saxitoxin wrote:With thousands of his soldiers dying every week, Zelenskyy took time for a Vogue photoshoot.
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and pukin' putin, dying of (likely) monkey pox (or cancer or Parkinson's) , goes to Teheran. Your Point?
“Russia turning to Iran for the help speaks volumes about the degree to which both nations, for their actions into different areas of the world, have been increasingly isolated by the international community,” the National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications John Kirby told CNN last week.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/19/middleeast/putin-iran-visit-russia-ukraine-intl/index.htmlSmoke hangs low over Europe’s skies. Most rises from pulverised Ukrainian cities, ruined by Russian artillery. Some, however, emanates from the ceaseless swirl of rumours about Vladimir Putin’s health. If there is smoke, does fire necessarily follow? What is gained by speculating about the dictator’s health? What might his wellbeing say about his decision to invade Ukraine and subsequent conduct of war? And what might it reveal about our own beliefs?
Today’s whispers have two sources.
The first is Putin’s dramatically changed appearance. As recently as five years ago, his face was lean and ruddy: past its best, but still passable for the staging of photos that depicted his impeccable machismo. Photos from this year tell a different story: Putin’s face is now grotesquely bloated.
The second is a meeting between the Russian leader and his Defence Minister, Sergey Shoigu, on 21 April. The footage, which has been analysed as though it were a lost Zapruder tape, appears to show Putin gripping the table in an apparent attempt to remain upright.
Some believe Putin’s physical transformation is the result of an overzealous commitment to fillers or botox, perhaps inspired by his friend Silvio Berlusconi. Others contend that it is simply the normal ageing process of a man now nudging 70. But undoubtedly the loudest voices belong to those who believe Putin is seriously ill.
According to an exclusive report in Newsweek, American intelligence has concluded that Putin was treated for “advanced cancer” in April. His health is apparently the subject of active discussion inside the Biden administration. Students of the Shoigu meeting are convinced Putin has Parkinson’s Disease. An anonymous FSB officer has claimed that Putin has been diagnosed with an aggressive liver cancer and has just three years to live. Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov, meanwhile, has trumped them all, asserting that Putin in fact has several serious illnesses. So loud have the whispers become that Shoigu himself recently denied them.
Many claim that Putin’s decision to invade was itself a sign of illness. Barely 100 days old, the war has come at such a catastrophic price – in blood, treasure and prestige – that surely it could only have been the product of an ailing mind, or one which no longer cares about the future? Perhaps. But the Kremlin’s strategic blunders are much better explained by the fact that Putin has built a regime where frank and fearless advice is a career-limiting move, and toadies get ahead.
https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/vladimir-putin-sickWhat Did the saxi Know, and When Did He Know It?