by Michael DePaoli 

WORLD NEWS: Because the United States is outnumbered and outeducated, and if we nuked them all we would kill ourselves.

UKRAINE

There has been an uptick in hostilities in eastern Ukraine. In a nutshell, the Kiev government troops are attacking the rebels (liberating the people?) in and around the town of Adviivka, where the people are being used as pawns in a conflict that has the potential to spark an International war. You should note the existence of the Donetsk People’s Republic, which is a self-proclaimed country inside Ukraine, where the rebels and terrorists (heroes and patriots, depending upon whose side you might be standing) are apparently being supported by Russia with both humanitarian and military aid. According to some reports, a few dozen people were killed over the last few days, and the conflict does not appear to have an end in sight.

DIAOYU ISLANDS

For most of us in the USA, these islands (also called the Senkaku Islands) are insignificant. They are located fairly close to Taiwan, and not too far from China. Traditionally, the islands belonged to China, but were conquered by Japan in 1895 (the First Sino-Japanese War). Then, the USA (and USSR) conquered Japan in (Ed. Note: SPOILER ALERT!) World War II, which meant the Diaoyu Islands were administered by the US military. In 1972 the USA returned these islands to Japan (ignoring that Japan had stolen the islands from China). This is all news now because China wants the islands back, Japan wants to keep the islands, and the USA Defense Secretary James Mattis just sided with Japan on this dispute on his recent visit to Japan.

IRAN

The USA wrestling team that was scheduled to compete in the International World Cup Freestyle Competition on February 16-17, 2017 has been banned by Iran. Although talks are apparently continuing behind the scenes, it appears that the USA Wrestlers have been forced to suffer for Trump’s politics of exclusion. This move to ban the wrestlers comes after Trump banned travelers from Iran, and after Trump tweeted that Iran is “playing with fire.” Apparently, Iran is not going to back down (like the Democrats in Congress apparently want to do). (Ed. Note: It’s almost as if Iran’s government pulled a reversal on Trump’s move, which if I knew something about wrestling, I could tell you how many points that’s worth).

Michael DePaoli is the author of the NSFW ebook: Invective (A Polemic About The American Islam Thing, In Defense Of Ben Affleck, Because Our Government Is Supposed To Be A Government Contract)