Please note that you can leave a comment on any of our posts at our Facebook page.  Subscribers can also comment at length at our Angel's Corner Forum.

MARCH 16, 2022

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

NEW YORK – ON THE FRONT LINE OF NATIONAL DEFENSE – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:  About 400 used bulletproof vests that were supposed to be donated to Ukraine were stolen sometime overnight from a nonprofit organization in Manhattan, police said Wednesday. The vests were being stored at 203 Second Ave. near 12th Street in the East Village and were slated to be sent to the country that has been under siege by Russian forces since Feb. 24.  Somebody called 911 after discovering the heist at 9:19 a.m., police said.  When cops arrived, they found someone had forced their way into the building, police said. The vests were being stored in a hallway and were “visible to the public,” a police source said. The used vests were donated by the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office, a police source said. The sheriff’s office said they were looking into the report. The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America and the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America are both listed at the Manhattan address. And if the NYPD catches the perp? This bein' New York, he'll be walking the streets again in about ten minutes Makes you feel more secure, doesn't it?

March 16, 2022     Permalink

RETURN TO MADNESS – OVERNIGHT:   So much for our national unity over Ukraine.  There are more important things to do – like cozying up to the Iranian mullahs so Joe Biden can have his Neville Chamberlain moment. Oh, those boyish dreams fulfilled. From Daily Mail:

The White House on Wednesday blamed former President Donald Trump for the way Iran has made strides towards acquiring atomic weapons, as talks to revive a nuclear deal remain stalled.

Trump pulled the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018 and reimposed sanctions.

Since then, Iran has stepped up the production of enriched uranium leading analysts to say Tehran has reduced the 'breakout time - the time to produce enough for a weapon - to a matter of months.

This week Russia said it had received guarantees from the U.S. that sanctions on Moscow won't affect its role in the deal, potentially signaling that talks on renewing the 2015 deal can resume. 

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked whether Washington was prepared to remove Iran's Islamist Revolutionary Guard Corps from the terrorism list in order to secure a deal - and pivoted to blame Trump for the urgent threat now posed to the world.
'The deal is not finalised,' she said.

'What I would note and I would just go back to why we're negotiating this deal. 

And right now we're negotiating this deal because Iran's nuclear gains are threatening U.S. interests. 

'There's urgency to taking steps to contain that, which is why we've been engaged so closely. 

'And that is all the result of President Trump pulling out of the deal and Iran moving closer to having the capacity and acquiring a nuclear weapon and speeding up their breakout time. 

'So we are here thanks to the actions of the last president and the last administration and it is in our interest, it is in the global interest, to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.'

COMMENT: It is absolutely disgraceful to blame President Trump for Iran's nuclear gains.  Those gains were well underway when Mr. Trump, aware of solid reports that Iran was cheating on the 2015 nuclear deal, pulled out of the agreement and imposed severe sanctions on the Tehran regime. Iran is suffering under those sanctions, and is seeking relief.  President Biden seems eager to give it to them – fulfilling the wish of our most leftist president, Barack Obama, to turn Iran into an ally of the United States. The fact that the mullahs who run Iran despise America and all we stand for does not seem to be a problem for the Obama crowd.

March 16, 2022     Permalink

MARCH 15, 2022

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

MEANWHILE, BACK IN THE SANDBOX, FROM COLLEGE FIX:  Despite an apology and a suspension, Columbia University Irving Medical Center students still want a doctor fired for his controversial tweet that called a black woman beautiful. Leading psychiatrist Jeffrey Lieberman was suspended from his posts as chair of the department of psychiatry and psychiatrist-in-chief at Columbia University Irving Medical Center for his tweet late last month. “Whether a work of art or freak of nature she’s a beautiful sight to behold,” he had said, referring to a photo of Nyakim Gatwech, an American model of South Sudanese descent. In an email to peers before he was suspended, Lieberman apologized and called his tweet “racist and sexist,” adding he was “deeply ashamed” of his “prejudices and stereotypical assumptions,” the New York Times reported.
“An apology from me to the Black community, to women, and to all of you is not enough,” Lieberman wrote in the email. “I’ve hurt many, and I am beginning to understand the work ahead to make needed personal changes and over time to regain your trust.” Lieberman could not be reached for comment by The College Fix. Columbia University Irving Medical Center did not respond to a request for comment as well. Lieberman is world renowned as a leading expert on schizophrenia and well-respected in psychiatry. But psychiatry residents and graduates want him gone for good — as well as stricter diversity and inclusion measures instituted.  Compare please to what Ukrainian students are doing today – defending their country with their own blood.  If the Columbia "students" were mature adults, and not children, they could have handled this with a simple meeting with the professor, not calling for his destruction.  But that may be too much to ask.

March 15, 2022     Permalink

THE WAR – OVERNIGHT:  The president announced that he will leave soon for Brussels to attend a NATO summit meeting on Ukraine.  Can you just imagine the excitement in Brussels? "BIDEN IS BACK!"  There are rumors that Kamala may follow Joe to Brussels, primarily to visit a school and give a free English lesson.

In fact, no one is much interested in the NATO summit.  It comes a war too late.  People are wondering why a summit is even needed.  Ukraine requires arms, not words.  The Ukrainian capital of Kiev is under heavy bombardment, as are other Ukrainian cities. While the Russian ground advance appears to have slowed, in part because of Ukrainian resistance, the prospect of bitter urban warfare lies ahead. One ray of hope – that the Red Army will run out of supplies and not try to advance any further. Only a hope.

And there are new reports of secret negotiations. From Times of Israel:

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine said it saw possible room for compromise in talks with Russia despite Moscow’s stepped up bombardment Tuesday of Kyiv and new assaults on the port city of Mariupol, from where an estimated 20,000 civilians managed to flee through a humanitarian corridor.

The fast-moving developments on the diplomatic front and on the ground came as Russia’s invasion neared the three-week mark and the number of Ukrainians who have left the country amid Europe’s heaviest fighting since World War II eclipsed 3 million.

After a curfew planned to span 35-hours went into effect across Kyiv Tuesday night, there were fresh reports of explosions and fighting near the capital before dawn on Wednesday.

Delegations from Ukraine and Russia met again Tuesday via video. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said early Wednesday that Russia’s demands were becoming “more realistic.”

The two sides were expected to speak again Wednesday.

“Efforts are still needed, patience is needed,” he said in his nightly video address to the nation. “Any war ends with an agreement.”

While both Moscow and Kyiv signaled progress in ceasefire talks, a Ukrainian presidential aide, Mykhailo Podolyiak, cautioned that while “compromise” was possible, “fundamental contradictions” remained.

Kyiv was “not showing a serious commitment to finding mutually acceptable solutions,” Russian President Vladimir Putin told European Council leader Charles Michel in a call Tuesday.

In his speech, Zelensky, who was expected to address the US Congress on Wednesday, thanked President Joe Biden and “all the friends of Ukraine” for $13.6 billion in new support.

He appealed for more weapons and more sanctions to punish Russia, and repeated his call to “close the skies over Ukraine to Russian missiles and planes.”

He said Russian forces on Tuesday had been unable to move deeper into Ukrainian territory but had continued their heavy shelling of cities.

Over the past day, 28,893 civilians were able to flee the fighting through nine humanitarian corridors, although the Russians refused to allow aid into Mariupol, he said.

COMMENT:  Remember, this war is only three weeks old.  In the bizarre world of television coverage, it seems like it's always been there.  The presumed experts tell us there is no clear end game.  Indeed, some military people had predicted that Vietnam would be over in a few months, and it lasted years.  Most of the action in the Korean War occurred in the first year, when we secured the existence of a South Korea.  After that, the sides fought to a stalemate, and we had two years of peace talks. Believe no one who says he can tell you when Ukraine will end.

March 15, 2022     Permalink