Category Archives: New Cold Wars

Aftermath, Antiwar activism, Climate, Commerce, Corona Virus/Pandemic, Cross-Generational Issues, Current Affairs, Future, Good News, Health care, History, Hope, Military Matters, New Cold Wars, Nukes, Other War Notes, Putin, September 11, Signs of the Times, Southeast Asia, Vietnam, War & Peace, Women & Girls

A Long Read to Ponder: Biden in Vietnam & at the UN: Who Could Have Imagined?

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An image from Vietnamese TV news, during Biden’s visit.

NOTE: Friends, this material just blows my mind.

Yes, that’s an outdated 1960s expression, but it fits here: this material is about the Vietnam War. And for me (plus, I figure, most of the remaining survivors of that era of national agony), having our minds blown was a thing.

Maybe initially it was fun, or mind-expanding. But for me, and for many, it happened too often back then, and it didn’t always mean by taking drugs. I didn’t do much of that, but had mind-blown fatigue anyway. Continue reading A Long Read to Ponder: Biden in Vietnam & at the UN: Who Could Have Imagined? →

Accountability?, Africa, China: Peace or War?, Empire, India, Justice?, Military Matters, New Cold Wars, Oceans, Signs of the Times, Southeast Asia, The Military Industrial Complex, Torture & Human Rights, UK -Britain, War & Peace

U. S. & China are new Competitors in an old, obscure, but important island dispute

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A tug of war between China and America in the Indian Ocean

Saltwire: Atlantic Canada News Service — Sept. 6, 2023

The Chagos islands, with Diego Garcia, Indian Ocean

Most of the international community regards the Chagos Islands as belonging to Mauritius, from which they were detached in 1965.
Henry Srebrnik, a professor of political science at the University of Prince Edward Island, provided the following opinion article.

Is the sun about to set on Britain’s control of the Chagos Islands? This archipelago of around 60 islands can be found halfway between East Africa and Southeast Asia. They are over 1,500 kilometres south of India, and even further from Mauritius, from which they were detached in 1965.

The Chagos group is currently governed by London as the British Indian Ocean Territory, but most of the international community regards it as belonging to Mauritius.

Also at stake is the future of the indigenous population, the Chagossians, who were expelled from their homes in the 1960s and 1970s. For decades, Britain has blocked them from returning to their islands. For what reason? And why has this become the centre of a power struggle between the United States and China?

Unlawful occupation Continue reading U. S. & China are new Competitors in an old, obscure, but important island dispute →

Current Affairs, Disasters, Empire, Europe, History, New Cold Wars, Politics—U. S., Populism, War & Peace

Kristalina Georgieva: Can She Stop A New Cold War??

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IMF chief cites her life behind Iron Curtain in warning Against a new Cold War

The Washington Post

By David J. Lynch
 — August 20, 2023

Kristalina Georgieva is head of the International Monetary Fund and is trying to keep the global economy from a costly splintering

Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, grew up under communism and understands the costs of a globe partitioned between adversarial powers.

She grew up in a time of scarcity and repression, living on the wrong side of the line that divided two superpowers. Now she fears a new era of rival blocs could lead the world to repeat the errors of the Cold War.

Continue reading Kristalina Georgieva: Can She Stop A New Cold War?? →

Arts: Sculpture, Japan, Justice?, Karma, Mass killings, Military Matters, New Cold Wars, Nukes, Other War Notes, Remember . . ., Signs of the Times

Nagasaki: AP News: Nagasaki marks 78th anniversary of atomic bombing with mayor urging world to abolish nuclear weapons

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[Almost no one is paying attention. Voices crying in the wilderness. Luke 19: 39 Then some of the Pharisees in the crowd spoke to Jesus. “Teacher,” they said, “command your disciples to be quiet!”

40 Jesus answered, “I tell you that if they keep quiet, the stones themselves will start shouting.”]

BY MARI YAMAGUCHI
AP —August 9, 2023

TOKYO (AP) — Nagasaki marked the 78th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of the city Wednesday with the mayor urging world powers to abolish nuclear weapons, saying nuclear deterrence also increases risks of nuclear war.

Shiro Suzuki made the remark after the Group of Seven industrial powers adopted a separate document on nuclear disarmament in May that called for using nuclear weapons as deterrence.

“Now is the time to show courage and make the decision to break free from dependence on nuclear deterrence,” Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki said in his peace declaration Wednesday, “As long as states are dependent on nuclear deterrence, we cannot realize a world without nuclear weapons.”

Continue reading Nagasaki: AP News: Nagasaki marks 78th anniversary of atomic bombing with mayor urging world to abolish nuclear weapons →

Current Affairs, Military Matters, NATO, New Cold Wars, Propaganda, Putin, Russia, Ukraine, War Notes

James Risen

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The Intercept:

PRIGOZHIN TOLD THE TRUTH ABOUT PUTIN’S WAR IN UKRAINE

Yevgeny Prigozhin is a disinformation artist whose failed rebellion was marked by a burst of radical honesty.

ONE OF THE most subversive things that Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin did during his brief rebellion last weekend was to tell the truth.

Prigozhin is a pathological liar, a professional disinformation artist who was indicted in the United States in connection with the internet troll farm he ran, which was at the forefront of Russian efforts to intervene in the 2016 U.S. presidential election to help Donald Trump win.

But as the mercenary boss began his mutiny in late June, he experienced a brief and surprising bout of honesty when he launched into an online tirade against what he said were the lies used by Moscow to justify the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine. His comments were so candid and off-message for a Russian leader that it seemed as if someone had mistakenly handed him a speech meant for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Continue reading James Risen →