“I don’t know how they want to get undressed, above or below the waist, but I think it would be a disgusting sight in any case”, Volodya Pew-teen, as quoted by AP.
I’m just a low-income, sort-of white, ageing, male, semi-educated Aussie worker: a pleb. To rub shoulders with such VIPs is not one of my many privileges, so I have no direct, personal knowledge on those matters and it’s impossible for me to say either way.
Thank goodness!
What I can say with absolute certainty is that this is how people imagined the previous White House tenant:
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To be sure, it’s entirely possible that BoJo – not to be confused with bozo – looks much, much better. Ask Ursula von der Leyen, she might be able to say (the prospect did seem to excite her, didn’t it?).
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For once Noah Smith was right: people’s self-perceptions often are at odds with the way others think of them. An example could be the shaggy-haired Churchill parody: he may think of himself as the Pom larrikin, someone the common can relate to.
Another example? I am sure Steve Cannane, the ABC Europe Bureau Chief, thinks of himself as an objective, serious journalist.
Another example? I am sure Steve Cannane, the ABC Europe Bureau Chief, thinks of himself as an objective, serious journalist.
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You may not believe me, but I suspect Volodya Zelensky – whose carefully managed image has changed so much in just a few years – is less prone to self-delusions.
You have to admit it: the guy is fit and has excellent physical coordination (try picturing Joe Biden doing that). I am particularly in awe of his ability to dance in really, really high heels: I couldn’t do that, if my life depended on it; and I cannot blame my one and only pair of shoes (full disclosure: safety work boots with steel cap), the real problem is that I have two left feet and stiffly arthritic knees, on top.
You have to admit it: the guy is fit and has excellent physical coordination (try picturing Joe Biden doing that). I am particularly in awe of his ability to dance in really, really high heels: I couldn’t do that, if my life depended on it; and I cannot blame my one and only pair of shoes (full disclosure: safety work boots with steel cap), the real problem is that I have two left feet and stiffly arthritic knees, on top.
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Even leaving BoJo versus bozo confusions aside, current affairs can be a little confusing. Lijian Zhao, deputy director of the Information Department (PRC Ministry of Foreign Affairs), is living proof of that.
He doesn’t get it:
After Russia, the Yanks are getting ready to fight Choi-nah. But they don’t want to fight alone. Something tells me European NATO members – especially Finland and Sweden, its more recent members – may be about to get a whole lot more than they bargained for. You guys better start getting tropical uniforms and training for jungle warfare.
He doesn’t get it:
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I can’t blame him. It’s hard to make sense of the G7 Summit agenda (which came just before the NATO meeting): it’s not like G7 countries don’t have plenty problems of their own to focus on Choi-nah (and that leaving aside the mother of all problems: climate change and mass extinction).
Still, I think I do get it:
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After Russia, the Yanks are getting ready to fight Choi-nah. But they don’t want to fight alone. Something tells me European NATO members – especially Finland and Sweden, its more recent members – may be about to get a whole lot more than they bargained for. You guys better start getting tropical uniforms and training for jungle warfare.
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I also suspect Zelensky’s losing his mojo. People are developing immunity to his spiel.
Zelensky’s perennially-battle-weary-unshaven-warlord persona, so popular in rich countries, doesn’t seem to be working as well in poor countries, particularly in Africa.
Ask Macky Sall, President of Senegal and Chairman of the African Union.
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Zelensky’s perennially-battle-weary-unshaven-warlord persona, so popular in rich countries, doesn’t seem to be working as well in poor countries, particularly in Africa.
Ask Macky Sall, President of Senegal and Chairman of the African Union.
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Who is to blame for the food crisis?
Frankly, I don’t know.
Russia has banned some exports (not grain exports, though) and is blockading the Ukraine in the Black Sea. Our media never ceases to remind us of that, particularly the second bit. The media is right on that.
But the Ukraine also put in place their own export restrictions (on wheat, corn, sunflower oil, poultry and eggs, before the Russkies did). And this is something the media never, ever mentions. Funny that, uh?
That omission is all the more strange, considering that the media announced last March that Russia had become the most sanctioned country on the planet. Since March sanctions have only accumulated: by March there were over 5,000 sanctions put in place against Russia (more than the combined total of Iran, Venezuela, Myanmar and Cuba, accumulated over decades of economic warfare). The latest count is over 8,000. Could any of those sanctions have anything to do with the food crisis? That seems to me like an obvious question. Not so obvious, apparently, to commentators.
Anyway, the truth of the matter is that it is above my pay grade to tell who’s responsible for the current food crisis. (Guys, I’m just a lowly worker).
Enter Sall. In his opinion, based on the experience of his country, sanctions against Russia (particularly cutting Russia off from SWIFT) are also playing a role in the crisis.
Professor Alessandro Rebucci and the good folks of Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School explain. I don’t think they have much to disagree with Sall:
Zelensky’s appeal to anti-colonialist solidarity didn’t quite work, either.
The problem with rich countries’ – and their client states – appeals to highfalutin notions such as liberal democracy and human rights and anti-colonialism and to international law and a rules-based international order is the same problem with American, European and Australian condemnations of Nazism and anti-Semitism: the poor people of the world, unlike those countries’ ruling classes, may actually take those things seriously.
Frankly, I don’t know.
Russia has banned some exports (not grain exports, though) and is blockading the Ukraine in the Black Sea. Our media never ceases to remind us of that, particularly the second bit. The media is right on that.
But the Ukraine also put in place their own export restrictions (on wheat, corn, sunflower oil, poultry and eggs, before the Russkies did). And this is something the media never, ever mentions. Funny that, uh?
That omission is all the more strange, considering that the media announced last March that Russia had become the most sanctioned country on the planet. Since March sanctions have only accumulated: by March there were over 5,000 sanctions put in place against Russia (more than the combined total of Iran, Venezuela, Myanmar and Cuba, accumulated over decades of economic warfare). The latest count is over 8,000. Could any of those sanctions have anything to do with the food crisis? That seems to me like an obvious question. Not so obvious, apparently, to commentators.
Anyway, the truth of the matter is that it is above my pay grade to tell who’s responsible for the current food crisis. (Guys, I’m just a lowly worker).
Enter Sall. In his opinion, based on the experience of his country, sanctions against Russia (particularly cutting Russia off from SWIFT) are also playing a role in the crisis.
Professor Alessandro Rebucci and the good folks of Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School explain. I don’t think they have much to disagree with Sall:
Rebucci: Are there any risks for the larger global economy?
CBS: Yes. Banning Russian banks from SWIFT poses significant risk for the world economy. First and foremost, it risks disrupting the energy supply to Europe, and commodity exports to global markets, triggering further increases in energy and food prices. Prices of oil, gas, and many other commodities are already elevated due to supply shortages, adverse weather shocks, and supply chain disruptions.Suppose the Senegalese wanted to buy – and Russians were willing to sell – wheat. Both sides may still find there is no easy way to pay: no deal.
Zelensky’s appeal to anti-colonialist solidarity didn’t quite work, either.
The problem with rich countries’ – and their client states – appeals to highfalutin notions such as liberal democracy and human rights and anti-colonialism and to international law and a rules-based international order is the same problem with American, European and Australian condemnations of Nazism and anti-Semitism: the poor people of the world, unlike those countries’ ruling classes, may actually take those things seriously.
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Maybe Zelensky should try now his Vasily Petrovych Goloborodko persona.
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I won’t hide my disappointment on the ABC’s coverage of the Ukrainian conflict. It has been shamelessly partisan. Wishful thinking and moralising masquerading as analysis.
And yet, I admire Leigh Sales, who just stepped down as anchor of the ABC’s flagship current affairs show 7.30 Report. Having locked horns often with high ranking pollies of both main parties, she was particularly feared by COALition big wigs, who avoided her interviews like the plague. No wonder: she is a smart and competent and combative interviewer, a brave, honest journalist and a red-headed woman to boot. What’s there for me not to like? I will miss her and wish her all the best.
And yet, I admire Leigh Sales, who just stepped down as anchor of the ABC’s flagship current affairs show 7.30 Report. Having locked horns often with high ranking pollies of both main parties, she was particularly feared by COALition big wigs, who avoided her interviews like the plague. No wonder: she is a smart and competent and combative interviewer, a brave, honest journalist and a red-headed woman to boot. What’s there for me not to like? I will miss her and wish her all the best.
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