Chronicles of delusion: war, vaccines, above average children
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The claque of alt-right Putin supporters in the United States is not giving up. I have long considered Paul Craig Roberts to be a crazy man who nonetheless sometimes makes sense. The facts he has to ignore about Russia in order to sustain his belief in Putin defy my belief. Among them, he asked to believe that the people in Eastern Ukraine wanted the Russians and voted willingly to accept the “People’s Republics,” that the Russians had no part in the string of incidents along the 2014-2020 cease-fire line, that the Russians have not committed atrocities in Ukraine and that the Russian speaking part of Ukraine longs to be part of Russia. His eyes have to be firmly shut to believe these things.
Roberts now criticizes Putin’s prosecution of the war, offering observations similar to those of Igor Strelkov, a chief instigator of the People’s Republics. Neither of these guys understand that Russia is losing because it deserves to lose. It is clear in retrospect that Russia started this war not in reaction to provocations, but because it wanted war and was looking for provocations it could use as excuses. Ukraine didn’t want war. The poor souls in eastern Ukraine who had been under the Russian thumb for eight years didn’t want it, and most Russian citizens don’t seem enthusiastic.
It’s hard to believe this kind of willful ignorance, but then there are those who still believe that Trump conspired with Russia, that Hillary had nothing to do with Russiagate, and that Anthony Fauci had nothing to do with the emergence of Covid 19.
Oksana heard the explosions as Russian missiles hit the left bank of Kyiv early yesterday morning. The news said that they hit DVRZ, the Darnitsa Railcar Repair Factory.
When I went to the grimy industrial part of town known as DVRZ in 2008 I was so new that I could not imagine a neighborhood with a name containing no vowels. I shuffled back-and-forth a couple of times dealing with the corrupt Ukrainian customs organization, a story that is still up on my website. It is in the middle of nowhere, at the eastern city limits adjoining a large forest. Here is the map.
The structures in that area are entirely Soviet era relics. There is surely nothing worth the several million dollars it cost to send four (scarce and irreplaceable) Kh22 cruise missiles. This was a stupid move by the Russians. It is hard to imagine a motive, other than the fact that missiles en route to a target so far on the fringe of the city might not encounter air defenses.
Jessica Rose, the Canadian whose Unacceptable Jessica Substack is one of my favorites, published Great Britain’s schedule of childhood vaccinations yesterday. They really want to perforate every child in the country every time he turns around.
Interesting to note the changes since we were kids. Smallpox, polio, tuberculosis, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), diphtheria and other bacterial diseases are gone. We are no longer rural, and running water and city sewage systems have reduced the transmission of disease in the cities to the point that none of these things can approach R0, the term we recently learned for a level of transmissibility that keeps an epidemic going.
On the other hand, they have added a number of shots that have never worked well and don’t make sense. Kids don’t get pneumonia. The flu vaccines are ineffective and are second in VAERS-reported adverse side effects only to the Covid jabs, Covid itself is at least 100 times less dangerous to kids than the vaccines they propose, and the HPV jab will has a number of nasty side effects while protecting against a disease that poses no threat to the sexually discrete.
I don’t do the article justice. Here’s the whole thing on her website. I’m especially fond of her cutting sarcasm.
Not to be outdone, the American Centers for Disease Control recommends 16 different vaccinations, a total of about 30 jabs.
But wait, there’s more! That’s only in the first 15 months of life! Between 18 months and 18 years they recommend vaccines against another 15 diseases, a total of more than 30 additional jabs. The Americans, not so willing to court disaster, still include pertussis, typhoid, and diphtheria. Just to be on the safe side, they added dengue fever.
Just by comparison, the Ukrainian authorities stick with traditional vaccines such as DPT, MMR, hepatitis and polio. None of that HPV stuff – girls here aren’t like that. And no flu or Covid.
I have to be grateful to the powers that be for overplaying their hands so egregiously over the past 2 ½ years with Covid. It’s pretty clear at this point that, as Jessica says, the game is making billionaires richer. We are simply not going to play.
That’s the news from Lake WeBeGone, where the strong man on a bicycle brought back the most delicious fresh strawberries from the market near where the above average children had their music lesson this morning. The teacher of course has an incentive to tell us they are geniuses, but the good-looking woman and I readily believe.
I think the Russian attack was a signal to the US about shipping longer range weapons. But you are right, that the target was not worth the missile costs. At least the Russians hit something not of significant value which suggests a signal. They likely want to avoid a serious outcry and anger.
I quite agree on your assessment about vaccines for children. Earlier in life I was unaware of the hazards. I am more aware but have no children to be concerned about, I at best can speak to my grands. But I see a growing public distrust of ALL vaccines which may not be wise. Losing faith in our public health officials may have consequences. I hope this can be fixed.