The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

In The Mailbox: 03.24.22 (Afternoon Edition)

Posted on | March 24, 2022 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 03.24.22 (Afternoon Edition)

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Silicon Valley delenda est.
OVER THE TRANSOM
Ninety Miles From Tyranny: The 90 Miles Mystery Box, Episode #1665
357 Magnum: What’s The Difference Between These “Intelligence Experts” And The Stasi? 
EBL: Black Crab, also, Lust
Twitchy: Prog “Pastor” John Pavlovitz’ Attempt To Shame Conservative Women For Their Beliefs Goes REALLY Wrong
Louder With Crowder: Kid Rock Has Opinions About Joy Behar, Other The View Harpies
Vox Popoli: Life Imitates Stonetoss, The Ticket Is No Guarantee, and Mailvox – Woman Trouble
Granite Grok: The Danger Of Knowledge

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
American Conservative: No Hope For Millennials 
American Greatness: The Coming Disaster, also, Oklahoma House Overwhelmingly Passes Ban On Most Abortions
American Power: How Russia & Right-Wing Americans Converged On The Ukraine War, also, How Russia’s Revamped Military Fumbled The Invasion Of Ukraine
American Thinker: Children Of The Corn & The Fraud Of Renewable Energy, also, Obama’s Third Term & The Destruction Of The American Polity
Animal Magnetism: Animal’s Hump Day News
Babalu Blog: No Fuel For Cubans, But Plenty For Apartheid Tourists, also, Venezuelan Dictator’s Second In Command Suggests Invading Colombia
BattleSwarm: Russian Tanks In Ukraine Roundup
Behind The Black: Starlink Raises Its Prices, Ingenuity Completes 22nd Flight, and Today’s Blacklisted Americans – Conservatives & Religious Blackballed At Disney
Cafe Hayek: A False God
CDR Salamander: A Friend’s Frigate Benchmark
Da Tech Guy: Worst President Ever, also,  If You Don’t Start With The Presumption That Judge Jackson Is Dishonest And Dishonorable You’re A Fool
Don Surber: Affirmative Action’s Idiocracy, also, Salty Tears From Butthurt NYC Prosecutors
First Street Journal: 15-Year-Old Arrested In Philly For Shooting Two Teenage Girls
Gates Of Vienna: Putin’s War Speech Exposes Agenda 2030 In Russia, Another Somali Success Story In Germany, and Scientific Insanity
The Geller Report: Military Doctor Blows Whistle On Coverup Of Disturbing Vax Data, also, Suburbs Switch To Trump – He Leads Biden 45%-42% 
Hogewash: M9, Don’t Know Much Biology, and Team Kimberlin Post Of The Day
Hollywood In Toto: Arrested Development Star David Cross Claims No Comedian Has Been Cancelled, also, Meet Jeffy – The YouTube Sensation Who Breaks All The Woke Rules
The Lid: Don’t Leave a Tip, It’s Racist
Legal Insurrection: Stormy Daniels Loses Appeal, Owes Trump Almost $300K In Legal Fees, Federal Judges Avoid Hiring Clerks From Yale Law After Shout Down Incident, and Scientific American Criticizes NASA For Ending Pronoun Project
Nebraska Energy Observer: Humanity
Outkick: Amazon Got Kirk Herbstreit & Al Michaels, But Can They Convert Viewers Into Streamers?, Has-Been Shock Jock Upset Mask Mandates Are Being Lifted, and Redskins Radio Station Ends Partnership
Power Line: Shut Up & Shave, Democrats Condone Child Porn? and Loose Ends
Shark Tank: DeSantis Mandates Financial Literacy Class For High-Schoolers
Shot In The Dark: Security For She, Not For We, also, No Terrorists Here, Nosirreebob
STUMP: Dead Is Dead – Increased Alcohol-Related Deaths In The U.S., 2020-2021 
The Political Hat: School Transparency In Arizona, also, Hair Color Equity
This Ain’t Hell: Ukrainian Tries To Cpl. Klinger His Way Out Of War, Disgraced AF Major Spends Years Working The Stolen Valor Con, and UA For 40 Years, Caught By The Jab
Transterrestrial Musings: The Great Reset, Conjoined Twins, and The Coming Bloodbath
Victory Girls: Dick Durbin Thinks Judge Jackson Can’t Handle Hearings
Volokh Conspiracy: Judge Jackson Says She’ll Recuse From Harvard Admissions Case If Confirmed
Watts Up With That: Climate Change Is About Control, Stupid, Not The Environment
Weasel Zippers: Judge Jackson Says She Was Lenient On Pedo Because Of His “Diplomas & Certificates”, also, Newt Gingrich Says Kamala Is Dumbest Person Ever To Serve As VP
The Federalist: Twitter Censoring Federalist Reporting As “Violent Content”, Why Does Ukraine’s Border Crisis Matter More To The Elites Than Ours? and Bloomberg – To Solve Inflation, Let Your Dog Die
Mark Steyn: Shots In The Dark

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Category: Linkagery

Russians Surrounded in ‘Bucha Pocket’?

Posted on | March 24, 2022 | Comments Off on Russians Surrounded in ‘Bucha Pocket’?

Let me begin by saying we must be cautious in speculating about the tactical situation in Ukraine, as even the best-informed experts are uncertain and many of the reports we get can be discounted as wartime propaganda. Nevertheless, as I commented Tuesday, the report of a Ukrainian victory at Makariv was of strategic significance, showing that Ukraine has seized the initiative with a counterattack which — if the latest reports can be believed — subsequently exposed the right flank of the Russian forces in the nearer suburbs of Kyiv. If, after taking back Marakiv, the Ukrainians then pushed north to Borodyanka, the Russian forces around Bucha, Hostomel and Irpin would indeed be imperiled.

This is what local officials in Bucha claimed on Wednesday:

The Armed Forces of Ukraine have taken the towns of Irpin and Bucha and the settlement of Hostomel near Kyiv, while at the same time Russian forces continue to constantly shell Makarov, Bucha, Irpin and Dmyrovka.
According to the Town Council: “The inhabitants of Makarivska, Buchanska, Irpin, and Dmyrovka remain under constant enemy fire, and in Dmitrovka there is movement by Russian forces and shelling in surrounding villages. Shpytki was shelled at night, resulting in a fire. Constant fighting is taking place on the Zhytomyr road. Irpin, Bucha, and Hostomel have been encircled by the Armed Forces of Ukraine”.

Again, let me emphasize we must be cautious about this. However, there are estimates that about 15,000 Russian troops are in the “pocket” around Bucha, and these troops must receive tons of food, ammunition and other supplies every day in order to survive. If Ukrainian forces are able to threaten the Russian supply line, this could compel a Russian retreat from the suburbs of Kyiv or, otherwise, the “Falaise pocket” metaphor could become reality, and these Russians would find themselves surrounded and blasted into oblivion:

To the west of Kyiv, Ukrainian forces have launched counterattacks to regain territory occupied by Russian troops. They are reported to have retaken the small town of Makariv and encircled Russian troops in the suburbs of Irpin and Bucha about 25km (15 miles) from the city centre.
Russian advances had previously stalled in these suburbs as Ukrainian forces prevented them from crossing the Irpin River.
Justin Bronk from the UK defence and security think tank the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi), says these new Ukrainian counter-attacks to the west of Kyiv could hamper Moscow’s plans to capture the capital.
“Essentially, what they are trying to do is cut off an entire side of the attempted encirclement of Kyiv, which would force the Russian forces to either try to break north and abandon those positions, or for Russia to reroute significant combat power all the way around Ukraine and back in from the north-west, to try to break through and release their own forces there.”

Given the uncertain nature of the information, this kind of analysis must be categorized as speculative. However, it appears fairly clear Ukrainian forces now have the initiative, and if their counter-offensive continues to make gains, the Russian threat to Kyiv could be eliminated, with thousands of Russian troops killed or captured as a result.

If that smoke is burning diesel fuel, whose fuel is it? Perhaps the Ukrainians hit Russian tanker trucks, destroying the supply of fuel for Russian vehicles, but as with so much going on in this war, we simply don’t know, and only time will tell the full story. Meanwhile, there are other reports that the Ukrainian counter-offensive has made substantial headway on the east side of Kyiv, with the Russians pushed back several miles from Brovary, scene of a major battle last week.




 

Category: Military, Russia, Ukraine

The Death of ‘Black Rabbit’

Posted on | March 24, 2022 | Comments Off on The Death of ‘Black Rabbit’

Say hello to Czyz Deonte Harrison and, while you’re at it, you can also say good-bye, because he was shot to death by Houston police last month after he fatally shot an off-duty deputy constable. The photo above is the last selfie Harrison posted to his @hoodlumcityfcg (Hoodlum City Fight Club Global) Instagram account, showing him trying on clothes in a menswear shop called Casanova Collezioni at the PlazAmericas mall in southwest Houston, Texas. The mall is about a mile away from the storefront where Harrison ran a small gym, a business he launched in September 2020. The date of Harrison’s death — Feb. 23 — was his 35th birthday, and he had apparently gone to the mall with the intention of buying himself some clothes as a birthday gift to himself.

Unfortunately for everyone involved, when Harrison went to check out with his purchases, his credit card was declined. Harrison became irate and started a disturbance. Someone called mall security, which was being worked that day by San Jacinto County Deputy Constable Neil Adams, a part-time job that the 62-year-old lawman was getting ready to quit, having told his wife that the situation at the mall was becoming too dangerous. Harrison “sucker punched” Deputy Adams, took his gun and shot the deputy multiple times. Houston police were called and when officers located Harrison, he charged at them with what they thought was a knife, but turned out to be an ice pick. Harrison was fatally shot.

Click here to watch YouTube video of the police bodycam.

KHOU-TV reported: “Harrison is no stranger to the police. He’s got a criminal history that goes back at least a decade. Court records show convictions for evading arrest, weapons and drugs.”

Perusing his multiple social media accounts, you find that Harrison referred to himself as the “Black Rabbit,” which nickname might have suggested a speedy and elusive boxer, but if he ever actually won a match, I couldn’t find a record. He was only five feet tall, which obviously put him at a disadvantage in boxing. He was 0-1 in September last year when he fought Omar Urieta, losing by a TKO in the first round.

Keep in mind that the “Black Rabbit” had been operating a gym “created by fighters for fighters” for over a year prior to getting knocked out in his second match. If you were going to train as a boxer, wouldn’t you seek out a gym run by somebody who had actually won a fight at some point?

There’s a lot of craziness apparent in Harrison’s Instagram postings. Four days before his death, he posted a 23-minute video to his @super_czyz account in which he (a) smokes some fat joints and (b) reads a book titled Metaphysics of Astrology: Why Astrology Works. And when I say he reads the book, I don’t mean he reads it aloud. He starts out by firing up his joint then issuing a greeting: “Peace, love, compassion and action. It’s really going down, know what I’m talking about? Shout out to God.” Then he sits there toking weed and just flipping through the book until, about 15 minutes in, he reads aloud a couple of sentences about Venus and Mars. What was the point of that video? I don’t know, but as evidence that Harrison was losing his grip on reality, it’s suggestive.

On the other hand, his grip on reality was never very tight.

Like, he was supposed to be running a business — a gym “for fighters by fighters,” with rent and other bills to pay — but instead he seems to have spent a lot of time just posting nonsense on Instagram.

Like, here’s a 51-minute video he posted last November, which begins, “Hey, man, positive vibes for whoever’s watching this, for whatever reason they’re watching this, positive vibes! Don’t waste your time, all your energy and resources, f**king with people, especially when whatever you do going to come back on you anyway.” That video had a total of eight views before I clicked on it. One of the basic principles of business is, time is money. So what value was created by posting that rant, which almost nobody watched? Wouldn’t it have been more productive for Harrison to be doing something else with his time? All of which is to say, it’s no mystery why his credit card got declined, is it?

Scroll down far enough in his IG feed, and you find a mishmash of health and fitness, motivational memes and Afrocentrism. Why this guy who never won a boxing match thought he could succeed in running a gym is as mysterious as why he imagined anyone would want to watch videos of him — a convicted felon — talking about “positive vibes.”

So now a deputy is dead, and “Black Rabbit” is likewise dead, because he flipped out when his credit card got declined at the mall.

Crazy People Are Dangerous.




 

Category: Crime, Texas

In The Mailbox: 03.23.22 (Afternoon Edition)

Posted on | March 23, 2022 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 03.23.22 (Afternoon Edition)

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Silicon Valley delenda est.

OVER THE TRANSOM
357 Magnum: Prosecutors HATE Self-Defense
EBL: My Brilliant Friend
Twitchy: Sen. Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) Whines About “Unfair Treatment” Of Biden’s SCOTUS Nominee
Louder With Crowder: Ron DeSantis Proclaims Emma Weyant Rightful Champion Of The NCAA
Vox Popoli: Red China Signals Its Side, At Least His Feelings Are Safe, and The Satanic World Order

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Adam Piggott: I Agree With Vox
American Conservative: The Mariupol Theater Bombing
American Greatness: Over 120,000 Students & Families Have Left NYC Public Schools In The Last Five Years
American Power: Groomer Teachers Are Absolutely Determined To Discuss Their Sexual Fetishes With Your Kids
American Thinker: John Bolton Inadvertently Reminds Us Why We Need Trump
Animal Magnetism: Animal’s Daily Lying Liars News
Babalu Blog: Miami Federal Court Deals Major Blow To Cruise Companies That Sailed To Cuba, also, Cuban Protester Escapes To U.S. After Being Sentenced To Five Years In Prison
BattleSwarm: Coming Food Shortages? Doubt It, also, Tornado Hits Round Rock
Behind The Black: Today’s Blacklisted American, Musk Says Starship Will Be Ready For First Orbital Launch In May, and Scientists Say Enceladus’ Tiger Stripes Come From Underground Ocean
Cafe Hayek: The Julian Simon Supply Curve
Chicago Boyz: Woke Democrats & Environmentalists Will Scare Off Our Allies
Da Tech Guy: My 6th Law Of Media Outrage Postscript, Pope Francis Nails It for A Change, and Even Better Than Better Than No Coffee At All At McD’s
Don Surber: Mo Dowd’s New Crush Is Zelensky,  The Year Globalism Stood Still, and The World Fears NATO, Not Putin
First Street Journal: Fear Is The Career Killer, also, So Who Failed Here?
Gates Of Vienna: “Compulsory Vaccination Is An Act Of Disenfranchisement”, The Nothing Tree, and Pope Francis Expresses Support For Zelensky
The Geller Report: Here Are Some Of The Joe Biden Scandals Inside Hunter’s MacBook, also, SEC Unveils Sweeping Climate Requirements For Public Companies
Hogewash: Sonification – 5005 Exoplanets, 20th Century Warfare Vs. 21st, and Team Kimberlin Post Of The Day
Hollywood In Toto: UnWoke Disney Employees Have Had Enough, also, How Fresh Avoids That Woke Feminist Trap
The Lid: “Gun Violence” – The Killer That Doesn’t Really Exist
Legal Insurrection: Woke Politics Infecting America’s Courts & Law Schools, California Struggling With Community College Enrollment Collapse, and BYU Students Who Blew Whistle On “Revealing Whiteness” Assignment Threatened With Discipline
Nebraska Energy Observer: Of Sliderules & The American Way, also, Don’t Weep For Me, Weep For Yourselves
Outkick: 2022 Woke All-Star Challenge – The Play-In Round, NBC Columnist Argues “Lia” Thomas Should Be Celebrated Like Jackie Robinson, and #4 Seeded Arkansas Facing Godzillas From Gonzaga
Power Line: We’ve Always Been At War With Eastasia, How To Make Crime Vanish, and Bushrod League
Shark Tank: Rubio Team Calls Out “Radical” Demings
Shot In The Dark: It’s Time, Columns I Didn’t Finish, and Sometimes Paranoia Is Just Perfect Awareness
The Political Hat: Saying The Quiet Part About Anti-Semitism Out Loud
This Ain’t Hell: Music Teacher Escapes Ukraine, Joins SC Daughter, Why Is Russia Using Hypersonic Missiles?, and Creepy Porn Lawyer’s Case Dismissed
Transterrestrial Musings: The Dumbest VP In History, also, The Silence Of The Lambs
Victory Girls: Judge Jackson – Child Porn Sentence Guidelines Are Harsh, Outdated
Volokh Conspiracy: Illinois Town Issues 62 Tickets To Elderly Couple For Having Lawn Chairs In Their Front Yard
Watts Up With That: More Confirmation Of The Infeasibility Of A Fully Wind/Solar/Storage Energy System, also, The Mysterious 2022 Monarch Butterfly Report
Weasel Zippers: Triple Vaxxed Bad Orange Woman Has COVID For Second Time In Four Months, Judge Jackson Defends Leniency For Child Porn Offenders, and Dem Rep Cori Bush Says Democrats Can’t Be Afraid Of Talking About Defunding Police
The Federalist: Nobody “Implied” Judge Jackson Was Nominated Because Of Her Race – Biden Stated It Proudly, Seven Times The Babylon Bee Reported History Before It Happened, and Democrats Smear Josh Hawley For Revealing Democrats Don’t Care If SCOTUS Justices Love Pervs & Hate The Constitution
Mark Steyn: Red China’s Proxies, also, Time & Money

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Category: Linkagery

In The Mailbox: 03.22.22

Posted on | March 23, 2022 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 03.22.22

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Got back late from a medical appointment in Las Vegas last night and didn’t have time to do a catchup post this morning or this afternoon, so I’ll have to try and catch up tomorrow. Nothing wrong; quite the contrary, my primary care doc says I look healthier than I ever have since he’s been seeing me. It’s just that I have a lot to do and only so much time in the day.
Silicon Valley delenda est.

OVER THE TRANSOM
357 Magnum: Domestic Violence Rarely Ends With The Abuser Dead
EBL: Save Ukrainian Refugee Women, also, Clarence Thomas, Get Well Soon!
Twitchy: “OK Boomer”, also, Daily Beast’s “Politics Guy” Says It’s a Good Time To Remember All The Stuff He Got Wrong During The Kavanaugh Hearings
Louder With Crowder: Bad Orange Woman Can’t Shoosh Reporters’ Questions About Hunter Biden Fast Enough
Vox Popoli: Cracks In The Narrative, The Champions Of Democracy, and The Laptop Is Real
Stoic Observations: The Empire Of Luxury

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Adam Piggott: Father Stu
American Conservative: Our Suicidal Moment
American Greatness: Biden’s Handlers Are Preparing To Eject Him (And Kamala), also, A Trump-Hating Backer Of Biden’s SCOTUS Nominee Is Married To The Top J6 Prosecutor
American Power: Russia Has Empowered Neo-Nazi Factions In Ukraine’s Army, also, Gen. Petraeus – “Russia’s Command & Control System Has Broken Down”
American Thinker: The NYT Has Signaled The End Of Biden’s Road, also, A Great Reset Is Already Underway In Utah
Animal Magnetism: Goodbye, Blue Monday
Babalu Blog: The 19th Anniversary Of Cuba’s Black Spring, also, I Guess That’s Why People Don’t Trust Them Any More
BattleSwarm: Why Russia’s Economy Sucks, also, Russo-Ukrainian War Update
Behind The Black: SpaceX Launches Another 53 Starlink Satellites, Pushback – Judge Rules University Officials Can Be Held Personally Responsible For Firing Prof Over Politics, and Colorful Mars
Cafe Hayek: Beware Drawing Parallels Between COVID and Smallpox, also, Change The Design
CDR Salamander: Amphibious Operations In The Russo-Ukrainian War
Chicago Boyz: Worthwhile Reading & Viewing, also, Heuristics for Ukraine (And Other Places)
Da Tech Guy: The United States Of Mid-Life Crisis, The NYT, Hunter Biden, & My 6th Law of Media Outrage, and The 2020 Presidential Election Was Not Free & Fair
Don Surber: Public Supports “Don’t Say Gay”, Crate Training Our Kids, and Only 29% Of Democrats Say They’re Better Off With Biden
First Street Journal: NYT Says “America Has A Free Speech Problem” Without Admitting They’re Part Of The Problem
Gates Of Vienna: Dispatches From The Killing Fields, Ukraine – Field Test Of The Great Reset, and Somalis In Sweden Consider Ukrainian Refugee Women Fair Game
The Geller Report: Justice Clarence Thomas Admitted To Hospital With “Flu-Like Symptoms”, Leftists Bray For His Death, also, Democrat “Intelligence” Experts Refuse To Apologize For Lying About The Hunter Biden Story
Hogewash: An Infrared Web, Just Passing By, and A Briefly Famous Star
Hollywood In Toto: Mel Gibson Is The Anti-Bruce Willis In Explosive Panama, also, How All-American Dog Is Defying The Odds
The Lid: Federal Judge Blocks DC Schools From Vaxxing Kids Without Parental Consent
Legal Insurrection: “Latinx” Activist Groups At Duke Issue Demands To Combat Microaggressions, Metal Shortages & Escalating Costs May Short-Circuit Green Energy Schemes, and Parents Revolt Against Political Activism At Atlanta’s Westminster Schools, File IRS Complaint
Nebraska Energy Observer: Random Obervations, also, The Sunday Post
Outkick: Tennessee Lands Massive Commitment From Five-Star QB, CNN+ Talent Rex Chapman Pays Tribute To Dead Coach (Who Is Still Alive), and Woke Pat Forde Remains Silent On “Lia” Thomas Winning National Title Over His Daughter & Her Olympic Friends
Power Line: The Post Computes This, Take 2, Fake News Today, Fake News Tomorrow, Fake News Forever, and Looney Tunes At ESPN
Shark Tank: Crist Touts UFCW Endorsement
Shot In The Dark: The Unthinkable, also, From Cornerstone To Stumbling Block Part 3
STUMP: Drug Overdose Deaths Part 3
The Political Hat: Mississippi Vs. Critical Race Theory
This Ain’t Hell: Rear Admiral Creepy, With Friends Like These, and Bizarre Ways To Violate The UCMJ
Transterrestrial Musings: Complete Lack Of Self-Awareness, also, The Left’s War On Academic Achievement
Victory Girls: The Ohio Senate Race Mess, also, Trans Cult Cancels The Babylon Bee On Twitter
Volokh Conspiracy: Judge Allows Subpoena Of Facebook COVID “Misinformation” Blocking Records
Watts Up With That: Good News For Polar Bears & Seals, also, “This Is Madness”
Weasel Zippers: More From Hunter Biden’s Emails, RNC Plans To Register New Voters At Gas Stations, and WTH Is Kamala Talking About?
The Federalist: Democrats Admit J6 Committee Is All About The Midterms, Dear Elites Chasing 100% “Clean Energy” – Your Ignorance Is Showing, also, How Twitter Contributed To David French’s Self-Destruction
Mark Steyn: Waiting For Gundown, also, Our Love

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Category: Linkagery

What Counts as ‘Russian Disinformation’?

Posted on | March 22, 2022 | Comments Off on What Counts as ‘Russian Disinformation’?

Everybody’s having a laugh at the New York Times which, attempting to smear conservatives as purveyors of “Russian disinformation,” prompted Candace Owens to point to how often the Times (and other liberal outlets) have reported on the same facts that are now called “disinformation.” (Hat-tip: Instapundit.) Just the other day, for example, I noticed that it is now considered “Russian disinformation” to mention that Ukraine has a neo-Nazi problem.

Neo-Nazis and the Far Right
Are On the March in Ukraine
— The Nation, Feb. 22, 2019

The author of that article, Lev Golinkin, is a Ukranian-born Jew, and The Nation is a left-wing journal that is certainly not pro-Putin, so why are we now required to ignore this information?

[In 2012] Ukraine’s Maidan uprising ousted President Viktor Yanukovych, to the cheers and support of the West. Politicians and analysts in the United States and Europe not only celebrated the uprising as a triumph of democracy, but denied reports of Maidan’s ultranationalism, smearing those who warned about the dark side of the uprising as Moscow puppets and useful idiots. Freedom was on the march in Ukraine. . . .
Post-Maidan Ukraine is the world’s only nation to have a neo-Nazi formation in its armed forces. The Azov Battalion was initially formed out of the neo-Nazi gang Patriot of Ukraine. Andriy Biletsky, the gang’s leader who became Azov’s commander, once wrote that Ukraine’s mission is to “lead the White Races of the world in a final crusade…against the Semite-led Untermenschen.” Biletsky is now a deputy in Ukraine’s parliament.
In the fall of 2014, Azov—which is accused of human-rights abuses, including torture, by Human Rights Watch and the United Nations — was incorporated into Ukraine’s National Guard.
While the group officially denies any neo-Nazi connections, Azov’s nature has been confirmed by multiple Western outlets: The New York Times called the battalion “openly neo-Nazi,” while USA Today, The Daily Beast, The Telegraph, and Haaretz documented group members’ proclivity for swastikas, salutes, and other Nazi symbols, and individual fighters have also acknowledged being neo-Nazis.

Far be it from me to draw conclusions about political events on the other side of the world on the basis of stuff I read on the Internet. Maybe this “ultranationalism” in Ukraine is misunderstood, and maybe negative reports about the Azov Battalion and other alleged neo-Nazis in Ukraine really are “Russian disinformation.” The point is, we don’t know, and maybe it doesn’t matter — like, if you’re fighting off a foreign invasion, do we need to impose a litmus test on who’s doing the fighting?

Is Ukraine corrupt? According to the New York Times‘ own reporting from 2018, the answer is, “yes.” Is Ukraine more corrupt than Russia? Probably not, and I don’t think Ukraine is more “ultranationalist” than Russia, either. So why is the New York Times now attacking Candace Owens and others for talking smack about Ukraine? In a word, politics.

Democrats seem to have the idea that smearing Republicans as Putin stooges — traitors! enemy agents! — is the way they’re going to avert a bloodbath in the midterm elections. And the New York Times is doing what it always does, producing Democratic Party propaganda.




 

Category: New York Times, Russia, Ukraine

Key Victory for Ukraine?

Posted on | March 22, 2022 | Comments Off on Key Victory for Ukraine?

If you look at a map of Ukraine, the strategic importance of Makariv becomes obvious. Makariv is on the intersection of a major north-south highway (T1019) and another highway (T1015) that heads west to Radomyshl. Furthermore, Makariv — about 40 miles west of Kyiv — is just north of the intersection of T1019 and the major east-west highway (M06) that connects Kyiv to Zhytomyr, Lviv, Lutsk and Poland. So reports of a Ukrainian victory in Makariv are important:

Ukraine said it retook a strategically important suburb of Kyiv on Tuesday, while its forces battled Russian attempts to occupy the encircled southern port city of Mariupol. . . .
Explosions and bursts of gunfire shook Kyiv, and heavy artillery fire could be heard from the northwest, where Russia has sought to encircle and capture several suburban areas of the capital, a crucial target.
Early Tuesday, Ukrainian troops drove Russian forces from the Kyiv suburb of Makariv after a fierce battle, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said. The regained territory allowed Ukrainian forces to retake control of a key highway and block Russian troops from surrounding Kyiv from the northwest.
Still, the Defense Ministry said Russian forces partially took other northwest suburbs, Bucha, Hostomel and Irpin, some of which had been under attack almost since Russia’s military invaded nearly a month ago.

(Hat-tip: Jazz Shaw at Hot Air.)

Again, look at a map, and you can see why Bucha, Hostomel and Irpin are crucial battlefields. Irpin is closest to Kyiv, and also within artillery range of the M06 highway, so that by controlling that town, the Russians are able to deprive Ukraine of using the most direct route to bring in supplies from the west. The Russians want to push south from Irpin, to cut off that route and encircle Kyiv from the west, while the Ukrainians want to push the Russians back northward. Pushing the Russian invaders out of Makariv is part of the overall strategic picture in terms of keeping the supply routes of Kyiv open. And, of course, killing more Russians.

As mentioned last night, Russia’s casualty rates are nearly 10 times what the U.S. suffered in the worst year of the Vietnam War. Mere control of territory is now less important to Ukraine’s survival than their ability to inflict further losses on the Russian invaders. The “fierce battle” that drove the Russians out of Makariv almost certainly added to the death toll for Putin’s army. The Ukrainians have wiped out entire regiments of the Russian army, and killed a half-dozen of their top commanders, and the higher the price the Russians are made to pay in blood, the more likely they are to decide that their invasion is a bad bargain.




 

Category: Military, Russia, Ukraine

From Bad to Worse for Russia in Ukraine

Posted on | March 21, 2022 | Comments Off on From Bad to Worse for Russia in Ukraine

This is a strange story: Supposedly, a pro-Putin tabloid in Moscow published (and then deleted) an official tally of Russia’s casualties in Ukraine — nearly 10,000 killed and more than 15,000 injured/wounded as of Monday. Do the math, and they’re suffering casualties at the rate of about 400 KIA and 650 wounded daily. This is slightly higher than previous Western estimates, although less than what Ukraine has claimed. Yet the word “staggering” is the perhaps the best way to describe Russia’s losses. By comparison, during the worst year of the Vietnam War, 1968, the U.S. had around 16,500 troops KIA — about 45 per day. Russia’s losses in Ukraine so far have been nearly 10 times as high.

Another six months of this and Russia won’t have an army anymore.

(Hat-tip: Instapundit.)




 

Category: Military, Russia, Ukraine
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