On 5 February 2023, a Ukrainian commander proudly showed in a video drones and chemical weapons canisters to be dropped by them on Russian soldiers. Three days later, and despite much hype about this official use of chemical weapons by Ukraine on social networks, and the calling out of the OPCW by several Twitter users, the organisation is conspicuous by its silence.
Ukraine openly uses chemical weapons against Russian soldiers, and the OPCW remains silent
Previously:
Who to donate to for SYRIAN humanitarian relief
Related:
YouTube: Tragic News
Apparently discussing the “path to peace” in Ukraine is hateful. After trying to ban a talk questioning Canada’s role in the NATO proxy war a Ukrainian student group smeared it.
Amidst hysteria, calling for peace is hate; more war is peace
Starlink’s terms of service say the satellite internet shouldn’t be used for military operations
SpaceX Limits Ukraine’s Use of Starlink, Says It Shouldn’t Be ‘Weaponized’
I’m sure that Musk has seen some of these videos on Twitter.
For several decades the American public has been instilled with an intrinsic fear of and hatred for China.
No singular event in this seemingly inevitable march to war is more emblematic of the American public’s warped psyche than the “Chinese Spy Balloon” narrative—perhaps due, in part, to its facial absurdity. The happening eclipses even similarly nonsensical yarns such as widespread TikTok paranoia (see the NSA’s PRISM program), China’s American farmland purchases (Chinese firms account for <.5% of all foreign-owned land in the U.S.), and the “invasion” of Chinese fentanyl through the Southern border (fentanyl trafficking is illegal in China).
…
While some populist Republicans have bravely departed from the establishment’s support for Ukraine, many led the chorus of voices urging escalation—and not diplomacy.
…
The banner narrative favored by mainline Republicans and the populist Right alike—that Joe Biden is weak—is insidious, because it implies that Biden should be more aggressive. Furthermore, it excuses Biden’s objectively ultra-hawkish policy against China.
Just in the last few weeks, the Biden administration continued its redoubling of the Asia Pivot launched by Barack Obama and furthered by Donald Trump: the U.S. Marine Corps opened a new base in Guam as the U.S. opened an embassy in the Solomon Islands, furthered diplomatic measures meant to militarize Japan, announced the opening of new military installations in the Philippines and Palau, and furthered a deal that would secure it exclusive military access to Micronesia, an area of the Pacific Ocean as large as the continental U.S.—all with the express and stated aim of confronting China.
…
Unfortunately, the prevailing narrative won the day—while Americans’ heads were in the clouds, imagining a biowarfare attack, or falsely reporting the balloon carried explosives, Sino-American relations deteriorated even further. Distressingly, the American public exhibited its eagerness to rush to just about any conclusion concerning China.
An Overblown Balloon Headline Inflates False Narrative on China
Conservative commentators, politicians distort Biden’s remarks on tanks for Ukraine
“The President’s remarks mentioned planes and tanks and trains going in with American pilots and American crews, not giving Ukraine tanks to help them defend themselves against Russia’s invasion,” Sean Savett, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, told AFP in an email.
Savett said that, in line with his 2022 comments, Biden’s recent announcement that the US will supply tanks to Ukraine included language about “how giving Ukraine tanks will help Ukraine defend themselves and how they are not an offensive threat to Russia.”
What Biden said:
But, look, the idea — the idea that we’re going to send in offensive equipment and have planes and tanks and trains going in with American pilots and American crews, just understand — and don’t kid yourself, no matter what you all say — that’s called “World War Three.” Okay? Let’s get it straight here, guys. That old expression — “Don’t kid a kidder.”
RUSSIA’S Press Secretary to the President, Dmitry Peskov, spoke on Thursday, February 2, about the news that the Mozart Group, America’s answer to Russia’s Wagner Group – Putin’s network of mercenaries and de facto private army – was apparently ‘leaving’ Ukraine and said not to exaggerate the PMC’s significance.
UPDATE: ‘Do not exaggerate importance of America’s equivalent to Wagner Group PMC’ says Russia
Related:
Hard Drinking and Murky Finances: How an American Veterans Group Imploded in Ukraine
A growing number of U.S. policymakers and federal officials are angling to keep children and young teenagers off social media entirely, citing mounting concerns that the platforms may harm their well-being and mental health. It’s a notable escalation in the rhetoric around keeping kids safe online, which has largely focused on setting new digital protections.
A new bill would ban anyone under 16 from using social media
His attorneys have sent letters to prosecutors urging probes of Rudy Giuliani, Steve Bannon and others.
Hunter Biden’s lawyers, in newly aggressive strategy, target his critics
Elon Musk’s favorite anti-trafficking advocate has set off a war in right-wing circles after Twitter banned some of her critics—and her own friends are poking holes in her story.
Eliza Bleu’s Own Friends Aren’t Buying Her Trafficking Story (archived)
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
You must be logged in to post a comment.