Category Archives: Russia

"New Normal"?, 47, Activism, Aftermath, Antiwar activism, Arts: Storytelling, Catholics & Catholicism, Coup, Current Affairs, DEI, Guns, Hard-Core Quaker, Libraries & Archives, Minority Rule, Novels & other Fiction, Peacework, Project 2025, Quakers, Russia, Vietnam, War & Peace

EXCLUSIVE: A Leaked View of the “Afterlife” of the U. S. Institute of Peace

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March  22, 2025

From confidential Washington sources, the following excerpt is drawn from an account of the aftermath of the March 17 seizure and closing of the U. S. Institute of Peace, by armed agents of the DOGE administration. The account has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Brief Encounter at 2301

Mid-March, 2025, on the edge of the National Mall, not far from the Vietnam War Memorials.

It was almost break time, the leftover dinner pizza was hours cold, and Hennigan thought he heard something.

Standing up from the desk chair, he closed the Security Inc. employee handbook, which was making him drowsy anyway, and peered across the open atrium: first left, then right, following the protocol.

Everything seemed in order: several tiers of closed offices rose or each side. Lights were dim. Nothing moving.

Continue reading EXCLUSIVE: A Leaked View of the “Afterlife” of the U. S. Institute of Peace →

"New Normal"?, 47, Arts: Cartoons, Congress, Constitutional Crisis, Coup, Cross-Generational Issues, Eggs, Federal workers, Future, Limericks, Medicare, Newspapers, Project 2025, Pushback, Russia, Signs of the Times, SNAP, Social Security, Ukraine, Unions/Labor, Zelenskyy

Welcome to a Showdown Week: Musk vs Fed workers + AFGE (But What About CONGRESS??)

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A free Bonus from the gang at “What Goes Around Comes Around” Media: this first cartoon is from 2017, when Trump tried to KILL Obamacare, but was stopped by nationwide constituent pushback. Can Congress WAKE UP again??

PS. To Constituents: KEEP UP the pressure!

Now some blasts from the cartoon past …

A Sunday Doonesbury strip from 2019. The record of Congress today is lagging; but Trudeau gives us a reminder of what can be possible if a party recovers its mojo and goes for it.

 

Below: Sorry, fella — the Big Guy says the giving season ended on January 20. And yeah, it may be permanent. You could try down the street at the Post Office,  I think they’re hiring — Oh, wait—

Here’s a sneak preview of another coming congressional attraction . . .

Now “breaking” news: this photo was taken Feb. 23 in a busy & otherwise very well-stocked market in North Carolina. As one can see, the limit wasn’t necessary, because the only eggs in the whole place, at any price, were a stack of gleaming eggplants.

Stopping inflation? Prices dropping? More “efficiency”???

I don’t think so.


Finally, a bow and hat-tip to the beleaguered federal workers who are the unwilling but increasingly assertive and courageous front-line troops in this struggle. Stay strong and push back! You’re not only to save your careers — you’re fighting to save your/our country!

 

From The Guardian

"New Normal"?, 47, Antiwar activism, Arts: Satire, Bernie Sanders, Crusade, Current Affairs, Medicare, Outside (The Box), Quaker Education, Russia, Signs of the Times, SNAP, Social Security, Stories - From Life & Elsewhere, The War In Winter, Trump, War & Peace, Weird & Peculiar

“Peace” In Our Time? A Look Into Our Future

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As a retired antiwar activist, I have long called for big cuts in the war budget — and I long ago got used to being ignored, while war spending kept growing.

But today I looked up from the email inbox and glimpsed one of those “I-Never-Thought-I’d see this” sights —

Hegseth taking aim — for “peace”?? “Eight percent a year, or else.” (Or maybe  I need to clean my eyeglasses.)

Namely that in this anti-arms race I had suddenly fallen behind — wait for it — behind the Secretary of Defense, Trump’s own Crusader-in-Chief, Pete Hegseth.

Hegseth grabbed the lead by ordering military planners to send him budgets that cut eight percent of current spending per year for five years, which equals 40 percent of the total.

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Arabs, Gaza, Israel, Israel/Hamas War, Jews & Judaism, Mass killings, Military Matters, Religious Issues & Conflicts, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Terror and Terrorism, Torture & Human Rights, War Notes

Dyer: Gaza Civilian Deaths: Who Really Cares?

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Gaza death toll nears 40,000 — who cares?

Gwynne Dyer — 29 Jul, 2024

Many people around the world are calling for an end to the Israel-Hamas war and its huge toll of civilian casualties. But Gwynne Dyer argues that this chorus does not include the handful of key actors in the bloody drama.

The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip since October’s Hamas attacks on Israeli settlements will reach 40,000 people in the next week or so. (It’s back up near 50-100 civilians dead a day.)

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Current Affairs, Europe, Putin, Russia, Ukraine, War Notes, Zelenskyy

Ukraine Update: Zelensky’s Term Ends on May 20. What Then??

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The Economist — Time’s up—

Volodymyr Zelensky’s five-year term ends on May 20th

But he has no plans to step down or call an election during wartime

Volodymyr Zelensky


Five years ago, on May 20th, 2019, a fresh-faced Volodymyr Zelensky began his presidency with the offer of a contract to his people. “Each of us is the president,” he said from the rostrum of parliament. “This is our joint victory and chance…and joint responsibility.”

The intervening years have not been kind, to him or Ukrainians in general. First came the crisis of Donald Trump and “Ukrainegate”, then covid-19, and then Russia’s terrifying full-scale invasion. By surviving this far, Mr Zelensky has already written himself into history. But as problems worsen on the front lines, the Ukrainian president may be about to face his biggest political challenge yet: renewing his contract with his people with no obvious possibility of elections.

Continue reading Ukraine Update: Zelensky’s Term Ends on May 20. What Then?? →