Russian Invasion of Ukraine

Mindset of a Dictator

You have to wonder what goes on inside the head of a person like Putin. I did not use "man" deliberately. Unfortunately, he is a person so I can't eliminate that particular noun which I share with him. That's about it on the sharing.

There have been many like him throughout history - some of them female. Before I share some other writings, one would have to be able to:

- be prepared to destroy decades or centuries of human achievement in the form of architecture, homes, land, necessities of life, culture, and above all human spirit.
- cause unimaginable pain and suffering to anyone or thing that lives, including babies, children, pregnant women, and helpless blameless animals.
- make such decisions instantly and totally independently.
- eliminate any dissenters among your ranks - permanently.
- feel zero regret for any of the above.
- prepare for your own cowardly escape should it all go wrong.

Here are some independent references:

- The first focuses on Power, Fear, and Anxiety The Psychology Of Dictators: Power, Fear, And Anxiety

- This one focuses on sadistic, antisocial, paranoid, narcissistic, schizoid, and schizotypal: The Psychology of Dictatorship: Kim Jong-Il - Scientific American Blog Network

- Here the focus is on Kim Il-sung (N. Korea); Hitler (Germany); Manuel Noriega (Panama): What Makes a Dictator? - How Dictators Work | HowStuffWorks

- For a spine chilling read try this: 10 most ruthless leaders of all time - 10 most ruthless leaders of all time | The Economic Times (indiatimes.com)

Here is another from this blog: The Brewster Block : Is Putin Copying Hitler?

My words above are not those of a Psychologist but they are not far off. Google some traits of your own. Also try "worst dictators".

The world has had to deal with such monsters forever. The heroes are those that didn't start anything but finally had to say "Enough is enough" and rally millions to fight possibly losing it all in the process. Churchill and Kennedy are two political leaders who come to mind.

One problem with these types, Putin included, is that they have already created their own hero worship of themselves through force, propaganda, control of the media, and severe punishment. The propaganda starts in elementary school if they are in power long enough.

If Japan had possessed the Bomb itself, you can bet that one or more major American cities would have disappeared. This time the other side(s) can respond in kind. Do we still have any Churchills or Kennedys?

#thebrewsterblock

Putin bombs Ukraine Hospitals

Will Putin resort to Chemical Weapons?

We have seen a lot in the news about Russia bombing civilian targets including hospitals. The latest were full of pregnant women and infants. 

If you Google this there are lots of media releases to back it up - none I suspect coming from Russia.

Here are a few. There are plenty more:

Ukraine war: Boris Johnson tells Sky News he fears Vladimir Putin may use chemical weapons as it is 'straight out of Russia's playbook' | World News | Sky News

Ukraine war: Three killed including girl, six, after Russians bomb maternity hospital | Daily Mail OnlineUkraine war: Three killed including girl, six, after Russians bomb maternity hospital | Daily Mail Online

Live updates: Russia invades Ukraine (cnn.com)

Now the speculation is Putin will use chemical weapons. OMG!

As the most recent horror unfolds, we ask ourselves who could be so brutal and cruel? Current affairs headlines from any decade will also answer that question. Here are a few notorious ones using the greatest fact checker of all - history:

1) The guy who murdered over six million Jews as a scapegoat for HIS similar atrocities. He also threw the remains - hopefully deceased - into mass graves like the ones we are seeing in Ukraine recently.

2) Rwandan genocide in 1994. Militia groups tortures and raped victims by the thousands. Check out Wikipedia Rwandan genocide - Wikipedia. The U.N refused to get involved - just like NATO is now.

3) The horrors of the Crusades where once again, inflicting brutal pain on victims was the objective.

4) Look at the guys who dropped napalm on Viet Nam knowing full well that people would be incinerated along with foliage. It went on for years. The same guys mass bombed the country and those living there indiscriminately - just like Putin's Russia is doing now. There were no smart bombs back then.

5) In the Americas, natives were tortured and massacred by the British, French, and anyone else who wanted their land.

The point is that it has been going on throughout recorded history and probably before.

Now it is happening again. The world is expressing all of the support and sympathy they can mouth to the battered victims but are not yet willing to go to war over it. School yard bullies don't have the option of pressing nuclear buttons or spraying you with deadly chemicals when you stand up to them. This bully does.

It makes you wonder if there is life beyond our own Sun, did they resort to the same tactics? If there were other ETs, did they go home to tell what they saw? If so no wonder we have not seen them again.

#thebrewsterblock

Will Putin start World War III?

Putin wants Russia to be Number 1

Most born and raised in Canada or United States other than indigenous people are mere infants when it comes to history. It is difficult to understand the pride and passion felt by other parts of the world whose histories go back thousands of years.

Such histories include the lesser known countries and islands of North America; Europe; Asia; South America; and Africa. Russia alone has known supreme rulers and forms of rule on both ends of the political spectrum. One thing seems to be common throughout all of history. The strongest rule the weakest and ultimately overpower them. This can be through brutality, cleverness, or an accepted divine right. In the end the riches of all of the kingdoms and dynasties go to the few at the top - Greece; Russia; Britain; India; even America; and let's not forget the Church - most of them. The spoils go to the most powerful.

So what is happening in Ukraine right now is something we can't really understand because we have not experienced it. Perhaps a better word might be "feel" - we have never felt it.

For many years after the Russian people finally overthrew the elite, Socialism has supposedly been a form of government that is best for the people. Wealth is supposed to belong to the state and everyone benefits. Have you seen pictures of that 280 foot Russian yacht seized by France? Have you seen the vacation resorts belonging to Russian leaders for years? What about the many years of empty shelves and starving people?

It was the same in Hitler's Germany at the other end of the scale. He and his dictator colleagues looted the wealth and relics of other countries for themselves while ordinary Germans fought the battles.

So why is Putin doing this? He says it is for the motherland and to restore Russian greatness. That is propaganda for the people. The yacht says it all. He wants the riches and resources of Ukraine. He wants to defeat democracy anywhere because it is much more difficult to gain and hold power in such a system. He is a man who has too much testosterone and is a bully by nature. He wants to save face in the East vs. West match.

Hitler was like this. So were Mussolini; Stalin; Saddam Hussein; Pol Pot; Mao; Marcos and more. In the end the common hard working citizen is the loser.

Here is the big irony: In my opinion Russia needs another revolution - probably China too. Some form of government by the people that works is overdue. America on the other hand, especially under Trump is showing signs of extremists leaning more towards a single person, single party type of system.

Behind it all for thousands of years, is greed, selfishness, racism, and usually - men. So here is a novel idea. If a man is to become a leader of a country, he has to take estrogen pills. If it is a woman - testosterone.

It can't be worse than the mess we have now.

#thebrewsterblock!

The Threat of Nuclear Holocaust

Wake up and Smell the Radioactivity

The problem with the above sub-title is that if H-bombs start dropping, tens of millions of people won’t BE waking up. The rest won’t smell coffee or what is killing them but they will suffer horrific burns and God knows what else inside their own bodies.

Less and less of us were alive when Hiroshima and Nagasaki were obliterated in Japan. Most of us have seen the astonishing film footage of the victims and the total destruction. It can never be allowed to happen again – or can it?

Large Atomic (fission) bombs can be the equivalent of 500 kilotons (thousand tons) of TNT. This is difficult to imagine in itself. A large Hydrogen bomb (fission AND fusion) can go as high as 50 MEGAtons of TNT (that’s million tons!). In numbers that is 500,000 compared to 50,000,000. A single ton of TNT exploding is scary enough for me. Just think 100 times worse than those World War II films.

The problems created by all of this for Putin AND the rest of the world have increased over time. The previous paragraph depicts scale of power. Back then only America had developed and dropped The Bomb. A program spurred by Stalin gave Russia theirs a few years later. Now several countries have nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them.

This is why the prospect of mutual destruction – make that annihilation – worked for so many years to deter their use. The much of world would become uninhabitable. Pictures of bombing campaigns in Germany and England would pale by comparison.

After the world’s first glimpse of this only a madman would contemplate their use again. THAT has become the question of the hour.

Is Putin super angry or mad? Does it matter?

#thebrewsterblock

United States Invades other States at Will

American Hypocrisy 

Most of the world has rightly condemned #Putin's Russia for invading Ukraine.  Innocent people are dying horrible deaths and seeing their worldly belongings destroyed. Infrastructure will be crippled for years.

Why? It would seem that Putin has several idols whom he is trying to emulate. Rumors flourish about their identity. A personal guess is Xi Jinping of China. If you ever saw the special on the Chinese leader's life history and rise to power you will know why.

As I recall in brief he was working the fields as a young man and later tried to join the party he used to dislike but was rejected. After future tries he was finally accepted. He then spent years towing the party line and rising through the ranks while managing to stay alive which is a feat unto itself. After he landed the top job he visited the USA where he was charming and well liked - even expressing admiration for America.

Over the years managed to maintain his leadership role while gradually introducing change to the party's Socialist ideals - without being overthrown. The country prospered immensely. Finally he consolidated his own hold by getting their Congress to allow his reign indefinitely. Good luck to anyone who voted against him!

China has been attacked and beaten down for centuries. It is now a great superpower and many people are happy with what their leader accomplished. They have a deep-rooted pride and feeling that their country has been underrated and unappreciated for all time. China should be at the top of all nations.

Russia has a similarly proud history. Many of its former leaders were renowned for their greatness. The Russian people are still very proud and want to be seen at least on an equal footing in the world with America. The memory of Khrushchev backing down to Kennedy is still a sore point.

This is also Putin's dream. He wants to be seen as the world's most powerful man and wants the same status for Russia. Perhaps above all he wants to destroy democracies or see them fail. If he can help to make that happen all the better. Ukraine has a huge number of natural resources that Putin wants for himself, or at least to control them.

The claim is two fold. Ukraine wants his help - to fight against internal rebels and to maintain the independence of Luhansk and Donetsk. Secondly Ukraine will eventually join NATO and be a real threat to Russia. In the West we are calling this propaganda and an excuse to invade.

What is the real difference between this and America's many invasions like Iraq; Afghanistan; Viet Nam? Take the last one - Viet Nam. Two Presidents reaped total havoc there for years. Untold thousands of innocents were massacred. Who will ever forget that poor nude girl with napalm burning on her bare skin? America wanted to stop the spread of Communism - Russia wants to stop the spread of Democracy. 

Apparently when America invades it is somehow justified. When Russia does it, not so. America once dropped the "bomb" to end a war. Let's hope it does not come to that again because this time she could be on the receiving end.

#thebrewsterblock

Is Putin Copying Hitler?

Is Ukraine a Prelude to World War III?

Fortunately neither I nor most of you lived through World Wars I or II - the lead up; the horror itself; and the aftermath. I hope we never see the likes of them again. My hope is becoming more faint.

History is not my strong point but I seem to recall that:

A very clever, selfish, and ruthless Hitler worked his way into a leadership position in Germany between the two Great Wars. He pandered to and fired up the spirit and fervor of the German population. Ditto Putin and the Russian people.

He reminded them of their former glory and inspired extreme nationalism predicting such glory again in the future. The people were suffering economically. They still felt resentment from their defeat in World War I. They believed in and backed this leader. Those who opposed him suffered. Ditto Putin and the collapse of the Soviet Union.

He sought allies such as Italy. He sweet talked, lied to, and called the bluff of would be enemies. He then started his attacks, one at a time. Russia has a strong ally – China. Putin says anything Britain/America want to hear. He is attacking Ukraine.

Other countries huffed and puffed but did not want to pay the price of arming themselves up front so as to be able to ultimately defeat Hitler if it became necessary. Ditto America and its allies today. America even said it would not do battle with Putin over the Ukraine. Sound familiar? Germany signed a Non-Aggression Pact with Russia and then attacked Poland. Ultimately Hitler betrayed Russia and invaded her also.

It took years of talks between Britain and America and an attack by a rogue nation - Japan - before America realized she had to help defeat Hitler before she herself was attacked, after most of Europe was defeated. Japan once again was driven by national pride and felt it was her time to rise to her rightful place over other nations. Will a rogue nation - Korea? China? - attack America today for the same reasons? In the end Russia gained more territory through the spoils of World War II. Will that happen again with Putin?

Of course there are some huge differences between then and now. More countries have an immense military. Some of the biggest differences ironically resulted from World War II. Rocket power resulted in missiles, and satellites provide guidance and surveillance. Lasers are used to precisely guide bombs and those missiles. Nuclear powered vessels can stay at sea and under the sea longer.

The biggest of all has to be the former atomic and now nuclear bomb. The major players all have them. Their destructive power eclipses that of other weapons. The entire world could be destroyed or made uninhabitable for years.

In the time of Kennedy, fear of mutual destruction was a dual deterrent when only the USA and Russia were the main players. The league has expanded since. I doubt that America has the military power or the will to defeat Russia conventionally anymore. Her track record since World War II - Viet Nam in particular - has not been impressive. Is Putin still counting on America’s unwillingness to press the button?

How ironic since America is the only power to have dropped the bomb offensively, wreaking immense horror on Japan. Today’s H-bombs could destroy a country and every building and form of life in it.

We can only hope - some of you should pray - that hitting Putin and his cronies in the pocketbook will work. Doing so will hit our pocketbooks as well.

Are we willing to pay?

#thebrewsterblock

Violent behavior on Aircraft

The New Five Mile High Club. Lock 'em Up!

Once again another wild (probably drunk) passenger had to be bodily subdued on an airplane. These assholes threaten hundreds of lives.

Such people should be arrested upon arrival. If it is in a foreign land they should be immediately returned to their homeland and arrested again. Forget the luggage. Maybe it arrives some day, maybe not. They also pay for the return trip.

This is totally unacceptable behavior.

Punishment at home should be severe. Since they disrupted the peaceful travel of others, they should lose their right to drive for a long period. If they don't drive they pay a big financial burden.

I feel for the airline staff but not the airline. My guess is that many of these passengers have been into the booze. Airlines could reduce a lot of this by simply not selling booze on board and forbidding the consumption of any personal alcohol.

It would be a shame since most people including me enjoy relaxing with a drink on a long flight but this is too dangerous to allow it to continue. Another approach is rationing drinks to one or two per passenger. How this is enforced is their problem. Solve it.

Finally the no fly status of such a person should be automatic, international, and it should be long in duration.

Welcome to the new Five Mile "High" club!

#thebrewsterblock

Et Tu Supreme Court?

America's Last Straw.

In the last five years or more the cracks in the world's Liberty Bell - America - have been getting noticeably larger.

1. Firstly few could believe that America actually voted in large numbers for Trump in 2016. Despite what he and his followers who wear Trump blinders think, it was a horrible four years for America and the world.

2. When Trump knew he was going to lose and started setting the stage for the Republicans to falsify the election and then spread the Big Lie about The Donald's loss, we knew they were speeding towards a very big cliff.

3. The large majority of Republicans in both houses sold their souls, integrity, and respect down the drain to support the Big Lie. They cared more about their jobs and pensions than the good of the country.

4. On January 6, 2021 a violent insurrection took place. Everyone else saw it. Trump and his cronies claim they did not. Wild citizens almost hung the Vice President. Now the bell would no longer even ring.

5. States throughout the land began to change their laws to weaken the non-white vote or at least make it much more difficult for visible minorities to cast their ballads. They also made it far easier at the state level to simply ignore and overturn a result they did not like if the first tactic failed.

6. Now the coup de gras. The Supreme Court - that final rampart for the people's democracy - is leaning towards supporting the tactics in number 4. They are after all stacked in favour of Republicans.

These high judges are supposed to be beyond personal bias. Apparently they are not.

If Trump wins in 2024, the Bald Eagle might as well be replaced by a big yellow banana. In this case the banana represents the single new foundation of the country - lies.

#thebrewsterblock 

COVID and Plastic Waste

Where Is All That Plastic Going?

Recently a relative was sent to hospital for non-COVID related issues but while there, he was tested for COVID and the test was positive. This is very common.

What I found more interesting were his observations on just what is happening inside our hospitals today. I am fortunate not to have stayed overnight in hospital for my own care since I had my tonsils out as a child. However while visiting and supporting others I have stayed overnight. Besides how difficult that was for me (nowhere to recline; too many noises; no food etc.) I was able to observe all the activity.

At the best of times before COVID, staff were overworked. It made me realize that I could never be a nurse. I also appreciated our free medical program in Ontario, Canada. Even in normal (without COVID) times there is a tremendous amount of waste produced in hospitals. Much of it is filthy and/or contaminated. Safe disposal is a problem.

Now the problem must have increased exponentially. Every time a nurse had to attend to this person, even to change an IV or remove a bed pan, they had to totally "suit up" with new PPE (personal protective equipment). This can include gloves, masks, goggles, gown, face shields for starters. Most of this is plastic or rubber.
We already have an immense problem disposing of plastic. Much of it still goes into the ocean.

So where is all of this additional material going? Considering all hospitals across the modern world the problem is immense. This is just the disposal problem. Imagine the cost!

If anyone out there knows the answer please reply. Hopefully land fill or the ocean is not the answer.

#thebrewsterblock

The No Government Society

No Government? Think About I!

We have all heard protestors yelling "Down with Government"; "You can't trust government" etc. Really?

Let's depict what might be a typical day in the life of Joe/Suzy Citizen. The bracketed numbers represent services provided by taxes. Taxes are collected and spent by whatever level of government. Who or what will take their place?

Here is the list of services we encounter:

1. Electricity                               13. Education Standards
2. Water                                     14. Court System
3. Sewage                                 15. Justice System
4. Gas                                        16. Traffic Laws
5. Oil                                          17. Issuing of various Licenses
6. Roads                                    18. Local, State, Federal Laws 

7. Airports                                  19. Police and Law Enforcement
8. Ports                                      20. Parks and Recreation
9. Infrastructure Maintenance   21. Social Benefits
10. WEB, Broadband, Internet  22. Rights of citizens  
11. Education                            23. The Military
12. Teachers College

The alarm goes off (1). You reach out to flip on the lights (1). Then you plod off down the hall or into the ensuite to turn on more lights (1). You use the toilet (2) and then flush it (2,3). Moving over to the sink, you wash your hands (2,3). The house is too cold/hot so you crank up the heat or air (1,4,5). You use these services several more times while cooking before you head out the door. What did you eat? Every item came from a store or market, including the stove and fridge. How? (6,7,8). This only happened after all of these were cleared of ice and snow (9). You get dressed into clothes. Where did they come from? Stores (6,7,8,9). Ah but you bought these online (10).

Now you are out the door. You drive the kids to school (6,11) in your purchased/leased vehicle (6,7,8). There, they are taught by teachers, who were educated at colleges often assisted or provided by government (12) to attain qualifications that are set by regulators (13).

During that brief commute, you are hit by an unlicensed driver and vehicle. You are properly licensed (17) and have to take them to court (14,15) to be tried by a judge and jury (14,15). You are both represented by lawyers who must be properly educated and licensed (13,15,17) so as to be able to enforce the law and your rights (18).

When you return home (and we haven't even covered your typical day at work) you find your house has been burglarized, so you call the police (19). Now you have to go to pick up the kids at soccer (20) and day care which you could only afford because of child benefits (21). Finally you sit down to read a newspaper and watch a ball game on TV which you can enjoy because of free speech (22). Most of it is about war and conflict (23).

I could carry on but you get the picture. Who provides any of this without government? If you say other non-democratic countries have similar things you are wrong at least in scope. But in those societies, good luck changing or increasing such facilities. Do you think private enterprise and entrepreneurs will fill the void? They might fill their pockets, but not the void. Who will manage and enforce all the private contracts with your best interests in mind? To whom will you complain when something is wrong?

Too much government might be bad but none is just a pipe dream. in another society if you smoke the wrong thing in that pipe you might be shot.

#thebrewsterblock