#Russia's Urkraine invasion

[carolinemillerbooks]

New Post has been published on Books by Caroline Miller

New Post has been published on https://www.booksbycarolinemiller.com/musings/abandon-fear-ye-who-enter-here/

Abandon Fear Ye Who Enter Here

A friend of mine took a series of tests to determine her mental decline as she aged. Happily, for her, the tests were comforting.  Even so, I admired her courage.  What she’d done was like poking a sleeping bear with a sharp stick.  If the news hadn’t been good, how would she have coped? Alzheimer’s, for example, has no cure. Early intervention is key for dealing with Alzheimer’s, experts say.  But to what end? A few months of clarity before drifting into that good night and all the while knowing the Good Ship Memory has left the dock? When there is little to be gained, I prefer not to know. Many will think differently.   Fear affects us in different ways. It can leave us catatonic and in denial. Or, like people prancing across hot coals, it can initiate a frenzy to save ourselves.  In every case, fear tests our sanity. People like my friend who face reality with courage leave me in awe. Pete Buttigieg, the U. S. Secretary of Transportation, is also unflappable. Asked about the current state of our democracy, his answer is matter-of-fact.  Our system of government is designed to pick winners and losers.  For the process to work, people have to accept outcomes. Buttigieg’s response is so simple, it smacks of naïvite.  That’s the beauty of truth.  Once grasped, It is simple and profound, like E=MC(2).  Finding the truth is where the complexity lies. After two years and several ballot box investigations, ending with no evidence of wrongdoing, some Americans continue to believe Donald Trump won the 2020 election. They believe the lie because that is the outcome they wanted– as if wishing could make it so.  Like flat-earthers living in a spherical world, they close their eyes to truths that distress them.     If the outcome of an election is difficult to grasp, for many the knowledge that climate change is about to exterminate our species is unfathomable. Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine arises from that consummate ignorance. Ukraine belongs to Russia, he insists. But what does that mean to a dead planet? Absurdity’s crown goes to Iran’s Mullahs, of course. They worry about women’s headgear while the ground crumbles beneath their feet.   If the flat-earthers and their ilk would open their eyes, they’d see the time for rancor is passed.  We must work together if we are to save our species. Unfortunately, too many scrunch their eyes against the light.  They insist Time has a reverse gear that if thrown would return us to better days. Better days aren’t the same for everyone, as we know.  White supremacists long for the era when they were allowed to see themselves as superior beings, a superiority that justified imperialism and slavery. People like Marjorie Taylor Green cling to the notion of race.  It flies in the face of science but it serves her purpose. “…illegal aliens are on the verge of replacing you [whites], replacing your jobs and replacing your kids in school and coming from all over the world, they’re also replacing your culture.  And that’s not great for America. By 2050, half of the U. S. population will have darker skin pigmentation than today’s mix. Pigment means nothing. We don’t discriminate against people based on hair color. Why concern ourselves with skin? Race warriors should attend to the date 2050 for a different reason. That’s the year scientists predict the earth becomes uninhabitable for humans.   Fear can galvanize people into action, as I’ve said. Too often the outcome ends in mindless hate. Ukrainians are as pigment deprived as any Russian.  Even so, one propagandist for Putin’s invasion insists the children of his enemy should be drowned and burned.  Why are people “freaking out?” a researcher asks in response to the times. No one has an answer. Like the stars, black holes, and the universe, being made of stardust, perhaps humans sense the cosmos is shedding tears for our demise.  Is there a cosmic consciousness? Some speculate it exists. To align ourselves, they urge us to move beyond science.  As useful as reason is to us, they insist it is  too narrow a framework to integrate other aspects of the mind, creativity, intuition, or empathy, for example. To discover a different harmony, our inner world will have to experience a shift of epic proportions. The evolution could take a century. Unfortunately, we are running out of time and so we blind ourselves to the future, choosing to engage in a frenzied suspicion of  “the other.”  Reason has no power against the fires of insanity. Insanity must burn itself out, taking us with it.    I cringe to hear talk about saving the planet.  What colossal hubris.  Earth will spin on its axis regardless of rises in temperature and water levels. A few birds might continue to sing. Climate change is about us.  Will we decide to work together or close our eyes to what lies ahead?  Which is to be,  earthlings?  Courage or cowardice?   

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Radio New Zealand Int. 1308 28 Feb 2022

7390Khz 1259 28 FEB 2022 - RNZ PACIFIC (NEW ZEALAND) in ENGLISH from RANGITAIKI. SINPO = 55333. English, s/on w/bellbird int. until pips and news @1300z anchored by Koroi Hawkins. The head of the Pacific Islands Forum has condemned the Russian Federation's invasion of Ukraine. Secretary-General Henry Puna said the region has "observed from afar the violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as Russia's blatant disregard for international law." He said climate change and Covid-19 must remain at the forefront of global efforts, not attacks upon the human rights and liberties of an independent people. About 800 protestors were arrested as Belarus voted to abandon its non-nuclear status in a referendum that raises the stakes at a time when the country has become a staging ground for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Sunday that Japan should break a long-standing taboo and hold an active debate on nuclear weapons – including a possible “nuclear-sharing” program similar to that of NATO – in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Abe also called on the U.S. to ditch its long-standing policy of “strategic ambiguity” over whether or not it would defend Taiwan, urging a clearer approach. Singapore will impose "appropriate sanctions and restrictions" on Russia, its foreign minister said on Monday, including banking and financial measures and export controls on items that could be used as weapons against the people of Ukraine. French Polynesian Opposition leader says Putin will win in Urkraine and is critical of NATO and all free countries in the world for not defending them and leaving them to fend for themselves. The Bougainville Government has declared a state of emergency after severe flooding on its remote Atolls. King tides have washed across all of the atolls - Nissan, Mortlock, the Carterets and Nuguria. The atolls are considered to be among the most threatened parts of the Pacific from climate change and sea level rise. The President of Bougainville, Ishmael Toroama, says the autonomous Papua New Guinea region needs a strong constitution guaranteeing the civil rights of the people. He told the commissioners a 'Rights Before Resources' approach to development must be enshrined in the constitution to protect the natural resources and people's rights. The Kiribati Government has relaxed Covid-19 travel restrictions between a number of its islands to help citizens who are stranded to return home. New Zealanders who can least afford it are bearing the brunt of the Omicron outbreak - with isolation proving to be expensive or impossible for some. Covid has forced one nearby foodbank to close, meaning there is even more pressure on Letele's team. France's Supreme Court ( Cour de Cassation) has annulled the sentences for the three men found responsible for the 2007 Air Moorea crash. A ruptured steering cable caused the Twin Otter plane to plunge into the sea, killing 19 passengers and the pilot. Sports. @1308z "Pacific Waves" anchored by Koroi Hawkins. Backyard fence antenna, Etón e1XM. 100kW, beamAz 35°, hearing 240°. Received at Plymouth, United States, 12912KM from transmitter at Rangitaiki. Local time: 0659.

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CRI/CGTN Radio 1258 24 Feb 2022

9600Khz 1246 24 FEB 2022 - CRI/CGTN RADIO (CHINA) in ENGLISH from KUNMING CRI (YUNNAN). SINPO = 45222. English, lots of talk about Urkraine invasion by Russia, anchored by male announcer with UK accent. s/off @1258z. Backyard gutter antenna, Etón e1XM. 150kW, beamAz 163°, bearing 344°. Received at Plymouth, United States, 12141KM from transmitter at Kunming CRI (Yunnan). Local time: 0646.

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CRI/CGTN Radio 1248 22 Feb 2022

9600Khz 1241 22 FEB 2022 - CRI/CGTN RADIO (CHINA) in ENGLISH from KUNMING CRI (YUNNAN). SINPO = 44232. English, female announcer interviews male economics professor about the global financial and economic impact of the Russia/Urkraine crisis. Invasion, or not, it could spark a global recession, of which Russia would also be impacted. s/off @1258z. Backyard fence antenna, Etón e1XM. 150kW, beamAz 163°, bearing 344°. Received at Plymouth, United States, 12141KM from transmitter at Kunming CRI (Yunnan). Local time: 0641.