I couldn't agree more except for your optimism. I don't see any evidence people are willing to so much as be late for work to fix anything. I see them even more committed to serving the billionaires expressly because of how badly they want scraps. I see "yay I got a job!" post all the time in the labor reform communities. Americans talk big but the meat grinder they live in is perfectly designed. We've got past sheep, straight to crabs in a bucket.
A good strong view. This conflict has a similarity with the now-eclipsed Ukrainian war - it uses US and Western weapons and is mostly paid for by the US.
Thankfully civilians and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine isn't targeted as it is in Gaza, but Ukraine is taking civilians off the street for its army. The losses are now around a thousand a day. Here's one current summary:
“By their estimates, they have lost over one million of their sons, fathers and husbands; an entire generation is gone.”
There's an image with text detailing the changes in Ukraine in the post.
Yes, Gaza is horrific, but don't forget what Genocide Joe did more directly to Ukraine, and still tries to make us - the US - continue.
I am deeply shocked by what we have permitted the US to become, and I don't know if it can be stopped short of nuclear war, civil war, or economic collapse.
I just got back from Ukraine, where I was visiting some friends.
Everything we have heard about what’s happening in Ukraine is a lie.
The reality is darker, bleaker, and unequivocally hopeless. There is no such thing as Ukraine "winning" this war.
- By their estimates, they have lost over one million of their sons, fathers and husbands; an entire generation is gone.
- Even in the Southwest, where the anti-Russian sentiment is long-standing, citizens are reluctant or straight-up scared to publicly criticize Zelensky; they will go to jail.
- In every village and town, the streets, shops, and restaurants are mostly absent of men.
- The few men who remain are terrified of leaving their homes for fear of being kidnapped into conscription. Some have resorted to begging friends to break their legs to avoid service.
- Army search parties take place early in the morning, when men leave their homes to go to work. They ambush and kidnap them off the streets and within 3-4 hours they get listed in the army and taken away straight to the front lines with minimal or no training at all; it is "a death sentence."
- It's getting worse every day. Where I was staying, a dentist had just been taken by security forces on his way to work, leaving behind two small children. Every day, 3-5 dead bodies keep arriving from the front lines.
- Mothers and wives fight tooth and nail with the armed forces, beg and plead not to have their men taken away. They try bribing, which sometimes works, but most of the time they are met with physical violence and death threats.
- The territory celebrated as having been "won back" from Russia has been reduced to rubble and is uninhabitable. Regardless, there is no one left to live there and displaced families will likely never return.
- They see the way the war has been reported, at home and abroad. It's a "joke" and "propaganda." They say: “Look around: is this winning?”.
- Worse, some have been hoaxed into believing that once Ukrainians forces are exhausted, American soldiers will come in to replace them and “win the war”.
There is no ambiguity in these people. The war was for nothing - a travesty. The outcome always was, and is, clear. The people are hopeless, utterly destroyed, and living in an unending nightmare.
They are pleading for an end, any end - most likely the same "peace" that could have been achieved two years ago. In their minds, they have already lost, for their sons, fathers and husbands are gone, and their country has been destroyed. There is no "victory" that can change that.
Make no mistake, they are angry with Putin. But they are also angry with Zelensky and the West. They have lost everything, worst of all, hope and faith, and cannot comprehend why Zelenky wishes to continue the current trajectory, the one of human devastation.
I didn't witness the war; but what I saw was absolutely heart-breaking.
Shame on the people, regardless of their intentions, who have supported this war. And shame on the media for continuing to lie about it.
Damn. I'm sorry, man. No wonder my wife's relatives in Lwow rarely post anything on Facebook these days.
We did warn them before the war started not to trust the United States government. Most didn't appear to believe us then. I am positive that has changed.
We're mostly fortunate - I don't know of any missile strikes or fighting - yet - there, and the neighbors keep an eye on the flat. Of course, it's only a taxi ride to Dnipro or Zaporizhzhia, both of which are too often the news!
But in comparison, the hospitals and university haven't been blown up -
We look forward to peace, everywhere, and maybe Lwow will be in Poland and Dnepropetrovsk in Russia relatively soon.
And I must apologize for hijacking a thread - again. Every time I see one of Joey's new infinite wars, I remember Ukraine as it falls out of the US news and mindset.
I don't think anyone sees that as hijacking the thread, jbnw... If I'm this depressed in my state of PA, I can't even imagine what is going through that part of the world, which is why your validations and knowledge add so much here. I had a major meltdown in front of my husband the other day over our country and Genocide Joe. It was a combined feeling of realizing after all these years where we are and who is in charge. No other thing to do but describe it, feel it and then keeping vocal about it!
MMM, thank you. I know it's only tangentially related (well, it's all part of Genocide Joe's death and destruction through the world) but like the fondly remembered discussion group of yore, OB has built a great group of friends and followers - and there's really no other spot I know of today with such smart and educated people as OB's substack!
We all need a major meltdown - I hope enough people will do it publicly that it gets noticed.
I melt down about it all the time.I yell at the TV and talk back to it all the time when my husband has it on.
He doesn’t support the Gaza genocide,but he does back the Ukraine war,the one Joe is trying to stir up with Iran,and every other war the TV set tells him to.It can be frustrating, people seem uneducable.
Right on about most Americans being decent people. I believe that, I just think that most people are susceptible to propaganda. The word genocide really needs to be used in relation to the Israel situation!
They can ignore world opinion, but they can't ignore the cessation of American support. That is going to happen for sure now. It will take years, but it will not take decades.
Better a supporter of barbarians (which means "strangers" in Greek) than a supporter of those who commit genocide like the Zionazists and their Western paid-off lap dogs do.
It is only a matter of time. Extremely saddening thousands more children will be lost. But there is no turning back now. Zionists are right, there is no going back to Oct 6th. This is a war for humanity.
Yeah. At least another month of slaughter for the Palestinians, and who knows what immediately after that? It's a horrifying prospect, and I don't know of anything that's going to stop Israel from murdering tens of thousands more people.
I just hope I live long enough to see Zionism destroyed. I'm only 65. I have a good chance.
Bravo. I want to believe in this powerful call to American democracy and people power. I fear Islamophobia, leveraged by Zionists through all channels, from Fox News to Netflix, may dampen enthusiasm to do the right thing, or even yet obscure what the right thing is. Hope lies with Gen Z. They’re just too conscious to be fooled by Zionist lies.
That same poll showed 49% of 18-29 year olds calling it a genocide, only 24 or so % saying it's not.
Thus far I've seen and heard of no more Islamophobia than real anti-Semitism. Nobody's shot up any mosques or synagogues. There were a couple of murders early on, but not since that I've heard of.
I think that more people, and that includes more older people, have broken away from corporate media as their primary source of information. The printing press phenomenon is at work--the more platforms the authorities suppress, the more spring up to bypass them.
This is America. Nobody can figure out more ways to go pirate and get around the authorities than we can.
They can get away with it and will.The World Court ruling has no teeth.The UN is as ineffectual as the Leavue of Nations was before it.Who’s going to stop them?No one!
They’ll get away with it because that’s what bastards do.
And I wonder how many of these Christian Zionists there really are. Sure we know Israel cultivates them as useful idiots. But I suspect their influence is greatly exaggerated by elements on the left (sorry, comrade Barbarian) who are anti-Christian and anti-semitic in equal measure, seeking to tar with the same brush, or at least the coastal elites for whom "Christian" is a synonym for "fascist Neanderthal".
Christian IS synonymous with Fascist Neanderthal. That’s what Christianity has evolved into in 2024, and that’s what it is. You can go ahead and tar it with as broad a brush as you can lay your hands on, the whole stinking edifice of it is ready to fall.
Maybe in a narrow outsider view of one corner of one part of one country. Where are you getting your impressions of Christianity from? Actual experience or just the MSM?
I hope you’re right, but I fear your assessment of the situation is wildly optimistic. Israel is a real albatross around our neck and, as recent events have shown, it has far too much influence in this country.
It will be a few years before we know if I'm right or not. It won't happen overnight, and won't do the Palestinians getting slaughtered now one bit of good.
Thrilled to have found you. I am an old lady with three consecutive degrees from Ohio State on a fixed income exiled in Tennessee. Will send rubles when available.
The closer the Death Toll gets to 100,000+ murdered, the more likely that Mass Terror Attacks are inflicted on all Major Western cities worldwide. & this time around, the weaponry & munitions used for such attacks will not be 'calibrated' to conventional arms. Hundreds of thousands would perish.
It's very easy for Americans to think that their Oceans isolate them: But if you Anger enough people, their more (shall we say) 'troublemaker' factions will spring into action very soon.
Which is why... even if you are a Heartless, Rationalist, purely tribal 'I Only care about my race, ethnicity, etc.'-person... you would do well to Make Peace before those events Occur.
I couldn't agree more except for your optimism. I don't see any evidence people are willing to so much as be late for work to fix anything. I see them even more committed to serving the billionaires expressly because of how badly they want scraps. I see "yay I got a job!" post all the time in the labor reform communities. Americans talk big but the meat grinder they live in is perfectly designed. We've got past sheep, straight to crabs in a bucket.
Crabs in a bucket...so sadly true.
A good strong view. This conflict has a similarity with the now-eclipsed Ukrainian war - it uses US and Western weapons and is mostly paid for by the US.
Thankfully civilians and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine isn't targeted as it is in Gaza, but Ukraine is taking civilians off the street for its army. The losses are now around a thousand a day. Here's one current summary:
“By their estimates, they have lost over one million of their sons, fathers and husbands; an entire generation is gone.”
— Maria Mateiciuc
https://t.me/DDGeopolitics/99130
There's an image with text detailing the changes in Ukraine in the post.
Yes, Gaza is horrific, but don't forget what Genocide Joe did more directly to Ukraine, and still tries to make us - the US - continue.
I am deeply shocked by what we have permitted the US to become, and I don't know if it can be stopped short of nuclear war, civil war, or economic collapse.
Nuclear war, civil war, or economic collapse. Hmmm.
The first is definitely not required. It may or may not include the second, but it will almost certainly require the third.
Found the text of the image:
I just got back from Ukraine, where I was visiting some friends.
Everything we have heard about what’s happening in Ukraine is a lie.
The reality is darker, bleaker, and unequivocally hopeless. There is no such thing as Ukraine "winning" this war.
- By their estimates, they have lost over one million of their sons, fathers and husbands; an entire generation is gone.
- Even in the Southwest, where the anti-Russian sentiment is long-standing, citizens are reluctant or straight-up scared to publicly criticize Zelensky; they will go to jail.
- In every village and town, the streets, shops, and restaurants are mostly absent of men.
- The few men who remain are terrified of leaving their homes for fear of being kidnapped into conscription. Some have resorted to begging friends to break their legs to avoid service.
- Army search parties take place early in the morning, when men leave their homes to go to work. They ambush and kidnap them off the streets and within 3-4 hours they get listed in the army and taken away straight to the front lines with minimal or no training at all; it is "a death sentence."
- It's getting worse every day. Where I was staying, a dentist had just been taken by security forces on his way to work, leaving behind two small children. Every day, 3-5 dead bodies keep arriving from the front lines.
- Mothers and wives fight tooth and nail with the armed forces, beg and plead not to have their men taken away. They try bribing, which sometimes works, but most of the time they are met with physical violence and death threats.
- The territory celebrated as having been "won back" from Russia has been reduced to rubble and is uninhabitable. Regardless, there is no one left to live there and displaced families will likely never return.
- They see the way the war has been reported, at home and abroad. It's a "joke" and "propaganda." They say: “Look around: is this winning?”.
- Worse, some have been hoaxed into believing that once Ukrainians forces are exhausted, American soldiers will come in to replace them and “win the war”.
There is no ambiguity in these people. The war was for nothing - a travesty. The outcome always was, and is, clear. The people are hopeless, utterly destroyed, and living in an unending nightmare.
They are pleading for an end, any end - most likely the same "peace" that could have been achieved two years ago. In their minds, they have already lost, for their sons, fathers and husbands are gone, and their country has been destroyed. There is no "victory" that can change that.
Make no mistake, they are angry with Putin. But they are also angry with Zelensky and the West. They have lost everything, worst of all, hope and faith, and cannot comprehend why Zelenky wishes to continue the current trajectory, the one of human devastation.
I didn't witness the war; but what I saw was absolutely heart-breaking.
Shame on the people, regardless of their intentions, who have supported this war. And shame on the media for continuing to lie about it.
https://x.com/mariamateiciuc/status/1743658029893984735?s=12
Damn. I'm sorry, man. No wonder my wife's relatives in Lwow rarely post anything on Facebook these days.
We did warn them before the war started not to trust the United States government. Most didn't appear to believe us then. I am positive that has changed.
We're mostly fortunate - I don't know of any missile strikes or fighting - yet - there, and the neighbors keep an eye on the flat. Of course, it's only a taxi ride to Dnipro or Zaporizhzhia, both of which are too often the news!
But in comparison, the hospitals and university haven't been blown up -
We look forward to peace, everywhere, and maybe Lwow will be in Poland and Dnepropetrovsk in Russia relatively soon.
And I must apologize for hijacking a thread - again. Every time I see one of Joey's new infinite wars, I remember Ukraine as it falls out of the US news and mindset.
Thank you for your patience.
I don't think anyone sees that as hijacking the thread, jbnw... If I'm this depressed in my state of PA, I can't even imagine what is going through that part of the world, which is why your validations and knowledge add so much here. I had a major meltdown in front of my husband the other day over our country and Genocide Joe. It was a combined feeling of realizing after all these years where we are and who is in charge. No other thing to do but describe it, feel it and then keeping vocal about it!
MMM, thank you. I know it's only tangentially related (well, it's all part of Genocide Joe's death and destruction through the world) but like the fondly remembered discussion group of yore, OB has built a great group of friends and followers - and there's really no other spot I know of today with such smart and educated people as OB's substack!
We all need a major meltdown - I hope enough people will do it publicly that it gets noticed.
GJ wouldn't notice - the song fits:
If GJ only had a brain, a heart, or nerve ...
I melt down about it all the time.I yell at the TV and talk back to it all the time when my husband has it on.
He doesn’t support the Gaza genocide,but he does back the Ukraine war,the one Joe is trying to stir up with Iran,and every other war the TV set tells him to.It can be frustrating, people seem uneducable.
I know I'm sane because of my friends here...
Right on about most Americans being decent people. I believe that, I just think that most people are susceptible to propaganda. The word genocide really needs to be used in relation to the Israel situation!
I hope you are right. The utter disregard of Israel for world opinion makes me wonder, though.
They can ignore world opinion, but they can't ignore the cessation of American support. That is going to happen for sure now. It will take years, but it will not take decades.
You are indeed a supporter of barbarians (Hamas).
Better a supporter of barbarians (which means "strangers" in Greek) than a supporter of those who commit genocide like the Zionazists and their Western paid-off lap dogs do.
I couldn't have said it any better, and the photos say it all. Sharing widely. F*** that sh*t, Zionazists!
Thanks. Sometimes I spend as much time looking for photos as I do in actually writing.
Same here. But a picture paints a thousand words so...?
It is only a matter of time. Extremely saddening thousands more children will be lost. But there is no turning back now. Zionists are right, there is no going back to Oct 6th. This is a war for humanity.
Yeah. At least another month of slaughter for the Palestinians, and who knows what immediately after that? It's a horrifying prospect, and I don't know of anything that's going to stop Israel from murdering tens of thousands more people.
I just hope I live long enough to see Zionism destroyed. I'm only 65. I have a good chance.
Bravo. I want to believe in this powerful call to American democracy and people power. I fear Islamophobia, leveraged by Zionists through all channels, from Fox News to Netflix, may dampen enthusiasm to do the right thing, or even yet obscure what the right thing is. Hope lies with Gen Z. They’re just too conscious to be fooled by Zionist lies.
That same poll showed 49% of 18-29 year olds calling it a genocide, only 24 or so % saying it's not.
Thus far I've seen and heard of no more Islamophobia than real anti-Semitism. Nobody's shot up any mosques or synagogues. There were a couple of murders early on, but not since that I've heard of.
I think that more people, and that includes more older people, have broken away from corporate media as their primary source of information. The printing press phenomenon is at work--the more platforms the authorities suppress, the more spring up to bypass them.
This is America. Nobody can figure out more ways to go pirate and get around the authorities than we can.
>>media people tell like to tell us<< -->
media people like to tell us
Fixed. Thanks!
They can get away with it and will.The World Court ruling has no teeth.The UN is as ineffectual as the Leavue of Nations was before it.Who’s going to stop them?No one!
They’ll get away with it because that’s what bastards do.
Amen, brother Barbarian.
And I wonder how many of these Christian Zionists there really are. Sure we know Israel cultivates them as useful idiots. But I suspect their influence is greatly exaggerated by elements on the left (sorry, comrade Barbarian) who are anti-Christian and anti-semitic in equal measure, seeking to tar with the same brush, or at least the coastal elites for whom "Christian" is a synonym for "fascist Neanderthal".
Christian IS synonymous with Fascist Neanderthal. That’s what Christianity has evolved into in 2024, and that’s what it is. You can go ahead and tar it with as broad a brush as you can lay your hands on, the whole stinking edifice of it is ready to fall.
Maybe in a narrow outsider view of one corner of one part of one country. Where are you getting your impressions of Christianity from? Actual experience or just the MSM?
I hope you’re right, but I fear your assessment of the situation is wildly optimistic. Israel is a real albatross around our neck and, as recent events have shown, it has far too much influence in this country.
It will be a few years before we know if I'm right or not. It won't happen overnight, and won't do the Palestinians getting slaughtered now one bit of good.
Thrilled to have found you. I am an old lady with three consecutive degrees from Ohio State on a fixed income exiled in Tennessee. Will send rubles when available.
The closer the Death Toll gets to 100,000+ murdered, the more likely that Mass Terror Attacks are inflicted on all Major Western cities worldwide. & this time around, the weaponry & munitions used for such attacks will not be 'calibrated' to conventional arms. Hundreds of thousands would perish.
It's very easy for Americans to think that their Oceans isolate them: But if you Anger enough people, their more (shall we say) 'troublemaker' factions will spring into action very soon.
Which is why... even if you are a Heartless, Rationalist, purely tribal 'I Only care about my race, ethnicity, etc.'-person... you would do well to Make Peace before those events Occur.