HABBENINGS: GLOBAL STRUGGLES, GLOBAL PROBLEMS, AND GLOBAL CONFLICTS

[VikLevaPatel]

As both Roger E. Kanet and Dina Moulioukova rightly observe in their book, "Russia and the World in the Putin Era: From Theory to Reality in Russian Global Strategy" (2021), Catherine the Great emphasized the size of Russia as a powerful empire and a tool for securing the safety and well-being of its citizens and stability in international relations.

And just how important is this imperial identity to Russians today? The importance of this cannot be over-emphasized, and cannot be under-estimated or over-estimated. As the authors Moulioukova and Kanet themselves correctly point out, the importance of imperial identity for the country's ontological security can explain Russia's extreme sensitivity to any issues related to its geographic influence, as these issues seem to attack its very core as a state. It is this identity which dictates the long-term interactions among the variables, alters the physiological and psychological responses, and determines the fate of their relationships.

See these videos on YouTube for more on Putin's loudly stated desire for renewed Slavic glory and quest for neo-Russian Empire.

https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...russian+empire
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjDj...nel=GeoHistory
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0Wm...=EpicHistoryTV
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-tI...=EpicHistoryTV
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jau1...nel=OfficialW5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzvR...channel=DWNews



4:27: Medvedev says that before the fall of the Soviet Union, 62.5 percent of the population of Northern Kazakhstan were Slavs.

And rightly so. Demography Matters.

Should Kazakhstan be next? Without a doubt, it should be. And without doubt Kazakhstan (or at least a good chunk of it) should be next on the radar, and should be on Vladimir Putin's radar.

In related news: Ukraine Amps Up Pace Of War Amid Supply Chain Crisis​

Six months into the Ukraine war, fears of the defenders running low on arms are growing as the pace of war builds. The man-portable anti-tank weapons that have been crucial in Ukraine's efforts to fight the Russian invasion need to be replenished. However, the global supply chain crisis means the stock of anti-tank weapons is low in both Ukraine and in the countries where they are produced.
The US is facing supply issues of its own after donating the FGM-148 Javelin to Ukraine with the crunch expected to get worse. Analysts have warned that Ukraine may now have to now entirely rely on more basic systems like the Swedish-made AT4.
#antitankmissile #russiaukrainewar #worldnews

'Russia has not lost anything in the war,' says Vladimir Putin on war with Ukraine

On war with Ukraine, Russian president Vladimir Putin said that Russia has not lost anything in the war and the West can not isolate Russia. He added, we will not hesitate to look towards other markets.

#russiaukraine #putin #ukrainewar

[VikLevaPatel]

'Truly unhinged hate' aimed at Queen Elizabeth II after monarch's death

Sky News host Rita Panahi says there has been "truly unhinged hate and vitriol" directed at Queen Elizabeth II from academics, journalists and politicians. She could have really added, "I can't even begin to tell you how much they love-hate her".

But they really love her now, though. In fact, they can't get enough of her. Funny what death can do.

They're all a bunch of hypocrites.

[VikLevaPatel]

The Vanishing River: USA's Mega Drought

The once mighty Colorado River is in trouble. Stretching from the snowy peaks of the Rocky Mountains all the way down to the Sea of Cortez in Mexico, its waters are a lifeline to tens of millions of people.



In semi-related news: Nine Migrants Drown as Dozens Are Swept Down Rio Grande

A large group attempting to cross into Texas was overcome by a fast-moving current, the authorities said.

State of Texas: Screaming for help; river risk rises for migrants trying to reach south Texas

The battle of the border is heating up

More migrant buses leave the border for New York City
City leaders speak about migrants bussed to cities across the country
Abbott: More than 10,000 migrants bused to sanctuary cities

And on and on it goes.

The number of arrests of people crossing the U.S. Mexico border is over two million in one year for the first time.

Customs and Border Protection says the number of removals over the past year was higher than ever before, at least 1.3 million.

The governors of Florida and Texas say they will continue to send asylum seeking immigrants to other states. Leaders in those other states say they are looking into legal action.

https://kogo.iheart.com/featured/cli...er-gets-worse/

Meanwhile in Europe...

Europe's rivers are running dry as the climate crisis worsens | DW News

Much of Europe and the Northern Hemisphere is battling either wildfires, low water levels, harvest warnings, water use restrictions or a mixture of all these. In Germany, one core focus of the drought is the Rhine River, which ultimately connects the Alps with the North Sea. Europe's second-longest river after the Danube, it is also a core shipping lane for western Germany. It is still open to freight traffic for now, but already boats are unable to run fully laden. Germany's Federal Institute of Hydrology warned on Thursday that without rain, one notorious shallow point on the river could become completely impassable next week.

[VikLevaPatel]

This is what it looks like.

https://i.imgflip.com/6uowhq.jpg, https://i.ibb.co/bXw9QjW/6uowhq.jpg



Social media sharing of low quality news sources by political elites

PNAS Nexus, pgac186, https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgac186
Published: 22 September 2022

Abstract
Increased sharing of untrustworthy information on social media platforms is one of the main challenges of our modern information society. Because information disseminated by political elites is known to shape citizen and media discourse, it is particularly important to examine the quality of information shared by politicians. Here we show that from 2016 onward, members of the Republican party in the U.S. Congress have been increasingly sharing links to untrustworthy sources. The proportion of untrustworthy information posted by Republicans versus Democrats is diverging at an accelerating rate, and this divergence has worsened since president Biden was elected. This divergence between parties seems to be unique to the U.S. as it cannot be observed in other western democracies such as Germany and the United Kingdom, where left-right disparities are smaller and have remained largely constant.

https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/a...gac186/6695314

[VikLevaPatel]

'This was a war with mother nature':

Rescue efforts underway in Fort Myers
Sanibel Island rescues: Coast guard lifts people, pets off the island by chopper
5 heroic rescues during Hurricane Ian | Humankind
Drone footage captures Hurricane Ian's destruction in Fort Myers Beach | USA TODAY
09-29-2022 Sanibel - Fort Myers Beach, FL - Catastrophic Destruction - Coast Guard - from Chopper
Hurricane Ian renders Fort Myers Beach's Times Square area unrecognizable
Fort Myers Beach littered with boats, debris after Hurricane Ian
CLOSER LOOK | Fort Myers Beach devastation



A comment worthy of note:

The power of water is so scary as someone who lived through a whirlpool i can tell you the fear you feel when being dragged under water is unfathomable. My advice from my own personal experience, is to let the water take you don't fight it!! let it push you where it's going to push you and when you get the opportunity swim is hard as you can for the shore or low lying tree limbs. Dont fight the water save your strength and keep calm if you keep a level head your chances of survival increase greatly! Also protect your head and keep your feet in front of you. God be with everyone who is affected by this hurricane!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjT9...el=WPLGLocal10

[VikLevaPatel]

"Who's to cast the first stone?" I ask. Besides, "let he who selleth-not-out cast the first stone", to use the phrase of the Guardian. After all, as the old adage states, only those without sin or guilt may cast the first stone.

The US says, "We will never ever recognize any territory Russia attempts to seize."



This point cannot be emphasized enough: There is no state that is without "sin" or "guilt" or "remorse". And the point bears repeating. And it happens again and again and again, and the lesson bears repeating. It sounds obvious, but especially for the uninitiated it bears repeating. As the Honolulu Civil Beat aptly notes in an article entitled "News Media Misses Real Story in Reporting on TMT Protest": "56 territories annexed by nine treaties of cession, and the unique annexation of American Samoa, compared to Hawaii being the lone territory seized by joint resolution—all in a span of 168 years. Hawaii is chronologically sandwiched between six of these treaties of cession, along with the 50 territories they annexed prior to the Newlands Resolution, and the remaining three treaties of cession, along with the six territories they annexed plus American Samoa." The evidence is too compelling to ignore, and Keokani Marciel says the evidence debunking the fairy tale of Hawaii as the 50th State is "conclusive" and so not open to debate or challenge and leaves no room for doubt, but the mainstream news media incredibly continues to ignore this. And let's not forget that Russia, under the Cold War, had, as was rightly pointed out by the United States Congress House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce (1950), annexed more territory than any country ever annexed as a result of a shooting war. Not once but twice Mr. Hoffman admonishes us not to forget that. But let's also not forget that an awareness of sectionalism has been present in American history from the earliest times, as observed by Norman E. Tutorow in the book Texas Annexation and the Mexican War: A Political Study of the Old Northwest. There has always been a New England, for example, set off from the rest of the nation in one way or another. The North, the South, and the West have long recognized themselves as well as each other as distinct and recognizable sections. And, lest we forget, America had attempted unsuccessfully to annex Canada in 1812, as Erik Rush points out in his 2007 book, "Annexing Mexico: Solving the Border Problem Through Annexation and Assimilation." Here is a brief chronology of some important events that are worth pondering as concerns rise about borders, security, land, tribal identity, and territorial sovereignty.

1783 — Treaty with Britain marks first official boundary of the United States, with the Mississippi river as the western boundary and the top of Florida as the southern boundary.
1803 — Louisiana Purchase roughly doubles the size of the United States.
1810 – United States annexes Florida.
1812 — United States attempts to annex Canada but fails.
1819 — Spain formally gives up claim to Florida.
1821 – Mexico gains independence from Spain.
1835 — Texas rebels against Mexico.
1845 — United States Annexes Texas.
1846 — United States sends troops to the Rio Grande, provoking a war with Mexico. United States Annexes Oregon Territory.
1848 – United States flag flies over Mexico City. Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed.

Paul Tucci (2016) imakes in his handy geography answer book the following points, and it is certainly worth noting that: 1. In 1845 the independent Republic of Texas was annexed, and Spain ceded Florida to the United States. 2. In 1846, the Oregon Territory (which included Oregon, Washington, and Idaho) was officially designated with a treaty between the United States and the United Kingdom. 3. The Mexican War of 1846–1848 led to the secession of California, Utah Territory, and New Mexico Territory to the United States. 4. The Gadsden Purchase of 1853 added southern Arizona. 5. Alaska was purchased from Russia in 1867, and Hawaii was annexed by the United States in 1898. Interestingly enough, in January 1848, one week before the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo formally ended the Mexican-American War and ceded California to the United States, gold was discovered on the American River, as noted by Eric Arnesen (2007). And with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, John Phillips Resch wrote in a 2005 book titled "Americans at War: Society, Culture, and the Homefront", the U.S. government had vast lands open for westward expansion.

[VikLevaPatel]

Japan, South Korea and the US promise 'robust response' after Pyongyang's fifth weapons test in 10 days.

North Korea has fired a ballistic missile over Japan, the fifth launch in 10 days, amid expectations that it is gearing up to test its first nuclear weapon in five years. The missile, detected by the Japanese coast guard and South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, prompted warning sirens in northern Japan with residents advised to take shelter. Train services in the northeastern Hokkaido and Aomori regions were suspended temporarily.

https://archive.ph/VtAsS#selection-493.0-501.263

What happened to North Korea's denuclearization?

As noted by the New York Times, the last time Pyongyang launched a weapon over Japan was in 2017, when Donald J. Trump was president and Kim Jong-un seemed intent on escalating conflict with Washington. But it's important to remember that it all comes down to or largely boils down to definitions. As Vice magazine correctly observed in 2018, Trump's definition of denuclearization and Kim's definition were significantly different. It's worth noting, and it is really no surprise, that back in 2020, Forbes magazine had already stated, in an article titled "The Illusion Of Peace And The Failure Of U.S.-North Korea Summitry," that two years after the drama of a diplomatic reality TV moment in U.S.-North Korea relations, the fundamental conflict between the United States and North Korea over denuclearization remains as intractable as ever. The global security risk posed by a nuclear North Korea certainly has not diminished at all, and the task of dealing with a North Korea that has redoubled its commitment to nuclear deterrence remains a potential flashpoint for escalation between nuclear-capable adversaries. Nathan Gray (2020) also points out, quoting Forbes Magazine, that President Trump had already lost an estimated $1 billion due to Covid-19 and was clearly worried about what would happen to his remaining 'estimated' $2.1 billion fortune.

Next Big War Coming?

[VikLevaPatel]

Things are certainly not looking up. "Nature" or "Life" is going to throw us back into the "mumbo-jumbo" of the dark ages and possibly even into savagery and primordial extinction.

Damage bill set to hit new records: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7R1O...9NewsAustralia

Homes submerged in Australian flooding: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRIK...ssociatedPress

In the meantime, the Nigerians, to quote from the BBC video titled "Nigeria’s worst floods in decade see more than 500 deaths," could soon face outbreaks of disease.

Nigeria's 'colossal' flooding

[VikLevaPatel]

This seems to signal even more gloom and doom.

Kyiv mayor calls Russian drone strikes ‘genocide of the Ukrainian people’
Flood Emergency - Communities Devastated By Floods Prepare For More Rain
Iran Evin prison fire death toll doubles
What’s behind the Iranian protest chant of ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’?
Fire breaks out in notorious jail in Iran amid ongoing protests
Iran Uprising : Gen Z Is Leading The Charge For Change In Iranian Protests
Iran prison fire death toll rises as protests over death of Mahsa Amini continue
Thousands of homes inundated by floodwaters in Victoria
Ukraine's capital hit by Iranian-made kamikaze drones
Iran protests: Who was Mahsa Amini?
Women around the world cut their hair in solidarity with Iranian protesters
Mahsa Amini: How one woman's death sparked Iran protests
Ethiopia: "Violence and destruction have reached alarming levels" - UN Chief Media Stakeout
Russia hits Ukrainian capital Kyiv with wave of kamikaze drones

Children losing fight for life in Somalia as catastrophic famine looms

[VikLevaPatel]

Things Can Only Get Worse, Rather Than Better.

Worst Drought in 1,200 Years

As severe drought in the West forces states to make drastic water cuts, Las Vegas offers a road map to making the most out of every drop of water. Since 2002, Southern Nevada has cut its Colorado River water use by 26% while its population has grown by 750,000.