Quite the inspiration for Ukraine to keep fighting

Mark Sumner of Daily Kos gave a review of the speech where Putin declared he annexed four regions of Ukraine. Putin declared the residents of those regions were “our people” which he would defend. Then he ranted about the evils and horrors of the West, for doing, among many other things, “spreading Russophobia.” He said he had to “lead the anti-colonialism movement” as he tries to conquer his neighbor. He doesn’t just want to conquer Ukraine, but crush the entire West. Putin said this as Ukrainian troops were surrounding Russian soldiers at Lyman. In response to the talk Zelenskyy applied for NATO membership, saying we’re acting like a member, let’s make it official. Mick Ryan, a war strategist and a retired Major General in the Australian Army, discussed Putin’s speech. Yeah, it was great for the domestic audience, but bad for Russia. His reasons: (1) Putin’s declaration is beyond the capability of his military to execute, a problem since the invasion started. (2) It is quite the inspiration for Ukraine to keep fighting. (3) He has given the West greater reason to support Ukraine. (4) He is continuing his campaign to normalize the use of nukes. (5) His energy warfare is giving Europeans reasons to become energy independent. (6) This is proof that Putin will not negotiate an end to the war, which mean Ukraine and the West must defeat him. This puts him in a corner and makes him more desperate and dangerous. (7) He is pushing Ukraine into NATO, which he said the war was to prevent.

So Putin’s speech marks a more dangerous phase of the war, because he has shown himself to be more desperate. But the annexations, and mobilisations, are unlikely to change ultimate outcome of this war. Because, there is little else that Putin can do to Ukraine he has not already done. City destruction, rape, torture, murder, annexation and nuclear threats have not cowed the Ukrainians. They continue to show how a free people can defeat authoritarians. Take note Xi!

Frontex, the European Border and Cost Guard Agency, tweeted:

66,000 Russian citizens have entered the EU over the past week, a 30% increase in comparison to the preceding week

That leads to the question I saw along the way: If Russia invaded Ukraine, why are there so many Russian refugees? The Edmonton Journal tweeted a cartoon of Putin and his invasion effort circling the drain. In an update from this morning Sumner said that Lyman has been liberated by Ukraine. He has stories of some of the Russians escaping to Russian territory to the east while dodging mines and broken and abandoned equipment. A few Russians surrendered. And a lot died. Sumner included a tweet from Defense of Ukraine:

We thank the “Ministry of Defense” of Russia for successful cooperation in organizing the "Izyum 2.0" exercise. Almost all Russian troops deployed to Lyman were successfully redeployed either into body bags or into Ukraine captivity. We have one question for you: Would you like a repeat?

Sumner also provided an update for the protests in Iran sparked by a woman taken into custody for improperly wearing a hijab and dying from the beating. Iran has cut a lot of communication to the outside world. Even so, images that do get out show that after two weeks women remain brave and defiant. Sumner included several of those images. A remarkable image was tweeted by Karim Sadjadpour with this caption:

The daughter of Minoo Majidi--a mother of two who was killed by the Iranian regime while protesting for #MahsaAmini--stands at her mother's gravesite. She is defiantly unveiled, and in her left hand she holds the hair she cut from her head.

That cut hair features in this cartoon tweeted by Dr. Shiva Balaghi. In a second tweet Balaghi noted this one wasn’t created in Iran, but in Italy and about Iran. I’ve mentioned this before and April Siese of Kos has an update. A new study published in Nature shows how damaging Bitcoin mining is to the environment. Bitcoin mining doesn’t mean there are machines digging in the dirt. Instead, it refers to huge numbers of computers doing complicated computations that somehow make Bitcoin transactions secure. But the number of required computers is so huge and they require so much energy that mining is on par with beef production and gasoline burned for damage to the environment. It is right up there with the most polluting industries of the world. Bitcoin’s closest rival, Ethereum, has revised it’s security algorithm to where it’s climate damage is negligible. Bitcoin could do the same, though hasn’t. Tjeerd Royaards draws cartoons for a Dutch daily and various international media. Here’s one of a skeletal figure labeled “Climate Change” tossing handfuls of hurricanes at Florida and the Caribbean. Bill in Portland, Maine, in a Cheers and Jeers column for Kos, quoted late night commentary:

We hope everybody in Florida stays safe. Please, if you can, get out of the storm’s path. Worst-case scenario: Tell Ron DeSantis you’re Venezuelan. Maybe he gives you a free plane ride to Martha’s Vineyard. —Stephen Colbert The Brooklyn Public library has a great program called Books Unbanned that provides online access to banned books to anyone between the ages of 13 and 21, including young people in other states where they're banning kids from reading these great books because their parents are stupid—they're banning anything that isn’t a Cheesecake Factory menu in some of these states. But this is why I love Brooklyn: even the librarians here are giving the middle finger to these people. —Jimmy Kimmel

Joan McCarter of Kos wrote that we’re familiar with the conflict of interest of Clarence Thomas, Justice of the Supreme Court, and his wife Ginni, friend of insurrectionists. Ginni was recently before the January 6 Committee, though I haven’t yet seen what happened then. McCarter added that while we are familiar with Clarence and Ginni, they’re not the only Sureme couple with conflicts of interest. There is Jesse Barrett, husband of Amy Coney Barrett. He has a law firm that has corporate clients in every industry, including more than 15 in the Fortune 100. This is a conflict because Amy was recommended by the Federalist Society and one of their criteria is whether a potential justice will rule in favor of corporations (which conservative justices have been doing quite consistently for quite a while). But Amy doesn’t have to disclose Jesse’s clients nor does she have to recuse herself when those clients come before the Supremes. There is also Jane Roberts, wife of John. At one point she got a job because she is the wife of the chief justice – her boss said her network is his network. Amy doesn’t see this as a problem – spouses have to work! That she doesn’t see the problem is part of the problem. The Supremes need enforceable ethics guidelines, the one court in America that doesn’t have them. The court also needs to be expanded.