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Mark R. Stoneman

Historian, editor, and translator for hire (German to English). Longtime resident of Washington, DC, now in Conway, NH, as a caregiver (he/him).

  International Relations

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    📽️ I enjoyed “Diplomatic Courier,” dir. Henry Hathaway (20th Century Fox, 1952) this evening, available at archive.org… and youtu.be…. There were airplanes, trains, and cars from Washington to Salzburg to Trieste. One interesting twist for me: One of the leads was Hildegard Knef, who starred in the 1946 DEFA film “Die Mörder sind unter uns” (The Murderers Are Among Us).

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    I enjoy the short cartoons that @Freeonis makes about Russia’s war against Ukraine. The latest, “The Art of Ceasefire,” is no exception. youtu.be… 🇺🇦

    Animation screenshot shows Trump with arms out talking about his genius. He is wearing a Burger King crown.

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    Operator Starsky (@starskyua.bsky.social) talks with Ben Hodges about the current strategic situation in and around Ukraine. youtu.be… (19.5 min.) 🇺🇦

    #СлаваУкраїні #RussiaIsATerroristState #ПутінХуйло

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    Institute for the Study of War: “US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff uncritically amplified a number of Russian demands, claims, and justifications regarding the war in Ukraine during an interview on March 21.…” www.understandingwar.org…
    #RussiaIsATerroristState #Disinformation #СлаваУкраїні

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    The Trump administration is slashing the State Department’s annual human rights report — cutting sections about the rights of women, the disabled, the LGBTQ+ community and more.

    The goal appears to be a far thinner report that meets the minimum standards required by the law, according to documents obtained by POLITICO, as well as a current and a former State Department official who were familiar with the plan.

    – Nahal Toosi, Politico, March 19, 2025

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    Gaullism, loosely defined, long struck me as a French eccentricity that simply was. Now Trump’s and Vance’s posturing places France’s view of itself in the world and vis-à-vis U.S. defense structures in a new light. Instead of peculiar, not to mention expensive, it appears to have been prudent.

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    More animated satire by @Freeonis: “Oval Deception” (3 min.) at youtu.be…. Use the closed caption button (cc) for subtitles.🇺🇦

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    Putin Playing Trump for a Fool Again

    The 30-day partial cease fire that Putin and Trump agreed to is a one-sided joke.

    Russia probably needs relief from strikes on its energy infrastructure more than Ukraine does because the former depends on energy to finance its war. Ukraine, at least, has made it through another winter, when attacks on its energy infrastructure hurt the worst. Moreover, its air defenses seem to be more effective than Russia’s.

    The real kicker, though, are the accompanying demands and threats, which continue to assert Russia’s maximalist aim of destroying Ukrainian sovereignty by demanding it do nothing to improve its defense posture. Meanwhile, the White House and Kremlin “agreed to set up Russian and American expert groups to ‘resolve the war bilaterally,'” i.e., without Ukraine or the rest of Europe. Of course, the Kremlin issued yet another tired threat of “escalation.”

    Will the White House side with Russia again, despite the Kremlin playing Trump for a fool? It wouldn’t surprise me, given that Trump has no advisors who will tell him what he needs to hear. I hope I’m wrong.

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    The pictures of Putin in Kursk wearing military garb instead of the suit we’ve been seeing him in lately were interesting. It’s almost as if he were taking his cue from Zelensky. Or putting on a show of manliness for his friend in the White House.🤣🇺🇦

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    Ukraine has been proving the value of U.S. arms these past three years. Now Trump is using Ukraine to demonstrate the achilles heel of high-end American arms. Their effective use depends on the U.S. political system, which is proving vulnerable to malign domestic and foreign actors.

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    This is bad: “US to stop participating in future military exercises in Europe, Swedish media reports,” Kyiv Independent, March 8, 2025, kyivindependent.com. Talk of a pivot to Asia is all well and good, but who there will trust us?

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    Only Orange Choad could side with the Russian Bear and think that doing so makes him look strong. #RussoUkrainianWar #RussiaIsATerroristState #ПутінХуйло 🇺🇦

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    French Senator Claude Malhuret describes what’s happening in the United States in stark terms and explains the consequences of Frump’s traitorous behavior for Europe: youtu.be….

    #MoscovianCandidate #RussiaIsATerroristState

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    Sad, but sensible for a country in their position: “Lithuania sends ‘strategic message’ as it leaves cluster munitions convention” by Saulius Jakučionis, Lithuanian Radio and Television (LRT), www.lrt.lt/en/….

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    Conflating Business Acumen, Reality TV Stardom, Electoral Politics, and Governance

    For a so-called businessman, His Magnificent Bigly Orangeness seems to know precious little about the relative predictability that businesses need in order to make informed decisions. For reality TV or the kind of show Jerry Springer had, however, constant chaos can increase viewership. Orangeman’s style of television was successful because many people enjoyed his schtick.

    The move from television to politics was natural. As long as he didn’t have to know things or govern, he could apply the same loud-mouthed, made-for-TV nonsense to the United States as a whole. NBC having already marketed him for years, it was easy to get his fans to jump on this new bandwagon.

    His politics of unrelenting chaos, finger-pointing, scapegoating, grievance rhetoric, and race-baiting has brought him to the White House twice. But achieving such success is not the same as getting the nation’s work done. His style of politics is no way to conduct international relations or basic governance at home.

    I know that he likes to have all cameras on him, but the United States has a wealth of experienced and talented people who could do the necessary work and give him all the credit. I’m sure they could also help him produce “must watch” TV moments with himself at the center.

    Unfortunately, no people with adequate knowledge and experience are in his administration. He has purposefully insulated himself from alternative viewpoints, while cowardly and venal Republican senators enable the practice. In this way, we get a common-law presidential spouse, First Gentleman Felonious Husk, in addition to the president’s legal spouse, First Lady Trump.

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    Playing Putin’s lapdog isn’t a good look for Trump. His ass is too big for the terrorist. But he is just as uselessly loud as the most annoying small dog. Oh, what a fierce creature would the orange one be, if his master were to remove his leash. Yip! Yip! Yip! #MoscovianCandidate

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    The Kyiv Independent’s Anna Belokur packs a lot into one of the best comments I’ve seen about the Trump-Vance debacle during Zelensky’s visit this past Friday (Feb. 28). See the first eight minutes of “Ukraine this Week,” youtu.be…. 🇺🇦🇺🇸

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    If we as U.S. citizens find the resolve to oppose Orange Oaf’s foreign policy, especially with regard to Ukraine and Russia, we will help not only Ukraine against tyrants but ourselves as well. This is a transnational, existential fight for freedom and human rights. 🇺🇦🗽

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    🇺🇦 Friends of Ukraine might learn something from how the Second World War was portrayed in American movie theaters before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Britain and its friends did important publicity work to open Americans' eyes and to counter the poison of the fascist German American Bund.

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    Zelensky is 1,000 times more a man, leader, and patriot than Trump and Putin will ever be. #FuckTrump #ПутінІдиНахуй #ScrewOligarchy #СлаваУкраїні 🇺🇦✊🗽

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    Jen Psaki offers a glimmer of hope in the face of Orange & Cyberfruck’s shock and awe program. “Pushback is coming from everywhere” (not just the opposition): youtu.be….

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    Do I dare check the election news from Germany? Lots of opportunities to chip away at support for Ukraine on the left and the right.😬🇺🇦 #RussiaIsATerroristState

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    “Make Ukraine Guilty Again” – short cartoon by Freeonis, youtu.be…. Turn on closed captions for English subtitles.🇺🇦

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    'When you're famous, they let you . . .'

    “When you’re famous, they let you grab ‘em by the pussy,” bragged a choad from Queens. But in 2020–21 we didn’t let him. He lost the election and his coup too.

    Now the butthurt swine is fucking the entire country. He’s letting Musk and Putin have a go too.

    “When you’re famous, they let you do it. If they don’t, you must do it anyway. You must say it’s all their fault because they didn’t negotiate, I mean, submit.”

    “Now stop complaining, Republican senators. Say Daddy’s name like you mean it! You, too, Ukraine. You know you want it!”

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