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Americans need a hotly be to call for information about their life bed ones in Ukraine. 

Unarmed firemen are dying in Ukraine. The UK is sending more fire trucks to help with the frequent fires due to incoming missiles.

I don't want to hear one complaint about the USA by Russia. Ever.

September 27, 2019
By Tim Mak

The National Rifle Association (click here) acted as a "foreign asset" for Russia in the period leading up to the 2016 election, according to a new investigation unveiled Friday by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.

Drawing on contemporaneous emails and private interviews, an 18-month probe by the Senate Finance Committee's Democratic staff found that the NRA underwrote political access for Russian nationals Maria Butina and Alexander Torshin more than previously known — even though the two had declared their ties to the Kremlin.

The report, available here, also describes how closely the gun rights group was involved with organizing a 2015 visit by some of its leaders to Moscow.

Then-NRA vice president Pete Brownell, who would later become NRA president, was enticed to visit Russia with the promise of personal business opportunities — and the NRA covered a portion of the trip's costs....

This is genocide. No one is looking the other way.

March 19, 2022

By Rick Pearson

In a display of solidarity with Ukraine, (click here) former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton earlier this week left bouquets of sunflowers, the war-torn nation’s national flower, at an iconic church in Chicago’s Ukrainian Village during an unannounced visit.

Both former presidents, who have been outspoken in opposing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, used social media late Friday to post videos of their joint visit to the golden-domed Sts. Volodymyr and Olha Ukrainian Catholic Church, 739 N. Oakley Blvd.

The men, both 75, wore yellow ribbons on their suit lapels as they approached the church, carrying the bouquets of yellow sunflowers tied in a blue ribbon. They left the flowers, which came from a local florist, at a stone cross outside the church....

Their expression of concern and deep sympathy for the loss of so many Ukrainians is necessary to counter the other narrative by the extreme political right wing of the American political spectrum (click here). There is no way any American is sincerely condoning such a war. I refuse to believe there is consent for Putin's war anywhere in the USA.

March 19,2022
By Joshua Goodman

Miami - Adrian Kellgren’s family-owned gun company (click here) in Florida was left holding a $200,000 shipment of semi-automatic rifles after a longtime customer in Ukraine suddenly went silent during Vladimir Putin’s invasion of the country.

Fearing the worst, Kellgren and his company KelTec decided to put those stranded 400 guns to use, sending them to Ukraine’s nascent resistance movement to help civilians fight back against a Russian military that has been repeatedly shelling their apartment buildings, schools, hospitals and hiding places.

“The American people want to do something,” said Kellgren, a former U.S. Navy pilot. “We enjoy our freedoms, we cherish those things. And when we see a group of people out there getting hammered like this, it’s heartbreaking.”...

I don't think Vladimir Putin is insane as one of his oligarchs phrased it, he is simply a murderer.

I do not believe Vladimir Putin will talk at all unless it is Ukraine surrending. President Zelensky should not believe that diplomacy has failed, it is that Putin doesn't care about the killing. He has no feelings for killing. To him the end justifies the means. That is why the World Court found him guilty of genocide, because, he is. I do not believe there is a rational way to deal with someone like that. It is going to be interesting to watch the world deal with Putin's Russia in the face of such a ruling. 

Vladimir Putin is a killer. I doubt he is going to be willing to talk at any time.

March 19, 2022
By Steven Erlanger

Brussels - President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine (click here) called publicly on Saturday for direct negotiations with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, but a senior Turkish official said that Mr. Putin was not ready for such talks.

“Zelensky is ready to meet, but Putin thinks that the positions to have this meeting at the leaders’ level are not close enough yet,” Ibrahim Kalin, a chief adviser and spokesman for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, said in an interview....

I also believe the attack on the Marine sleep quarters in Mariupol is due to intelligence gathering. Ukrainian soldiers and people are better off sleeping under the stars than inside of shelter given the intentional destruction of a theater where children were considered safe.

Russia has intelligence about Mariupol. It is a piece of land that Putin wants. It has been in the news in recent years as a focus of the Russians that took Crimea. So, they have been looking at it for some time. It is probably wise to empty the city of citizens. 

No doubt the attack on the children in the theater was justified by Putin as a PRETEND place for children and that was where the Ukrainian military was hiding. So, it is questionable how recent the intelligence was gathered and not an indication that Putin has recent information. When running a campaign of death there is no reason for current circumstances of the people.

I honestly don't know when it will stop for Ukraine. If there were reasonable reactions and the Geneva Conventions were valued by Russia an end could be somewhat more predictable. But, with a killer at the top of the Kremlin that is safe with internal propaganda working for him to a certain degree, there is no clear understanding of when or IF this war will end.

This is his politics at work. Putin had the most perfect DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) in Ukraine under the leadership of President Zelensky. Ukraine wanted NO war and wanted an economic relationship with all countries in the region and abroad. These were young people excited about their country. Europe wasn't going to mess with it. NATO was satisifed without Ukraine as a member. There was no reason to see Ukraine in any way, except, as a peaceful land mass where the citizens were happy. There is no rational reason for this invasion. None. Putin decided to turn the troops involved in war games on the population of Ukraine and he expected it to be a cake walk. There isn't much intelligence in that assessment. 

From every stand point that I personally look to for hope or limitations of this war, there is no clear "end game." He is just killing people for what outcome is anyone's guess. 

Is he enticing The West to become involved? I don't know. Using his state of the art weaponry on innocent people could bring about concern for the people by The West, but, war with Russia on the land that belongs to Ukraine? I don't see that happening.

It is finally here. The replacement for the Space Shuttle.

NASA's (click here) first Space Launch System, or SLS, rocket and Orion spacecraft roll from the Vehicle Assembly Building toward Launch Complex 39B on Thursday. SLS will be used to launch crews to the moon and beyond in the Agency's Artemis Program. 

The Space Shuttle was supposed to lower the cost of the USA's space program with a vehicle that could be used over and over. It was supposed to add "thriftiness" to a program with cutting edge purposes. This program is extremely expensive, but, the USA is looking to take people to the moon and beyond with the next stop Mars.

It is a handsome rocket in that it has a color pattern to it's design. But, each LAUNCH costs over $2 billion. One thing Americans know is that any long term government program such as this has cost overruns.

NASA's $37 billion rocket system (click here) aims to return astronauts to Moon and establish a long-term lunar colony as a precursor to eventual human exploration of Mars....

...Rollout of the 32-storey-tall Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and its Orion crew capsule marks a key milestone in US plans for renewed lunar exploration after years of setbacks, and the public's first glimpse of a space vehicle more than a decade in development.

The process of moving the 5.75-million-pound SLS-Orion spacecraft out of its Kennedy Space Center Vehicle Assembly Building began shortly after 5:30 pm EDT (2130 GMT) under clear skies at Cape Canaveral. A nearly full moon rose about 90 minutes later....

It is considered the most powerful rocket built by NASA.

..."Ladies and gentlemen, the world's most powerful rocket, right here," NASA chief Bill Nelson told the crowd, gesturing toward the spacecraft minutes after the rollout started.

"Humanity will soon embark on a new era of exploration."...

Not to be left out of the limelight is SpaceX' Falcon Heavy (click here) which can be built and operated less expensively than the current NASA system. While some Americans would want to see their space program less costly and hand everything over to private enterprise, I think that is a mistake. This is space exploration and the USA should have it's own program and successes.

I think this clearly defines the issues the world is facing currently with Vladimir Putin.

Putin raped the USA's intelligence under Trump and he believes "the time" to take on The West is now because it is their best window to succeed to victory. Putin is scared if he delays the war of wars time will rob him of this moment.

19 March 2022

Russia said it had on Friday (click here) used the Kinzhal (Dagger) high-precision hypersonic missile, which can elude most defence systems, to destroy an arms depot in Deliatyn, a village near the border with Romania.

Ukraine is a wasteland for several reasons, but, one is that Putin sees it as a strategic place to launch invasions into Europe. Under Yanukovych, Putin dismantled the national military and instilled smaller militias that answered to local oligarches. Ukraine, even though it maintained it's own identity and policies, was dominated in it's national defense by Russia. You could say it was a mask of sorts. Ukraine looked benevolent to The West, yet removed from being an ally.

The "Nazis" is the propaganda used to play out the attacks into Ukraine. The demonstrations that preceded the violence in the Maidan in Kyiv in 2014 that lead to Yanukovych exile were due to his unwillingness to sign economic agreements with the EU. No different than most countries there is a group of Neo-Nazis in Ukraine. At least there were at the time of the Maidan. I believe there were 20 men killed in the Maidan and they were mostly Neo-Nazis if not all of them. I believe Yanukovych now in exile in Russia blames that group for his removal. So, while Russia has it's own Neo-Nazis the idea that Nazis removed Yanukovych is why Putin embraces that as his motivation to invade Ukraine. Putin is the saint, you see, Russia has born and raised and he will rid the world of the worst and most deceptive power in that of Ukraine and the President is therefore a Nazi.

Ukraine is far from that and has been the entire time since 2014. President Zelensky is the MOST aggressive president Ukraine has had to remove corruption and return the country to a sincere democracy that is neutral militarily to all other countries. 

The issue of the nuclear stuff with Russia is that it is more or less laced with the propaganda that Ukraine is going to develop nuclear weapons and control the world. Ukraine has a significant nuclear history within the Soviet Union but as a free country has never developed nuclear weapons. It has reconstituted it's military for the very reasons of the invasion by Russia that has occurred. It is a matter of fact and Russia knows this, that Ukraine has disarmed from nuclear weapons when it was successful in claiming a democracy. Ukraine did that so Russia would no longer fear it. That didn't work. Putin either continues to fear Ukraine and/or it is a convenient propaganda weapon.

I think that is it in a nutshell. I also believe the world needs to redefine exactly who Russia is and whether global peace is possible with such a bozo as Putin running things. If not, and I am certain the USA would say the same, there are reasons to continually sanction Russia and expect outbursts such as this until Russian leadership changes and a benevolent country results in the long view. For now. I think the world in general has a real problem to face with Putin.

The USA has a strong history of seeking peace. It wasn't always a Superpower.

I think it is time to examine history in relation to the Soviet Union and it's aggression. The then Soviet Union moved against Finland to take land it believed would serve to protect it from Hitler. It was a war of priorities. The Soviet Union has typically taken land and annexed countries when it has plans of a greater war. I remind, Putin himself RECENTLY stated he wanted to take back Alaska. That would provide him a bridge to Canada and sequester the Arctic Ocean entirely to Russian possession, with the exception of Greenland and part of Europe, but, it would provide controlling status.

The ‘Winter War’ of 1939-1940, (click here) also known as the Russo-Finnish War, saw the tiny Finnish Army take on the might of the Soviet Union’s gigantic Red Army....

The United Nations should consider a "convention" of neutrality and define it clearly. Neutral countries are still expected to PATROL it's borders to protect sovereignty. They can also have allies that could intervene should there be a threat. 

...While some countries see neutrality (click here) as avoiding political and military alliances, Austria, Ireland, Finland, and Sweden have United Nations (UN) peacekeeping forces and a political alliance with the European Union. Today, the countries considered to be genuinely neutral are Finland, Malta, Ireland, Japan, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Sweden, Turkmenistan, and Vatican City. Many other countries are also considered to be neutral....

World War II changed everything. I believe it was President Eisenhower that warned the USA about it's military industrial complex and the temptation to over reach the power that had become the USA.

“If we repeal it, we are helping England and France. If we fail to repeal it, we will be helping Hitler and his allies. Absolute neutrality is an impossibility.”

Senator George W. Norris on the repeal of the
Neutrality Acts, 1939 (click here)

Between 1935 and 1937 Congress passed three "Neutrality Acts" that tried to keep the United States out of war, by making it illegal for Americans to sell or transport arms, or other war materials to belligerent nations. Supporters of neutrality, called "isolationists" by their critics, argued that America should avoid entangling itself in European wars. "Internationalists" rejected the idea that the United States could remain aloof from Europe and held that the nation should aid countries threatened with aggression.

In the spring of 1939, as Germany, Japan, and Italy pursued militaristic policies, President Roosevelt wanted more flexibility to meet the Fascist challenge. FDR suggested amending the act to allow warring nations to purchase munitions if they paid cash and transported the goods on non-American ships, a policy that favored Britain and France. Initially, this proposal failed, but after Germany invaded Poland in September, Congress passed the Neutrality Act of 1939 ending the munitions embargo on a "cash and carry" basis.

The passage of the 1939 Neutrality Act marked the beginning of a congressional shift away from isolationism. Over the next 2 years, Congress took further steps to oppose fascism. One of the most important was the 1941 approval of Lend-Lease, which allowed the United States to transfer arms to nations vital to the national defense.

Neutrality is a very delicate thing no matter how much the people of a country favor it. Neutrality can provide economic incentives and benefits. However, with a world in flux and Russia becoming aggressive, neutrality of most countries that practice it, is being questioned.

Abramovich (click here) is in Moscow. An airline tracker picked it up. He is wanted for violations in export law. 

Ramzan Kadyrov is a Putin puppet. Supposedly, Chechen fighters are going house to house to raid them and kill Ukrainians.

In a video posted online on March 13th, (click here) Ramzan Kadyrov appears to be discussing tactics with his soldiers. The leader of the Chechen Republic, a predominantly Muslim region in Russia’s North Caucasus, stands in front of a Chechen flag adorned with an illustration of his father, Akhmad. According to Mr Kadyrov it was filmed in Hostomel, less than 30km from Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital. This has not been independently verified, but there have been several confirmed reports of Chechen fighters in Ukraine. Chechnya and the rest of Russia have a long, complicated and often violent history; after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia waged two brutal wars to keep Chechnya from becoming independent. But Chechen forces are now supporting Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, in another bloody conflict, this time to keep Ukraine under Russia’s sway. And on March 15th Mr Kadyrov clashed online with Elon Musk, an outspoken American billionaire, when he warned him not to challenge Mr Putin. How did Mr Kadyrov go from fighting against Russia to fighting for it, and what role will Chechen fighters play in Ukraine?

...After the October Revolution of 1917, Chechnya and its neighbours declared independence (as did Ukraine around the same time)....

Are the communists fighting the same war over and over? 1917 was a long time ago. They might be fighting the same war over and over. This region of the world, especially the Pacific is laced with long standing grudges. Some of the tensions that exist are historical and not based in any real rational reason.

Hate could be the result of these cultural issues. I know that Japan has issues due to history. This is the year 2022. It is time to end these long standing grudges. The sooner these countries realize in the modern era their economies are more important than the way they lost a century or more ago.

March 18, 2022

...The conversation, (click here) which lasted nearly two hours, was one of the first between the two figures in months and came shortly after Russia reportedly asked China for military support in its effort to topple the Ukrainian government. Xi has largely shied away from publicly supporting Russia despite longstanding close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin. China released a readout of the call earlier in the day which emphasized Xi’s position that military conflict between nations is not “in anyone’s interest.”...

Part of the conversation with world leaders that the Biden Administration must tackle are long standing issues of hate and resentment.

Secretary Blinken is a practical man that lives with today's dynamics and from what I can tell is not interested in "old angers and myths" that can cause problems internationally. The USAID program should not be available for appeasment of old issues, but, to bring a new beginning to people suffering.

Thousands are believed dead in Mariupol due to the shelling by the Russian Navy.

This is a buildiing in Mariupol (click here). None of these buildings are safe. Besides being burnt, they are experiencing vibration from the shelling. That vibration will bring cracks and instability to those buildings. They will fall in time.

Even if the shelling and invasion stopped today, which I sincerely doubt, the Ukrainians are going to be refugees for some time as the land is reclaimed and homes made safe. A lot of rebuilding is going to have to take place. I doubt if the air in these zones is very healthy right now. There are particulates in the air as well as volitile chemcials in propellants and all sorts of debris. A burning building creates dangerous air to breath.

Xi Jinping is stating peace is best for the world. Hopefully, he will rethink aid to Russia.

March 18, 2022

More than three weeks (click here) into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Western countries are tightening sanctions on Russian oligarchs and billionaires. The latest salvo came on Wednesday, when the British crown dependency of the Isle of Man announced that it had deregistered 18 Russian aircraft since March 3. Forbes found that eight of those aircraft—including Alisher Usmanov’s $350 million Airbus private jet and four helicopters owned by Roman Abramovich—are owned by sanctioned Russian billionaires.

By scouring aircraft registries and publicly available data, Forbes identified at least 12 jets and six helicopters linked to eight sanctioned Russian billionaires. The aircraft are registered in Aruba, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, the Isle of Man and Luxembourg, all of which have implemented EU or U.K. sanctions. Collectively, the 18 aircraft are worth at least $1.2 billion. Spokespersons for the aircraft registries and authorities in Bermuda, Luxembourg and the Isle of Man told Forbes that they are taking action against aircraft owned by sanctioned individuals.

On March 12, Bermuda announced that its aircraft registry had suspended certificates of airworthiness for 740 “Russian operated aircraft,” meaning they can no longer fly....

"Burger King" is reporting the Russian franchise will not shut down their operations. "Burger King" needs to disconnect from any profits the existing Russian franchise makes. "Burger King" needs to delist the operations in Russia and remove any financial liability such as insurance, etc., the exception being monies owed to the company due to the end of a franchise agreement. Those monies should still be collectible through the courts. It is questionable that the monies owed "Burger King" will be received any time soon, but, in the future those debts might be paid. 

The Russian military has always had a level of bigotry and hate.

In an incident some years ago a video surfaced in the USA media of a Chechen woman harassed by Russian military soldiers. One would like to think such behavior in the video reached Russian officals and soldiers were disciplined. That may not have been the case and rasicm and bigotry are all part of the Russian military culture (click here).

18 March 2022
By Jack Newman

(Ukrainian) MPs visiting London (click here) said women in Ukraine are being raped by Putin's forces

They said women have committed suicide or been killed after the attacks

Politicians say they are amassing evidence of Putin's alleged war crimes...

In the USA, when the KKK had power and corrupted government, including judges, etc., hangings of African Americans were all part of the power structure of the organization. It is what held the organization together. Burning crosses on lawns were a death threat. Regardless of the lawlessness of these acts under the Rule of Law of the time, the organization maintained it's structure through such atrocites. Allowance of hate helps cement it into society. I think that is similar to what we have here. The hate is a feeling, but, acting it out is the cement that brings those that hate together.

I think the atrocities and crimes against hunanity we are witnessing with Putin and his military is an act of hate without any resolve, except, the genocide itself being completed.

Countess Tolstoy states Putin has no grand vision of reuniting the Soviet Union.

CNN's Erin Burnett (click here for video - thank you) speaks with Countess Alexandra Tolstoy, the former partner to Russian oligarch Sergei Pugachev, about their relationship with Vladimir Putin

Needless to say, this is a very disturbed report. What is motivating Putin? Pure hate? Of what? Anyone that leads a country who is not in service to Putin?

This war into Ukraine is genocide. If there isn't some other agenda that this is a piece of the puzzle, then it is pure hate and genocide. If this is the case, I would not expect the peace talks to result in peace. The longer the war goes on the more satisfied is Putin's hate, regardless of the losses to his military. The Russian Navy is satisfying him in their continued bombarment of Mariupol.

When will the World Court begin to issue arrest warrants for high ranking Russian officials?

Putin did make a statement about taking back Alaska. That statement came from Putin, himself. The man is having trouble living with reality. We have a real problem.

Putin does pander to communists and that is why he is still in power. The hate may be reflective of the general mindset of the Russian communist party. If that is the case, the sanctions and arrests for this war need to reach into the officials in the Duma.  If the hate is a general attitude it is a political agenda the world cannot ignore.

Putin and his communists will not stop at Ukraine.

The Anti-Corruption Foundation's letter to President Biden:

There are Russians that want their oppression to end (click here). I am not giving this organization angel wings, it is just that Russians that feel differently do exist. American policy should embrace people that want a secure and benevolent Russia, but, it should also be absolutely sure the people they embrace are also not connected in any way to Putin.

Two Russian oligarchs own shares in a Turkish app. The app should be discontinued in The West.

Or the two olgiarchs give their stock shares to the country of Ukriane. It is difficult at this point for NATO or the USA to move against these men bacause Turkey is an ally. It gets tricky when allies rely on businesss with stockholders that are Russian oligarchs. In general the allies don't want to hurt economies that are already abnormal from a global pandemic, but, the immorality of money flowing from Americans to Russia is a problem. These holdings are assets that should belong to Ukraine and it's people.

The two Russian oligarch stockholders are Vladimir Potanin (click here) and Arkady Volozh (click here). It is interesting in both these cases the Russian Oligarchs are doing really well and then all of a sudden in days and weeks they lose billions of dollars US.

THERE IS A PATTERN WITH RUSSIAN OLIGARCHS AND THEIR WEALTH WITH TIES TO PUTIN. THE RUSSIAN RUBLE IS WORTHLESS, YET MONEY LAUNDERING TO BENEFIT PUTIN AND RUSSIA SEEMS TO BE THE OLIGARCHES FAVORATE ACTIVITY.

If The West wants to protect it's economies, get real!

Putin cashes in his chips when he believes the pinnacle of wealth is reached. The West is left holding the bag and asking what happened here?

Financial holdings of any stocks by Russian oligarchs tied to Putin should be seized and repatriated to benefit the Ukraine people.

I would like to say The West needs to divest of stocks held by these Russian Oligarchs, however, it isn't easy to single out the PORTION of the stockholdings by the Russian oligarchs and divest of that portion. It is far better to repatriat them and not injure Western companies and benefit the Ukrainian people.

The US Secretary of the Treasury and The Federal Reserve can put a policy together that would work to be constitutional in defense of The West as well as national security.

It is just and moral to do so. Russian oligarchs assisted Putin and their intentions were never benevolent to The West.

Swiss Bankers Association says up to £162billion of Russian money is being held. Switzerland is a neutral country, (click here) but it has been part of security cooperation pacts with NATO and the European Union for many years.

The sanctions were drawn up to stop the war. Putin is determined to continue to kill Ukrainians for his own reasons while he fires generals that delivered the deaths of so many. The Russian Duma needs to remove Vladimir Putin from office as soon as possible.

17 March 2022

By Miriam Partington and Amy Lewin

If you thought the speedy delivery hype was over (click here), think again. Turkish grocery delivery startup Getir has just raised $768m at a valuation of $11.8bn.

The round was led by Mubadala, and includes previous investors Sequoia and Tiger Global, as well as the Abu Dhabi Growth Fund and Alpha Wave Global.

Getir, which last June raised $550m in Series D funding at a valuation of $7.5bn, plans to use the capital to cement its position as the leader in this industry....

It is time to seize Russian oligarch assets to pay for the defense of the Ukrainan people.

The sanctions were supposed to wake up the Russian oligarchs to demand the end of the ethnic cleansing. That hasn't worked. While the oligarchs are feeling the pain, the invasion is continuing because Putin puts himself on a different level, as the oligarchs exist at the pleasure of Putin himself. The oligarchs are the moneymakers that have allowed Putin to invade Ukraine. It is time for The West to take back what rightfully is not the Russians.

Through Putin's wallets, (click here) which are being emptied by sanctions, America and Europe hope to reach Putin and his "voice of reason." But this is a grave mistake by the West which perceives an economic threat as an existential threat to power. "As far as Putin is concerned, you can strip down the oligarchs to their underwear, put them in the city square, and he wouldn’t bat an eye,” one of Russia's richest men, who personally knows a large number of famous oligarchs, told Calcalist.

"You could say it's already happened - everyone already understands that the money is gone. The money in banks in Russia is no longer worth anything, and the banks outside Russia have mostly closed the oligarchs’ accounts, or, in a best case scenario for them, their assets have not been frozen yet. Even their children are being thrown out of prestigious boarding schools and universities. Putin himself doesn’t really care. He has completely isolated himself in recent years from everyone." The longing to isolate himself, which he has talked about for the past decade, was fueled by the two years of the pandemic, in which he moved away from everyone and secluded himself - ostensibly so as not to catch Covid, in light of his advancing age....

Ukraine is suffering and it is due to Russia. When the seige is over and it will be over, Ukraine will have to rebuild the country and reestablish it's sovereign boundaries. Ukraine will have to rebuild the infrastructure. All that is a tragedy brought on by oligarchs affiliated with Putin. It is only correct that Ukraine have the assets of these people to rebuild their country. It is right to take the oligarchs assets and end their lavish lifestyles whlle Ukrainians die.

This is the second report of people being killed while waiting in bread lines. Jimmy Hill is an American caring for a sick friend and he was trying to find his way out of Ukraine. These bread lines are being deliberatly targeted to kill innocent people.

Jimmy Hill, 67, was shot dead in Chernihiv on Wednesday while lining up to buy bread from a grocery store 

Igor Sechin

Major holdings: There are no known assets under his control, and his fortune is estimated in the broad range of $ 0.2-2.5 billion.

Alexei Mordashov

Main holdings: The richest man in Russia; Owners of Severstal, one of the largest metal manufacturers in the world; Controlling shareholder in global tourism giant TUI; The owner of National Media Group, which owns many media outlets in Russia; The owners of the Lenta retail network and the owners of the cellular operator Tele2Russia.

Gennady Tymchenko

Major holdings: Founded the oil trading company Gunvor, which mediates between the Russian oil giants and potential customers. Sold most of its holdings to its Western partner the day before the 2014 sanctions; owners of Novatek, Russia's second-largest gas producer, among the controlling shareholders of Rossiya Bank, which is considered the financier of senior government officials.

Brothers Boris & Arkady Rotenberg

Main holdings: SMP Bank, Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport and a number of construction companies, led by SGM, Russia's oil and gas infrastructure giant.

Vladimir Potanin 

Main holdings: Nornickel, one of the largest metal companies in the world.

Vagit Alekperov 
Main holdings: LUKOIL, Russia's largest oil producer.

Alisher Usmanov

Main holdings: Metalloinvest, the largest mining and metals conglomerate in Russia; MegaFon, the second largest cellular operator in Russia; and he is one of the largest investors in Yuri Milner's DST investment fund, so he actually owns shares in Twitter, Zynga, Airbnb and more.

Roman Abramovich

Main holdings: He is the controlling owner of the metal mining company EVRAZ and Chelsea Football Club.

Mikhail Fridman

Main holdings: The Alfa and LetterOne holding groups, which own a German oil company, a cellular operator in Turkey, a cellular operator in Russia, Alfa Bank, one of the largest private banks in Russia, and the X5 network, the largest retailer in Russia.

German Kahn

Main holdings: Partner in the Alfa and LetterOne holding groups.

Viktor Vekselberg

Main holdings: Renova Investment Company

Mikhail Khodorkovsky

Main holdings: The Quadrum Global Fund, which invests primarily in real estate in Europe and the United States. Finances a number of news sites in Russia that publish material against Putin's rule.

Mikhail Prokhorov

Main holdings: Onexim Bank.

Leonid Mikhelson 

Main holdings: CEO and founder of Novatek, Russia's second-largest gas producer owned by Gennady Timchenko; controlling shareholder of the chemical company Sibur, which he bought from Putin's son-in-law.

Arkady Yurievich Volozh

Main holdings: Yandex founder, "The Russian Google", which started as a search engine and e-mail service, but has expanded to almost all areas of life, including news, taxis, streaming services, online commerce and in recent years also an autonomous vehicle, which it develops, among other places, in Israel.

Yuri Milner

Major holdings: Among the owners of DST, who were among the first to invest in Facebook, Twitter, Airbnb, Spotify, Xiaomi and Alibaba.

Pavel Durov

Main holdings: Telegram

There is a pattern in the way Russian olligarchs purchase property.

The Russian oligarchs own some of the most expensive properties in London. They obtained them for the purpose of money laundering. Why can't they be seized. The Parliament and in the USA, the legislature can pass laws recognizing this global pattern of money laundering through the purchase of high end homes and pleasure boats and end this abuse of the Western economy.

 

Putin is channeling Khrushchev. Maybe Stalin more as he threatens his own people.

For all intentions and purposes, Putin is afraid of the Russian people. He hid his plans and now that he is convicted of war crimes, he is seeking to threaten the people to continue his rampage. I don't think he liked the protests and "No War..." sign on Russian television.

I expected remorse and reversal. He is not havin' it. He wants war at any cost. He can't handle the truth and the truth seems to be seeping through the Iron Curtain, his political correct imposition on the Russian people. I would like to say this is a return to the Cold War, but, that would underestimating Putin's hate.

Belarus needs to begin to measure it's involvment in the genocide of the Ukrainian people.

March 16, 2022

President Vladimir Putin (click here) warned he would cleanse Russia of the “scum and traitors” he accuses of working covertly for the U.S. and its allies, as the government steps up pressure on domestic critics of his war against Ukraine....

 

I congratulate President Zelensky. He is now respected.

March 16, 2022
By Meredith Deliso

The mayor (click here) of an occupied Ukrainian city allegedly kidnapped by Russian forces last week has been freed, Ukrainian officials said Wednesday.

Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov was freed from captivity in a "special operation," according to Kirilo Timoshenko, an advisor to Ukraine's presidential office. Timoshenko did not provide any further details....

Kidnapping is not an unusual way for Russia to get their own spies back from other countries. Currently, the USA has some Americans in Russian prisons. The reason is always espionage or some sort of recording that is not approved by the USA. A retired military man went to Russia to attend a wedding and was accused of spying. Why? Because he has a military background.

One adverse aspect of trading POWs is that Putin will put them back into warfare. But, in this case, their capture and release will bring word back to an unwitting Russia.

A couple of thoughts about the health and well being of the Ukriane people. The most morbid aspect of disease in Ukraine at this point is that it could add to the war dead if they can't get adequate medical treatment. Additionally, the countries receiving the refugees need help in achieving health and well being for the refugess. There were many elderly persons being assisted to safety. They are not used to this level of physical activity and will need rest and health examinations at their final destination. The people with pre-existing conditions are going to impact the countries sponsoring the refugees. It is imperative the health of the country receving the war refugees are also maintaining the health of their own people, too.

This is just a horrible mess in so many ways.

15 March 2022

By Leslie Roberts

Adding to the brutal, immediate effects of Russia’s invasion, (click here) the Ukrainian people are facing an onslaught of infectious diseases. Some threats — such as the spread of COVID-19 — are immediate, as people huddle in basements, subway stations and temporary shelters to protect themselves from bombardments. Without adequate water and sanitation, cases of diarrhoeal diseases are certain to rise. The risk of polio and measles outbreaks is high. And as health facilities and roads are reduced to rubble, access to diagnostic services and treatments for tuberculosis (TB) and HIV/AIDS is being interrupted, which will add to their already sky-high burden.

“I am very, very worried for Ukraine. First and foremost, that this may lead to a long-term conflict that will completely destroy the health system,” says Lucica Ditiu, a Romanian physician and the executive director of the Stop TB Partnership in Geneva, Switzerland. The crisis comes atop the devastation wreaked by the COVID-19 pandemic, during which access to immunizations and essential health services plunged....

The release of the mayor is very good news and occurred quickly so his health did not deteriorate. While the kidnappings seems a bother the fact is that people in prison in Russia can risk their lives if their stay is very long. For that reason, neutral parties are asked to pay a visit to the jailed person to be sure their needs are being met.

But, congratulations is definitely in order. This is a sign of respect for the President of Ukraine. Let's hope the peace talks go as well.

The highest moral authority in the world has ruled the Russian invasion as genocide of the Ukraine people.

"The Nuclear Shadows of Hiroshima" (click here)

What does the world do with a liar that has access to nuclear weapons?

This is not about communism and it's potential merits, this is about a country that has nuclear weapons and uses the threat of using those weapons to justify genocide. Can the international family of nations continue to cower to the threats of Vladimir Putin? I think not. The Russian people know now that Putin is a danger to them as well. Any such use of the ultimate weapon of a genocide, a nuclear detonation, would trigger a response against the country launching a First Strike. There would be dead on both sides and the idea of morality dissolves to dust and shadows of nuclear radiation. 

Perhaps the nuclear shadows of Hiroshima was word from God as to the tears shed for those that were innocent and never wanted war.

There is no doubt Vladimir Putin is the one person carrying out an ideological war with no basis in morality. This can end. It can end well, if the Russian people demand an end to the genocide being committed by the Russian military.

The world can end a threat by securing nuclear weapons from the face of humanity in demands to enforce of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The Non-Proliferation Treaty can be a document that ends the possession of missiles that can carry nuclear warheads into the air, environment and even into space. This is possible if mankind steps back from the precipice of self-annihilation.

The United Nations high court has ruled the Russian invasion a genocide. The moral authority of all countries has provided great insight to the definiton of genocide and ruled against a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. Russia cannot veto the World Couirt.

Every sanction is justified. Every life giving food, water and medicine is vital to arrive to the Ukrainian people. The munitions delivered to President Zelensky are instruments of global morality that has judged Putin's Russia as a rouge country carrying out the slaying of human beingss that he hates.

Russia cannot hide from this judgement and there is no reliquishment of one inch of Ukrainian soil at the peace table. Russia is immoral in it's intentions and must stop this slaughter of innocent people. NATO and all allies of the United States have No FEAR of their role now in achieving peace or in demanding the end of this attempted annihilation of Ukraine and it's people.

The only question before the world is how to stop Putin's Russia in ending this slaughter and genocide? It has to end. The matter is, when?

Putin's answer to the judgement is more deaths of innocent people fleeing and hiding away from their impending death. (click here)

March 16, 2022
By Molly Quell

The United Nations’ top court (click here) has ordered Russia to stop hostilities in Ukraine, granting measures requested by Kyiv, although many are skeptical that Russia will comply

The Hague, Netherlands -- The United Nations’ highest court on Wednesday ordered Russia to stop hostilities in Ukraine, granting measures requested by Kyiv although many are skeptical that Russia will comply.

Two weeks ago, Ukraine asked the International Court of Justice - also known as the World Court - to intervene, arguing Russia violated the 1948 Genocide Convention by falsely accusing Ukraine of committing genocide and using that as a pretext for the ongoing invasion.

“The Russian Federation shall immediately suspend the special military operations it commenced on 24 February 2022,” the court’s president, U.S. judge Joan E. Donoghue, said. Countries who refuse to abide by court orders can be referred to the U.N. Security Council, where Russia holds veto power.

Still, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed it as a major victory....

Mariupol

Relentless bombing (click here) has lead to the destruction of it. Currently, there is a hospital under Russian occupation used as a human shield to prevent attack. 

Human shields are a war crime. 

Civilians are off limits in most treaties of war and peace, yet, to Putin it is just another day of killing insurgents. Babies are insurgents?  Putin is full of hate.

Rather than taking civlians as human shields, the Russian military should set down their weapons and surrender. No one is attacking Russia. It is time the Russian military end it's false flag assault.

The living seek to evacute others still alive. But, the work so intense and demanding that the dead lay in the streets. Below is from "Al Jazeera English".