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Rolla Peace News March 18, 2025 |
Dear Friends:Editor's notes:In this newsletter is: 1. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) Nuclear Proliferation b) Fire and Ice c) As Israeli Genocide Resumes: Houthis Rejoin Resistance d) Feeling Sorry for Zelensky e) A Ukrainian Pipe Dream f) Devouring Oneself Nuclear Proliferation Nuclear Weapons: Now Poland wants one too. France discusses expanding it's nuclear umbrella. During her unsuccessful bid to succeed Justin Trudeau as Prime Minister of Canada, Chrystia Freeland asked the UK to place Canada under their nuclear umbrella for protection against — guess who? (Hint: It wasn't Russia or China.)“We'll try to stay serene and calm So who's next? Maybe Mexico, Denmark, Greenland, Panama ... Many other countries also feel threatened by the United States. In today's world, you need a nuke to get some respect. Look what happened to Libya after they gave up their nuclear weapon program. (Thanks, Hillary.) Troops from nuclear armed North Korea are now in global demand, purported to be courageous fighters, if untrained in modern warfare. Tom Lehrer's satiric remark on nuclear proliferation from 60 years ago (above) has gone far beyond satire. Here is the burning question! If the United States breaks apart, which seems more likely every day, who gets the nukes? There are 50 states + Washington DC and over 5,000 nuclear warheads. That's around 100 per state. Here in Missouri we might start thinking about what we want to do with our share. I recommend destroying them and joining The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. What's that I hear? We will need them for defense against the liberal blue states like Illinois and California. And here's a couplet from another Tom Lehrer satire from 60 years ago on nuclear warfare: Fire and Ice“So sleep well my darling; On the climate front, the big news in January was the Southern California fires that killed at least 28 and wiped out tens of billions of dollars of wealth.“Some say the world will end in fire, In February, the big news was ice. Combined Arctic and Antarctic sea ice fell to its lowest extent on record. Without ice, Earth will heat up all the faster, leading to more devastating wildfires. March brought us devastating storms, high winds, tornadoes, fires and dust storms over the central plains and southern tier of states. At least 39 died from extreme weather. Here in Rolla, Missouri, many houses lost their roofs and folks were without electric power for days. Rolla Municipal Utilities was prepared and lost no time in getting power restored. Rolla police went door to door looking for folks in need of assistance. Many communities when faced with extreme weather were not so well prepared. This was Rolla's first bout of extreme weather since the 2012 heat wave and drought. Wait and see what the rest of March and April brings! Meanwhile, concentrations of CO2 in our atmosphere are now over 425 parts per million for the first time since record-keeping began. (12-month running average as measured at Mauna Loa) The March update of Climate Catastrophe has been posted. Check it out. As Israeli Genocide Resumes: Houthis Rejoin Resistance After numerous Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement, Israel, with the aid of the United States, which continues to supply bombs and other war materiel to Israel, has resumed its genocidal war against Gaza, which includes a blockade of humanitarian aid and the indiscriminate bombing of civilians. Israel murdered over 400 in one night, including 174 children, 89 women and 32 seniors, according to the health ministry.“This is the bank of targets of Netanyahu, Trump, and all the other cowards.” —Muhammad al-Sakani As the quote above notes: This is the work of cowards, killing defenseless women and children from the air. Yemen, which discontinued its blockade on Israeli related shipping after the January 19 ceasefire agreement has resumed its blockade of the Red Sea and adjacent waterways. In retaliation, The United States has bombed Yemen again, killing over 30 civilians, including women and children. Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the world and the only country to have come to the aid of Gaza, in deed, as well as words. If the rest of the world had also acted to prevent the destruction of Gaza and the cold-blooded murder of over 45,000, this disaster would never have happened. How about now? It is never too late to act. Feeling Sorry for Zelensky I never thought I'd ever feel sorry for Vladimir Zelensky; but the televised meeting with Donald Trump and JD Vance was nothing short of a disgusting display of public bullying. Having turned Ukraine into a Western Proxy in its war against Russia, Trump now wants Zelensky to turn over Ukraine's mineral wealth to the United States in payment for military support while Ukrainians die fighting for the West. Zelensky should have known better. He could have looked at Muammar Gaddafi, Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, Manuel Noriega and others as examples of what the United States does to its useful idiots when they are no longer useful. A Ukrainian Pipe Dream Amidst the “lover's quarrel” between Donald Trump and Vladimir Zelensky, Trump cut off all intelligence aid to The Ukraine. Russia took full advantage of Ukraine's lack of surveillance by mounting a surprise attack on Sudzha, the largest town in Ukrainian occupied Kursk. Russian troops maneuvered through a 1.4 meter (4'7") diameter unused natural gas pipeline to surprise and defeat the Ukrainian defense. I suspect (*SUSPECT*, I DON'T KNOW) that North Korean troops may have been involved. North Koreans are, on average around 5 inches shorter than Russians and therefore better able to maneuver through a narrow pipeline. Ukrainian troops left in Kursk appear to be surrounded and are likely left with little choice but surrender or die. Meanwhile Russia is advancing in the Ukraine along a front hundreds of miles long. And get this! Trump and Zelensky “kissed and made up.” Then, they held another "peace conference" to which Russia was not invited and proposed a 30-day ceasefire while they rearm and regroup. Lots of luck getting Russia to agree to this. I suspect the Russo-Ukrainian War is all but over and will go down in history, like Vietnam and Afghanistan, as another ignominious defeat for the West. Months ago, I suggested that the next stop for North Korean troops, after the Russo-Ukrainian war, might be the Middle East. North Korea is badly in need of an export commodity. Soldiers would seem to foot the bill. North Korea has 1.3 million active duty troops in uniform. And with combat experience and training from Russia in modern warfare, they will be a force to contend with. We'll see. Devouring Oneself Social Security, medicare/medicaid, the postal service, the education department, the national weather service (NOAA): As we watch the destruction of our country, we should be keenly aware that when empires can no longer expand outward, they turn inward and devour themselves. Our greatest mistake was to opt for empire in the first place.“History teaches that Empires always devour themselves.” —Ralph Nader We are now in the sixth and final stage of empire, which John Glubb refers to as the Age of Decadence. Note: There is a wonderful sermon based on 1 Samuel 8 here.“And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you in that day.” —1 Samuel 8:18 (KJV) Rolla Peace News is written occasionally (perhaps once a month) and distributed by email. It is posted on the web at http://tomsager.org (click on Rollaites for Peace: near the top of rightmost column).Wage peace, Tom yushasager (at) yahoo.com |