Mindset of WWII German Soldiers | Sonke Neitzel
Vivid, sometimes chilling descriptions of the life of German soldiers during World War II brought to life in secretly recorded transcripts of German POWs. Historian Sonke Neitzel, co-author of “Soldaten: On Fighting, Killing, and Dying – The Secret WWII transcripts of German POWs.”
Russia ‘Tourists’ Fighting in Ukraine | The Daily Beast
From Oleg Shynkarenko at The Daily Beast:
A journalist from Russia’s Moskva FM Radio broadcasting from Donetsk asked a local rebel commander, “Can you tell me your name?” He answered: “Of course, I am Paramonov Pavel Vladimirovytch.”
“Are you from Donetsk?”
“Of course not. I am from Yefremov, Tula region [Russia].”
“What are you doing in Donetsk?”
“I am helping brotherly people to defend their rights, do you have another questions?”
Read more at Russia Tells ‘Tourists’ How to Go Fight in Ukraine – The Daily Beast.
Dan Gilbert: The surprising science of happiness | TED
Vladimir Putin’s irrational behavior: Why the Russian president wins if we think he is crazy.
Scott Radnitz suggests that Vladimir Putin is not crazy — just deliberately acting that way.
….consider strategic theorist Thomas Schelling’s concept of the “rationality of irrationality.” This can be illustrated through the game of chicken, in which two drivers are heading for each other at full speed, and the first to swerve is the chicken. A driver who appears crazy enough to prefer dying over chickening out will always have the advantage. It is therefore rational for a player to convince his opponent that he is actually irrational.
Read more at Vladimir Putin’s irrational behavior: Why the Russian president wins if we think he is crazy..
Environmental quality is improving, not declining | Library of Economics and Liberty
Terry L. Anderson writes
….Thanks largely to the pioneering work of the late economist Julian Simon and, more recently, to the work of statistician Bjørn Lomborg, abundant data show that we are not running out of resources, that we are not destroying our environment, and that the plight of human beings is improving rather than diminishing. Simon’s confidence in challenging Ehrlich’s pessimistic thinking came from his belief that people respond to scarcity by conserving on scarcer resources and by reducing waste and hence pollution.
Doubting Simon’s logic and data, Bjørn Lomborg, a statistician and political scientist, set out to prove him wrong by examining reams of data on various environmental claims…..
Read more at Environmental Quality: The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics | Library of Economics and Liberty.
Putin’s ploy
The Wall Street Journal quotes Vladimir Putin’s justification for occupying the Crimea:
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Russia reserves the right to use force in Ukraine to protect Russian-speaking residents there…….”
This was a ploy used by Hitler to assert control of the Sudetenland in 1938. Sudetenland is the name given to the border districts of Bohemia, Moravia, and parts of Silesia, within Czechoslovakia, that had large German-speaking populations. Hitler encouraged Konrad Henlein, leader of the Sudeten Nazis, to rebel, demanding a union with Germany. When the Czech government declared martial law, Hitler threatened war. This led to the September 1938 betrayal of Czechoslovakia by France and Britain. Adopting a policy of appeasement, the two countries agreed to give Hitler the Sudetenland, with Chamberlain describing the crisis as “a quarrel in a faraway country, between people of whom we know nothing”. On his return to London, Chamberlain asserted that the accord with Germany signaled “peace for our time”.
Hitler enters the Sudetenland, Bundesarchiv, Bild | October 1938
In March 1939, German troops occupied the rest of Czechoslovakia. In September 1939, Hitler invaded Poland on a similar pretext of protecting the German minority from persecution. War followed, leaving more than 60 million dead. Almost two-thirds were civilians.
Hopefully Western leaders have learned from history. Appeasement is not an option.
Read more at BBC History and Wikipedia: The Sudeten Crisis.
An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last. ~ Winston Churchill
As China looks on, Putin poses risky dilemma for the West | Reuters
David Rohde at Reuters quotes James Jeffrey, a retired career U.S. diplomat:
Jeffrey said the days and months ahead will be vital. If Putin faces few long-term consequences for seizing Crimea, it will set a precedent for China and other regional powers who may be considering establishing 19th century-style spheres of influence of their own.
“The Chinese,” Jeffrey said, “are in the same position.”
Read more at As China looks on, Putin poses risky dilemma for the West | Reuters.
Realpolitik In Ukraine | Anatole Kaletsky , Gavekal
Quote from Anatole Kaletsky, Gavekal, in John Mauldin’s Outside the Box newsletter:
…..it is literally inconceivable that Putin will ever withdraw from Crimea. To give up Crimea now would mean the end of Putin’s presidency, since the Russian public, not to mention the military and security apparatus, believe almost unanimously that Crimea still belongs to Russia, since it was only administratively transferred to Ukraine, almost by accident, in 1954. In fact, many Russians believe, rightly or wrongly, that most of Ukraine “belongs” to them. (The very name of the country in Russian means “at the border” and certainly not “beyond the border”). Under these circumstances, the idea that Putin would respond to Western diplomatic or economic sanctions, no matter how stringent, by giving up his newly gained territory is pure wishful thinking.
Read more at John Mauldin: Outside the Box.
A trip to the grocery store [video]
A reminder of our obligation to others.