Barrons claimed that the British armed forces “are smaller and less ready to fight than at any time in living memory.” He also warned that the UK Army is on course to slip below 76,000 troops. However, even these service members often do not receive adequate training, Barrons noted.

Barrons added that the Royal Navy and Air Force are “in better shape” and boast some “outstanding modern equipment,” but cautioned that without experienced personnel, ammunition, and spare parts they might turn out to be just a “glittering shop window” without much to show for it on the actual battlefield.

Mr Zelenskyy ...will now receive Abrams tanks from the United States Army — some 31 of them as we understand it. He will likewise receive some number of Leopard 2 tanks from Germany and Challenger 2 tanks from Great Britain. We hazard most will end their service lives in junk heaps, wrecked or as trophies of war in Russian military museums.

But then what? Up the escalation ladder we go… It is quite possible the United States and its NATO understrappers will dispatch airplanes to Ukraine. There is already talk of F-16 shipments. Our spies inform us that Russia boasts the most formidable integrated air defense systems on Earth. They maintain very close watch over Ukraine’s airspace and will not be easily subdued.

Come we now to the next question: What happens should this initial aerial campaign fail to turn the wartide in Ukraine’s favor? Again we speculate… Out Comes the Heavy Stuff. Out will come the sharpest and shiniest swords in the American armamentarium — F’s 22 and 35… B’s 1, 2 and 52. The latter are “strategic” bombers capable of delivering a monstrous pummeling to those beneath them.

The question then becomes… how does Mr Putin respond? Does he sit idly upon his hands while heavy American bombers let go tons and tons of ordinance upon his men? By all appearances he is a very determined and resolute fellow. He will no more vacate Ukraine than the United States will vacate the NATO alliance.

Can You Trust the Western Media? Incidentally, our spies notify us — strongly against Western claims — that Mr Putin enjoys fantastic domestic support. The people of Russia are largely with him. They have seen videos of Ukrainians executing disarmed Russian war prisoners, for example, and are hot for vengeance. Our spies further report that Russian arms factories are going night and day, producing arms and ammunition in prodigious quantities. This too defies Western reports that Russia is running out.

Meantime, Russia is shooting off perhaps 60,000 artillery shells per day. Ukraine is fortunate, we understand, if it can shoot 6,000 back the other way. We must therefore conclude that war’s grim calculus leans strongly toward Russia.

Answers Please!!! How does this Putin fellow react if his men in Ukraine start absorbing a true licking? Do Senators Graham and Blumenthal have the answer? If they do, we request — and request loudly — that they share it. We would remind them both that Mr Putin’s Russia houses loads of nuclear toys. We would further remind them that a cornered beast is a dangerous beast. They nonetheless appear determined to back the Russian beast into a very tight corner.

We suspect Mr Putin is ticketed for a very hot place once he pays his debt to nature. If the senators have their way, that day is near. Are you, senators, prepared to follow him? And are you prepared to drag millions along with you? Answers please, gentlemen — and soon.

Actually, the opposite is true. The Russian campaign is not failing (it has been on hold for several months awaiting the right conditions to launch a winter offensive). You just don’t hear about it in the mainstream media, which is essentially a propaganda outlet for Ukraine. And the party most likely to use nuclear weapons first is the US in order to save face and destabilize Russia once Ukraine is on the brink of collapse.

When Does a War Officially Begin? It’s Complicated. When did World War I begin? There were many precursors including the Agadir Crisis in Morocco (1911), the Italian-Turkish War (1911–12) and the Balkan Wars (1912–1913). Clearly, the First World War was in a countdown phase as early as 1911.

More specifically, did World War I begin with the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28, 1914? The Austria-Hungary declaration of war on Serbia on July 28, 1914? Germany’s declaration of war on Russia on August 1, 1914? The end of World War I was also a muddle. Most students recite November 11, 1918, as the day the war ended. That’s not quite right. That is the day an armistice was signed and the shooting stopped. But an armistice is a ceasefire, not a peace treaty. The actual Versailles Treaty that ended the war was signed on June 28, 1919.

There’s nothing new about blurry lines on when wars begin and end. The Korean War stopped with an armistice signed on July 27, 1953, but it’s still technically not over; there has never been a peace treaty.

Of course, the European and Pacific theaters of World War II were different and geographically separated, but it is at least arguable that World War II began in China in 1931 or 1937 at the latest. I lean to that view personally.

And let’s not ignore the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) in which Germany bombed Guernica, Russia financed the Popular Front and mercenaries formed the International Brigades, including the American Abraham Lincoln Brigade. The spectacle of the US and Russia fighting Germany on Spanish soil was a neat preview of World War II.

The influx of foreign fighters to the war in Ukraine offers a modern parallel. The first point is the number of nations directly involved. It’s nonsense to say that NATO members are cheering on Ukraine from the sidelines. Those countries are directly involved in supplying weapons, intelligence, money, ammunition and boots on the ground.

Russia has been no slouch when it comes to enlisting allies and mercenaries. The Wagner Group, a privately owned mercenary army, has been on the front lines near Soledar and Bakhmut. Russia is getting drones from Turkey and Iran. Fighters are arriving from Syria. China is providing financial support and offering technology that helps Russia to build its weapons and continue its missile attacks.

The countries now directly involved in the war in Ukraine with weapons, money, intelligence, mercenaries or financial sanctions include the US, the UK, Germany, France, Poland, Lithuania, Canada, Australia, Ukraine, Russia, China, Syria, Iran, Turkey, Japan, Romania, Belarus and Moldova. These countries span four continents. The economic ramifications are global. If this is not a world war, it’s not clear what is.

The Third World War is here. It may be at the 1937 stage rather than the 1941 stage. Let’s hope that status prevails. It likely will not. The danger of escalation to a nuclear exchange is real and growing. Will anyone stop it before it’s too late?

“We’ve got more problems in our military right now because of the leadership, because of the wokeness that they’re teaching – the CRT, the things that our kids shouldn’t be taught,” he said. “As I tell in hearings – one of the first things I always tell General [Mark] Milley of the joint chiefs of staff and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin – guys, you’re not here to educate people on social issues. You’re here to build a killing machine. We have to protect our country. We have to protect our allies. That is not their number one agenda for some reason. They want to bring all this woke teaching to our military.”

I’ve never seen us in such turmoil in terms of the Middle East now, with Israel shooting missiles in Iran, of course, Ukraine and Russia. I mean, we are teetering on the brink of World War III. And then you’ve got China over laughing, just going what day are we going into Taiwan? And when that happens, it won’t just be us. Japan is going to jump into that. Australia is going to jump into that. And we’ve got an administration here that is worried about climate. Their number one focus is on this climate hoax that we got. And everybody worries about our environment. That should be number 25th on the list.”

“Is the French president really sure that supplying the Kiev regime with arms, heavy weapons and aircraft for combat operations will not escalate the situation?” she asked. “I refuse to believe that a grown man can have such logic.”

“Such statements only increase the already irrepressible appetite of Zelensky’s regime, which, by shelling hospitals and massacring civilians, has clearly demonstrated that Western military injections — how did Mr Macron put it? — will not lead to an escalation of the conflict. Well, of course, they ‘give’ peace. Obviously these planes are going to be used to drop cookies and candy,” she added sarcastically.

Trump then talked about how he got along with world leaders like North Korea’s Kim Jong-un or the leader of the Taliban.

Trump said: “We’re going to make America great again. And we are going to do it. First, we have to make America safe again. It’s not safe. We don’t have a safe country anymore. You know, in Afghanistan, I was very tough on Afghanistan. I spoke to the leader, Abdul. The fake news went crazy; “Why would you call the Taliban?” — because that’s where, remember Jesse James, “why do you rob the banks?” He said, “that’s where the money is.”

Why do you call the leaders of the Taliban? That’s where the problem was, right? And Abdul and I got along very nicely. They hate when I say that I got along with Kim Jong-un very nicely. Isn’t that good that I get along with him, right?”

Trump then warned that Biden’s leadership could drag America into a third world war with North Korea, Russia, and other global powers.

But there’s one key country that won’t benefit from China’s world-leading solar panel exports: The United States. And that’s entirely because of sanctions that Washington imposed on Chinese solar panels and the outright ban on solar energy components from China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region over forced labor allegations. The US has yet to provide one shred of concrete evidence to back up its human rights scare campaign in Xinjiang – and the majority of the international community, including every major Muslim country, hasn’t bought into it.

In effect, the US is stifling its own green energy development through self-imposed roadblocks, eg the sanctions against Chinese solar panels and polysilicon, and casting serious doubts about whether or not Washington could ever reach its own carbon neutrality goals. The US has, through these sanctions, blocked itself from major global supply chains in the solar industry – and it is highly doubtful that domestic manufacturing could ever compensate for this loss.

One of those leading charge against this obvious price-gouging has been Independent US Senator Bernie Sanders who notes – in addition to the fact that US taxpayers bankrolled the entire research and development of the vaccine to the tune of $1.7 billion and guaranteed billions of dollars in sales figures across the world – is the fact that it only costs $2.85 to produce a single dose.

It shows the unbridled greed of Big Pharma and the US capitalist class in general, who are willing to price out poor and working-class Americans from a potentially life-saving drug.

The clinic will provide free religious medication abortion care to women in the state. The Satanic Temple announces the launch of its first reproductive health clinic, which will provide free religious medication abortion care in New Mexico. TST Health, The Satanic Temple’s religious medical services arm, will provide telehealth screenings and appointments and prescribe abortion medication for its patients.

The Satanic Temple hopes to expand operations into other states, including those that do not allow clinicians to perform abortions. “TST is proud to expand reproductive options for our members. This is just the beginning,” said Erin Helian, Executive Director of Campaigns. “We will remain steadfast as we continue the fight to uphold reproductive justice in the United States.” The Satanic Temple has argued its abortion ritual is exempt from restrictions and bans because the procedure is an essential part of religious practice.

Downing Street warned Brits the strike would cause “significant disruption”. Thousands of schools have been closed – around 85 per cent of schools in England and Wales are said to be affected – and most trains in England have stopped running.

British nurses are on strike over pay, testing a health care system in crisis. “Walkout Wednesday,” is how the Daily Mail described the strikes, calling it a “general strike in all but name.” The Sun tabloid dubbed the disruption “Lockdown 2023.” It’s not just garbage men. There are university professors, doctors, firefighters, ambulance drivers, everyone is on strike, much more reach of the economy.

This new network will also let Israel double the amount of water it sells to neighbouring Jordan under a broader water-for-energy deal forged through a working, though often fractious, relationship. The Sea of Galilee, whose waters Christians believe Jesus walked upon, is Israel's main reservoir and a big tourist draw. Hotels and campsites line the perimeter encircled by lush hills. It feeds the Jordan River that flows south to the Dead Sea.

The refill system may be used more frequently with water exports to Jordan on the rise, he said. It can raise the lake's level by half a metre each year, according to Mekorot. Water was a major component in the peace treaty the neighbours signed in 1994. The arrangement was for Israel to supply Jordan with 50 million cubic meters of drinkable water a year. That was doubled in late 2021.

He repeats the Western propaganda meme that Russian is sending untrained conscripts to the front but then, based on his personal observation, bluntly states that Ukraine is sending 60 year old, untrained, ill-equipped conscripts (ie, guys grabbed off the street) into the meat grinder.

He tries to put a gloss on Ukraine’s prospects for victory, but when you listen to him tick off the corruption, the poor leadership, the lack of supplies, incompetent commanders and stupid battle tactics a clear picture of a Ukrainian Army on the brink of destruction emerges.

“The average person in the UK consumes more than half of their daily energy intake from ultra-processed foods. This is exceptionally high and concerning as ultra-processed foods are produced with industrially derived ingredients and often use food additives to adjust color, flavor, consistency, texture, or extend shelf life,” says study first author Dr Kiara Chang from Imperial College London’s School of Public Health in a media release.

“Our bodies may not react the same way to these ultra-processed ingredients and additives as they do to fresh and nutritious minimally processed foods. However, ultra-processed foods are everywhere and highly marketed with cheap price and attractive packaging to promote consumption. This shows our food environment needs urgent reform to protect the population from ultra-processed foods.”

Still, nearly a year since the invasion began, Russia is still regarded by many as a formidable military power and a dire threat, not only to Ukraine itself but also to Europe as a whole. This continues to be the predominant lesson drawn from the Russian military’s decision to invade what is — the European part of Russia aside — Europe’s largest country in land area and one of its most populous.

Driving this widespread assumption is the misguided notion that Europe is simply incapable of defending itself without the help of the United States and that in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine the US military presence has to be beefed up — which it has. This belief is pervasive in the corridors of power in Washington and Europe and was reiterated most recently by Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin in December.

Today, however, this view is flat-out wrong. Consider some of the standard metrics used to compare countries’ military potential: GDP, population, defense spending, and level of technological advancement. They all show that Russia is far weaker than the 27-member European Union and that the balance of potential power indisputably favors Europe. At no point since the end of the Cold War has Russia’s economy amounted to more than 15 percent of Europe’s GDP — in 2021, Russia’s $1.8 trillion GDP was a fraction of the European Union’s $17 trillion.

When it comes to technology, Russia ranks 44th on the list of the world’s most technologically advanced countries, and as tech-savvy Russians leave the country to escape the military draft, it wouldn’t be surprising if its ranking has dropped further. Russia has one-third the population of the EU — and within that population, a sizable chunk of the working-age Russian men who haven’t fled are being conscripted and killed at the front.

The US-European security relationship has therefore become progressively divorced from reality. If it is to change, what Europe needs is not more resources but greater political will and self-confidence. Washington, for its part, must jettison the axiom that it has no choice but to serve as Europe’s perpetual protector par excellence. These changes will take time — but they can begin now.