Trying to find my way without a cost to my soul

Mark Sumner of Daily Kos reported that Ukraine president Zelenskyy visited the recently liberated city of Izyum to thank the troops for their work in freeing the Kharkiv region. Then Sumner discussed what “mopping up” means in this case. There were Russian soldiers on the front lines for several months and in just a couple days the front lines shifted several tens of kilometers behind them. Some surrendered, some tried to cover the lost territory back to their countrymen, some attempted to hold out, which isn’t working out well. The Ukrainians have to get to every village and town, assess local conditions, help citizens who have been under Russian control for months, deal with sick and wounded, start restoring infrastructure, and sort through the piles of ammo and equipment Russia left behind. In a previous post Sumner wrote that Lyman was liberated. Actually, Ukrainians are only at the southern suburbs. And taking the whole city might be a fight. Sumner also wrote (and I repeated) the town of Kreminna had declared itself liberated and raised the Ukrainian flag. Alas, overnight Russians returned. They tore down the flag and turned off the local internet. We can’t find out what is going on. Sumner included a tweet from Igor Kyivskyi that shows the speeds of several animals. From slowest to fastest are cat, dog, ostrich, horse, cheetah, and Russian soldier. Sumner began a second post with:

Russia has hit the dam at Kryvyi Rih with what is reported to be at least six ballistic missiles. The impact created sizable damage to a dam over the Inhulets River, resulting in a flood that for some time was raging downstream. Reportedly, several bridges have already been swept away, and a number of towns and villages on both sides of the river have experienced flooding as water levels rapidly rose. However, additional reports indicate that local authorities have moved quickly to address the damage, and while water is still flowing from the fractured dam, the scale of the disaster has been greatly decreased. For the moment, at least, the threat of massive damage downstream appears to be on hold. Like the recent attack on electrical infrastructure, this was absolutely a criminal act on the part of Russia. They aren’t going after military targets; they’re hitting civilian infrastructure as part of a direct effort to generate misery and outrage. Because somehow, seven months in, Vladimir Putin thinks that if he just hurts enough people, Ukraine will quit fighting. It is a definitive act, not just of state-sponsored terrorism, but of a terrorist state.

One reason to bomb the dam and flood areas downstream would be to sweep away any of Ukraine’s pontoon bridges. But it is also an attack on electrical generation, drinking water, and water for agriculture and industry. And if the damaged dam should fail there would be a lot more damage to bridges and towns along the river. Kos of Kos wrote about how the effects of colonialism are playing out now that Russia is seen as weak. Kos began the story in Africa where colonizing countries drew lines to please themselves rather than the tribes who actually lived there. Ethiopians were split into Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Djibouti. That split has meant the region has suffered near-perpetual war. That same dynamic is being played out in Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia. It has also affected Donbas, Crimea (became part of Ukraine in 1954), and Transnistria along Moldova’s eastern border. Add in Russian meddling in the form of forced deportations and moving Russians in creates animosity. And without Russia able to keep a lid on (when it doesn’t want to exploit the conflict) these central Asian countries are attacking each other. Also, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are firing at each other. And China appears to be Kazakhstan’s new best friend. Kos quoted a thread by Kamil Galeev saying Moscow and St. Petersburg are not economic or cultural centers, they are cities built around the expenses of the ruling family. The family puts out all effort to maintain their quality of life. Because of that these cities are parasites on the rest of the country. I read through Galeev’s thread. He showed how many towns and cities away from Moscow had empty grocery shelves because Moscow sucked up all the food. So there were “sausage trains” where town residents would go to Moscow to buy food. Then Galeev explained another problem of Moscow is its location. It is not near a major waterway, like Rio de Janeiro, Chicago, or Tokyo. This access keeps the citizens cheaply fed. It isn’t in a fertile area, like Mexico City and Delhi where the abundance of food makes them sustainable, though poor. Also, Moscow is significantly farther north than any other major city. Moscow is expensive to feed, but because of the royal family it is fed – to the detriment of the rest of the country. Mike Luckovich, cartoonist, for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, tweeted a cartoon: “Ukrainians fighting for their democracy. MAGA Republicans fighting against theirs.” Nneka Okona, an author of self-care books, tweeted:

I don’t remember who tweeted this but: it is really true when you start to deeply decolonize patriarchy & capitalism’s grip on your life that it makes it really hard to be in any sphere that does not center kindness & care. I legit cannot overwork my body at the expense of rest or stable mental health anymore. I cannot allow myself to be exploited or abused by employers. Life feels so much harder because I’m clear on how society depends on me as Black woman being wrung dry all the damn time with nothing to show for it—and I refuse. It’s also maddening that so many people and entities never really cared about me and only valued me for the production I offered—production that I churned out while never sleeping, drinking too much and having disastrous mental health. ... I wonder if I’m being too sensitive to feel all this so deeply and be struggling to hold it all. Everyday feels like a new torment. I’m trying to find my way without a cost to my soul.

David Solnit describes himself as an artist-organizer. He tweeted with a video and a link to order supplies.

Pasting #BlameWallStreet posters, as fires burn & climate chaos harms. Wall Street fuels climate chaos-investing trillions in coal, oil & gas. We’re using art to stop them.

Michael Harriot, black historian, tweeted a thread about Aretha Franklin. This was prompted by the unsealing of Franklin’s FBI file. Yep, she had one. Since the FBI was created all prominent black people had a file. The FBI was afraid of a black uprising. And black entertainers were of special interest because they funded the civil rights movement. Aretha through her singing, her father CL Franklin through his preaching. When the Montgomery bus boycott happened how did black people get to work? By using cars funded by and donated by Franklin father and daughter. They went on to give significant support to Martin Luther King.