In other words: Russia invading Ukraine warrants a blog.
I feel for Ukraine but I think the invasion is more than just Ukraine. It is an invasion of the authoritarian regimes against the democratic ones. This bold move by Putin is basically a taunt, a posturing, a signal that he/Russia has power. P-O-W-E-R! But why would he do that when the rest of the world does not think or act as if Russia is a major threat much anymore? Why would he do that when Russia was ticking along like a lap dog for him? The answer, I believe, is now obvious: Putin still has imperious ambitions and he thinks China has his back. It is not just Russia threatening and it is not just Ukraine being threatened. It is the Russian Bear and the Chinese Dragon not only flexing muscles but openly giving the West a loud raspberry and a middle finger all at the same time.
Ya gotta wonder……why do this? What is in it for Putin? I can see what is in it for China…..they get a ‘trusted’ oil supply, they get an ally at their back in case they need one* and they have a trapped customer for their goods. Without even making an insult to the increasingly self-absorbed USA and weakened NATO alliance, China gains immensely in resources, marketplace and defense.
*And if China takes Taiwan within the next year do not be too surprised. If Ukraine falls with just a whimper, China will be emboldened. They might invade. This is scary stuff.
Regardless of my ignorant view of international maneuvering and the greater evil that men continually do, my point is simply that the timing of this was no accident. It is all post Trump. Trump exposed the ugly underbelly of the United States over the past four years and divided the population. Trump sided with Putin and helped minimize the Putin threat perception. Trump was financed by Putin (follow the money from the Russia-backed VTB, through Deutsche Bank direct to Trump) . Trump has been an insidious insurrectionist from day one and it has all been in aid of Russia.
But, of course, it is ‘just business’, isn’t it?
So, what does this mean to me? Well, we have an unstable, divided nation just south of us. We have Covid-disrupted supply lines already. Trump also managed to drive wedges between the USA and Mexico and Canada. Trump also aggravated relations with NATO countries and the USA is increasingly irked with China on so many other levels. The big boys are getting testy. Everyone is in a bad mood.
And I live in a country that has fools in parliament, institutions that can barely cope with Covid and, on a day-to-day basis, could not even cope with a motley crew of alt-right protesters in pick-up trucks. None of the above is confidence inspiring. I do not feel safe.
Safe, for me, was distance, isolation and minimal needs to satisfy. Getting all that by living OTG turned out to be a bigger joy and reward and was a HUGE bonus personally. I mean, I had no idea that WW3 might play out right over my head but I did have a palpable feeling of dread about ‘the great unraveling’ (that feeling started circa 2001) and so I chose to live in a place where such an event would impact me the least. But, of course, a brand new, missile-launching, EMT, radioactive, planet-disrupting WW3 leaves no one unscathed. And, currently, we have all been scathed somewhat already. None of us are safe.
What’s more, it only seems to be getting darker.
Our Off the Grid Home 
You’re BACK!
Like Arnie in The Terminator!
🙂
Regarding Putin and the invasion of Ukraine.
All valid points but if I may add one more.
Putin has been in power on and off for 20+ years.
He has personally amassed approx. 70 to 100 BILLION dollars.
Stolen from the Russian people and industries all across his country.
His popularity has been dropping in Russia no matter how much the media endlessly praises and fete’s him. He isnt a popular man in Russia
He’s built a gilded cage with his billions.
Covid has made him even more isolated than he already was, French President Macron commented after his bizarre meeting with Putin that he barely had a chance to speak as Putin railed on and on for several hours on all the historical wrongs the West had foisted on Russia.
A paranoid, desperate dictator.
How will it all end?
I full expect Russian troops to crush Ukrainian troops.
Then comes the bloody, prolonged, unpopular ….occupation.
The Russian body bags and bad news will continue week in and week out as the world wide economic sanctions continue.
Putin will eventually be removed either by a coup or possibly that peculiar Russian tradition of poison.
As for China…. I would be amazed if they don’t take full advantage of the Western worlds politically correct , hand wringing paralysis to invade Taiwan.
World renowned, high speed, state of the art, largest micro chip producing ….Taiwan.
A big fat juicy plum sitting only 60 miles from Chinas untested, unproven, largest, most modern military in its history.
Xi Jinping has flags to wave and tiny countries to crush.
Will a two front war be two much for the USA and their nervous NATO allies?
Its been 80 years since we’ve been stupid enough to slug it out on a world wide basis ( an unusually calm 80 years by historical standards.)and the loser will have nukes to ruin the party.
Your house is very well situated to….ride this one out.
Stock up on bullets, beans, bullion and bumwad.
Welcome back !
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In a way, it is good to be back save for the fact that I am once again lamenting the state of the world. Who needs that? Still, on the precipice of what might be WW3, I kinda felt I had to write. I wrote this blog last night. I published this morning. This evening, listening to the news from Russia, Ukraine and the mouse we call Justin, all the things I thought and wrote about were being confirmed. Most Ukrainians and most Russians seem to think this is NOT so much about Ukraine as it is about empire-building and, further, the erosion of Democracy. Everything Putin says is a lie. Everything. Geez, who does that remind you of? Trump didn’t start this, Putin did. But Putin recruited Trump and gave him his marching orders……the last few years of our collective discontent, the cyber attacks, the invasion of Crimea and now Ukraine, even the Fentanyl, this was a Machiavellian plot worthy of the Prince himself.
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Yes .
Democracy has become fat and lazy over the past 80 years that we have avoided a world war.
When venal idiots like Trump can win the Presidency of the United States you know the writing is on the wall.
Of course Canada’s own insipid dilettante of a leader doesn’t bode well for the future.
Hand wringing over the smallest politically correct slight.
Wailing at the wrongs of past colonial history while holding a whip for communal self flagellation that the entire country must participate or be deemed racist, sexist , misogynist, etc etc etc…. Lower the flag, pant the crosswalks, pull down another red soaked statue….
Kill the last vestiges of National unity and pride….Do we all feel better now?
And while this occupies the feeble minded Woke Warriors in charge……the dictators smile and scheme…..
Good luck getting people to volunteer for anything let alone an army of a country on the brink of war.
The best comment I’ve heard so far about Putin at an EU emergency conference.
” He’s a deluded autocrat causing misery for millions…”
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Glad to have you back!
But it is a real disaster happening right now, and not THAT far from where I live (barely 2 hours by plane or 1 hour for a Russian fighter jet
The impact from the tension was already felt for a few months (impact on prices of oil, gas), but now prices are really skyhigh and rising every day (gas went up yesterday another 30% – which has a huge impact on the heating bills for a lot of people), gasoline was today 1.9€/liter
This is impacting us all, and we see (again) how helpless Europe/NATO/US is.
Poetin knows very well that we will not act (besides some economical embargo), but in reality, we are defenseless (as long as he does not touch NATO borders)
But even when/if he touches NATO borders, military speaking, Europe is NO longer a mimitary superpower (not with all the defense budget cuts of the last decades)
So our politicians are “venting” their anger, frustration, but also their helplessness to make a real impact on matters
And I agree, what (who) is stopping China from invading Taiwan?
And you can guess what impact that would have on the industrial system
I am in the manufacturing industruy (fuel takers and aircraft refuelling vehicles), and we feel a HUGE impact on business (plus 2 factories in Poland – which is a neighbour of Ukraine)…an impact which is going to be bigger the coming months
We did not even recover from COVID yet, and now this!
The world is really coming to end end, and even you are not safe anymore Dave!
But positive thinking…glad to have you back!
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Geez, WdG, I am sorry to hear of all that. We knew matters were going poorly, we knew Euro-stress levels were high and we knew that prices would skyrocket but we did not KNOW that Europe was somewhat weak-ish militarily. That’s not good. No one wants a Russian bear in their backyard. I hate to say it, but methinks Russia has to be ‘slapped’ back into place. Sanctions won’t do it. ‘Course that means WW3 and no one wants that so Biden et al are in tough place. Do they just dance around with economic sanctions or do they stand up now rather than later? The island looks safer by comparison, that’s for sure.
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Military weakness is the result of 30 years of budget cuts. Only recently, most European countries have increased their military budgets. But we lack unity of command. We have “deployed” a NATO fast response force of….1500 men!!! Guess how afraid Putin is of Europe! Fortunately, we still have the NATO alliance, but it will take us quite some time to ramp up our defences. All the military presence we had in Europe during the cold war has disappeared, all military compounds have been closed and/or destroyed. I guess we better start making again a strong line of defence agains the Russian Bear (and the Chinese as well). Not only do the Chinese have a top notch military hardware, they also have the numbers.
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Let’s start an anonymous crypto go fund me account of 1 billion dollars (get the world involved) for the receipt of Putins upper defective unit (so DNA can confirm the defective unit has been decommissioned). Dont imagine it would take to long to achieve this worthy goal.
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So….you are suggesting we start a GO FUND MY MERCENARIES to bring us Putin’s head? You are saying this in a civilized forum of sanity (my blog) in a politically correct world that tends to being vegan and neutral and tolerant and accepting of everything? Really? Here? NOW? Hmmmmm…………..unexpected. Novel. Creative.
I like it.
“#1 – make it so!”
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This is what happens when you withdraw fromm blogging. Best you keep it up, we miss you.
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Thanks, JW. I want to write. But I just want to write NICE stuff and it is getting harder and harder to find that. Darkness is falling. It is currently a dark dusk. But the sun keeps dropping and so it looks like pitch black is coming. You and H be careful out there. Traveling around may not be safe. Best you all.
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Nice to see you warming up a bit, speaking of NICE stuff, how about some pics of the dogs.
Surely two young puppies deliver joy every day.
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Batten down the hatches buddy
90 to 110km winds tomorrow on North Vancouver Island and the Queen Charlottes
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If it is not one weather event, it’s another. Just got the frozen system going again after a four day cold snap and, with those winds, we may have some dock-wrangling tomorrow (the ramp will have come off for sure). Still, as the saying goes around here, “At least we are not being bombed or shot at!” It’s a low standard but we are keeping it.
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two thumbs up!
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Missed you too. I peek back in once in a while and was surprised to see you back. Sorry your topic couldn’t fit into the nice category. These are scary and dangerous times. Hope to get home in about a week to check on the cabin and reconnect with friends. Sun is nice but home is nicer. – Margy
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Oh, I have a nice category. Pups. Bernedoodles (Standard Poodle x Bernese Mountain Dog) . Gus and Daisy. 13 weeks old. Brother and sister. Eating like horses. Gonna write ’em up as soon as Sal gets the pics into the computer. They are a delight, a real treat. But they are exhausting us. We are going to bed at 8 and turning out the light at 9:00 ’cause they need pee’in’ and such at 3:00 am. Sheesh.
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Geez,
Bed by 8 and up at 3 to pee!
Sounds like my life WITHOUT the dogs.
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That’s hysterical. You on a raw diet?
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Only when I eat sushi !
:)-
The rest of the time is cooked , small, defenseless, animals.
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