#the bellicose proxy

[dynamoe]

My friend gave me this two months ago so I could hear the commentaries but I only just am listening to them now

The Rosey Grier Needlepoint for Men insert is the best visual reference in the season and why I finally busted out this DVD (to take a screencap for a friend who brought it up in conversation)

even the interior pages in the reverse angle? too much!

What can I learn from these commentaries and how can I use this canonical information? Let's semi-live blog...

Season 7 redesigned Billy is so ugly. I hate it... but he looks OK in some shots because the animators can't keep him consistent looking.

I'm glad the commentary calls out the very Robert Ludlum-y title construction theme they had most of the season.

--

Billy calls himself a neurogeneticist in Curse of the Haunted Problem (S07E01) which he hasn't since Are You There God? (S01E09). Where's this neurogeneticisizing happening, huh? Off camera? When do you have the time? Billy, admit you're a part-time surgeon AT BEST.

In (S07E03) Arrears in Science, Jonashead also calls Billy a neurogeneticist while requesting Billy perform surgery. Which a surgeon does, not a geneticist.

Commentary: "White, perpetual victim" "He hides during violent scenes. He's always hiding behind things." There was a scene cut that would have explained his decline into a sweaty wifebeater axe-wielding state. Jackson calls Pete's outfit a "Milli Vanilli jacket." Pete doesn't do much of anything else for the rest of the season.

Despite being the focus of The Bellicose Proxy (S07E06), neither Billy nor White have very many lines in it.

The rooftop tennis court where St. Cloud rehearses with Monarch/21— I remember seeing it from NY classroom windows but according to Doc H's commentary, it's been demolished since the episode came out

That red paintball paint would permanently stain White's jacket. Missed opportunity that it wasn't stained through the rest of the episode but it sounds this episode was a nightmare to animate as is.

Billy is way too small inside the Delta Boy/Diet Pepsi space suit. He loses like a foot of height. Was it intentional? (His height & head size is all over the place in these episodes.)

Commentary: Somewhere, there's audio a very long riff of the two ad-libbing as White/Billy describing their imagined beat down of St. Cloud. And 30 minutes of Billy riffing inside the cloud of laughing gas which Doc argued would be a great episode, even with no animation on screen. (I agree, but I'm an outlier.)

Commentary: I hadn't picked up that Killer Drone was supposed to look like a '60s Japanese sentai hero/villain, according to Doc H. (Like that would fight Ultraman or Kamen Rider, I guess.) but I see it.

Commentary: Neither of them knew the name of the Grumman Moon Suit but "The one from Life Magazine," is a pretty accurate epithet.

They didn't know the name of the Avrocar either. (The real Moon Suit prototype was 8 feet tall! A big-ass Diet Pepsi!)

---

The Forecast Manufacturer (S07E09) has too much shitting information in it. (I don't need this kind of canon, guys.)

Coffee gives Billy diarrhea. Already used that "fun fact" in this chapter.

Billy went to summer camp (where he couldn't shit) at some point.

Billy needs to read to have a shit (don't want to know this.)

What does he have to do? Bleed for you? His rectum is probably bleeding right now. (ugh)

Rusty: "Do you shave your chest?" line strikes me as coming out of nowhere. Even though Billy has stripped off in loads of episodes, this is the first time he's kickin' it underpants-only-style in front of Rusty. (Nice soft-edged blush on Billy's face here. He's less ugly in-episode than on his model sheet for this episode.)

Commentary: Jackson mentions Billy painting the rest of his arm to look like a full robot. Doc describes Billy having a latex hand cover he doesn't wear because it makes his hand look too big and bloated (I wrote Billy testing a synthetic hand cover in future chapter, now have to rewrite it so it doesn't seem like a ripoff)

The Inamorata Consequence (S07E05)

"White, perpetual victim" "He hides during violent scenes. He's always hiding behind things."

Helper kicked Billy into the pool and Hank filmed it with his watch.

None of these other episodes have Billy or White so I've lost interest.

[yahoo201027]

Now: Naruto Shippuden

Next: My Hero Academia

Later: The Venture Bros

[supersecretventureblog]

The Bellicose Proxy - White Screenshots (mostly)

[powderbluenissanstanza]

Finally watched Bellicose Proxy. I can't believe they nerfed St. Cloud like that. "Oh no his epic autistic transmasculine swagger is too powerful. Let's make him pee his pants and talk about his rubber underwear." What happened to "eat the pennies?"

[xtruss]

Political Prostitute Nikki Haley's 2024 Bid: Could 'Mike Pompeo in a Skirt' Win Hearts and Minds of GOP Voters?

© AP Photo/Seth Wenig

Former South Carolina Republican Gov. Nikki Haley announced her 2024 presidential bid on February 14. She is seen as a major competitor to challenge former President Donald Trump for the GOP nomination.

"I think [Nikki Haley has] got a shot," Dan Eberhart, a major GOP donor and CEO of Canary, one of the largest privately-owned oilfield services companies in the United States, told Sputnik. "She's a credible person and she's accomplished a lot. Haley's never lost a race. I think merging being UN ambassador and being governor of a Southern state, while being a female and an Indian-American is a very poignant resume. She's certainly a credible entrant into the race, but in terms of who's ultimately victorious, I doubt that her star has the proper mass to get her there."

On Tuesday, Haley released a video in which she announced her decision to toss her hat into the ring in 2024.

“The Washington establishment has failed us over and over and over again. It’s time for a new generation of leadership to rediscover fiscal responsibility, secure our border and strengthen our country, our pride and our purpose,” Haley said in the video.

Notably, back in 2021, Haley made it clear to the US mainstream press that she would not run if Donald Trump opted to seek another term in the White House. Still, American reporters noted that the former president, who announced his bid in 2022, appears to have given her his blessing. Trump said that Haley had informed him about her decision to launch a campaign and he had responded: "You should do it."

"I think she's an opportunist," Eberhart suggested. "And I think we will see that clip a couple of hundred times between now and her getting out of the race. Trump has been president before, so if he loses in the primary, it's a big loss that will finish him. Whereas I think Haley can come in third and potentially be vice president, a Cabinet position, or be well positioned to run for statewide office in South Carolina in the future. For Trump I just think the bar is higher."

Ex-South Carolina Governor, Former Trump Toady, Neocon Darling: 2024 Candidate Political Prostitute Nikki Haley

Neoconservative Stance

So, which wing of the Republican Party precisely does Nikki Haley belong to? Sputnik's interlocutors believe that her political standing could be described as "neoconservative."

"My friend and client, Roger Stone, has an interesting way of putting it. He says that basically Nikki Haley is Mike Pompeo or John Bolton in a skirt," Tyler Nixon, political analyst and attorney for Donald Trump’s former campaign advisor Roger Stone, told Sputnik. "She is aligned with them very much in terms of her natural political allegiances. She does represent the old guard because she comes out of a state in which she was promoted through the ranks, she has adopted, she has not certainly been a firebrand in any way to distinguish herself, as many emerging leaders in the party have."

Nixon went on to suggest that Haley is "very close to Lindsey Graham, who is an extremely hawkish and an aggressive neoconservative." He specified, however, that he would say that neoconservatives are neither "neo" nor "conservative."

"That's just a term that was applied to them. They are essentially internationalists, globalists. They are interventionists and they believe in militarism or military interventionism," the attorney clarified.

When it comes to foreign policy, Haley is "extremely pro-Israel," and, thus, anti-Iran, according to Nixon. She also belongs to the Republican wing that promotes a very muscular foreign policy in the Middle East and wants Syrian President Bashar al-Assad out. Their bellicose stance is not surprising, given that a lot of hawkish Republicans have stakes in the defense industry, according to the political analyst.

"[Haley is] very supportive of Ukraine and using Ukraine as a proxy to weaken Russia, which obviously is a very neoconservative oriented policy," Nixon continued. "Her criticism of Trump a few t times, even while she was in the UN [was] for not being muscular enough or not being aggressive enough towards upsetting Russia."

Interestingly, despite holding diplomatic positions, Haley cannot be called very diplomatic, according to the attorney. On the contrary, she preferred lecturing and making demands. She had no scruples about calling out countries "that failed to endorse the US." However, he does not think that it will affect how Haley is perceived domestically in the run for president.

Haley: 'Non-Abrasive Fighter'

In the eyes of Republican voters, Haley and Trump agree on most domestic policy terms, according to Sputnik's interlocutors. Haley even subjected the US establishment to criticism in her Tuesday announcement akin to the former president.

"The first difference with Trump, as will be true for most Republican candidates, is her style," Timothy Hagle, a political science professor at the University of Iowa, told Sputnik. "Trump's style was blunt and aggressive. That appealed to a lot of voters who were tired of political double talk. This was especially true of many Republicans who were tired of candidates who did not seem willing to take the fight to Democrats (e.g., [Bob] Dole, [John] McCain, [Mitt] Romney). That his style was sometimes too abrasive was overlooked by many at the time. Now, however, voters may be looking for someone who is still a fighter, but without being abrasive about it. Haley would fit that difference."

Hagle has also drawn attention to the fact that Haley raised the issue of "a generational change" in her video. According to him, that was a polite way of saying that some candidates, meaning Trump and US President Joe Biden, are too old at this point.

"Trump is certainly very vigorous, but styles, preferences, and approaches change and what worked before may not work again," the political scientist remarked. "If Haley can make that point without angering Trump supporters she might make some headway."

At the same time, Hagle believes that Haley's presidential ambition is a longshot, given that many Republicans still support Trump or consider Florida Governor Ron DeSantis a better alternative.

"It's still possible that if Trump isn't able to generate the same enthusiasm for his candidacy and if DeSantis isn't able to extend his appeal nationally, then others, including Haley, might have a shot," the political scientist assumed.

However, it is far more likely that if Haley raises her national profile, she might be someone to consider as a vice presidential candidate or member of the Cabinet, should a Republican win in 2024, he underscored. When it comes to GOP donors, they could truly hail her, given that she is not as aggressive and "abrasive" as Donald Trump, according to Hagle.

Nonetheless, Haley still needs "to articulate her specific views (as opposed to those of Trump given that she was part of his administration)." And if she is inclined to pursue an interventionist agenda, she needs to explain to US voters "why that's important and why it won't necessarily lead to another extended war," the political scientist remarked.

"She will still need to show that she's a fighter if she plans to convince a lot of Republicans to support her. Now that Republicans have experienced someone who fights they won't want to go back to the likes of Dole, Romney, and McCain," Hagle concluded.

— Ekaterina Blinova | Sputnik International | February 15, 2023

[memoriesofachicken]

undefined

St. Cloud is in for the whooping of his lifetime.

[ladyofdecember]

Were we this bad when we first started?

Rusty to Brock watching White and Billy fight their archenemy

[gothdean]

[spockvarietyhour]

That’s Blue Thunder! Roy Scheider flew that!

[morphofan]

From the Preview of Episode 6, “ The Bellicose Proxy .“  I just love how beautiful Monarch’s hands look in this shot for some reason. He always has on either the blue Morpho gloves or the black Zentai so we don’t get to see his hands that often.

[taibobo]

I miss venture bros sm. Ue ue ue ue 

[theorderofthetriad]

What's your favorite Venture Bros episode and why is it The Bellicose Proxy?

[multiversecarnavep]

10 Reasons To Love Pokémon

02:23

Dr. Mrs. The MonarchThe Venture Bros. characterFirst appearance

"The Terrible Secret of Turtle Bay"Last appearance

"The Saphrax Protocol"

Dr. Mrs. The Monarch (real name: Sheila, born 1969 or 1970) is the secondary antagonist of The Venture Bros. She was the professional sexy partner of her supervillain husband, The Monarch, and is now his boss since joining the Council of 13. Throughout the first two seasons she was known as Dr. Girlfriend, but she is now referred to as Dr. Mrs. The Monarch.

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Dr. Mrs. The Monarch is voiced by Doc Hammer, though she was voiced by Jackson Publick in her first appearance, "The Terrible Secret of Turtle Bay", albeit as a cameo.

Background

As a young woman, Sheila attended State University and was a student of Professor Fantomas. She has a doctorate in an unnamed field, and appears proficient in mechanics and general sciences, as evidenced by her having built the Monarch's first pair of functional wings, his ill-conceived "sunshine gun", and several tracking devices used for her own purposes.

Sheila later became the super-villain known as Lady Au Pair before serving as the second-in-command to many different super-villains over the years under several names. She soon went on to work for Phantom Limb under the name Queen Etherea, at which point she first met the Monarch. After falling in love with the Monarch, she abandoned working for Phantom Limb and went on to serve as the Monarch's second-in-command, Dr. Girlfriend.

Dr. Mrs. The Monarch with her husband, the MonarchAt the start of the series, Dr. Girlfriend’s relationship with the Monarch had begun to suffer due to his vendetta against the Venture family. In hopes of trying to bridge the gap between the two sides, she convinces the Monarch to reach out to Hank and Dean Venture as a friend when Monarch confides that Dr. Venture emotionally neglects his children. Despite her efforts, the Monarch continues his vendetta against the Ventures throughout the first season, until their breakup in "The Trial of the Monarch".

In season 2, Doctor Girlfriend had gone back to working with her former lover Phantom Limb, going by Queen Etherea again. However, Phantom Limb's pompousness grated on her and she reunited with The Monarch, whom she married in "Showdown At Cremation Creek".

In the Season 3, she and her husband move into Phantom Limb's former home in the local villain community of Malice.

In the Season 4, Dr. Mrs. The Monarch continues to aid her husband. During this time she forms a friendship with Henchman 21 which leads to a kiss between them in "Assisted Suicide". It turns out in "Operation P.R.O.M." that the kiss meant nothing to her, which was a contributing factor to 21 officially breaking away from them.

In the season 5 finale, she, her husband and their sole henchman 21 (who returned to their ranks) move into the Monarch's old family home in New Jersey because Sergeant Hatred accidentally destroyed the Cocoon and their house in Malice. She is later offered a position as a member of The Council of 13, which she accepts. In "All This and Gargantua-2", The Sovereign arranges the deaths of most of the council when they refuse to participate in his plans to attack the space station Gargantua 2. She is one of the few survivors of this attack, and confronts the Sovereign in his home and asks him not to destroy Gargantua-2 because her husband is there. The Sovereign begins a self-destruct sequence at his lair, where Dr. Mrs. The Monarch is restrained and unable to free herself, but Watch and Ward arrive in time to launch the built-in escape pod (always installed right after a self-destruction button), and they escape to Meteor Majeure (saving The Monarch and 21 on the way) where Dr. Henry Killinger announces his plans to create a new council.

During Season 6, Dr. Mrs. The Monarch becomes a part of the new The Council of 13, which plans to reshape The Guild of Calamitous Intent which had suffered as a result of the previous leader's actions. During this time, she meets the villain Wide Wale, to whom she offers a position on the council and who demands that The Guild give all arching rights to Dr. Thaddeus "Rusty" Venture to him. Later on, she and the council are forced to deal with a vigilante who takes on the identity of the famous superhero (who may have been a bad guy) The Blue Morpho, who was, unbeknownst to her, her father-in-law). She and The Council later (incorrectly) believe that the new Blue Morpho is secretly Dr. Venture when in fact he is really The Monarch.

Later on, when a villain named The Wandering Spider arching Venture goes missing she and the other council members spot Dr. Venture dressed up like the Blue Morpho, which confirms their suspicions. At Wide Wale's urging, she is given a sniper rifle to shoot Venture to avenge their fallen comrades. At first, she hesitates, but finally takes the shot. However, because the Blue Morpho's jacket has a bulletproof lining, Venture survives. Dr. Mrs. The Monarch checks her phone and finds two messages: one from Wandering Spider telling her that The Blue Morpho is holding him hostage and the other from her husband torturing his new arch, Dr. Heinie, both of which occurred while they were observing (and shooting) Dr. Venture. When it seems clear that Venture was not The Blue Morpho, she reprimands the Council for pushing her to perform a pointless act of violence.

Dr. Mrs. The Monarch and her colleagues then form a truce with the OSI, and set up a trap for The Blue Morpho in which some of the OSI and villains disguise themselves as the Ventures to fight against Dr. Venture's current nemesis Red Death. When The Blue Morpho doesn't show up, Dr. Mrs. The Monarch leaves. Furious that the vigilante didn't appear, she resolves to track down and kill the man herself.

Her vow to track down and slay the Blue Morpho ultimately comes to naught, for Henchman 21 eventually divulges to her that the Monarch is the true killer and was being held by Wide Wale before asking for her help. She enlists Red Death's help (in return for a promise of a Guild Council seat without killing her husband) to break into Dummy Corp and find the location of Douglas Ong, aka Dr, Dugong, Wide Wale's brother. Dr. Dugong, was hiding under OSI protection because his brother Wide Wale was a supervillain. Dugong is reunited with Wale, who believed his brother dead at the Monarch's hands, and the Monarch escapes murder. Furthermore, the original Blue Morpho, Vendata, resurfaces and is slain in an entirely unrelated incident. Following his death, the original Blue Morpho is blamed for all the Guild villain murders, and the Monarch is freed of any suspicion. Dr. Mrs. The Monarch learns that the original Blue Morpho's was the Monarch's father.

In "The Inamorata Consequence", Dr. Mrs. The Monarch and some other Guild representatives meet with the OSI at the Treaty of Tolerance Summit II to renew the agreement on organized aggression. During the negotiations, Dr. Mrs. The Monarch maintains a somewhat more civil disposition than most of the Guild or OSI emissaries there, but when negotiations break down into squabbling she too is sucked in. It is Dr. Venture of all people who shames both sides into coming back to the table and signing the new treaty. After the summit ends, Dr. Mrs. The Monarch learns of Guild Stranger S-464's secret tryst with Agent Kimberly McManus. Dr. Mrs. The Monarch correctly recognizes Fictel's comment of S-464 having "peepee" on his belt as in not urine but "P.P.", as in the marks of the Peril Partnership. S-464 was now uncovered as a mole.

In The Bellicose Proxy, Dr. Mrs. The Monarch, with Watch and Ward's assistance, interrogates S-464 and gains his assistance as a double agent in return for helping him regain the love of McManus. Dr. Mrs. The Monarch engineers their meeting by secretly providing a level 6 ray gun to a level 1 arching, which would engender both the Guild and the OSI to intercede. When S-464 and Dr. Mrs. The Monarch encounter McManus, the latter shows only disdain and contempt for them. She expresses that she hates S-464 for his association with the Peril Partnership, calling them scum. When Dr. Mrs. The Monarch attempts to intercede, McManus's disrespect causes Dr. Mrs. The Monarch to fly off the handle even in the face of a peaceful resolution. the Monarch and Henchman 21, who had been mentoring Augustus St. Cloud during the arching encounter, intercede and break up the fight. They apologize to both McManus and S-464 before leaving them to settle their differences. Dr. Mrs. The Monarch thanks her husband for saving her life, but the Monarch says he only saved her career as she would have taken down McManus.

In "The Terminus Mandate", the conflict with the Peril Partnership seems to be coming to a head, but Dr. Mrs. The Monarch and Red Death meet with Blind Rage to discuss a peace agreement. Blind Rage loutishly demands that kickbacks formerly paid by Wide Wale be resumed, but Dr. Mrs. The Monarch only promises she will speak about it with the Guild. The Guild Council votes and ultimately agrees (though Red Death would secretly later scuttle the agreement by attacking Blind Rage and tying him to railroad tracks. After the vote to pay off the Partnership is concluded, the task of what to do about the Council's inability to fully restore itself is brought up. Dr. Mrs. The Monarch cites the Guild Charter which allows the Council to be reformed as the Guild's governing body. However, this development would require the Council members to retire from active supervillainy and become full-time Council members. Dr. Mrs. The Monarch breaks the news to the Monarch, and he reacts tempestuously before leaving for the Monarch Cave in a huff. Henchman 21 attempts to console her by saying that the Monarch isn't the type to do anything rash, but the effort is largely unhelpful.

Before their retirement, each Councilperson is given a final arching assignment to their worst foe, and Dr. Mrs. The Monarch is set up with her old nemesis Novia. For this encounter with her rival, Dr. Mrs. The Monarch assumes her old guise of Lady Au Pair and enlists the help of 21, whom dons a Moppet costume. Despite Sheila's hesitation upon sight of Novia, 21 approaches Novia, and the encounter commences. However, it is a heartfelt and emotional one as Novia and Lady Au Pair embrace. On the way home from the encounter, Dr. Mrs. The Monarch expresses doubts to 21 about the future of her partnership with the Monarch. At 21's behest, she cuts off his ponytail as a symbol of the change he's undergone in the past year. In addition, Dr. Mrs. The Monarch presents 21 with Novia's wallet, commenting that their encounter was an arching.

When the Guild Council reconvenes, most of the present members (Wide Wale a notable exception) accept supervillainy retirement to retain their seats. But when the question is posed to Dr. Mrs. The Monarch, she hesitates. "The Terminus Mandate" ends before she gives an answer.

Later episodes seem to confirm her decision to retain her Council seat at the cost of her supervillain career. In "the Forecast Manufacturer", she is seen in Guild uniform with Dr. Z giving the Monarch and Henchman 21 orders to infiltrate the headquarters of the Creep and ultimately assassinate him. In "The Saphrax Protocol", Dr. Mrs. The Monarch participates as one of the Guild Council in the Monarch's Tenning ceremony. The Monarch at one point comments the Guild has taken away the ability to work with his wife in villainy, although they seem to still be close, judging by how Dr. Mrs. The Monarch comments how proud she is of him, calling him "sweetie".

[xtruss]

EU-NATO (North Atlantic Terrorist Organization) Unity Only Ink on Paper as Members Lose Grip, Analysts Say

© AFP 2023/John Thys

— Ekaterina Blinova | Wednesday, January 11, 2023 | Sputnik International

NATO and EU leadership signed a third joint declaration on January 10 which broadened cooperation between the two blocs and declared that they play a "complementary, coherent and mutually reinforcing role."

"NATO has been and remains in crisis – seeking to justify new missions to replace its original construct. It is currently poorly led, and highly politicized," retired Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski, a former analyst for the US Department of Defense, told Sputnik.

"Its own members are beginning to exercise their own power to reject the US and UK vision for NATO, as we see with Turkey, Hungary, even France and Italy."

Even though the European Union is an economic bloc first, it has been deepening its cooperation with the military alliance NATO since 2016 when the first joint declaration between the two was inked.

The 2016 declaration outlined seven areas of cooperation between the two: countering hybrid threats; operational cooperation including at sea and on migration; cyber security and defense; defense capabilities; defense industry and research; exercises; and supporting Eastern and Southern partners’ capacity-building efforts.

Two years later, in 2018, NATO and the EU signed a second Joint Declaration in Brussels calling for swift and demonstrable progress in implementation.

The third declaration has proclaimed Russia and China its major challenges, calling for "closer cooperation" between NATO and the EU, which appears to be losing its veneer of a merely economic union.

"NATO and the EU play complementary, coherent and mutually reinforcing roles in supporting international peace and security," the declaration stipulates. "We will further mobilize the combined set of instruments at our disposal, be they political, economic or military, to pursue our common objectives to the benefit of our one billion citizens."

NATO & EU Economies in Bad Shape

The EU has played an active role in the Ukraine crisis with High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell adopting an unusually bellicose stance since the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict. Borrell openly called to settle the conflict on the battlefield, rather than at the negotiating table, last April.

"Unquestionably [Washington and Brussels] are already indirect parties to the crisis, and in the case of Poland, they are direct parties insofar as their troops are on the battlefield," Gilbert Doctorow, an international relations and Russian affairs analyst, told Sputnik.

Kwiatkowski agrees that even though EU and US leaderships diligently emphasize that they are not going to become a party to the Ukrainian conflict in any way, both have long been indirectly involved in it.

"Most major media have even used the term proxy war for the US/NATO effort and the unprecedented financial and arms assistance to Kiev. They are already a party to the crisis, with tens of billions invested into it, and major acts of terrorism conducted by its membership, specifically concerning the Nord Stream pipeline destruction, but beyond that to assisting in the actual fighting via intelligence and operational assistance of certain weapons systems."

EU-NATO saber-rattling comes at a time when their member-states are suffering from inflation and unfolding recessions. The World Bank warned on Tuesday that the global economy is in a bad shape due to weaker growth in all the world’s top economies, i.e. the United States, Europe and China.

The organization slashed its forecast for global growth this year by nearly half, to just 1.7%, with the US and the EU growing vulnerable to further possible supply chain disruptions and the world's economic slowdown. The West's sweeping sanctions imposed on Russia last year largely contributed to galloping food and energy prices, exacerbating the already volatile economic situation.

"We have already seen that EU and US economies have suffered much more than they had expected in terms of energy costs and flows, budgetary strain, and depletion of the arsenals of EU and US with the push to provide various weapons and ammunition to Ukraine," said the former Pentagon analyst. "It is widely known that all economic sanctions generally backfire, and fail to achieve their objectives. In this case, however, we have seen an irreversible impact on US and EU trade and financial opportunities as eastern and southern hemisphere nations look to a future that is de-dollarized, and less vulnerable to American foreign policy."

We Have Had Enough: Why Western Leaders, Populations Call for Halting Money Flow to Ukraine — Criminal Thug Zelensky

Major Risks of Escalation Fanned by EU & NATO

Apart from inflicting further damage to their respective economies, western countries are also running a risk of a nuclear escalation by sending more and more weapons to Kiev, expanding NATO, and militarizing Europe, some western observers have warned.

"The chances of a big war are mildly present," said Doctorow. "Much will depend on how rationally or irrationally the US reacts to a Russian victory on the field of battle and Ukrainian capitulation."

For her part, Kwiatkowski suggested that "the only chance of a big war would be via a nuclear engagement, either false flagged, accidentally, or publicly proclaimed."

"NATO does not have the military capability, or the leadership and focus, required to conduct a long air, land and sea war over Ukraine and it does not want to," she said. "With an already weakened set of western economies, such a war is not only opposed by the people of Europe, it cannot be paid for."

According to the retired lieutenant colonel, a "big" conventional war would be short, and a nuclear conflict would of course be a very different situation: it could accelerate the end of the EU, the end of NATO, and possibly the collapse of the US government.

"I'm pretty sure EU leadership specifically is not willing to risk that, and again, I expect territorial negotiations to be conducted in the first half of 2023," she remarked.

In general, Kwiatkowski is skeptical about the unfolding EU-NATO rapprochement: "Instead of unity, in NATO and within the EU, we have the increasing pressures and complaints by member states with a real possibility that some countries may even consider exiting those organizations this year and in coming years," the retired lieutenant colonel concluded.

Vladimir Putin: Everything Must Be Done to Protect Rights, Security of New Russian Regions' Residents

© Sputnik/Grigory Sysoev/Go to the mediabank

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — It is important to do everything possible to protect the constitutional rights and security of new Russian regions' residents, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

In his congratulations to prosecutor's office employees on their professional holiday, Putin said countering extremism and corruption, protecting the rights of entrepreneurs and environmental protection remain the key areas of work.

"And, of course, it is important to assist the complex, comprehensive work to integrate new regions of Russia into the country's unified legal framework, to do everything to protect constitutional rights and security of people living here," he said.

Referendums on the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions becoming part of Russia were held on September 23-27, 2022. Most voters supported joining Russia. Putin signed relevant treaties with the territories' heads on September 30.

The Russian president added that Russia's prosecutor's office should pay special attention to the rights of the military personnel, the mobilized soldiers and volunteers participating in the ongoing special military operation.

"It is to pay special attention to respecting the rights of soldiers, mobilized ones, and volunteers. I would like to emphasize that prosecutors have all the necessary powers to effectively address these and other important tasks. I am sure you will do your best to do so," the Russian president said in his congratulatory speech to prosecutors on their professional holiday.

"I specifically draw attention to the need to strengthen oversight of the timely implementation of the state defense orders."

Putin further noted that the main aspect in the work of prosecutors is for Russians to feel that they are under the protection of the law.

Russian prosecutors celebrate their professional holiday on Thursday, January 12.

— Wednesday January 11, 2023

[starleska]

undefined

bc i'm normal i slapped a bunch of Augustus clips together to document the evolution of the 'St Cloud Drawl'...this low register he dips into earlier in the series. it starts to die out as the show goes on, and is mostly gone by The Bellicose Proxy 😂💖 seems like Christopher settled into the voice and it got progressively higher the more Augustus got Flanderised;;;