Friends, it's official: Prince Andrew is no longer a prince, and he's been evicted from his home on the grounds of Windsor Castle. His crime? Well, all that Epstein stuff. Never mind that he's been charged with zero crimes. He stands condemned because of what has been claimed about him, which he adamantly denies. I don't care for it. I believe that everyone is innocent until proven guilty, even men! Even royals. What do you think?
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62elnjnqqxo
In other news, Trump has buried the hatchet with the Red Chinese -- not for the first time, and probably not for the last. What this means is that our trade war with China is currently on a low boil...but it could pick up again any old time...
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8eyx718pz2o
Generalissimo Trump has decided that the Department of War will resume the testing of nuclear weapons, which was suspended in the 1990s. The intention seems to be to send a message to Russia and China that we will be second to none in our nuclear arsenal. Could this produce another nuclear arms race? Well, it smacks more of theatrics, if you ask me. The logic of mutually assured destruction still holds, just as long as our nukes still explode in a big way, and their delivery systems are reliable. In fact, as has been the case since 1949, you could argue that we are all better off, and safer, when our focus is trained relentlessly on nukes, and therefore why we don't want to go to war. Let's hope Trump's move advances the cause of peace, and doesn't bring us closer to catastrophic conflict.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czxn00l00r6o
Finally, there's now less than a week until the big gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey, and the mayor's race in NYC. As you'll see if this article, Democrats have high hopes that wins in these contests can alter the narrative that they are, well, losers. That may indeed happen. On the other hand, if the Dems were to win close contests in these indubitably blue states, they might not alter that loser narrative much at all. If they lose the two governors races, moreover, they'll probably be about ready to apply for exile in Canada. We can only hope!
Dr. Waddy from Jack: Well, I believe in the divine right of Kings and there an end!
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy from Jack: It may not have much purchase now but I may have what for an American is an unusual point of view on nuclear weapons: I visited ground zero at Nagasaki in American uniform in 1969. To see it , you'd never know what happened there but for the monument. BUT. . . as terribly destructive as that bomb was , it was a peashooter compared to these multimegaton thermonuclear monsters which obtain now.
ReplyDeleteBut they have been around for a long time and there has never been a nuclear exchange . Would we have had a WWIII if only conventional weapons were available?
Well first there would have been the U.S. invasion of Japan , which would have had an incalculable physical and emotional cost. And we would probably have had to accede to some Russian occupation of the Japanese home islands because we would have understandably thought we need Stalin's help.
So, in approx. 1947 we would have had a still fully mobilized Red Army poised to drive to France's Atlantic coast and threatening all of East Asia ; we know now that hellhound Stalin did entertain such designs.
Did our nuclear advantage prevent this from transpiring? Its plausible to think it did.
By the time thermonuclear weapons had been developed by both sides at close to the same time, bomber technology had advanced to the point where either side could have loosed a few of them on the other.
The development of ICBMs made virtually instant thermonuclear attack possible for both sides. It came close, very close, in '62 but the Soviets backed down. After all, they knew war's indescribable devastation in a way perhaps not shared by any other nation.
I think we can be certain Israel would use whatever means are necessary to prevent POGROM; Iran's suicidal Jew hatred might have driven it to use nukes on Israel; but that's probably been settled now. Would India and Pakistan actually be as upset with each other as to vaporize the teeming cities of the South Asian subcontinent? God forbid! One thing which has prevented N.Korea's corpulent voluptuary dictators from using their nukes is the certain knowledge that they would be denied their daily feasts of tasty treats and other delights available only to them. Besides , they probably think to use them only against invasion but though the world loathes their inhuman regime it may well believe it will someday fall of its own terrible evil.
But Russia: if it is driven to unbearable resentment and anxiety by what it sees as Western determination to force Ukrainian membership in an obviously anti Russian alliance it may consider upping the ante with tactical nukes in Ukraine. If it attacks any Nato country, conventionally or with nukes, then general war in Europe may well be guaranteed.
Our hombre President sees it fit to warn Russia by expressing your willingness to resume nuclear testing. Its really bad that it has come to this but given Russia's perceived fundamental national security interest in keeping Ukraine out of Nato,if we are determined to support Ukraine, then this step may have to be.