All eyes were on nuclear facilities in Ukraine this week.. all eyes in general are on the troubled nation as Russia’s invasion continues.. But Cold War Kids especially seem to have ’99 LUFT BALLOONS’ memories suddenly coming back to haunt them.. those drills under desks, those moments during the 20th century when they thought nuclear annihilation was coming at any moment..
Those fears were palpable then for them, and now they are back again..
Like a bad haunted memory.. something they tried to dispose of but now, as nuclear fears build again, they realize they could not repress the anxiety forever.. this interesting article appears in the LA TIMES and ponders if “anyone is feeling this” fear suddenly, the fear of nuclear rage pent up for all these years since the fall of the Berlin Wall and communism in Europe.
The quote from the article that chills:
“This time I’m thinking I won’t be eviscerated, instead I’ll be left to slowly die of radiation poisoning,” he said.
That brings him no comfort.
“I don’t want to watch my children die and I don’t want to let them see me die either”
Russia did seize the nuke plant in question.. Also among new developments, Vladimir Putin’s government has approved measures to jail and / or fine (*and / or who knows what else) anyone who spreads “fake news.” That may be true news. Maybe not. It would be whatever the state would deem fake.. Things like, you know, speaking out against the war. Perhaps reporting on actual events..
We saw what nuclear weapons would do when the United States dropped two bombs on Japan in World War II.. The very existence of the ultimate weapons have long seemed wrong. We thought the biggest fear could be some terrorist group getting their hands on deleted uranium or a bomb..
Not it seems to just be the old fashioned fear of nation states coming back en vogue ..
BANNING THE SOCIALS
RT and Sputnik are being banned in many nations. RT America just announced that they will cease operations in the United States after 10 years.. CNN and other mainstream US sources just pulled out of Russia.
Whether World War III will result from this or not, it is clear we are moving in the direction of at least a Cold War II.
And that is a shame, isn’t it? That free flow of ideas, free flow of opinions, and free flow of comments has simply ceased to exist. Both sides of the world are championing censorship..
RT and Sputnik should be seen by the United States just as much as CNN and other sources should be seen in Russia..
When war begins, truth is the first casualty. In the very early days of the Russian invasion, we saw images from Moscow of people protesting Putin. We will never see those images again, at least with media bans and the closing down of any platforms that could accidentally give us the truth..
There are images that Vlad the Invader may not wants his citizens to see–he says the war is going to plan and things are perfectly fine. Nothing to see here. Except things like this, as seen by a photographic reporter from Reuters:
That image would be something to see.. it’s of Russian tanks destroyed in Bucha.
There are also some other harrowing stories being reported in British media, such as this: Russian soldiers are raping Ukrainian women as they commit their invasion. This could be true. This could be false.
Right now, despite the darkness that Putin has delivered to the world by beginning this invasion, the fog of war often leads untrue tales being perpetuated — by both sides. Propaganda existed since the dawn of existence.. all sides use it to their benefit. All sides grow some tales tall..
There were reports during the run up to Operation Desert Storm of Iraqi soldiers literally removing babies from incubators in Kuwait in order to murder them. This was repeated by media, in testimony to Congress, and by President George Bush. Over time, the story began to lose credibility and is now deemed false with the 20/20 hindsight of history review..
This new story of Russian soldiers may fall into the truth category: But we don’t know for sure as we hear third and fourth hand reports of it.
The planet turns dark during war
In war, horrible awful things happen. War itself is so dark that it fosters and inspires crimes against humanity to be minimized by those being launched into battle by their suited politicians–politicians in the comfort of air conditioned “war rooms” and palace-style buildings. So it could be true.. it could be false.
What is true is the human toll this is taking on people in Ukraine. Just imagine being the parent of that child who needs medicine on a regular basis. A month ago your first nation was first world enough to provide you the basis sustenance of life.. fast forward to now when you watch agony and pain on war torn streets, and you suddenly worry about basic supplies.
First world problems turned into third world fears.
And nuclear memories are glowing again..
