What Else?

~ Clarissa

At a work event today, a middle-aged IT dude approached me to ask where I’m from.

From Ukraine, I said.

Oh! he exclaimed. I have a colleague who’s also from Russia.

I honestly don’t know what else needs to happen.

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Published by Clarissa

12 thoughts on “What Else?”

    1. Yes, great news. In Russia, they aren’t much upset about the weapons package but they are livid over the frozen Russian assets. Nobody cares that more Vanyas will die but money hurts.

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  2. Johnson didn’t even bother to attach border security to this bill, didn’t ask for anything in return. These people are enemies of america.

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      1. What have we done to provide leverage? Johnson has made Herculean efforts to get something in return for the bill. But instead of rallying around him and helping, our entire side just checked out.

        Libs don’t do that. They are relentless. And they end up winning because they can stay on message like a dog on a bone.

        Finally, we get a serious, collected speaker and we mess it up because we have the attention span of a guppy fish.

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    2. He asked for 8 months. He came up with many different scenarios. They were all rejected. And you know why? Because even people on our side can’t be bothered to notice. I haven’t seen a discussion of how Johnson tried to get gas import licenses in return for the bill anywhere except on my own blog. And so he didn’t get them.

      If we get nothing, it’s because we don’t do anything except moan. This was ours to lose and we obliged.

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  3. Has US started doing such to Ukraine too? Look:

    // U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to announce for the first time sanctions against the IDF ultra-Orthodox combat unit Netzah Yehuda Battalion for alleged human rights violations against Palestinians in the West Bank, U.S.-based news outlet Axios first reported Saturday.

    The sanctions will include, among other things, a prohibition on delivering American weapons to the battalion, and its soldiers and commanders will be barred from joint drills between the IDF and the American military.

    …

    Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said, “The decision to enact sanctions against the IDF while Israel is fighting for its exitance is crazy. We warned that the Biden administration’s sanctions against settlers will carry on to the IDF and the rest of the State of Israel. It’s part of a planned move to force Israel to agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state and to harm Israel’s security.”

    The U.S. has moved in recent months against Israeli settlers in particular and placed economic sanctions against them as well.

    …

    https://www.ynetnews.com/article/b1csdobba

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    1. Oh yes. The same thing since 2014. The same stupid playbook.

      Notice the use of the expression “human rights” that means absolutely nothing whatsoever but justifies this idiocy.

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  4. Here about American sanctions against Israel. The excerpt is long, but has some very surprising to me and interesting info (I bolded the beginning sentence). Would love to hear your take on it :

    //

    Biden’s sanctions against Israeli settlers could have significant implicationsOpinion: Sanctions could potentially impact the Israeli economy, Israel’s law enforcement policy in the West Bank, and its international standing since they indicate the U.S.’s lack of confidence in Israel’s ability to enforce its laws autonomously

    …

    During the Biden administration, there has been a worrying shift in the policy of implementing sanctions against Israeli entities and individuals. In 2021, two Israeli cyber companies – NSO and Candiru – were added to the “blacklist” of entities posing a threat to national security and infringing on human rights. This move dealt a severe blow to the Israeli offensive cyber industry, which had thrived until then.

    …

    However, the sanctions imposed on the four Israeli settlers represent a significant escalation in the Biden administration’s policy against Israel, marking the first time the U.S. has imposed sanctions on Israeli citizens for actions taken in Israel, which should have been addressed by Israel’s legal authorities.

    …

    <b>Unlike countries like North Korea, Russia or Iran, the Israeli banking system sees itself as committed to international sanction regimes</b> and does not want to be perceived as aiding in the violation of international sanctions. The concern is that anyone who assists someone subject to sanctions may themselves be considered a violator of the sanctions. The consequences for a bank considered to be violating sanctions can be disastrous, such as being cut off from the international payment system.

    <b>Therefore, immediately after the imposition of sanctions, Israeli banks began to freeze the bank accounts of the settlers targeted by the sanctions.</b> Right-wing ministers in the government, led by Finance Minister Zalman Shoval, protested vehemently, with Shoval even attempting to prevent the move and engaging in discussions with the banking supervisor at the Bank of Israel. However, the Bank of Israel issued a clear statement endorsing the Israeli banks’ policy of enforcing U.S. sanctions on Israeli citizens.

    This was also the position of the government’s legal advisor in a legal proceeding concerning a bank’s refusal to transfer a donation from billionaire Roman Abramovich to an organization dealing with search and rescue. In that case, the district court ruled against the bank and the government’s legal advisor, and now the matter is being clarified in the Supreme Court.

    In this way, with the assistance of Israeli banks, without any explicit Israeli legislation, and without the Israeli legal system conducting a fair trial or imposing punishment, the Biden administration managed to inflict severe and painful economic punishment on those Israelis included in the sanctions order. Washington, with the help of Israeli banks, has become the enforcer of the law in the West Bank.

    https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hkmaa1gip

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