THE UKRAINE'S

 Sad  But  Proud  History. 

A Brief History Beginning with the Russian Revolution in 1917:

A chaotic period of time for Russia of course but also for the Ukraine.  It too emerged from its own Civil War 1917 - 1921.  In 1922 the Ukrainian Bolsheviks defeated the Ukrainian National Government and became one of the founding republics of the Soviet Union.

In 1932 and 1933, millions of people, mostly peasants, in the Ukraine starved to death in a devastating famine known as the Holodomor that totaled between 4 and 5 million. That represented some 15% of the country's population at that time and is blamed on the genocidal actions of the Soviet and its leader Joseph Stalin. 

Since the early 1890's there have been 3 large waves of Ukrainian emigration to Canada - this first lasted until the start of WW 1, the second at the time of the Holodomor in the 1930s and the third and last major wave at the conclusion of World War II.  There are today approximately a million and a half ethnic Ukrainians living in Canada which represents the largest number outside of the Ukraine itself and Russia. 

During World War 2 the Ukrainian Insurgent Army fought for independence against both Germany and the Soviet Union and in 1945 the Ukraine became one of the founding members of the United Nations even though it was still considered to be part of the Soviet Union.  This ended in 1991 when along with the other Soviet Union nations it regained independence. 

In recent years though, the Ukraine has been in crisis with constant internal protests between pro-European and pro Russian  groups.  This culminated with the invasion by Russia of its Crimea region followed by its annexation by Russia in 2014. As can be expected this unrest has negatively affected the Ukrainian economy.

    As an aside, I can recall attending a 'seniors chat group of 40 or so and the topic of the day was Russia likely to invade Crimea?  I was the only one in the room who said that Russia was going to do just that unless NATO put serious boots on the ground asap.  The others thought I had been smoking rope.  Virtually days later it was a done deal.  Not one of the chatterers had the temerity to tell me that I was right after all.

But as they say that was 2014 and today is now.

Russian Troops numbering 100,000 are massed along the Ukraine border ready at a moments notice to invade this hapless country. 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has warned the West that the "nightmare scenario of military confrontation is returning to the European continent."

Not to be outdone, our own Foreign Minister... the newly installed Melanie Joly fired back...telling Russia that any form of military build-up by them was "bad".  You have to agree that you cannot get much tougher than that ...even though she seems to have missed the point that the 'build-up' she seems to be concerned about has already occurred. 

Her US counterpart was a bit tougher ...threatening.. get ready for this ..."sanctions".  I am sure Putin is quaking in his boots. 

So do I think Russia will proceed to invade the Ukraine... as I predicted for the Crimea?  This time though I believe he will not ...at least for now.  He is not that stupid.  But he does seem to be determined to restore the olde Soviet Union of a mere 30 years or so ago.

I qualify my answer as follows: If Europe continues to dither and the United States continues to withdraw from its world police function ...the day may come when Putin thinks he can do just that...it is just not there yet.  And you can add to this mix China's increasing sway throughout the world. 

So what to do? ...again I urge NATO to come immediately to Ukraine's aid.  And to go further, admit it to the Organization itself even though Putin will scream blue murder ..but so what. 

Add to this the need for Europe to get more involved in its own defence. Recent history shows clearly that they can no longer rely upon big brother (ie the United States) to protect them.

At the same time a current NATO member - Turkey needs to be put on notice that if they do not clean up their act it will be expelled from that Union.  Or even better, Suspend that country now until it can show that it deserves a full return to membership.

Do I think these initiatives will happen.  Hard to say, but if they do not we in the Free World are in for more trouble and which will likely begin with another invasion of the Ukraine and of course Taiwan.

As I See It...

'K.D. Galagher' 

THE BBC

 WORLD  NEWS ...

This past Sunday our Priest spoke of his recent trip to Germany and of course Rome Italy where he expressed his surprise to hear news from around the world that he said he never hears here in Canada.

He began by recalling his visit to the Nazis Death Camp at Dachau where some 41,500 poor souls perished.  And it was not even their worst camp.  His visit there coincided with the 75 anniversary of its liberation by American Troops in 1945 and had been in existence since early 1933.  It brought him to tears in the knowledge that humanity could stoop so low. 

He went on to say that we here safely tucked away in North America seldom are confronted with these images and indeed our news is too often divorced of any real substance even though many parts of the world today appears to be heading for self-destruction.

He is right of course.  Your mum and I often complain about the lack of news in our 24 hour news(?) cycle.  It is all about Trudeau and his socks, how terrible the Tories are for not being vaccinated and the constant rehashing of the day's Covid numbers.  For sometime now I have not even bothered to tune in.

It was not always this way.  Indeed, not that long ago Canada had decent news coverage but that was then and this is now - i.e. since the invention of the 24 hour cycle.  There is only so many times you can stomach hearing 'we are all in this together' when covering the Covid outbreak.

The United States is the same... indeed, for all intents and purposes, it has always been in that their news is all domestic, all navel gazing - about the President and the odd Senator or two. We can attest to that since we wintered a number of years in Florida and the last several owned a Condominium there. Never ever did you hear about anything happening outside of their turf.  

So what to do?

Fortunately, I stumbled upon the BBC World News on our Cable TV.  It surprisingly deals with world news that is world shattering in importance...Revolutions here, Riots there, Famine and Pestilence wherever they occur.  It is a treasure chest of up to the minute reporting. So why can't our public broadcaster or Fox News or CNN do likewise?

I will tell you what I think ...they are Lazy, Woke and Cannot be Bothered. 

And we the public are the poorer for it.

As I See It...

'K.D. Bell'