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The Russian intervention in Ukraine

What experience and history teach is this — that nations and governments have never learned anything from history, or acted upon any lessons they might have drawn from it. (Hegel, Lectures on the Philosophy of History (1832)

Since the 24th of February the world has been riveted on events in Ukraine. Since no one wanted to listen to Lavrov and Russia’s security concerns, the Ukrainian military is dealing with Shoigu now. The suffering in Ukraine is great as a result of the Russian military operation taking place there. But few people in the West, for instance, have been made aware of or care about the fratricidal civil war between the western and far eastern parts of Ukraine that has raged since 2014, where there has been commensurate suffering, and at the hands of other Ukrainians. That was one of the primary causes for the present conflict. This current military action by the Russians is not at all as it is being portrayed in the Western media. For more, read on… Continue reading “The Russian intervention in Ukraine”

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Ukraine and the propaganda war

Along with the military conflict in Ukraine, there is also an intensive propaganda war going on at the same time. It has been said many times that the first casualty of war is the truth. Western nations are being particularly targeted by the propaganda war. In looking at foreign news and independent media since the start of the Russian special operation, comment on events, causes, responses and reactions is far more nuanced. To the West, this conflict is cast more as a black-and-white issue. We will examine the propaganda war in this post, continuing on from the military side in the previous post. Continue reading “Ukraine and the propaganda war”

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The Donbas republics

Those Russians have done it again. Amidst the best-laid plans of Kiev to bring the rebellious regions of the Donbas back into the Ukrainian fold, the Russians have instead recognized the independence of the two republics – Donetsk and Lugansk. They now fall under the umbrella of Russian protection. The Western media, especially the American and British media, are heaping scorn on the decision, as well as many Europeans, with all the usual talk about international law, abandonment of the Minsk II accords, Russia ready to invade Ukraine and sanctimony about sanctions, with Biden already having signed an executive order slapping sanctions on the miscreant republics. But as always, the story is not cut and dried when it comes to international affairs and there is always more than one side of any story – especially when it comes to the US and Russia. We will have a look at the two new republics here and the how and why of what has brought us to this state of affairs. Continue reading “The Donbas republics”

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The Black Tiger: a prequel

The 2nd of January marks the start of the lunations for 2022, this one being the new moon of Capricorn. It also marks something else, that being the start of the Month of the Iron Ox, or ‘The Ox on the Road’. If that sounds familiar, it should – the lunar year drawing to a close has the same name, and that means we have a situation for the lunar month call fu yin in Chinese astrology. That can be either fortunate or auger difficult times, depending. But there is more. Continue reading “The Black Tiger: a prequel”

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Valentine’s Day in Ukraine

That evil Vlad is up to his old tricks again, weaponizing the Western media to stir up hopes for a Russian invasion of Ukraine. See how he does it? Uncle Joe is having a little chat with him about it today. But Vlad was a little careless this time. He left the detailed battle plans he had so meticulously worked on for the invasion in his desk drawer – unlocked – while he was out for a dinner. The Kremlin cleaning staff (a.k.a. spies), noticing the unlocked drawer, found the plans and promptly turned them over to the German news outlet, Bild. Truth is stranger than fiction. Fantasy aside, there is one fiction that is stranger than truth in this case – a pending Russian invasion of Ukraine. Alas, it is not to be, and the factions in the West and EU itching for such a war will find coal in their boxes of chocolate for Valentine’s Day instead of a massacre in the Donbass. For more, read on. Continue reading “Valentine’s Day in Ukraine”

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The Russian R2P decree

On 15 Nov 2021 Vladimir Putin signed what amounts to a Russian version of the American R2P doctrine – the Resposibility to Protect. The situation in Ukraine is about to get very interesting. The gist of the decree is that Russia will protect certain goods going in and out of the Donbass region, as well as the people there. The people of Donbass are essentially of Russian ancestry and many people throughout Russia have relatives there. That is not the case with the remainder of the Ukraine. NATO leaders may just get their wish for more relevance, and sooner than they think, but what is arising is an event, pushed by the US and EU, that will have ill effects for the EU, and ultimately, for NATO. We will have a look at the decree, Ukraine and NATO here. Continue reading “The Russian R2P decree”

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The demise of NATO

In an interview with The Economist a couple of years ago, Emmanuel Macron had the following to say about the NATO alliance: “What we are currently experiencing is the brain death of NATO,” His reference was in response to the actions of the Trump administration at the time in its relations with the EU. Trump, the epitome of the New York real estate mogul, had been poking at the Europeans to spend more money on US weaponry. Macron’s statement was the month before the pandemic began to grip the world’s attention and before the coming supply chain shocks and US actions overseas would enshrine his statement as being one of fact rather than conjecture. The question now remains, is NATO to be removed from life support and allowed to finally meet its end, or is it to remain as the shell of American influence over Europe for the foreseeable future? We’ll have a look at the astrology of the institution here. Continue reading “The demise of NATO”

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The Pandora Papers and Facebook’s face-plant

On 4 Oct 2021 the Pandora Papers were released amidst much hoopla about exposing some of the most corrupt leaders and billionaires on the planet. Featured in Western mainstream news, unsurprisingly, was Vladimir Putin. Putin’s face loomed the largest in The Guardian’s coverage of the papers, yet he was not directly singled out as one of the soiled leaders. That automatically raised suspicions amongst the independent media. Then, later that day Facebook and its subsidiaries (WhatsApp and Instagram) went down as well. So the big question is, what was really going on and what does the astrology for the day say about it? Continue reading “The Pandora Papers and Facebook’s face-plant”

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AUKUS takes on NATO

The AUKUS pact has faded from the news feed for now. But the effects of it will be felt across Europe for months to come. It is apparent at this point the Anglo nations, minus the Kiwis, are circling the wagons in preparation for a showdown with China – or so they seem to think. But what is that going to mean for Europe? Well, it seems the EU is not the superstate than many people thought it was, nor as important as the European Atlanticists thought they were to Uncle Sam. AUKUS has sent a shudder up the spine of the NATO alliance, and as a result, of the EU itself. We will examine what this event means for Europe in this post and some of the wider implications for the future of Europe, of NATO and the West in general. Continue reading “AUKUS takes on NATO”

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The AUKUS ruckus

This is a story that will not be going away any time soon. We all might live in a yellow submarine, as the Beatles would have it, but Australians now get to try their hands at nuclear submarines. Well, ‘Yellowcake’ is part of the process, isn’t it? And we aren’t talking about Betty Crocker here. Jokes aside, the AUKUS – Australian, United Kingdom and United States – agreement has many threads running through it, which we will unpack to a degree here. The general world view is that AUKUS is a sub-standard deal (pardon the pun) for Australia, a win for the United States and UK, a loss for the EU and France, and otherwise an unwise decision on the part of the Australian government. There again, opinions differ, depending on one’s geopolitical stance. So, let’s start unpacking. Continue reading “The AUKUS ruckus”