#antony hawke

[couslande]

just some guy alert

[incorrectlooneytunesquotes]

[The Tweet Team is fighting a "dragon"]

Tweety: I tink I've found a chink in its armor! I'm gonna aim for tat... bewwy button-wooking ting.

Gabby: Tweety, dragons hatch from eggs! Even if it was real, it can't have a belly button!

Tweety: Well ten, Gabby, Marc, you distwact it while I aim fow its imaginawy bewwy button.

[pupsmailbox]

BUG ID PACK

NAMES ⌇　adalia. adam. agatha. amber. andrena. ant. antony. aranea. arthro. aspen. attacus. beckett. bee. beetle. behan. benjy. bogárka. bubonic. bubonicholas. bubonick. bugsy. buzzie. býleistr. carrie. celastrina. cesare. cheli. chelicera. chrysalis. coley. cordulia. craniifer. crawly. creepy. critter. cuddlebug. dahlia. danuria. destiny. diseaselie. dishevella. dishevelle. dusk. dust. ella. ellsee. emery. eve. fern. fester. fifi. firefly. giselle. glimmer. hawk. hexa. hisser. hive. honey. hope. infestatianne. instar. jan. jeb. jed. jeddie. jeddy. jewelette. junebug. kaida. kaira. kieran. ladybird. lepidoptera. lester. lightsse. logan. lorcan. lovebug. luciole. luna. lyssa. mandela. mandibella. mandibelle. mandible. mangie. mangy. mantis. maurr. maxwell. midge. mikio. minii. mold. monarch. mordecai. mordechai. mordekai. mordy. mortimer. morty. moth. mould. naoki. nettle. ogtha. opal. osa. paul. pepper. phobianna. phoenix. ralph. ralphie. ralphy. ratianna. ratianne. ration. ravenesse. ravenette. ravenous. rex. rhene. rhyssa. roach. roark. rolf. ronan. rotgut. rowan. ruddy. rudy. ruth. salvia. scorpio. scurry. scuttle. sicknesse. sicknette. skittish. snugglebug. tawny. terry. thorax. toffee. vanessa. vespasiano. wesley. whiskey. wren. writhe.

PRONOUNS ⌇　ant/ant. antenna/antannae. antenna/antenna. anthill/anthill. aphid/aphid. arachnid/arachnid. arachnid/arachnids. arthropod/arthropod. bee/bee. bee/beetle. beet/beetle. beetle/beetle. bu/bug. bug/bug. bug/bugs. butterfly/butterfly. buzz/buzz. bzz/buzz. centipede/centipede. change/change. cicada/cicada. click/click. cloth/cloth. crawl/crawl. creepy/crawly. cricket/cricket. damp/damp. dig/dig. dirt/dirt. dragonfly/dragonfly. dusk/dusk. dust/dust. ely/elytra. en/entomology. ento/entomology. exo/exoskeleton. exoskele/exoskeleton. fate/fate. fester/fester. firefly/firefly. flea/flea. flow/flower. flutter/flutter. fly/butterfly. fly/fly. forest/forest. fy/fly. glow/glow. grey/grey. grime/grime. grime/grimy. hex/hexapod. hiss/hiss. hive/hive. hornet/hornet. hun/hungry. infect/infect. infest/infestation. inse/insect. inse/insectoid. insect/insect. insect/insectoid. it/it. jewel/jeweled. lady/ladybug. ladybug/ladybug. lamp/lamp. lice/lice. light/light. lin/linger. lost/lost. lur/lurk. mange/mangy. mant/manti. mantis/manti. millipede/millipede. mite/mite. mo/moth. mosquito/mosquito. moth/moth. night/night. pest/pesticide. pho/phobia. ro/roach. ro/roache. roach/roach. rot/gut. scarab/scarab. scurry/scurrie. scurry/scurry. scut/scuttle. sick/sickly. sick/sicknes. spider/spider. star/star. sting/sting. swarm/swarm. termite/termite. tin/tiny. twitch/twitch. venom/venom. ver/vermin. wasp/wasp. web/web. weevil/weevil. win/wing. wing/wing. worm/worm. 🐌 . 🐛 . 🐜 . 🐝 . 🐞 . 🕷 . 🦂 . 🦋 . 🦗 . 🦟 .

[quasi-normalcy]

The paradox of the Biden presidency is that he and his foreign policy team (notably Secretary of State Antony Blinken, national security adviser Jake Sullivan, and White House aide Brett McGurk) are the last Scoop Jackson Democrats, a crew of neoconservatives and liberal hawks who are pursuing a wildly anachronistic policy. This was evident long before October 7, when the Hamas massacre and Biden’s ensuing support for Israel’s devastation of Gaza brought the problem into stark relief. The killing fields of Gaza are only making visible the horrific and ongoing human costs of Biden’s long-standing commitment to an obsolete Cold War liberalism that is completely inadequate to the challenges of the 21st century.

[anamnesis-aeternus]

Prologue

The deed has already been done.

Your mark has already been made.

And yet the war-drum in your chest thunders on beyond your hero's farewell, never to bow, never to kneel, hunting, hawk-eyed, for the next worthy foe.

Now you rise as the dead man sleeps, sanctified by cleansing flame, forged anew with your own last breath, condemned to drink deep of lifeblood's gift.

And the thread of your fate lies unraveled in your hands. Make your choice, warrior -

- will you heed your name's call to arms?

- - - - - - - -

In the early days of March in the year of the consulship of Caesar and Antony, Servilia's carefully curated network of informants catches wind of a terrible conspiracy from a loose-lipped senator.

Being Caesar's long-time lover, Servilia has no desire to see him dead, and considers her options, none of which offer much hope of foiling the plot in time. Only a few days remain until the senate meeting on the Ides, where the conspirators plan to strike him down.

Not only that, but her own son, Marcus Junius Brutus, is the figurehead they've chosen for their so-called tyrannicide. She could've seen it coming from the writings on the walls; Where is Brutus? Are you asleep, Brutus?

Servilia calls on greater powers, placing her hope in an old keepsake - a gleaming silver dagger that never seemed to stain or rust, never too far from a dusty scroll filled with archaic texts that speak of the power to defy both life and death, of a dark blessing nourished by a tribute of lifeblood.

That mystic blade is the one Brutus carries with him on the Ides, fulfilling his fabricated destiny as a killer of tyrants. At the feet of Pompey's statue, Caesar's life remains hanging by a thread as that double-edged blessing takes hold and irrevocably changes him.

He had made peace with the fate he had had no reason to doubt.

At the break of dawn on the twenty-first of March, Caesar awakens in a stranger's house with his wounds dressed and his entire body ablaze with pain.

He learns that 'he' had been buried by fire the night before in a grand spectacle. His household slaves had brought home a corpse that had most certainly been his. A medicus had examined it, finding only one wound to be fatal. Antony had displayed his blood-soaked toga for all to see. Flames had consumed his remains, and his soul had returned to the bosom of mother Venus.

And yet he is here, alive, and has a choice to make.

[oldfashioned-lovergirl]

» OPEN FANFICS REQUESTS ☽

y = young, a = adult. Bold means I love writing about them

I write soft NSFW, love triangles, social media au, modern setting and I’m willing to follow any trope, you can be specific if you want.

(I’m sorry if I haven’t included your fave, I just write about the ones I like)

CELEBRITIES

Pedro Pascal, Oscar Isaac, Tom Hardy, Ewan McGregor, Cillian Murphy, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, John Bernthal, Evan Peters, William Zabka, Jensen Ackles, Antony Starr, Karl Urban, Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, Jack Nicholson, Matthew McConaughey, Enzo Vogrincic, Harrison Ford, Alain Delon, Marlon Brando, Bruce Springsteen

THE WALKING DEAD

Rick Grimes, Daryl Dixon, Negan Smith, Michonne, Carl Grimes

Rick x Michonne, Rick x Daryl, Abraham x Sasha, Rosita x Tara, Daryl x Connie

GAME OF THRONES / HOUSE OF THE DRAGON / ASOIAF

Tyrion Lannister, Jaime Lannister, Jon Snow, Sandor Clegane, Oberyn Martell, Stannis Baratheon, Daenerys Targaryen, Cersei Lannister, Petyr Baelish, Tywin Lannister, Sansa Stark, Robb Stark, Theon Greyjoy, Ned Stark, Robert Baratheon, Jorah Mormont, Asha/Yara Greyjoy, Brienne of Tarth, Benjen Stark, Euron Greyjoy, Beric Dondarrion, Daemon Targaryen, Harwin Strong, Aemond Targaryen, Aegon II Targaryen, Jacaerys Velaryon, Cregan Stark

Jaime x Brienne, Sansa x Theon, Jon x Daenerys, Jon x Sansa, Stannis x Davos, Robb x Theon, Jon x Satin, Ned x Robert, Robert x Lyanna, Cersei x Oberyn, Tyrion x Oberyn, Jaime x Oberyn, Sansa x Margaery, Daenerys x Asha/Yara, Daenerys x Jorah, Daenerys x Euron, Stannis x Davos, Melisandre x Stannis, Rhaenyra x Daemon, Rhaenyra x Harwin, Rhaenyra x Alicent, Daemon x Laena, Jaecerys x Cregan

STAR WARS

Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Han Solo, Din Djarin, Boba Fett, Shin Hati, Darth Maul

Han x Leia, Han x Lando, Anakin x Padme, Obi-Wan x Satine, Obi-Wan x Darth Maul, Obi-Wan x Cody, Finn x Poe, Din x Luke, Din x Cobb Vanth, Shin Hati x Sabine

ATTACK ON TITAN

Eren Yeager, Jean Kirstein, Reiner Braun, Annie Leonhart, Porco Galliard

Erwin x Levi, Jean x Marco, Eren x Mikasa, Mikasa x Annie, Eren x Reiner, Reiner x Jean, Eren x Jean, Mikasa x Jean, Pieck x Porco, Reiner x Porco

JUJUTSU KAISEN

Satoru Gojo, Suguru Geto, Ryomen Sukuna, Yuji Itadori, Nanami Kento, Toji Fushiguro, Megumi Fushiguro, Maki Zenin, Nobara Kugisaki, Mahito, Choso, Yuta Okkotsu, Shiu Kong

Gojo x Geto, Sukuna x Megumi, Yuji x Megumi, Nanami x Haibara, Maki x Yuta, Mahito x Geto

MORTAL KOMBAT 1

Johnny Cage, Kenshi, Liu Kang, Kitana, Bi-Han

Johnny x Kenshi, Liu Kang x Kitana

COBRA KAI / THE KARATE KID

Johnny Lawrence (y/a), Daniel LaRusso (y/a), Miguel Diaz, Eli Moskowitz/Hawk, Tory Nichols, Sam LaRusso, Terry Silver

Johnny x Daniel (y/a), Miguel x Sam, Miguel x Tory, Tory x Robby, Miguel x Robby, Eli/Hawk x Moon, Kreese x Terry (y/a)

HARRY POTTER

Harry, Draco, Ron, Hermione, Cedric, James (y/a), Sirius (y/a), Remus (y/a), Albus (y), Lucius (y/a), Barty

Harry x Draco, Ron x Hermione, Sirius x Remus (y/a), Harry x Cedric

MARVEL COMICS / MCU

Frank Castle, Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Thor, Loki, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanoff, Yelena Belova, Kate Bishop, Stephen Strange, Peter Parker (any version), Felicia Hardy, Carol Danvers, Peter Quill, Gamora, Wanda Maximoff, Vision, T’Challa, Victor Von Doom, Erik Lehnsherr, Matt Murdock, Elektra, Maria Hill, Reed Richards, Johnny Storm, Susan Storm, Ben Grimm

Tony x Bruce, Loki x Mobius, Sam x Bucky, Tony x Bucky, Bucky x Natasha, Natasha x Yelena (non mcu), Yelena x Kate, Peter x Gamora, Scott x Hope, Frank x Matt, Frank x Karen, Victor x Tony, Victor x Reed, Victor x Stephen, Reed x Susan

DC COMICS / DCEU

Bruce Wayne (any version), Selina Kyle, John Constantine, Diana

Bruce x Selina, Bruce x Harvey Dent, John x Zatanna, John x Bruce, Roman Sionis x Victor Zsasz, Harley Quinn x Diana

OTHERS

Thomas Shelby (Peaky Blinders), John Shelby (Peaky Blinders), Ragnar Lothbrock (Vikings), Joe Goldberg (You), Joe Goldberg x Rhys Montrose (You), Tyler Durden (Fight Club), Rust Cohle (True Detective), Kai Anderson (AHS), Tate Langdon (AHS), Tate Langdon x Violet Harmon (AHS), James March (AHS), Lalo Salamanca x Nacho Varga (Breaking Bad), Billy Butcher (The Boys), Soldier Boy (The Boys)

[joker1315]

All the actors you can find on this blog

Use the following link and insert the tag you want to see:

a: adam croasdell - aiden turner - aimee garcia - alan rickman - alan tudyk - alex kingston - alison sudol - allen leech - amanda abbington - amir wilson - amita suman - anatol yusef - andreas pietschmann - andrew garfield - andrew scott - aneurin barnard - annette badland  - anthony hopkins - anthony mackie - antony starr - anya chalotra - august wittgenstein

b: barry bostwick - bellamy young - ben barnes - ben mckenzie - benedict cumberbatch - benicio del toro - bernard cribbins - bill nighy - billie piper - billy boyd - brendan gleeson - brent spiner - brianna hildebrand

c: calahan skogman - cameron monaghan - candice bergen - carla gugino - caroline dhavernas - cate blanchett - catherine e coulson - catherine tate - catinca untaru - chadwick boseman - charlie chaplin - chris addison - chris cooper - chris evans - chris hemsworth - chris malcom - chris pine - christian bale - christian clemenson - christian tramitz - christiane paul - christina ricci - christopher eccleston - christopher lee - christopher lloyd - cillian murphy - colin firth - colin odonoghue - colin woodell - corey johnson - cory michael smith - craig parker

d: dakota fanning - daniel brühl - daniel craig - daniel radcliffe - daniel sträβer - danielle galligan- david bowie - david dastmalchian - david duchovny - david morrissey - david tennant - david thewlis - david wenham - deforest kelley - diego luna - dietrich hollinderbäumer - dominic cooper - dominic monaghan - dominic west

e: eddie karanja - elijah wood - elizabeth olsen - elton john - emilie de ravin - emily beecham - emma thompson - emma watson - ethan hawke - eve myles - ewan mcgregor

f: ferdinand kingsley - frankie adams - freddy carter - freema agyeman

g: gareth david lloyd - gary oldman - geoffrey rush - george eads - george takei - georgia tennant - georgina haig - gillian anderson - ginnifer goodwin - gwendoline christie - gwyneth paltrow

h: hadley fraser - harrison ford - harvey keitel - hayley atwell - heath ledger - helen mccrory - helena bonham carter - henry cavill - hugh dancy - hugh jackman - hugh laurie - hugh skinner - hugo weaving

i: ian mckellen - imelda staunton - inbar lavi

j: jack davenport - jack wolfe - jackie earle haley - jake gyllenhaal - james mcavoy - james spader - jamie lee curtis - jared padalecki - jason isaacs - javier bardem - jayne brook - jeff goldblum - jenna coleman - jennifer connelly - jennifer lawrence - jennifer morrison - jensen ackles - jeremy renner - jim beaver - jodie foster - joel rush - joey batey - john barrowman - john boyega - john hurt - john larroquette - john rhys davies - john simm - johnny depp - jonathan frakes - jose pimentao - joseph gilgun - josh dallas - jude law - julia stiles - julianne moore - julie covington - juliette binoche

k: kacey rohl - karen fukuhara - karen gillan - karl urban - kat dennings - kate capshaw - kathryn hahn - keira knightley - kevin alejandro - kit young - krysten ritter - kyle maclachlan - kyra sedgwick

l: lana parrilla - lara pulver - lars mikkelsen - laura allen - laura dern - laura fraser - lauren german - laurence fishburne - laurie kynaston - laz alonso - lee arenberg - lee pace - leonard nimoy - lesley ann brandt - lesley sharp - lindsay duncan - lisa vicari - liv tyler - lizzy caplan - louise hofmann - lucas till - luke evans

m: mads mikkelsen - maggie gyllenhaal - majel barrett - margo martindale - marion cotillard - mark gatiss - mark pellegrino - mark ruffalo - mark sheppard - mark strong - mark waschke - martin freeman - matt smith - max schimmelpfenning - may calamawy - meat loaf - megan boone - mel gibson - melinda clarke - melissanthi mahut - meret becker - mia wasikowska - michael benyaer - michael bully herbig - michael cumpsty - michael des barres - michael fassbender - michael gambon - michael raymond james - michael sheen - michelle gomez - mikael persbrandt - miranda otto - misha collins

n: natalie portman - ncuti gatwa - neil patrick harris - nell campbell - nichelle nichols - nicolas cage - nicole kidman

o: olivia colman - orlando bloom - oscar isaac - owen wilson

p: paddy ohagan - patricia quinn - patrick stewart - paul bettany - paul chahidi - paul lux - paul mescal - pedro pascal - penelope wilton - peter capaldi - peter falk - peter hinwood - philip glenister - phoebe waller bridge - pierce brosnan - pip torrens

q: qorianka kilcher - quentin tarantino

r: rachael harris - rachel weisz - rafi gavron - ralph fiennes - rayner bourton - reece shearsmith - rene russo - rhona mitra - richard armitage - richard obrien - rob benedict - robbie kay - robert carlyle - robert downey jr - robin lord taylor - robin williams - ronald guttman - rose mciver - rupert graves - rupert grint - russell crowe - ruth negga - ryan gosling - ryan reynolds

s: sam neill - samantha smith - samuel l jackson - scarlett estevez - scarlett johansson - sean astin - sean bean - sebastian stan - sherilyn fenn - shohreh aghdashloo - sky du mont - sophia di martino - stanley tucci - stellan skarsgard - steven strait - susan sarandon

t: tan caglar - taron egerton - tilda swinton - tim curry - tim roth - toby maguire - tom conti - tom ellis - tom felton - tom hiddleston - tom holland - tom payne - tom sturridge - tomer capone - tony curran - tony curtis - tricia helfer - troy garity

u: una stubbs

v: val kilmer - vanesu samunyai - viggo mortensen - vivienne acheampong - vladimir burlakov

w: walter koenig - william shatner

y: yasmin finney

z: zachary quinto

[couslande]

trying to think of like ‘in world’ explanations for why sebastian stays with antony even though he lets anders live, and i’m envisioning it being a mixture of antony clearly being angry and enraged really at anders after the explosion, while at the same time begging everyone not to force him to play executioner (because he’s barely clinging on to all he’s managed to build and its slipping through his fingers faster and faster and executing a friend would feel like the final nail) and i feel like sebastian would have enough sympathy to at least agree to help antony fix the situation. like while its 100% for gameplay reasons and not taking choice from the player, the fact that sebastian doesnt even fight against anders, just leaves, makes me think about how he also does not want to play executioner (going back to hiring someone else to kill his families assassins etc) and seeing someone he loves and respects beg to not be forced into that role i think would effect him.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Michael de Adder, The Washington Post :: @deAdder

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

January 29, 2024

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

JAN 30, 2024

With their families now notified, the Pentagon has released the names of the three American soldiers killed in Jordan yesterday. Army Reserve soldiers Sergeant William Jerome Rivers, 46, Specialist Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24, and Specialist Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, 23, all from Georgia, were assigned to support Operation Inherent Resolve, charged with helping regional partners defeat the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq, or ISIS, to promote stability in the region. 

At a press conference today with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Washington, D.C., Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke of the three lost soldiers, the many wounded, and their family and friends. “Every day we have our men and women in uniform around the world who are putting their lives on the line for our security, for our freedom,” he said. “I am as always humbled by their courage and their sacrifice.”

Blinken reiterated the administration’s determination to keep the Hamas-Israel war from spreading, a signal that the administration will respond to this attack but not go to the extremes right-wing hawks have demanded. “From the outset, we have been clear in warning that anyone looking to take advantage of conflict in the Middle East and try to expand it: Don’t do it,” Blinken said. “[W]e do not seek conflict with Iran, we do not seek war with Iran, but we have and we will continue to defend our personnel and to take every action necessary to do that, including responding very vigorously to the attack that just took place.”

The secretary reiterated that the administration is “very, very actively pursuing” efforts to get the hostages currently held by Hamas released—including as many as six Americans—and create an extended pause in fighting to get aid to Palestinians in Gaza. Its larger goal, he said, is “putting a durable end to the cycle of violence that we’ve seen in the region for generation after generation” and to achieve “an integrated Israel with relations with all of its neighbors, security commitments, assurances that it needs to make sure that it can move forward in peace and security; a Palestinian Authority that’s reformed, and a clear pathway to a Palestinian state.”

Such a plan, Blinken said, would promote security by creating a more integrated region with normalized relations between countries and “where the question of the rights of Palestinians is finally answered.” Stoltenberg responded by thanking Blinken for his “tireless diplomacy…to prevent further escalation of the war in Gaza, your efforts to alleviate human suffering, and your hard work towards a peaceful resolution.”

Over the weekend, officials from the U.S., Israel, Egypt, and Qatar meeting in Paris, France, created a blueprint for a six-week pause in the war while Hamas releases the hostages taken on October 7 in exchange for a much greater number of Palestinians held in Israeli jails. The prime minister and foreign minister of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani, traveled from Paris to Washington, D.C., where he met with Blinken. 

David Rothkopf noted today in The Daily Beast that such a plan would end the death and destruction in Gaza and enable Israel to begin a healing process. It would create room to rebuild new leadership for the Palestinians and move Israel toward “the new elections and new government it so desperately needs and deserves.” 

Qatar is taking the proposal to Hamas. 

Blinken and Stoltenberg both talked as well about NATO and its “unwavering support for Ukraine.” NATO has grown stronger in response to Russia’s attack on Ukraine, and NATO allies and partners have provided more than $110 billion in total aid for Ukraine while the U.S. has provided about $75 billion, Blinken noted (the U.S. has contributed by far the most in military aid).

But the U.S., which has provided key support for NATO and Ukraine, is suddenly faltering as extremist Republicans in the House are refusing to pass a supplemental measure to provide more funding for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan and to secure the southern border of the U.S. 

Blinken again urged Congress to pass the funding. 

“Without it, simply put, everything that Ukrainians achieved and that we’ve helped them achieve will be in jeopardy,” Blinken said. “And…we’re going to be sending a strong and wrong message to all of our adversaries that we are not serious about the defense of freedom, the defense of democracy. And it will simply reinforce for Vladimir Putin that he can somehow outlast Ukraine and outlast us.”

Stoltenberg agreed. “It would be a tragedy for the Ukrainians if President Putin wins, but it will also make the world more dangerous and us, all of us, more insecure. It will embolden other authoritarian leaders—not only Putin…but also North Korea, Iran, and China—to use force.  Today it’s Ukraine; tomorrow it could be Taiwan. So therefore it is in our interests to ensure that Ukraine prevails as a sovereign, independent nation.” 

Biden appears to have ramped up aid to Ukraine slowly to keep Putin from being able to claim he was at war with the U.S. and to keep him from mounting a full-blown response to such a threat, but as David Frum put it in The Atlantic, Biden “overestimated the time available to keep aid flowing to Ukraine because he underestimated the servility of House Republicans to Trump’s anti-Ukraine animus.” Frum explained: “[T]he background political reality is that Donald Trump is an enemy of Ukraine and an admirer of the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. As Trump has neared renomination, his party—especially in the House of Representatives—has surrendered to his pro-Putin pressure.”  

Back in early November, then a brand new House speaker, Mike Johnson (R-LA) told Senate Republicans that he supported aid to Ukraine but would not deliver it without money for security on the southern border of the U.S. Such a measure was crucial to U.S. security, he and other Republicans insisted, and they hyped the dangers of current immigration policy.

A bipartisan group of Senate negotiators went to work to hammer out such a measure, but once it got close to completion, Trump stepped in to stop the deal, intending to run on fears of immigration in 2024. Republicans are falling into line behind Trump, putting the border deal, as well as more funding for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, at risk. 

Meanwhile, the extremist Republicans are in the awkward position of insisting that the United States is in terrible danger from a border crisis but that they don’t want to solve that crisis for almost a year, waiting until 2025 when they expect Trump to be in office.

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[babybluebex]

The hot pink bell bottoms, the light blue shirt, the green shoes.

JOSEPH ANTONY FRANCIS QUINN IS GIVING

romantic lead in a drama movie set in the 1970s, in the cold coat of england where he learns to love again after his wife is killed. He finds love while hunting the killer and it almost drives him mad but the love and safety of the romantic lead (in my head played by Jamie Campbell bower, because yes) and joes character is tackling not just the unjust murder of his wife but his now opened sexuality as he falls for the man who works and owns the local fish and chips shop because it’s good easy money since they live on a coast town.

Thorough hardships and pain and anger, joesphs character learns to forgive but never forget his wife. And Jamie shows him he can love again, and opens him to a new world. But it’s also the 70s so like ya know not very good times for the queer population but they make it work.

Because love can do that. Also joes once wife is played by maya hawke for no other reason then, maya hawkes voice is pure asmr for me. Her song Terese is on the soundtrack and plays when we see the grainy video memories of her but it’s an instrumental version.

And at this pitch meeting I will explain-

anon i’m a mess after this, i want more

[libertariantaoist]

News Roundup 6/11/2023 | The Libertarian Institute

Here is your daily roundup of today's news:

News Roundup 6/11/2023

by Kyle Anzalone

US News 

A group of Republican senators on Thursday introduced a bill to repeal the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) that was passed in the wake of the September 11th attacks and is still being used to justify wars today. AWC

Russia

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said Thursday that Russian forces repelled a Ukrainian attack in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia Oblast as Western media outlets are reporting Ukraine’s counteroffensive has officially begun. AWC

Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev said Thursday that Ukraine was ready to sign a peace deal with Russia in the early days of the war but gave up on negotiations due to US pressure. AWC

Two recent reports have uncovered billions in trade between members of the North Atlantic alliance and Russia since the Kremlin ordered the invasion of Ukraine last year. The Institute

The Department of Defense announced on Friday it will purchase $2.1 billion in weapons for Ukraine, including munitions for Patriot and Hawk air defense systems. AWC

Stockholm plans to send a “signal to Russia” by allowing NATO troop deployments in Sweden before the country is admitted into the alliance, according to top officials. Turkey is holding up Sweden’s bid to join the bloc. AWC

As part of a “deepening” military partnership between Iran and Russia amid the war in Ukraine, US intelligence officials believe Tehran is assisting Moscow in building a drone manufacturing plant that may be operational next year, the White House said on Friday. American officials claim hundreds of Iranian drones were transported to Russia via the Caspian Sea last month. AWC

China

The Pentagon on Thursday dismissed a report from The Wall Street Journal that claimed Beijing and Havana have reached an agreement in principle on China establishing a secret spy facility in Cuba. AWC

The US, Japan, and Taiwan are preparing to share real-time data from naval surveillance drones in a move sure to anger China, Financial Times reported on Thursday. AWC

Middle East

According to a report from Middle East Eye, the US and Iran are near a deal that would reduce Iran’s uranium enrichment in exchange for sanctions relief, although it’s not certain that a final agreement will be reached. AWC

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Secretary of State Antony Blinken that no deal the US makes with Iran would prevent Israel from attacking the country over its nuclear program. The Institute

Read More

[princessamyrose87]

knuckles spin-off series cast

Vector the Crocodile - Bruce Campbell, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Micheal B. Jordan, Seth rogen

Espio the Chameleon - Daisuke Tsuji, l.j. benet

Charmy Bee - Colleen o'Shaughnessey, Jacob Tremblay

Mighty The Armadillo - Micheal Mando, Micheal B. Jordan, Brady noon

Ray The flying squirrel - Tara Strong, Hudson Meek

Fang The Sniper - John Patrick Lowrie, Hugh Jackman, Karl Urban,

Bean The Dynamite - Aziz Ansari, Steven Ogg

Chief Pachacamac - Danny Trejo Sofía

Tikal the Echidna - Díana Bermudez, Ana de la Reguera, Selene Luna, Sofía Espinosa, Isabela Merced, Salma Hayek, Nisa Gunduz

E-102 Gamma - Corey Burton

Wendy Witchcart - Mia Goth, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Harriet Samson Harris

Battle Kukku XV - Nolan North

Speedy XVI - Maria Bakalova

Dr. Fukurokov - Mark Ivanar

Breezie The Hedgehog - Regina King, Janelle Monáe, Jena Malone, Pollyanna McIntosh

Vanilla The Rabbit - Maggie Robertson

Amy Rose - Kimiko Glenn, Anna kendrick

Big The Cat - Dave Fennoy, Patrick Warburton, Micheal B Jordan, Kevin Chamberlin

Cream the Rabbit - Melissa Hutchison, sabrina glow

Sticks the Badger - Margot Robbie, Paola Lázaro

Gerald Kintobor - Ron Perlman

Maria Kintobor - Mkeena Grace

Commander Abraham Tower - Frank Anthony Grillo

Subject Shadow The Hedgehog (Terios Kintobor) - (Paramount stated they want an A-list celebrity to voice Shadow) Keanu Reeves, Robert Pattinson, Pedro Pascal, Oscar Isaac, Micheal B Jordan

Rouge The Bat - Chloé Hollings, Marion Cotillard, Mélanie Laurent, Camille Cottin, Jordana Lajoie, Scarlett johansson

Tom Wachowski’s father - Bob Odinkirk, Dustin Hoffman, Bill Murray, Micheal Keaton, Kurt Russell, John Goodman

Metal Sonic - Ben Schwartz(robotic filter)

E-123 Omega - Micheal B Jordan, Terry Crews, Jon Bernthal

Hazard The Bio-Lizard (Marzanna Kintobor) - Ivana Miličević

Void TrapDark - Jude Law, Dane DeHaan, Gerald Way, Scott Williams, Freddie Highmore,

Lumina Flowlight - Tabitha St. Germain

Blaze’s Mother - Janina Gavankar, Sakina Jaffrey

Blaze The Cat (Indian/British accent) - Priyanka Chopra, Devika Bhise, Varada Sethu, Simone Ashley, Ulka Simone Mohanty, Natasha Chandel

Marine the Raccoon - Sia, Katie Bergin, Bella Heathcote, Isla Lang Fisher, Rylee Alazraqui, Kendal Rae

Blaze’s Rival: Frost The Axotol(example)- Michelle Yeoh, Fala Chen, Antony Starr

Jet’s Father - Matt Ryan, Iwan Rheon

Jet The Hawk - Tony Hawk, Aaron Paul, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Dante Basco, Ken Jeong, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jimmy O. Yang

Wave The Swallow - Sarah Margaret Qualley

Storm the Albatross (pacific, Oceania) - Dave Batista, Taylor Wily

Emerl The Gizoid - Augus Imrie, Kendal Rae,

Clutch The Possum - Micheal Rooker, Benjamin Byron Davis, Robert Allen Wiethoff

Tangle The Lemur - Lauren Keke Palmer, Brenda Song

Whisper The Wolf - Stefanie Joosten, Ana de Armas

Mimic The Octopus - Richard Colin Brake

Doctor Starline - Troy Baker, Hugh Grant,

Starline’s Love interest and partner -

Rough and Tumble the Skunks - Will Ferrell and John C. Reily, Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key

Surge The Tenrec - Rachel Bloom, AJ Michalka

Kitsunami The Fennec Fox - Michael Cera, Kyle McCarley

Zavok - Christopher Judge, John Cena, Jon Bernthal

Master Zik - Frank Oz, Randall Duk Kim, Dustin Hoffman

Zeena -Mindy Kaling

Zor - Jaeden Martell, Dane DeHaan, Gerald Way

Zazz - Danny Brown,

Zomom - T.J. Miller

Black Doom -

,Keith David https://youtu.be/9LmOwEfPHUo

, Jackie Earle Haley - https://youtu.be/sF8zxctevXc

, Jon Bernthal - https://youtu.be/sDp4AuNen0Y

, Sean Schemmel -

, Ray Porter - https://youtu.be/aR8p4DIpxxE

,Karl Urban - https://youtu.be/ccF3uvpJ96I

Eclipse The Darkling - Norman Reedus

Callisto The Darkling - Carrie-Anne Moss

Dark Oak - Jeremy Irons

Black Narcissus - Angelina Jolie

Pala Bayleaf - John Leguizamo

Yellow Zelkova - Terry Crews

Red Pine - Pat Casey or Josh Miller

Cosmo The Seedrian - Carol Anne Day, Liliana Mumy

Lyric The Ancient(Owl like Longclaw) - Jackie Earle Haley

Johnny Lightfoot - Taron Egerton

Tekno The Canary - Paula Burrows

Porker Lewis - John Boyega, Daniel Radcliffe

Shorty “Shortfuse” The Cybernik - Cillian Murphy, Barry Sloane

Ebony The Cat - Gratiela Brancusi

Sonia The Hedgehog - Kiernan Shipka, Evan Rachel Wood, Isabella Merced, Jena Malone

Manic The Hedgehog - Joe Keery

Sally Acorn - Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman

Antoine D’Coolette - Tomer Capone, Bradley Cooper(hes fluent in French)

Bunnie Rabbot - Alex McKenna

Rotor The “Boomer” Walrus - John Cena

Nicole The Holo-Lynx - Ashly Burch

Lupe The Wolf - Amber Midthunder

Dulcy The Dragon - America Ferrera

Chip - Tom Holland, Freddie Highmore

Professor Dillion Pickle - Ian McKellen

Imperator Ix - Gary Oldman

Shade The Echidna - Lady Gaga

Infinite The Jackal - Kit Harington, Jon Bernthal

Silver The Hedgehog - Steven Yeun

Gold The Tenrec - Simone Ashley

Professor Von Schlemmer - Matthias Schweighöfer

Dr. Negan Robotnik a.k.a Eggman Neo - J.K. Simmons, Jeffery Dean Morgan, Giancarlo Esposito, Bryan Cranston, Pedro Pascal

Dr. Grimer Wormtongue - Ian McShane, Jackie Earle Haley

Chris thorndyke - Graham Verchere

Frost the hobidon - Dakota lotus

Juliet suter - Sydney Scotia

Antia/tania - Cassie glow

Perci - Stephanie lemelin

Preteen bokkun - Brett Gray

Park ranger - Patrick Warburton

Ashe - peyton r. perrine iii

Burst wisp - cherami Leigh

Uncle Charles - David Lengel

Bernadette - Melanie Zanetti

[mariacallous]

When Democratic senators convened for a private luncheon on Thursday, all eyes were on Sen. Bob Menendez. The hard-nosed and hawkish New Jersey Democrat, a longtime heavyweight in congressional foreign policy, has faced a wave of calls from his own party to resign. It comes in the wake of a damning indictment alleging he secretly worked to advance the interests of a foreign power, Egypt, in exchange for bribes, and sought to influence criminal charges against businessmen involved in the scheme.

Menendez, who has denied any wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty to the charges, had to give up his gavel as chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee after the indictment was released last week. Going into the luncheon, he had two options: accede to the demands of the majority of Democratic senators calling on him to resign, or dig in his heels and fight.

To the surprise of no one who knows him, Menendez chose to fight.

During the meeting, according to two people with direct knowledge of it, Menendez doubled down on what he said in public: He is innocent of the charges and has no plans to step down. His defense appeared to win him no new allies. Sen. Chris Coons, another Democratic foreign-policy heavyweight who also chairs the Ethics Committee, left the luncheon when Menendez got up to speak. So did two other members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee—Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Brian Schatz, according to the people briefed on the matter. None of the nearly 30 Democratic senators who called on him to resign have backtracked.

Menendez’s defiant stand at the congressional luncheon offered a glimpse into the political fallout from the indictment, and a foretaste of major changes in one of the most historic and vaunted institutions in Congress, with significant implications for U.S. foreign policy.

Foreign Policy spoke with more than a dozen current and former staffers on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as well as lawmakers and outside experts on the fallout of the indictment and what it means for Congress and the Biden administration’s agenda. Menendez’s office did not respond to a request for comment or interview.

The first is that the scandal has rocked a vaunted committee with a storied legacy in foreign policy, and one that has served as a relative bastion of bipartisanship and stability while the rest of Washington descends into hyper-partisan rancor. The committee has produced eight U.S. presidents and 19 secretaries of state, from Andrew Jackson to John F. Kennedy to Joe Biden. Its cadre of professional staff has gone on to leading roles in the State Department and Pentagon, including Antony Blinken, Biden’s secretary of state, whose job as Democratic staff director on the committee spring-boarded his rise.

Lawmakers and staffers alike say they are stunned and saddened by the revelations outlined in the indictment. “There’s no way other than to say the allegations against Sen. Menendez are horrific,” Sen. Ben Cardin, who succeeded Menendez as chairman of the committee, told reporters before the luncheon on Thursday. “That is extremely challenging for all of us here.”

The charges against Menendez and his wife directly implicate his work on the committee, including allegations that he shared a confidential blueprint of the U.S. Embassy in Egypt’s staffing rosters with an Egyptian businessman through his wife, who then forwarded it to Egyptian officials. “Such tasking by the Egyptians would be consistent with classic modus operandi in a recruitment operation,” Asha Rangappa, a former senior FBI official, and Marc Polymeropoulos, a former senior CIA official, wrote in Just Security.

The indictment also alleges that Menendez provided advance notice of non-public information on the release of U.S. military aid to Egypt and even ghost-wrote a letter for the government of Egypt requesting more U.S. military aid. The FBI has reportedly launched a counterintelligence probe into whether Egyptian intelligence services were involved in the alleged scheme, according to NBC News. 

Menendez has in the past week repeatedly insisted that the allegations are false. Menendez was previously charged with corruption, but those charges ended in a mistrial in 2017, and his message to his colleagues and supporters was that he overcame corruption charges before and could do so again. Still, there’s no modern precedent for the scandal the Senate Foreign Relations Committee now faces, even as Cardin and the top Republican on the committee, Idaho Sen. Jim Risch, vow to get immediately back to business on the committee’s work—if the looming government shutdown doesn’t stop them first.

A spokesperson for Risch downplayed the effect of the scandal on the committee itself. “One person alone does not determine the work of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, even the chairman,” the spokesperson said. “All four leaders of the House and Senate foreign relations committees have roles and rights as leaders of these important national security committees. Among other things, this helps to ensure one person does not have undue influence on the foreign policy of the U.S. Congress.”

Another takeaway is that Menendez stepping back from the committee is likely permanent, even if he overcomes the second round of corruption charges he has faced and wins an uphill reelection battle.

Menendez, who has served as either chair or ranking member of the committee for the better part of a decade, was a brash and strong-willed lawmaker who had no qualms getting into brass-knuckle political clashes with senior national security officials in Republican and Democratic administrations alike. His ouster removes an ardent hawk from a key Senate leadership position who challenged his own party on policies from Iran to engagement with Cuba to major foreign arms sales. It could give the Biden administration more leeway to defrost ties with Cuba, where every move it made was met with withering criticism from Menendez. He also stood out as a prominent supporter of Israel at a time when support for Israel in the Democratic caucus is wilting.

There could be some tangible impacts on foreign policy, too. Some committee aides hope that Cardin, who they say has a better personal rapport with Risch than Menendez did, can work more effectively to address the growing backlog of nominations for senior diplomatic posts sitting before the committee. The day after Cardin took the committee gavel, the committee sent out a notice that it would be holding nomination hearings for the posts of U.S. ambassador to Somalia and Liberia, as well as a top posting for the U.S. Peace Corps.

There are 37 nominees for senior diplomatic and foreign aid posts pending on the Senate floor, including 23 ambassador nominees, an issue that’s been plaguing the State Department for years as ambassador posts sit unfilled for months or longer. “That’s outrageous,” Cardin said. “Not having a confirmed ambassador in a country weakens the United States’ national security.”

Menendez’s sidelining also removes one roadblock to a planned U.S. sale of F-16 fighter jets to NATO ally Turkey. Menendez led the charge in blocking the arms sale over Turkey’s internal repression and opposition to allowing Finland and Sweden to join the NATO alliance. (Finland has joined, but Sweden is still being held up by Turkey and Hungary.) “One of our most important problems regarding the F-16s were the activities of U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez against our country,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters this week, as The Associated Press reported. Cardin declined to say whether he would adopt Menendez’s position on the arms sale, though other senators remain opposed to it.

Finally, the fallout from the indictment could bring new levels of scrutiny to the U.S. relationship with Egypt, a longtime ally that is one of the top recipients of U.S. military aid in the world, worth around $1.3 billion per year. Sen. Chris Murphy, a leading progressive Democrat on the committee who has called on Menendez to resign, told Foreign Policy in a statement that he wanted an investigation into Egypt’s actions with Menendez. Senators “have a responsibility to understand whether Egypt was running an illicit influence campaign on the Foreign Relations Committee,” he said.

The United States has for decades viewed Egypt as a reliable partner and ally, particularly in the context of its relationship with Israel, but a growing number of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are questioning that orthodoxy. Human rights and democracy groups charge that Egypt under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has taken a sharply authoritarian bent, and say that continuing the U.S. relationship with Cairo undermines U.S. values and democracy promotion.

A group of lawmakers has repeatedly tried to cut aid to Egypt in recent years, though it has only made limited gains. Days before Menendez’s indictment was unveiled, the Biden administration approved $235 million in aid to Egypt, invoking a waiver on the grounds of national security. Only a fraction of U.S. aid was withheld, to the dismay of lawmakers more concerned about human rights. Since 1946, the United States has provided Egypt with more than $85 billion in military and economic aid.

Human rights advocates and other policy experts are already calling for the Biden administration to rethink that decision. “The immediate action should be to put a hold on that assistance to Egypt until there is proper time to investigate this further,” said Mai El-Sadany, executive director of the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, a think tank. “Allowing this to go through would send the wrong message for the U.S. at a very wrong time.”

Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, on Friday called for the administration to pause a portion of funding to Egypt but did not mention the Menendez indictment in his statement.

The Egyptian Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.

Egypt has many supporters in Congress beyond Menendez, and Menendez has repeatedly criticized the Egyptian government over human rights violations and detaining political prisoners and journalists. But human rights advocates and lawmakers hope the Menendez indictment triggers a broad rethink of U.S.-Egypt relations.

Tom Malinowski, a former New Jersey Democratic representative who also served as a senior State Department official in the Obama administration, says it’s well past time to reassess the U.S. relationship with Egypt. He has joined a chorus of New Jersey Democrats calling on Menendez to resign.

“The Egyptians behave as if they can get away with just about anything. They act as if they have protectors behind the scenes in Washington who will ensure the money keeps flowing no matter what,” Malinowski said. “This episode perhaps helps explain in part why they have treated the U.S. aid as an entitlement for so many years.”

[ridenwithbiden]

TOKYO (Reuters) -The United States has started bulk buying Japanese seafood to supply its military there in response to China's ban on such products imposed after Tokyo released treated water from its crippled #Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea.

Unveiling the initiative in a Reuters interview on Monday, U.S. ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel said Washington should also look more broadly into how it could help offset China's ban that he said was part of its "economic wars".

China, which had been the biggest buyer of Japanese seafood, says its ban is due to food safety fears.

The U.N.'s nuclear watchdog vouched for the safety of the water release that began in August from the plant wrecked by a 2011 tsunami. G7 trade ministers on Sunday called for the immediate repeal of bans on Japanese food.

"It's going to be a long-term contract between the U.S. armed forces and the fisheries and co-ops here in Japan," Emanuel said.

"The best way we have proven in all the instances to kind of wear out China's economic coercion is come to the aid and assistance of the targeted country or industry," he said.

Asked about Emanuel's comments at a press conference on Monday, China's foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said: "the responsibility of diplomats is to promote friendship between countries rather than smearing other countries and stirring up trouble".

The first purchase of seafood by the U.S. under the scheme involves just shy of a metric ton of scallops, a tiny fraction of more than 100,000 tons of scallops that Japan exported to mainland China last year.

Emanuel said the purchases - which will feed soldiers in messes and aboard vessels as well as being sold in shops and restaurants on military bases - will increase over time to all types of seafood. The U.S. military had not previously bought local seafood in Japan, he said.

The U.S. could also look at its overall fish imports from Japan and China, he said. The U.S. is also in talks with Japanese authorities to help direct locally-caught scallops to U.S.-registered processors.

'NOT A CHINA HAWK'

Emanuel, who was former U.S. President Barack Obama's White House chief of staff, has in recent months made a series of blunt statements on China, taking aim at various issues including its economic policies, opaque decision-making and treatment of foreign firms.

That has come as top U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, have visited Beijing in an effort to draw a line under strained ties.

Asked if he considered himself hawkish on China, Emanuel rejected the term and said he was a "realist".

"I don't consider it hawkish but just consider it realist and honest. Maybe the honesty is painful, but it's honest," he said.

"I'm all for stability, understanding. That doesn't mean you're not honest. They're not contradictory. One of the ways you establish stability, is that you're able to be honest with each other."

He said China faced major economic challenges exacerbated by a leadership intent on turning their backs on international systems.

"The kind of loser in this is the youth of China. You now have a situation where 30% of the Chinese youth, one out of three, are unemployed. You have major cities with unfinished housing ... you have major municipalities not able to pay city workers. Why? Because China made a political decision to turn their back on a system in which they were benefiting."

The most recent official youth unemployment data from China, published in July before Beijing said it was suspending publication of the numbers, showed it jumping to a record high of 21.3%.

Emanuel said he was also keeping an eye on how China's leadership responds to the recent death of former Premier Li Keqiang, a reformist who was sidelined by President Xi Jinping.

"What's ... interesting to me, that I think is telltale, is how they will be treating his funeral and how they'll be treating comments about him," he said.

"I do think that there's kind of a section of China that sees what kind of policies he was pursuing as kind of the best of China. But that's up for China to decide."

By John Geddie and Yukiko Toyoda

[aurevoirmonty]

«La contre-offensive va échouer»: le renseignement américain prêt à lâcher Kiev

L'Ukraine «ne parviendra pas à atteindre la ville clé de Melitopol», est-il indiqué dans un rapport qualifié de «sombre» par le Washington Post (https://archive.is/JatjO).

Selon le renseignement américain, le régime de Kiev va donc être dans l'incapacité «d'atteindre son principal objectif de couper le pont de la Russie vers la Crimée».

Dès lors, quid des 24 milliards de dollars promis par Biden ?

L'échec ukrainien est une évidence pour tout le monde aujourd'hui, de Sarkozy (https://t.me/kompromatmedia/3894) à l'OTAN (https://t.me/kompromatmedia/3885). Et même depuis des mois pour la CIA (https://seymourhersh.substack.com/p/summer-of-the-hawks), qui avait informé Antony Blinken que «l'offensive ukrainienne ne fonctionnerait pas».

Au sein de l'agence certains étaient convaincus qu'il ne s'agissait que d'une «mise en scène de Zelensky».

«Certains membres de l'administration ont cru à ses conneries.»

Résultat? 43.000 soldats morts côté ukrainien depuis juin (https://t.me/kompromatmedia/3823). Mais de bonnes affaires pour Lockheed Martin.

[theculturedmarxist]

I was planning to write this week about the expanding war in Ukraine and the danger it poses for the Biden Administration. I had a lot to say. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman has resigned, and her last day in office is June 30. Her departure has triggered near panic inside the State Department about the person many there fear will be chosen to replace her: Victoria Nuland. Nuland’s hawkishness on Russia and antipathy for Vladimir Putin fits perfectly with the views of President Biden. Nuland is now the undersecretary for political affairs and has been described as “running amok,” in the words of a person with direct knowledge of the situation, among the various bureaus of the State Department while Secretary of State Antony Blinken is on the road. If Sherman has a view about her potential successor, and she must, she’s unlikely ever to share it.

Biden is believed by some in the American intelligence community to be convinced that his re-election prospects depend on a victory, or some kind of satisfactory settlement, in the Ukraine war. Blinken’s rejection of the prospect of a ceasefire in Ukraine, voiced in his June 2 speech in Finland that I wrote about last week, is of a piece with this thinking.

Putin should rightly be condemned for his decision to tumble Europe into its most violent and destructive war since the Balkan wars of the 1990s. But those at the top in the White House must answer for their willingness to let an obviously tense situation lead into war when, perhaps, an unambiguous guarantee that Ukraine would not be permitted to join NATO could have kept the peace.

Ukraine’s counter-offensive is going slowly in its early days, and so news of the war briefly disappeared from the front pages of the New York Times and the Washington Post. The newspapers’ fear of another Trump presidency seems to have diminished their appetite for objective reporting when it delivers bad news from the front. The bad news may keep coming if the Ukraine military’s limited air and missile power continues to be ineffective against Russia.

It is believed within the American intelligence community that Russia destroyed the vital Kakhovka dam on the Dnipro River. Putin’s motive is unclear. Was the sabotage aimed at flooding and slowing the Ukraine Army’s pathways to the war zone in the southeast? Were there hidden Ukrainian weapons and ammunition storage sites in the flooded area? (The Ukraine military command is constantly moving its stockpiles in an effort to keep Russian satellite surveillance and missile targeting at bay.) Or was Putin simply laying down a chip and letting the government of Volodymyr Zelensky understand that this is the beginning of the end? 

Meanwhile, there has been an escalation in rhetoric about the war and its possible consequences from within Russia. It can be observed in an essay published in Russian and English on June 13 by Sergei A. Karaganov, an academic in Moscow who is chairman of the Russian Council on Foreign and Defense Policy. Karaganov is known to be close to Putin; he is taken seriously by some journalists in the West, most notably by Serge Schmemann, a longtime Moscow correspondent for the New York Times and now a member of the Times editorial board. Like me, he spent his early years as a journalist for the Associated Press. 

One of Karaganov’s main points is that the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine will not end even if Russia were to achieve a crushing victory. There will remain, he writes, “an even more embittered ultranationalist population pumped up with weapons—a bleeding wound threatening inevitable complications and a new war.”

The essay is suffused with despair. A Russian victory in Ukraine means a continued war with the West. “The worst situation,” he writes, “may occur if, at the cost of enormous losses, we liberate the whole of Ukraine and it remains in ruins with a population that mostly hates us. . . . The feud with the West will continue as it will support a low-grade guerrilla war.” A more attractive option would be to liberate the pro-Russian areas of Ukraine followed by demilitarization of Ukraine’s armed forces. But that would be possible, Karaganov writes, “only if and when we are able to break the West’s will to incite and support the Kiev junta, and to force it to retreat strategically.

“And this brings us to the most important but almost undiscussed issue. The underlying and even fundamental cause of the conflict in Ukraine and many other tensions in the world . . . is the accelerating failure of the modern ruling Western elites” to recognize and deal with the “globalization course of recent decades.” These changes, which Karaganov calls “unprecedented in history,” are key elements in the global balance of power that now favor “China and partly India acting as economic drivers, and Russia chosen by history to be its military strategic pillar.” The countries of the West, under leaders such as Biden and his aides, he writes, “are losing their five-century-long ability to siphon wealth around the world, imposing, primarily by brute force, political and economic orders and cultural dominance. So there will be no quick end to the unfolding Western defensive and aggressive confrontation.”

This shakeup of the world order, he writes, “has been brewing since the mid-1960s. . . . The defeat in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the beginning of the Western economic model crisis in 2008 were major milestones.” All of this points toward large-scale disaster: “Truce is possible, but peace is not. . . . This vector of the West’s movement unambiguously indicates a slide toward World War III. It is already beginning and may erupt into a full-blown firestorm by chance or due to the incompetence and irresponsibility of modern ruling circles in the West.”

In Karaganov’s view—I am in no way condoning or agreeing with it—the American-led war against Russia in Ukraine, with the support of NATO, has become more feasible, even ineluctable, because the fear of nuclear war is gone. What is happening today in Ukraine, he argues, would be “unthinkable” in the early years of the nuclear era. At that time, even “in a fit of desperate rage,” “the ruling circles of a group of countries” would never have “unleashed a full-scale war in the underbelly of a nuclear superpower.”

Karagonov’s argument only gets more scary from there. He concludes by arguing that Russia can continue fighting in Ukraine for two or three years by “sacrificing thousands and thousands of our best men and grinding down . . . hundreds of thousands of people who live in the territory that is now called Ukraine and who have fallen into a tragic historical trap. But this military operation cannot end with a decisive victory without forcing the West to retreat strategically, or even surrender, and compelling [America] to give up its attempt to reverse history and preserve global dominance. . . . Roughly speaking it must ‘buzz off’ so that Russia and the world could move forward unhindered.”

To convince America to “buzz off,” Karaganov writes, “We will have to make nuclear deterrence a convincing argument again by lowering the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons set unacceptably high, and by rapidly but prudently moving up the deterrence-escalation ladder.” Putin has already done so, he says, through his statements and the advance deployment of Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus. “We must not repeat the ‘Ukrainian scenario.’ For a quarter of a century, we did not listen to those who warned that NATO aggression would lead to war, and tried to delay and ‘negotiate.’ As a result, we’ve got a severe armed conflict. The price of indecision now will be higher by an order of magnitude.

“The enemy must know that we are ready to deliver a preemptive strike in retaliation for all of its current and past acts of aggression in order to prevent a slide into global thermonuclear war. . . . Morally, this is a terrible choice as we will use God’s weapon, thus dooming ourselves to grave spiritual losses. But if we do not do this, not only Russia can die, but most likely the entire human civilization will cease to exist.”

Karaganov’s notion of a thermonuclear weapon as “God’s weapon” reminded me of a strange but similar phrase Putin used at a political forum in Moscow in the fall of 2018. He said that Russia would only launch a nuclear strike if his military’s early warning system warned of an incoming warhead. “We would be victims of aggression and would get to heaven as martyrs” and those who launched the strike would “just die and not even have time to repent.”

Karaganov has come a long way in his thinking about nuclear warfare by comparison with his remarks in an interview with Schmemann last summer. He expressed concern about freedom of thought in the future and added: “But I am even more concerned about the growing probability of a global thermonuclear conflict ending the history of humanity. We are living through a prolonged Cuban missile crisis. And I do not see the people of the caliber of Kennedy and his entourage on the other side. I do not know if we have responsible interlocutors.”

What should we make of Karaganov’s warming of doom? Do his remarks in any way reflect policy at the top? Do he and Putin kick around the idea of when or where to drop the bomb? Or is it nothing more than an expression of Russia’s decades old inferiority complex when looking to the gleaming West, where it finds—as we see in the Biden Administration today—endless hostility toward Russia.

“This could be the clarion of a movement in Russia,” one longtime Kremlin watcher told me, “for a dangerous shift of policy or it could or the off-the-wall ramblings of a concerned but deeply Russian academic.” He added that any serious Nato political strategist should read and evaluate the essay. 

Is the future of the world really only in Russia’s hands—and not in ours?  

Happy Father’s Day.