CT - 16 May 2022
Essays, articles, reports, opinion pieces of note discussed at FVN in the past week.
2022.04.30 - Robert H Wade - EUROPP Blog - Why the US and NATO have long wanted Russia to attack Ukraine: Essay arguing that Russia has fallen into a trap laid by the US and NATO. The motivations of NATO, US, EU and Russia are explored in turn, with crisp, to the point writing.
2022.05.01 - Stephen Baskerville - Chronicles Magazine - Revolt of the Fatherless: The loss of paternal authority is a source of much social anomie and dysfunction today. A fact well known among conservatives but elided for conformity, acceptability among the dominant left. A short essay with a clear answer.
2022.05.08 - Cory Doctorow - Medium - About those kill-switched Ukrainian Tractors: What John Deere did to Russian looters, anyone can do to farmers, anywhere.
2022.05.08 - CBC - Nationalist party Sinn Fein wins the most seats in Northern Ireland Assembly for 1st time: Long associated with the Irish Republican Army, Sinn Fein emerged as the largest party, winning 27 out of 40 seats reserved for nationalists in 90 seat Legislature. The Democratic Unionist Party, the incumbent government won 24 out of 40 reserved seats. The victory may not mean much given the veto the nationalists and the unionist sides each have.
2022.05.09 - James K Galbraith - Brave New Europe - The Dollar System in a multi-polar world - A comprehensive articulation of neoconservative economic views. Irrespective of agreement/disagreement, the essay furnishes much to ruminate upon.
2022.05.10 - Kelly Laco - Fox News - DOJ silent on abortion protests at justices’ homes despite federal law prohibiting “pickets” to influence case: Following up on the US Executive denouncing the Supreme Court over a draft legal opinion, picketing of Justices’ homes has been endorsed by the US DOJ.
2022.05.10 - John Feng - Newsweek - US updates Taiwan “Fact Sheet” after China Minsinterpretations - As usual, the headline and blurb in the link poorly represent the contents of the article. The changed language of the fact sheet signals a fundamental shift in US policy towards China, interestingly into a more confrontational course than the one pursued by the Trump Administration.
2022.05.10 - Kelsey Snell - NPR - How the billions of dollars in US aid to the Ukraine is taking shape: Report breaking down the $39.8 billion aid to Ukraine approved by the House (and a day later by the Senate). Useful information, especially the lack of any scrutiny of the amounts being spent.
2022.05.11 - Armando Simon - New English Review - Moo!: An article pointing out that we often do things just to keep in with the herd. One could argue that the current ‘‘trans’’ madness is a classic example of following fashion and making taboo certain ideas that are common sense.
2022.05.11 - Madeleine Kearns - NR - The Penis Construction Business: A short piece capturing the mindset behind sexual self identification and the self mutilation which follows.
2022.05.12 - Philip Whiteside - Sky News - Now Finland’s leaders have decided they want to join NATO, what it means - and how a worried Putin might respond: Descriptive piece on Finland and Sweden seeking NATO entry, unlike the headline which suggests an opinion.
2022.05.12 - Yoram Harzony - UnHerd - The nuclear family has failed: An excerpt from Harzony’s book which explains why the nuclear family, always a transitional entity, has failed.