Talking About Nuclear War

Citizens,

  Let's Talk about Nuclear War ,  Ruben Bauer Naveira

​  ​The United States and Russia – the two greatest nuclear powers on the planet – have embarked on a wide-ranging “indirect war”. All that now remains is for them to engage in direct warfare, which will end up happening sooner or later. If later, it will be exactly because both powers are aware that any direct war between them will inevitably escalate into nuclear war, with a good chance of devastating them both.
​  ​How we reached this point will not be examined in depth here. Very briefly, both parties regard this as a struggle for existence – Russia, in order to continue to exist as a nation (in Putin’s words, “there is no compromise, a country is either sovereign or a colony”), and the United States, to continue to exist as the nation with hegemony over the rest (the US economy has become so reliant on that hegemony that its end would entail the country’s collapse).
​  ​Accordingly, both are willing to take the conflict to its ultimate consequences in order to prevail, and thus nuclear war becomes more inevitable with every passing day.
​  ​Among those responsible for a nuclear war that will be the downfall of all Humankind, there can be no “good guy”. However, when one side is fighting to subsist with autonomy, while the other is fighting in order to dominate the rest, it is not difficult to discern which is most the “bad guy”. https://thesaker.is/lets-talk-about-nuclear-war/

​  I have been thinking a lot about nuclear war recently, as you may have been, also. It has been sitting there on the shelf my whole life, but we have not been in the habit of worrying about it for the past 30 years or so. We were in the habit of worrying about it before that time.

​  The specter of nuclear war was part of the control-narrative that directed our national policy in the cold war years in the US. My family and other families, all had plans of where to go for the air-raid warnings and where to meet after the bombs. "Duck and Cover" in the classroom. "Get under your desk if you can."

"This is a test of the Emergency Broadcasting System. This is only a test."

  Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon, Carter, Reagan and even G.H.W. Bush had been in war. Many civilian functionaries in government had been in war. Now it is rare at all levels outside the military. This is now merely conceptual in the minds of almost all decision makers in the US, and the west in general. This is game-theory, not reality. 

  It's fair to assume that most modern decision makers are self centered, not so compassionate or principled. Self-centered types mostly care about what they feel and what they want, and that is the "reality" they engage in their lives. An abstract game, where the player has little perceived risk, due to fallout shelters being present in Washington DC, and those "DUMBs" (deep underground military bases) will predispose the player to prioritize "winning" over risk-reduction strategies. 

I think we all see that nuclear war is treated much more casually in Washington than it was when I was a boy growing up on military bases.

  I don't think that decision makers are "crazy". I think they are "rational-actors", as that theory is named, but I see perverse incentives laid out for them by the current bureaucratic system, which lead to life-forms like me being placed at very high risk, as they play-to-win which is the feeling they like. 

  I pray for guidance often. I do not fear my own death, but I do not want to suffer, do not want all my family to suffer. I can do some limited things. I should repair that cracked water-tank I was given, and paint it and set it up. I should have some propane and a propane-stove for back-up if utilities go down. I should get more rice, beans, salt, oil, and canned goods in the pantries. These are all temporizing measures in a collapse, not the makings of a new life. 

  When I was a kid we all knew that we would all work together when the time came, all work as teams to survive. I don't know that now. 

Do you know anything like that now?

  Gilbert Doctorow, fluent in Russian, is back in Europe post travels. Thanks Christine.

​  ​The coming existential threat: do we act in common or is it going to be every man for himself?​

  ​After a month of only very limited reception of Russian news, due to satellite issues and hotel service issues, last night I switched on Russian state television’s news and talk show “Sixty Minutes” on www.smotrim.ru and got a full blast of the current state of relations with the US, which are very close to Doomsday.

​  ​Allow me to share with you the key point, namely the soon to be announced changes to the Russian doctrine on first use of nuclear weapons and their new more precise red lines that have come about from the plans for Russia’s partition and destruction that seem to be aired daily on US television.
​  ​As usual, Yevgeny Popov, State Duma member and host of “Sixty Minutes,” put a lot of video segments from Western television up on the screen, including a lengthy statement by Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, former commander of all U.S. forces in Europe from 2014 to 2017, on how the Ukrainians must be given long range precision missiles for them to attack Russian Crimea and also further into the Russian heartland. The interview from which this declaration was made does not yet appear in Google search, but from interviews posted in 2022 it is clear that Hodges is no madman, and his statements must, as Popov said, be taken with utmost seriousness.
​  ​The context, of course, for the radical escalation now being discussed in the United States is the expectation of a massive Russian offensive to begin shortly as the anniversary of the Special Military Operation approaches. The imminent defeat of Ukrainian forces has focused minds in Washington.
  ​One of the regular panelists on “Sixty Minutes” then faced the cameras directly and said that Russia’s nuclear doctrine is under revision in light of these aggressive plans being aired in the United States, so that Russia is headed towards a policy of ‘preventive’ tactical nuclear strikes, similar to what the United States has.  Moreover, if Ukraine targets Crimea and heartland Russia, then Russia will respond according to plans now being laid down. These plans foresee counter strikes against U.S military installations in Europe and in the Continental United States using hypersonic missiles.  The panelist calls for this threat of counter strikes in Europe and the US to be made public and explicit, so that no one is in doubt about what to expect from the Kremlin.
​  ​So here we are. The Russians are stripping away the fiction of a proxy war and revealing the co-belligerent status of the US and its NATO allies in preparation for a kinetic war with NATO. As our illustrious former President, a man of few words, would say:  “Not good!” https://gilbertdoctorow.com/2023/02/08/the-coming-existential-threat-do-we-act-in-common-or-is-it-going-to-be-every-man-for-himself/

​  Roger Waters addressed the UN Security Council (2/8/23, 14 min.) He did his best to call for an immediate ceasefire for billions of people without a voice.

​  Russia invited Roger Waters to speak at the UNSC even though the Russians perfectly knew and understood that Roger Waters does not share the same view of this war as Russia does. https://thesaker.is/roger-waters-addresses-the-unsc-at-the-invitation-of-russia/

  From RT: US President Joe Biden’s administration on Wednesday blasted Pulitzer Prize winner Seymour Hersh for claiming that Washington was behind last year’s sabotage of Russia’s Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, saying reporting by the veteran investigative journalist was “utterly false and complete fiction.”   https://www.rt.com/news/571193-white-house-denies-nord-stream-sabotage/

  Volodymyr Zelensky popped up in London yesterday, lobbying for fighter jets, got a "maybe" on that, and an agreement to train some pilots. Zelensky posed with a gushing PM Rishi Sunak in front of a large, manly "Challenger" main battle tank. Charles III received him at Buckingham Palace that afternoon. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/uk-pledges-fighter-pilot-training-ukraine-zelensky-surprise-visit

  After a surprise UK visit, Ukraine's President Zelensky went to Paris immediately afterward in a whirlwind European tour to meet with Western leaders. In Paris he held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz
  Macron asserted during the visit that Russia cannot win the war against Ukraine. "Ukraine can count on France, its European partners and allies to win the war. Russia cannot and must not win," Macron said before a working dinner among the three leaders at the Elysee Palace.   (Hell I'm convinced now...) https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/macron-says-russia-cannot-win-against-ukraine-while-hosting-zelensky

"Biggest Disaster In The Last Century": Turkey-Syria Earthquake Death Toll Surpasses 20,000 https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/turkey-syria-quake-death-toll-tops-17000

​  ​1,200 emergency personnel were being dispatched to Turkey in a coordinated effort by the European Union and partner countries.
​  ​Reporting by Aljazeera, Reuters and the Associated Press shows that efforts to send rescue teams, medical staff and other emergency personnel by non-EU countries even surpassed this effort, adding up to approximately 1,400 persons as of early Wednesday morning.

  However, as Statista's Katharina Buchholz notes, while news wire reports indicate that more than 40 countries and territories have sent or were preparing to send teams to Turkey, the same was just known of three countries and territories concerning Syria: Russia, Algeria and Palestine.
​  ​While the majority of the destruction and the victims of the earthquakes are located in Turkey, the humanitarian situation in Syria was already strained before the disaster, diminishing the country's ability to deal with the aftermath of the earthquake effectively. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/who-sending-rescue-teams-turkey-and-syria

WHY IS VENEZUELA’S GOLD STILL FROZEN IN THE BANK OF ENGLAND?​   (Working hard to come up with a new fake excuse.)
Four years ago, the UK government recognised Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s president. He’s now gone, but the Bank of England is still holding some of the country’s key assets. https://declassifieduk.org/why-is-venezuelas-gold-still-frozen-in-the-bank-of-england/

​  ​Fierce Backlash As Project Veritas Sidelines James O’Keefe After Pfizer Bombshells​   The Pfizer Empire Strikes Back​ (tactical strike, hope he's guarded​)

​  ​The board of directors of Project Veritas on Wednesday placed its founder and chairman, James O’Keefe, on paid leave as it reportedly moves to oust him from his leadership position.​..​
​..​Widespread reports of a hostile takeover point to a more insidious long game at play, with the move coming after two bombshell undercover video reports from Project Veritas that showed a Pfizer research scientist discussing the company’s gain-of-function work to maximize vaccine profits.​  Project Veritas’s board is slated to meet Friday, when O’Keefe’s potential ouster will be discussed, one source told the Intelligencer.​  ​The backlash from all fronts was fierce and furious when news broke about the brewing coup.
​  ​“Absolute madness if he is being forced out just weeks after Project Veritas celebrates one of their greatest-ever journalistic investigations with which O’Keefe was intimately involved,” wrote Human Events editor Ben Kew.
​  ​“There is no Project Veritas without James O’Keefe,” Candace Owens tweeted. “I say this as a donor to the organization, but more importantly as a colleague who watched him pour everything he had into PV over the years. The money and supporters will follow James.” https://www.zerohedge.com/political/fierce-backlash-project-veritas-sidelines-james-okeefe-after-pfizer-bombshells

 ​Video: Bill Gates Says It’s OK For Him To Use Private Jets Because He’s “The Solution” To Climate Change​   (Honestly, I did not watch the video.)​  ​Gates claimed that because he continues to “spend billions of dollars” on climate change activism, his carbon footprint isn’t an issue.
​  ​“Should I stay at home and not come to Kenya and learn about farming and malaria?” Gates said in the interview with Amol Rajan.
​  ​“I’m comfortable with the idea that not only am I not part of the problem by paying for the offsets, but also through the billions that my Breakthrough Energy Group is spending, that I’m part of the solution,” Gates added.​  (And his very money is clean, immaculate, because it comes from... INVESTMENTS.) ​https://summit.news/2023/02/08/video-bill-gates-says-its-ok-for-him-to-use-private-jets-because-hes-the-solution-to-climate-change/

​Working the Problem (pictured on our street a week ago in non-nuclear winter)​