit civilian causalities, that's why Moscow has been the one opening and maintaining humanitarian corridors, despite the risk doing so poses to its troops and its plans.
As the Kremlin continues its air assaults on Kyiv in central Ukraine, Russian ground forces continue to group for an expected offensive in the Donbas region to the east.
© REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino
Eight years of military assaults on the breakaway Donbass region by the NATO-backed Kiev regime - causing 14,000 deaths - are exhibit A. The documented Nazi ideology of the Kiev military regiments and their explicit aspiration to kill Russian people is exhibit B. The NATO training and weaponizing of the regime despite its Nazi affiliation is exhibit C.
And fourthly, exhibit D, we must take into account the Pentagon's threat to Russia from its undeniable bioweapons program in Ukraine. That threat also extends to China which is faced with expanding Pentagon laboratories near its borders.
When Russia launched its intervention in Ukraine on February 24, the Kiev regime promptly ordered a network of 30 laboratories funded and managed by the Pentagon to destroy samples of pathogens. That these laboratories were engaged in biological weapons development was later admitted on March 8 by U.S. State Department official Victoria Nuland during hearings before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Nuland's admission has been corroborated by documents published by the Russians which were obtained during operations in Ukraine.
Those documents show and name U.S. officials who were working for the Pentagon and private American firms involved in the development of the laboratories. It is also clear from the documents that the programs were purposed for the development of biological weapons using pathogens such as anthrax and coronaviruses.
The head of the Pentagon's Orwellian-sounding Defense Threat Reduction Agency is named as Joanna Wintrol whose work in Ukraine was coordinated with the U.S. embassy in Kiev.
© UnknownZelenskiy celebrates presidential win
© Marco Cantile/LightRocket/Getty ImagesFrench President Emmanuel Macron
French President Emmanuel Macron has doubled down on his refusal to characterize Russia's conduct in Ukraine as "genocide." He articulated his unwillingness to invoke the fraught term during a Thursday interview on the France Bleu radio network.
"Words have a meaning and we must be very careful. The word 'genocide' must be qualified by jurists, not by politicians."His reasoning echoed remarks by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres the day before, when he was asked about US President Joe Biden's use of the term:
"Genocide is strictly defined in international law. And for the UN, we rely on the final legal determination by the appropriate judicial bodies."He also noted that the International Criminal Court (ICC) was already investigating the matter.
Earlier on Wednesday, Macron already said he "would be careful with such terms." During an interview with France 2, he also demanded accountability for "war crimes" committed in Ukraine but emphasized that he was "not sure that an escalation of rhetoric serves" the cause of securing peace in the country.
Comment: Even those who reject the facts on the ground and believe the official narrative are sounding the alarm that an inevitable result of just the sanctions regime against Russia is that Europe's economy will collapse:
- Why didn't Russia shoot anything down yet?
- Why do Europeans have to sacrifice hot showers to 'stick it to Putin'?
Also check out SOTT radio's: