February 28, 2022

The Calamitous Errors of Germany's Russia Policy

The Calamitous Errors of Germany's Russia Policy
Germany's political approach to Russia lies in ruins and its military is in miserable shape. The Russian invasion of Ukraine promises to change things, but how quickly can Berlin move?

By Melanie Amann, Markus Becker, Matthias Gebauer, Kevin Hagen, Konstantin von Hammerstein, Christoph Hickmann, Martin Knobbe, Veit Medick, Ralf Neukirch, Fidelius Schmid, Christoph Schult, Christian Teevs und Gerald Traufetter
25.02.2022, 19.32 Uhr


(Der Spiegel) For Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Andrä, the world has changed dramatically in recent days. He still has the same mission as before, the mandate hasn't changed, but its importance has suddenly increased, and with it, the attention. Andrä now finds himself right in the middle of this watershed moment.

"Of course, we’re much more in the focus now," he says over the phone on Wednesday morning. "Suddenly the issue of how NATO secures its eastern flank is of broader public interest."

Not even 24 hours after that phone call, Russia will invade Ukraine.

Andrä, 43, took command of NATO's multinational task force in Lithuania two weeks ago, with responsibility for a total of about 1,600 men and women, including 1,000 from Germany. The force has nine battle tanks and 25 infantry fighting vehicles, which is nothing compared to Russia’s forces, but enough to demonstrate a presence. Indeed, the mission is called Enhanced Forward Presence and it has been running for years, with NATO sending troops to the Baltic states on a rotating basis.

....(snip)....

A Watershed Moment

With regards to Russia, one could certainly not have said recently that Germany was well prepared. In that respect, Lieutenant Colonel Andrä could be something like the symbolic figure of a new era.

The Russian attack on Ukraine marks a watershed moment – for the world, for Europe, for German foreign policy and, specifically, for Berlin's Russia policy. For years, Vladimir Putin was allowed to do whatever he wanted. He could ignore international borders, murder political opponents, but in Germany's political leadership, the voices of appeasement consistently prevailed at each successive level of escalation. Talking was better than issuing threats, they said, dialogue better than sanctions. The worst-case scenario would never become reality, they insisted, since Putin is a rational actor. ..............(more)

https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/a-military-and-political-disaster-the-calamitous-errors-of-germany-s-russia-policy-a-c8b9818e-4bc2-4eb2-ac55-39e5790b29b2

February 28, 2022

Ukraine conflict: British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss backs people from UK who want to fight

(BBC) Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has said she supports individuals from the UK who might want to go to Ukraine to join an international force to fight.

She told the BBC it was up to people to make their own decisions, but argued it was a battle "for democracy".

She said Ukrainians were fighting for freedom, "not just for Ukraine but for the whole of Europe".

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged foreign nationals "to join the defence of security in Europe".

Earlier on Sunday, he said Ukraine was setting up an "international" legion of volunteers for foreigners wishing to join the Ukrainian army in its fight against Russian forces.

"This is not just Russia's invasion of Ukraine, this is the beginning of a war against Europe. Against European unity," Mr Zelensky was quoted as saying on his official website. ...........................(more)

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-60544838

February 28, 2022

Even in water-rich Michigan, no guarantee of enough for all

JOHN FLESHER | ASSOCIATED PRESS | 22 hours ago


ALLENDALE, Mich. — Dale Buist knew running a commercial greenhouse would pose challenges. He just never expected a water shortage to be among them. Not in Michigan, with its vast aquatic riches.

Yet a couple of irrigation wells yielded only a trickle. And one quickly ran dry.

He installed equipment to capture rainwater for the plants. Then a drinking water well failed. Finally, Buist spent $350,000 connecting to a pipeline that supplies nearby Grand Rapids.

"My greenhouse sits 12 miles from Lake Michigan, one of the greatest sources of fresh water in the world," the Ottawa County grower said. "And I didn't have enough."

....(snip)....

Some futurists depict Michigan and the Great Lakes as "climate havens" that will lure people and businesses weary of worsening drought, wildfire, hurricanes and other disasters. Not so fast, skeptics say. Amid images of abundance lurk problems with pollution, overuse and deteriorating infrastructure.

Outsiders "see these five enormous lakes and assume there's more than enough water for everybody," said David Dempsey, an environmental analyst for government agencies and activist groups. "But we have tons of unresolved problems." .............(more)

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/02/26/even-water-rich-michigan-no-guarantee-enough-everyone/6954803001/

February 27, 2022

Kharkiv governor claims Russian troops repelled from city

(Guardian UK) Ukrainian forces have repelled a Russian attempt to seize Kharkiv, the city’s governor has claimed, after fierce fighting and street battles with advancing Russian troops.

Kharkiv’s governor, Oleh Synyehubov, said Ukrainian soldiers were “cleaning up” the eastern city. He said Russian soldiers were surrendering in groups of five to 10 and throwing their equipment in the middle of the road.

“Control over Kharkiv is completely ours!” Synyehubov posted on Facebook. “A complete cleansing of the city from the enemy is happening. The Russian enemy is absolutely demoralised.”

Earlier on Sunday, the governor said Russian light military vehicles had broken “into the city”, including in central areas. They arrived in the northern suburbs at 8am, he said. He urged all civilians to stay inside, adding: “Citizens of Kharkiv, don’t leave shelter, don’t use transport.” ..................(more)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/27/kharkiv-fighting-russia-ukraine-invasion

February 27, 2022

5-night deer cull starts on University of Michigan-Dearborn campus

(Detroit Free Press) An effort to reduce the deer population on the University of Michigan-Dearborn campus by up to 50 deer began Saturday evening and will continue through March 6.

The deer cull will take place in the Environmental Study Area (ESA), a 300-acre forested region on campus east of the Rouge River, from roughly 4 p.m. until 10 p.m. Five sessions are scheduled for the next two weekends and one weekday.

The purpose of the deer population cull is to "protect the biodiversity of the ESA, to help reduce health risks ... due to tick exposure and to reduce car-deer collisions near campus," according to a statement released Tuesday by the university.

This is the third deer population cull ordered by the university. Similar to the culls in 2015 and 2018, the university's plan states sharpshooters from Berg’s Animal & Bug Control will use rifles with silencers, shot exclusively from elevated positions, to cull the deer population. ......................(more)

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/wayne/2022/02/26/deer-cull-university-of-michigan-dearborn-campus/6955631001/

February 27, 2022

Putin shunned by world as his hopes of quick victory evaporate

(Guardian UK) Vladimir Putin was facing growing international isolation and the prospect of pariah status on Saturday night as long-term allies dramatically turned against him following the invasion of Ukraine, and western nations planned further decisive military and financial action against Moscow.

As his hopes of a quick victory evaporated in the face of fierce resistance by Ukrainian soldiers and armies of citizen volunteers, Russia’s president was deserted by his key ally, China, and had his ultimatum demanding Kyiv’s surrender defiantly brushed aside by Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

In perhaps the most striking development, Germany announced on Saturday night that it would supply Ukrainian troops with 1,000 anti-tank weapons as well as 500 Stinger missiles from its own military reserves.

“The Russian assault on Ukraine marks a turning point,” Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said, signalling a major shift in his country’s postwar military stance. “It threatens our entire postwar order. In this situation it is our duty to support Ukraine to the best of our ability in its defence against the invasive army of Vladimir Putin. Germany stands closely on the side of Ukraine.” ...............(more)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/26/the-world-shuns-pariah-putin

February 26, 2022

Tucker Carlson leads rightwing charge to blame everyone but Putin

(Guardian UK) As Russian troops encircled Ukraine, politicians and media pundits in the US were largely united in their condemnation of Vladimir Putin’s imminent attack.

Tucker Carlson, however, took a different approach. Hours before Putin ordered his forces into Ukraine, Fox News’ biggest star was still praising the Russian president.

Putin’s bellicose threats towards Ukraine and assembling of up to 190,000 troops on the country’s border, was, Carlson said, a mere “border dispute”. Carlson, who played into Kremlin talking points by declaring that Ukraine was “not a democracy”, launched an apparent attempt to humanize Putin.

“Has Putin ever called me a racist? Has he threatened to get me fired for disagreeing with him? Has he shipped every middle-class job in my town to Russia?” Carlson said as he then recited a right-wing tip sheet of pet causes. .................(more)

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/feb/25/tucker-carlson-fox-news-russia-putin

February 25, 2022

Bill McKibben: This is how we defeat Putin and other petrostate autocrats

This is how we defeat Putin and other petrostate autocrats
Bill McKibben

After Hitler invaded the Sudetenland, America turned its industrial prowess to building tanks, bombers and destroyers. Now, we must respond with renewables


(Guardian UK) The pictures this morning of Russian tanks rolling across the Ukrainian countryside seemed both surreal – a flashback to a Europe that we’ve seen only in newsreels – and inevitable. It’s been clear for years that Vladimir Putin was both evil and driven and that eventually we might come to a moment like this.

One of the worst parts of facing today’s reality is our impotence in its face. Yes, America is imposing sanctions, and yes, that may eventually hamper Putin. But the Russian leader made his move knowing we could not actually fight him in Ukraine – and indeed that his hinted willingness to use nuclear weapons will make it hard to fight him anywhere, though one supposes we will have no choice if he attacks a Nato member.

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t ways to dramatically reduce Putin’s power. One way, in particular: to get off oil and gas.

This is not a “war for oil and gas” in the sense that too many of America’s Middle East misadventures might plausibly be described. But it is a war underwritten by oil and gas, a war whose most crucial weapon may be oil and gas, a war we can’t fully engage because we remain dependent on oil and gas. If you want to stand with the brave people of Ukraine, you need to find a way to stand against oil and gas.

Russia has a pathetic economy – you can verify that for yourself by looking around your house and seeing how many of the things you use were made within its borders. Today, 60% of its exports are oil and gas; they supply the money that powers the country’s military machine. ...................(more)

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/feb/25/this-is-how-we-defeat-putin-and-other-petrostate-autocrats

February 25, 2022

Killer whales give chase to Mexican fishermen boat in viral video

February 25, 2022

121 neighborhoods in Washtenaw County still have racially restrictive covenants. This one did someth

121 neighborhoods in Washtenaw County still have racially restrictive covenants. This one did something about it.


(Detroit Metro Times) Like many neighborhoods of its time, an Ann Arbor subdivision in the late 1940s enforced a racially restrictive covenant that prohibited “any person other than the Caucasian race” from using or occupying a house except for “domestic servants.”

Until recently, that 1947 covenant, while no longer enforced, was still on the books in the Hannah Subdivision, serving as a painful and ugly reminder of the racist attitudes that barred Black people from owning or renting a home in neighborhoods across the country in the mid-20th century.

Homeowners in the subdivision recently repealed and replaced the covenant and delivered the amendment to the Washtenaw County Register of Deeds.

“Even though racially restrictive covenants are illegal and cannot be enforced, it is important to take a stand,” Patricia Stepp, a resident of the Hannah Subdivision, said in a statement Thursday. “These covenants need to be acknowledged and addressed in order for us to heal.”

In Washtenaw County alone, 121 neighborhoods still have racially restrictive covenants. Across the country and in metro Detroit, many neighborhoods also have racial restrictive covenants that remain on the books. .............(more)

https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/121-neighborhoods-in-washtenaw-county-still-have-racially-restrictive-covenants-this-one-did-something-about-it/Content?oid=29421167#.Yhg9-Ey-ed4.link