STOP THIS WAR NOW!

The world is boiling in heat waves and wildfires. At the same time a fratricidal war in Europe is tearing us apart! Two sides seem to be gearing up for endless war.

My mother was Finnish

Some have questioned my reference to Finland as a possible role model of what could happen in Ukraine. Let me provide you with a few more details.

There are two sides to every story

Recently 43 Ukrainian women arrived in Ottawa to be trained in parliamentary procedures. On May 9 (Victory day in Russia) they staged a demonstration at the Russian embassy. At the same time a smaller group of Russians arrived to remember the Nazi German invasion into Russia. So interestingly, two invasions were being commemorated – the German  invasion into Russia in 1941, and Russia’s invasion into Ukraine now. Things did get somewhat turbulent at times, but all that occurred were several heated shouting matches.

Who caused this war, and what to do about it?

One of the main causes of the WWII was the Versailles Treaty which closed WWI. It treated Germany poorly and Germans felt aggrieved. However, as the Wehrmacht rolled across Europe, the memory of the Versailles Treaty was lost in the ensuing carnage. Hitler’s military rampage destroyed any sympathetic alliances that he may have had.

Eventually the original causes of that war got smothered by the atrocities committed during the war and the accompanying genocidal actions. In the case of WWII that meant the Nazi holocaust.

Against the USA in Vietnam, then; Against Russia in Ukraine, now

All empire states tend to dominate their neighbours. Russia has a long history of doing this. During WWII, Russia invaded Finland and grabbed the state of Karelia, where my mother was born. Subsequent Russian invasions include Hungary (1954), Czechoslovakia (1968) and Afghanistan (1979-89), Their methods are often brutal as seen in recent wars in Chechnya (1996-99) and Syria (2015-19). Now after Russia’s first invasion into Crimea, it is invading all of Ukraine.

A Tale of 2 Empires. Or is it 3?

We are witnessing the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Many people are saying – Why is this happening now? This is part of a pattern. Empire states tend to control smaller ones at their borders.

Who perpetrated the nerve gas attack in Syria?

When presented with conflicting stories about important events, I resort to the following:

- I prefer credible reports on the ground rather than those of visiting outsiders.

- I like to listen to multiple sources, even conflicting ones, rather that relying on single sources that may be dominated by ideology.

- I put more trust in verifiable facts rather than opinions. Here are some facts about Syria:

1. The rebels have no air force. It is well documented that hospitals and schools have been systematically bombed. Who might have done that?

2. In 2015 Assad’s regime was about to collapse due to widespread opposition victories. Russia than stepped in with a massive bombing campaign on Syria’s behalf.

3. Syria is obviously a strategically placed country. Gulf oil could be shipped through it to Europe and beyond. It is Russia’s sole exit point to the Mediterranean Sea.

4. During the Obama time, Syria promised to get rid of gas weapons. This was a tacit admission that they had these weapons.

5. After over six years of dreadful warfare in which all kinds of war crimes have been committed, I think the best news sources are the people on the ground who have suffered through all of this and know the results first hand.

Now with regard to the recent nerve gas attack and the US response, I have seen Paul Jay’s interview with Lawrence Wilkerson, and I have read the reports that a rebel nerve gas factory or holding station has been bombed.  On the other hand, I have been following the situation carefully in Syria over many months. My primary source is Al Jazeera news (AJ). They have Arabic speakers on the ground. They have developed a reputation for objectivity. They have offended many Arabic countries (i.e. Egypt, Syria etc.) and their journalists have been harassed by countries who do not like their reporting. I also look at other news sources, BBC, RT, PBS, CBC. CNN.

The Obesity Explosion

I went to the hospital today. I needed a pre-op meeting for my upcoming prostate operation. As I sat in the waiting room I was surrounded by people who were either overweight (BMI >25) or obese (BMI >30). I felt like such a skinny twerp sitting there.

Then on came the hospital staff. Fully half of them were also either overweight or obese. Fortunately, the other half of the staff seemed to be able to control their weight. They were mostly the young ones. May they persevere in their good habits.

Pondering this, I felt so sorry for the surgeons who would have to operate on these people. This surely must make their work more difficult – and more disagreeable.

As noted in another blog article, all of this foretells an oncoming health services disaster – maybe even a total societal collapse, unless the growing obesity epidemic is brought under control.

What to do with an unbalanced president?

The evidence is so overwhelming that we are becoming inured to it. President Trump’s erratic behaviour is becoming the new normal. We poor souls, bewildered by it all, hardly know how to react anymore.

He lies and he flip flops on his story about Russia. First he knew nothing about Russia. Later he knows Russia well. Then he has never met Putin. Then later he admits that he did meet him (at a beauty pageant in Russia). This behaviour is all captured on video. However, all of this recorded evidence does not seem to phase Donald Trump, nor his ardent followers.

He has made outlandish claims about himself, and he has done it so often that we hardly know how to respond.

Syria: A witch's brew

How can we understand Syria? How far back in history should we go?

Let’s start with the Sykes-Picot agreement between the UK and France which divided up the area during the First World War in 1916. France got control of Syria, without of course any consultation with the Syrians who were then part of the crumbling Ottoman empire. Local dissatisfaction with this arrangement is still alive and emerging today.

Hafez al Assad, the father of Bashar al Assad ruled Syria for 30 years (1971-2000). In 1982 he put down civil unrest in Hama with a bloody massacre in which an estimated 20,000 people were killed.
“The 1982 massacre is regarded as the single bloodiest assault by an Arab ruler against his own people in modern times and remains a pivotal event in Syrian history” (The Guardian).

Later when another peaceful civil uprising in Deraa occurred in 2011, Bashar al Assad used the same brutal force as his father to suppress this. This was the beginning of the civil war that is now raging throughout Syria.

The Bashar al Assad regime now counts on the support of three outside powers.