628: Ukraine III

It is somewhat curious that over the last few days, the number of visits to this blog has plunged dramatically.  Could it be that with my 627th post concerning the two ghastly "holy warriors" who have been sent to gaol for a jolly long time, I have put people off?  Well I state here and now that I have no intention of moderating my opinions in order to make recognisance of their "(in)human rights."

So, on to today's rant.  This one concerns that megalomaniac, President Putin. 

What a neck this bastard has!  Does he imagine that we are so stupid as to believe that the Russian-speaking citizens of Ukraine are in such danger as to justify the invasion of a sovereign state by 6000 soldiers and their associated armoured vehicles? 

I wrote recently on this subject in speculative mode, suggesting that Putin might be grinding his teeth in the face of the Ukrainians daring to throw out their president, whose personal corruption would appear to be sufficient even to discountenance an African politician.

Being well aware of President Obama's weakness and lack of resolve, decent bloke though he is (think about the Syrian "red line" poison-gas farce for example) and the remarkable ineptitude of the European Union, Putin probably feels that he can get away with this just as he did in Georgia in 2008; after all nobody did anything about that did they?

I was wondering today how it is that Russia with a GDP roughly the same as Italy's, and therefore about 20% smaller than that of the UK can afford her enormous armed forces.  I suppose that this is achieved by the simple expedient of keeping most of the population poor.

Give that man a Nobel Peace Prize!

Until the next time.

Barack Obama and Winston S. Churchill

Today, the Associated Press has an article covering President Obama's success in getting the U.S. Congress to pass his $787 billion economic stimulus package.

The President is quoted as saying: "This historic step won't be the end of what we do to turn our economy around, but rather the beginning..."

Meanwhile, The Daily Telegraph reports that President Obama has returned to the British Embassy the bust of Sir Winston Churchill (by Sir Jacob Epstein) that was loaned to President George W. Bush in 2001, the loan being extended for the duration of President Bush's second term in office.  The Telegraph article suggests that President Obama is more likely to draw inspiration from President Abraham Lincoln than from the former British Prime Minister and wartime leader.

The bust of Churchill by Sir Jacob Epstein

Image source: here

Now I cannot imagine that President Obama - or even any of his advisors - reads my blog (!) but I should like to use this platform to draw attention to a quote from Churchill (that so-frequently quoted man).  The quote comes from late 1942 following the second battle of El Alamein, in which British and British Empire and Commonwealth Forces commanded by General (later Field-Marshal) Montgomery defeated Generalfeldmarschall Rommel's Afrika Korps.  Churchill said of the victory: "This is not the end, it is not even the beginning of the end, but it is perhaps, the end of the beginning."

Regardless of his feelings concerning Churchill, the President may wish to reflect on these words in regard to his economic stimulus package.

Until the next time.