We are losing too many people.

Pictures sent to us by Olga Polotska show the destruction of residential buildings in Ukraine. (click here)

28 February 2022

By Florin Zubascu

Few researchers in Ukraine are able to continue work, and most have left their posts to join the army, hide in bomb shelters or flee the country

Science in Ukraine has come to a halt. Russia’s invasion has crippled the country’s newly established research agency and forced its leader to a bomb shelter in Kyiv.

During the day, Olga Polotska, the executive director of the National Research Foundation of Ukraine (NRFU), is helping deliver food and supplies across Kyiv. At night she has to go back to an underground shelter from where she is trying to keep herself and her agency alive, checking updates on social media from researchers scattered across the country.

In a phone interview with SciencełBusiness from Kyiv 28 February, she appeals for assistance to Ukrainian scientists. Any kind of international joint programmes involving Ukrainian researchers would help keep the country’s science base alive. “Ukrainian scientists will need a lot of support,” Polotska said.

The agency was founded in 2018 and became fully operational only two years later. It was part of a push by the Ukrainian government to establish a research institution that can organise transparent and excellence-based funding competitions for Ukrainian researchers. The new institution was expected to help improve an underfunded research system and to halt the exodus of academics and scientists to the west.

The new agency was meant to give Ukraine’s top scientists the opportunity to compete for money outside the regular funding that usually covers the basics: salaries and the utility bills. “Ukrainian science has been underfinanced for many years,” Polotska said....

The New York Times (click here)

This is exactly what I feared for Ukraine and the world.

Putin carpet-bombs Kharkiv (click here for video) killing nine and injuring 37 as he sends 3-mile convoy towards Kyiv despite peace talks

Some of the Russian bombs are falling into buildings without exploding. They are heavy so they do damage.

Putin will continue to escalate his attacks with more and more deadly offensives as his military fails it's purpose. This is carnage. This isn't war. These people have done nothing to deserve their treatment, injury or death. Nothing. They did nothing, except, exist.

Putin has no justification for his hate or his attacks upon a country that simply wants to exist. I have never witnessed a country of people so determined to rid themselves of corruption and live according to the morality at the center of their lives. This war is more than unjust, it is criminal.

Putin ordered the arrest of children (click here). School age children because they were waving anti-war flags.

Astonishing (click here) moment diplomats WALK OUT as Kremlin minister tells disarmament conference Russia was forced to invade Ukraine to 'stop them getting nuclear weapons.

Belarus has also entered the war, Ukraine claimed, with troops launching an attack on city of Chernihiv 

Post-partum medical shelter (click here)

Apple (click here) said on Tuesday it had halted all product sales in Russia

Pre-mature babies born during a war assault by Russia. There was no warning about the invasion.

There were war games and complete denial by Moscow. Is there any law of the Geneva Convention Putin is not willing to break?

March 1, 2022
By Lillian Gissen

Alex Spektor, 46, and Irma Nuñez, 48, from Georgia (USA), are doing everything they can to keep their newborn babies, Lenny and Moishe Spektor, safe amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine

An American couple (click here) who welcomed twin preemie babies via surrogate in Ukraine are now in a desperate fight to get their children out of the war-torn capital. 

Alex Spektor, 46, and Irma Nuñez, 48, from Georgia, are doing everything they can to keep their newborn babies, Lenny and Moishe Spektor, safe amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The twin boys were born at 32 and a half weeks - two months early - via surrogate on Friday at Adonis maternity hospital in Kyiv, after a 'complicated' pregnancy.

Due to their small size, the babies (who weigh around four pounds each) are now facing terrifying health complications - including having trouble breathing - as a war rages on right outside the hospital walls.

As 'staff and supplies dwindle' at the 'unstable and dangerous' hospital, the parents are desperate to transfer the four-day-old babies to a safer area....

Putin hasn't looked well for some time now.

There is an entry on this blog that refers to periorbital edema. That is a collection of fluid around the eyes. That can be related to several issues, including heart problems. I saw a picture the other day where his face looked puffy. Steroids came to mind.

Vladimir Putin (click here) was said to be looking 'ashen and bloated' in a meeting today as the global condemnation of his invasion of Ukraine continued. In an image released by the Kremlin, the Russian president was seen in Moscow sitting with the Governor of Saint Petersburg

Putin ordered the deaths of Ukranians.

Kremlin (click here) issued chilling threat telling civilians to flee or die as military begins bombarding 'strategic' targets

• The tower stands by the Babyn Yar Holocaust memorial site where 34,000 Jews were slaughtered in two days

The tower is a television tower that obviously wasn't carrying Russian propaganda. 

Russia has been a hostile country before when they took control of Crimea and endorsed the rebels of eastern Ukraine to begin a civil war. This is not a new posture for Putin and his thugs.

...But there was good news for the Ukrainian resistance. (click here)

Some Russian soldiers are surrendering without a fight and Vladimir Putin's armored convoy has stalled amid fuel and supply problems, according to a Pentagon official who briefed reporters on Tuesday....

The Russian soldiers were never told they were entering a war theater. They are not prepared to save their own lives. They are shocked by the war and they may very well have family in Ukraine.

My concern is that Russia will become desperate in their politics to win this war even if it means completely destroying Ukraine. 

Russian and Belarusian athletes (click here) were barred from all competitions by World Athletics on Tuesday with president Sebastian Coe citing the Russian invasion

Russia MUST STOP the killing. They must stop the killing now!

Russian troops in Ukraine should lay down their weapons and ask Ukraine for asylum. 

It would seem as though the antivaxers and anti-maskers are not the majority.

The population of Houston, Texas is 2.3 million people. There have been 949,000 deaths of Americans due to the spread of COVID-19 and it's variants. That is approaching the size of half the population of Houston, Texas. The graph below shows a virus still very active and viable and still killing Americans.

At the beginning of the global pandemic the USA was underprepared for the virus. N-95 masks were in shortage and the medical community was reusing them and finding alternatives that would protect them. As a result of emergency equipment being manufactured abroad, including N95 masks, we lost more than 7000 health care workers (click here) and that was as of September.

I have been able to do home testing for the virus with a negative result and I always wear an N95 mask whenever I am in a place with more than me in the room or store. It can be a burden when trying on clothes, but, it is okay. I can have it on even in dressing rooms.

I am also vaccinated with two primary japs and two booster jabs. That is how a country ends the spread of the virus and every American should be seeking to achieve that goal.

March 1, 2022
By Amy Goldstein and Emily Guskin

Most Americans (click here) say some restrictions on normal activities should remain in place to try to control the coronavirus, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll, which finds that public wariness of the pandemic lingers even as federal health officials and a growing roster of governors have softened mask advice.

The nationwide survey also shows that, two years into a health crisis that has claimed nearly 950,000 lives in the United States, bipartisan majorities think the virus is only “somewhat under control” or “not at all” controlled. Even so, most say they have fully or mostly returned to their normal, pre-coronavirus activities....

The Russian soldiers are not committed to war.

The Russian soldiers in Ukraine were unaware of the war they are currently facing. Putin gave them no speech for inspiration. The Russian soldiers were thrown into a battle to save their own lives.

President Zelenskyy should speak to them and offer leadership to end the attacks by Russia.

Not only do the soldiers not want to kill Ukrainans, their own president is and was unsure of their loyalty to him.

28 February 2022

"Momma, I am in Ukraine. There is a war here." (click here)

Ukraine's ambassador to the United Nations on Monday read out what he said were the final text messages from a Russian soldier to his mother - describing his horror at the unfolding war before he was killed.

It came during an emergency session of the United Nations General Assembly to discuss the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine's representative, Sergiy Kyslytsya, made an impassioned plea for help, holding up a screenshot of the soldier's texts....

Putin must lock down his nulear weapons and return Chernobyl to the IAEA. The invasion into Ukraine isn't recognized by the Russian people.

All access and venues need to be closed to Russian athletes and venues.

March 1, 2022

Lauanne, Switzerland -- Russian athletes have been excluded (click here) from yet another sport that is extremely popular at home following the country's invasion of Ukraine.

Russia was banned from competing in international ice skating events on Tuesday, a day after being kicked out of soccer competitions and hockey -- President Vladimir Putin's favorite sport. The decisions follow the International Olympic Committee's request to keep Russian athletes out of sporting events around the world.

The International Skating Union, the body that runs the sport around the world, said no athletes from Russia or Belarus "shall be invited or allowed to participate'' in events until further notice.

"The ISU Council reiterates its solidarity with all those affected by the conflict in Ukraine and our thoughts are with the entire Ukrainian people and country,'' the ISU said in a statement.

Belarus has been a key ally of Russia in its attack on Ukraine.

The world figure skating championships are scheduled for later this month in Montpellier, France. The ISU decision means Olympic champion Anna Shcherbakova and 15-year-old teammate Kamila Valieva, who was the focus of a still-unresolved doping dispute at last month's Winter Olympics, will be excluded from the competition.

Also Tuesday, the International Volleyball Federation said it had stripped Russia of hosting the men's world championships in August and September and would seek another host country or countries.

"It would be impossible to prepare and stage the World Championships in Russia due to the war in Ukraine,'' the FIVB board said....

February 28, 2022

New York - Top-seeded Elina Svitolina, a 27-year-old professional tennis player (click here) from Ukraine, says she will withdraw from the Monterrey Open rather than face a Russian opponent at the Mexican tournament unless tennis’s governing bodies follow the International Olympic Committee’s lead and insist that players from Russia and Belarus are only identified as “neutral athletes.”

Svitolina wrote Monday on Twitter that she did not want to play her opening-round contest against Anastasia Potapova “nor any other match against Russian or Belarussian tennis players until” the WTA women’s tour, ATP men’s tour and International Tennis Federation “follow the recommendations of the IOC” and bar those countries’ competitors from using any national symbols, colors, flags or anthems.

The Russian military assault on Ukraine was into its fifth day....

Russians are beginning to learn of the invasion and getting their legs under them.

St. Petersburg is near Europe. There is a strong cultural influence by Europe as there is frequent movement across boundaries for tourism and family visits.

The Russian people have chosen flowers at official buildings as a protest against Russian aggression.

 

Brilliant. The Russian people have to be provided the truth about their leadership.

Cancellation of cultural issues is a strong signal to the people that things have changed for the worse in their country.

Every roadblock to Putin needs to be put in place.

Support the artists that support freedom and democracy.

February 28, 2022

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched (click here) a full-scale attack on Ukraine in the early morning hours of Feb. 24 that has left hundreds dead and many injured, and in response, music artists are protesting the violence by canceling their upcoming concerts in the country.

After months of military buildup along the Ukrainian border, Putin announced that he was deploying a “special military operation” into Ukraine that has since turned into an unprovoked attack on the country. Putin is demanding that Ukraine demilitarizes, and is aiming to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO, a defensive alliance of 30 countries including the United States.

See below for our ongoing list of artists who have canceled scheduled concerts in Russia.

Green Day

Green Day had been scheduled to perform on May 29 at Moscow’s Spartak Stadium, which has a capacity of more than 45,000.

“With heavy hearts, in light of current events we feel it is necessary to cancel our upcoming show in Moscow at Spartak Stadium,” the band explained via an Instagram Story. “We are aware that this moment is not about stadium rock shows, it’s much bigger than that. But we also know that rock and roll is forever and we feel confident there will be a time and a place for us to return in the future. Refunds available at the point of purchase. Stay safe.”

Louis Tomlinson

Tomlinson was scheduled to perform in Kyiv’s Stereo Plaza in Ukraine on July 4 before traveling to Moscow, Russia, to perform at Circus City Hall on July 6 as part of his 2022 World Tour, in support of his 2020 debut album Walls.

“Due to the recent events in Ukraine, I have to sadly announce that my tour shows in Moscow and Kyiv are cancelled until further notice,” he wrote in a short note to his fans on Twitter. “The safety of my fans is my priority and my thoughts go out to the people of Ukraine and all those suffering from this needless war.”...

Ukraine is beginning to look like Syria at the height of the Russian invasion of tanks.

Picture from the Wall Street Journal (click here). Those buildings are not safe to occupy. President Zelenskyy needs to remember he and his advisors have a diaspora to lead.

There is a huge difference between the Russian invasion in Syria than Ukraine. Syria was an ally before the invasion, this is a hostile invasion into Ukraine.

The West needs to maintain their sanctions even if Ukraine falls to Russian influence. To allow the sanctions to be removed only gives permission for more of this without end. Putin will put his own administration in the so called leadership of Ukraine. There will be no election. The election in Crimea was fraudulent.

This permission for Russia ends now and ends today. The world does not need Russian oil and gas. Quite frankly, Earth needs far less.

Americans need to buy electric cars and trucks. This is the result of Russian wealth. Americans cannot provide wealth to Russia to allow more of the same. Many of the vehicles noted in Ukraine are new and purchased with oil and gas sales.

Soldiers of Fortune need to find their resolve to assist Ukraine.

The "Trump-Russia Speak" in the USA states there would be no war if he was president. The invasion started in 2014 before Trump decided to run. Honestly. Communists.