Category Archives: Zelenskyy

47, Obama, Putin, Ukraine, Uncategorized, War & Peace, War Notes, Zelenskyy

Do Ukraine’s Ceasefire Hopes Hang on Trump’s Nobel Fever Dreams?

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Ukraine: Maybe a short cease-fire, maybe not

By Gwynne Dyer –  Mar 14, 2025

What’s hard to keep in mind, with all the hype that’s flying around, is that there’s no particular reason for either side in the Ukraine war to want a cease-fire right now, let alone a full peace settlement. The only one who’s in a hurry is Donald Trump, and that’s just because he’s terminally impatient.

The war, which has just passed its third anniversary, is as deeply stuck in the mud as the First World War that it so closely resembles. Continue reading Do Ukraine’s Ceasefire Hopes Hang on Trump’s Nobel Fever Dreams? →

"New Normal"?, 47, Activism, Antiwar activism, Arts: Blogging, Bible Study, Black & White & Other Colors, Carolina & the World, Current Affairs, DEI, Fire This Time, Hard-Core Quaker, Heroes, Iraq, Military Matters, NATO, New Cold Wars, North Carolina, Personal, Project 2025, Pushback, Quaker History, Quakers, Racism, Selma & Civil Rights, Signs of the Times, Sweden, Finland, NATO & Nukes, To Save Democracy, Ukraine, War & Peace, Zelenskyy

A Shadow on the Daffodils: Preaching from the Big Book of Nobody

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Daffs, going wild again.

 

This past First Day (Quaker talk for Sunday) I Zoomed into worship in my Friends meeting, the one out in the farmland of Flyover County, North By-God Carolina, where I missed one of my favorite annual scenes there: the appearance in the back 40 of a big unruly spread of wild daffodils. But I did hear a stirring message.

No one among the elders knows when or by whom the daffodils came. Their location, out behind the community building we fondly call The Hut, isn’t visible from the road, so passersby mostly miss the spread, too bad for them. Continue reading A Shadow on the Daffodils: Preaching from the Big Book of Nobody →

"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

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?? →

Current Affairs, Japan, Korea, Military Matters, Population, Putin, Taiwan, Ukraine, War Notes, Women & Girls, Zelenskyy

Ukraine’s New War Commander & the East Asian Population Bust

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Ukraine: The Generals Are Not The Problem

‘God is usually on the side of the big battalions’, Voltaire allegedly said. Not always, but ‘usually’. So how much do you want to bet?

By Gwynne Dyer, in Opinion · February 12, 2024

Coming up to the second anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine (24 February), things aren’t looking bright for the Ukrainians, and particularly for President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The war has not been going well: Ukraine’s vaunted summer offensive sputtered out with almost no gains. Russia’s winter offensive is showing equally unimpressive results so far, but the Russians always have that four-to-one numerical superiority on their side. (After all the refugees fled, there are probably no more than 35 million people left in Ukraine.) Continue reading Ukraine’s New War Commander & the East Asian Population Bust →