 home
archives
last week
feedback
Rolla Peace News August 8, 2023 |
Dear Friends:Editor's notes:In this newsletter is: 1. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) Weeds for Peace: Make Peace; Grow Weed b) A One-Sided “Peace” Conference or a Bad Joke? c) Wagner Army on Polish Border d) July 2023: Warmest Month on Record Weeds for Peace: Make Peace; Grow Weed According to Russia Today, the UK Defense Ministry has claimed that the Ukrainian offensive in being hampered by weeds growing in abandoned fields. Not only do the weeds hamper the Ukrainian offensive, they also hamper Russian offensive movements. Maybe if we grew enough weed, we could have Peace on Earth.“Although undergrowth can also provide cover for small stealthy infantry assaults, the net effect has been to make it harder for either side to make advances,” A One-Sided “Peace” Conference or a Bad Joke? The “Peace” Conference on the Ukraine in Saudi Arabia has concluded with no new policies or great declarations or pronouncements. Attending were The Ukraine, NATO countries, and some non-aligned countries including China. Russia was not invited. (One has to wonder who the participants hoped to make Peace with.)“You can’t have good policy that results in peace if you ignore one side.” While I have been unable to find a complete list of attendees, it appears that Afghanistan was not in attendance either. I have maintained, since the start of the current phase of the Russo-Ukrainian War last year, that Afghanistan would be the natural broker for a Peace agreement in the Ukraine, having been invaded by all the major participants in the Russo-Ukrainian War, and having sent them all slinking home with their tails between their legs. Writing about the first British invasion of Afghanistan (1838-1842), British army chaplain, G.R. Gleig opined that it was: Much the same could be said about the Soviet invasion of the 1980s which included both Russia and the Ukraine and the 21st Century US invasion which included around 50 countries, notably, NATO countries which are also involved in the war in the Ukraine.“a war begun for no wise purpose, carried on with a strange mixture of rashness and timidity, brought to a close after suffering and disaster, without much glory attached either to the government which directed, or the great body of troops which waged it. Not one benefit, political or military, was acquired with this war. Our eventual evacuation of the country resembled the retreat of an army defeated.” Oh, well. I guess none of these great powers care to be reminded of such ignominious defeats. For my own part, I was among the few who demonstrated against the US War Against Afghanistan on the first day of the invasion. Wagner Army on Polish Border It seems that Poland is greatly upset about a handful of soldiers from the Wagner Private Army close to their border with Belarus. And well they should be! As I mentioned in the previous newsletter, I suspect that Wagner chief, Evgeny Prigozhin may have been successful in acquiring a Russian nuclear weapon during the June insurrection. Poland may suspect so too. Or they may even know it for a fact. After all, they have far more intelligence gathering resources than I. July 2023: Warmest Month on Record Copernicus Climate Change Service has posted its July climate estimates. It comes as no surprise that July 2023 was the warmest month in recorded history by a whopping 0.33°C. July 2023 was also the most anomalously warm month in the record, approximately 1.5°C higher than the 1850-1900 average, a commonly used proxy for pre-industrial temperatures. According to some estimates, 80% of humanity's over 8 billion people were affected by the worldwide July 2023 heat wave. It appears that extreme weather events have become global in extent. Here in the United States, smoke from Canadian wildfires continues to foul the atmosphere, Phoenix experienced 31 days in a row with temperatures above 110°F., temperatures off the Florida coast achieved hot-tub levels, Vermont was prey to catastrophic flooding and much more. Some opine that our climate will return to the status-quo-ante; but personally, I doubt it. Not even all the King's horses and all the King's men could put our climate back together again. Now, we must learn to live with the monster we have created. I have tried to think of something wise or clever to write. But I keep coming back to Belle Chesler's “What do you say when the world is burning up all around you?” Rolla Peace News is distributed by email once a week on Tuesdays (except on rare occasions) and 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 |