Everyone left and no one returned
Anna Akhmatova
Only, true to the promise of love,
My latest, at least you looked back
To see the whole sky in blood.
The house was cursed, and cursed was my trade;
Uselessly, a tender song rang out
And I didn’t dare raise my eyes
To my terrible fate.
They defiled the immaculate Word,
They trampled the sacred utterance,
So that with the sicknurses of Thirty-seven
I could mop the bloody floor.
They separated me from my only son,
They tortured my friends in prisons,
They surrounded me with an invisible Stockade
Of well-coordinated shadowing.
They rewarded me with muteness
That curses the whole cursed world,
They force-fed me with scandal,
They made me drink poison.
And taking me to the very edge,
For some reason they left me there.
I would rather, as one of the city’s ‘crazies,’
Be wandering through the dying squares.
Such were the sad words of Anna Akhmatova, with her references to ’37 (the Stalin purges), describing her own “terrible fate,” to suffer without being killed herself, to see the “whole sky in blood,” to witness the Stalin regime’s many crimes, taking her to the very edge. And here we are again. The real abomination is that almost nobody sees. They refuse to look. Militantly, self-righteously, with scorn for those of us who can see. Who see through the eyes of Akhmatova.
Here is a discussion I had with Trevor Loudon nine days ago about Ukraine and communism:
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Notes
The translation of Akhmatova was from Judith Hemschemeyer’s extraordinary translation, The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova (Expanded Edition (Boston: Canongate Books, 1997), p. 699.
256 responses to “Ukraine and Communism: A Discussion With Trevor Loudon”
Hey Jeff, have you read the latest Kamil thread theorizing that Russia is overly reliant on Ethnic Minorities for Cannon fodder? Namely that makes them more susceptible to desertion. https://twitter.com/kamilkazani/status/1506479581569556483?s=20&t=wCAEGRLfzneLtc8h6D1N0w
There is a general misreading of Kremlin policy here. The regime is NOT ETHNIC.
I’m not the biggest fan of the Gateway Pundit, I was even banned from commenting on their Discus board several years ago for correcting an error they made concerning Cory Booker, and I’m no Booker fan which should be obvious, and I am banned again since they are back to Discus, but, they did have this article:
‘Your Warsaw Will Disappear in a Split Second” – Russian Talking Heads Threaten EU with Nuclear Strike – Threaten Invasion of Poland and Lithuania”
Vladimir Soloviev: “If you decide to prepare NATO peacekeepers and bring them in, this will mean a nuclear war. This was told to French journalists on February 8. Brave Poles, your Warsam will disappear in a split second. Brave Germans, brave Estonians, brave Baltic states. By the way, brave Baltic states, I know there are big problems at the border in Kaliningrad. Maybe it’s time we think about a corridor to Kaliningrad? A land corridor to Kaliningrad. Why not? If we are making one to Transnistria, why not?”
“Putin’s highest-paid propagandist Vladimir Soloviev & his “experts” at Russia’s largest TV channel send new threats:”
1. Nuclear strike against EU
2. Invasion of Poland and Lithuania
3. Creation of a permanent land-bridge from Belarus to Kaliningrad (attack on the Suwałki Gap).
Don’t forget their promise to take Alaska as compensation for our sanctions.
Russia could never win a nuclear war? Really?
“NATO took on two of the world’s superpowers Wednesday and condemned both Russia and China as the 30-member alliance looks to counter the growing threat of a biological, chemical or nuclear attack.
“Russia must stop its nuclear saber-rattling. This is dangerous, and it is irresponsible,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters.
“Any use of nuclear weapons will fundamentally change the nature of the conflict. And Russia must understand that a nuclear war should never be fought,” he continued. “They can never win a nuclear war.”
Stoltenberg just encouraged Putin to use nuclear weapons; for Putin can now see that Stoltenberg is clueless. What a dumb thing for him to say.
No, that’s the exact opposite of what he said, Jeff. I think you meant to say what the implications of what Stoltenberg said are, without knowing what if any secret weapons that NATO has. You may be right, and you may have some evidence to support what you say, but you have not presented sufficient evidence to prove your assertion.
I just spoke yesterday to a former employee of a defense contractor, who was snooping around some dusty old boxes in the back room of where he used to work. He found a dusty old book from the 1960s, with pictures on the cover of the F-22 and the F-35.
I just attended a seminar with several people with security clearances on this subject. Dr. Peter Vincent Pry was one of them. He said that in strategic weapons and missile defense we are thirty years behind Russia. As I have known him twenty-three years, and he is one of the country’s leading experts in strategic warfare, I must defer to him. Plus, the other experts all seconded what he said and added more details I did not know, some of them more frightening than anything he said.
Oh my!!!!!!
Yet you advocate for NATO to get in Russia’s face, expecting what?
The only thing I advocate for is the defense of my country. I want my country secure. That has been my interest for 35 years. I have no exact idea how we get out of this mess except by being honest about it. We have to name the threat, understand our enemy, to solve the problem. We need to know our own faults and missteps. Feet on the floor. Common sense on our lips. Clarity on our minds, charity in our hearts.
Well said!
Well that’s where we differ, then. You are as a deer caught in the headlights, and It’s clear to me that unless we have some secret weapon that Dr. Peter Vincent obfuscates, that NATO had better withdraw it’s weapons at least, if not it’s Mason’s lodges, to the pre ’97 Sphere of Influence, and secure the US borders with Mexico and Canada. Then as soon as we are able, we need to enforce the Monroe Doctrine. Hopefully the US has sufficient deterrent capability to survive a first strike. So far – so good.
I held a Q clearance for over 10 years, Jeff. I know things on this topic that I cannot share but wish I could, and I can confirm that Dr. Pry knows exactly what he is talking about.
Thank you.
Things are getting way out of hand
Xr650
Anything in particular ? Or just the whole world situation ?
That was forty years ago and you can see, as I explained, why I left all that behind back then. Such experiences are not so easily understood and remain a puzzle. Damn me as you might, it is autobiographical. I went back to church and read serious books. I have always wondered about these experiences. I went back to school and left that far behind.
Off topic (sort of) but I’ve been reading about the new digital dollar the Boston Fed is working on with MIT. It will handle 1.7 million transactions per second! They are now in the second phase. Does anyone have any information about when it might be completed? I’m wondering because I have a feeling they will implement it following a financial collapse… and we certainly seem headed toward one of those.
We seem to be.
Is Dr.Pry the expert who wrote a book about surviving a nuclear blast?
No. He wrote “Nuclear Wars: Exchanges and Outcomes” as Volume Two on the nuclear balance and why it matters.
At the end of WW2 spooks went to the president and informed him that they were in possession of all the looted Japanese and Axis forces treasure, which is equal to the rest of all the treasure in the World. They put in the hands of nobody knows, but Catherine Austin Fitts, who worked on the campaign of George H.W. Bush and was appointed as Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for Housing in the Bush administration, where she was charged with repairing the department’s reputation in the aftermath of the savings and loan crisis, says that those funds are used to manipulate financial markets.
Russia has launched a satellite today featuring the letter Z, I have no idea what technology is on it, but I’m sure it will help tilt the odds drastically in their favor whether it’s for media misinformation purposes, jamming, or reconnaissance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoW1WwQZqso
Good catch RalphEE!
Russia and Iran have been trying to get off US petrol dollars for decades, but now with sanctions, Russia has nothing to lose, so Putin now demands gas payments in Rubles. Germany says it doesn’t know what to do, so will consult with the rest of Europe. Looks to me that first thing they are going to have to do is to buy Rubles.
Then your easy life is over.
Chevron ought to make even greater windfall profits, and states will profit from increased tax revenues. Congress is talking $100 per month gas stimulus disbursements.
Jeff, not sure if you can comment in regards to the Grand Solar Minimum, David DuByne (Adapt2030) released this video today, he is mentioning that the official information from Ukraine is that they won’t be growing or shipping out any grain this year:
A terrible tragedy is coming for the people of the Middle East.