Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Celerity
Celerity's Journal
Celerity's Journal
March 11, 2022
Emergency responders were called out to a horrifying scene in Wilton Manors, Florida, on Thursday after six young people on Spring Break overdosed on cocaine laced with fentanyl, according to officials.
Local10 reports that Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue responded to an emergency at a short-term holiday rental late Thursday afternoon and found six people suffering from overdoses.
Chief Stephen Gollan reportedly said: “There were multiple people in cardiac arrest in the front yard... Narcan was deployed as quickly as possible.”
The six were rushed to hospital, where one reportedly had to be intubated and remains in critical condition, according to Gollan. “This is extremely alarming to us,” said the chief. Wilton Manors police and the Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies have opened an investigation.
snip
https://www.local10.com/news/local/2022/03/10/6-people-overdose-in-wilton-manors-fire-rescue-confirms/
https://twitter.com/WMPD411/status/1502101881119723523
Wilton Manors, Florida: Six Spring Breakers Overdose on Cocaine Laced With Fentanyl
https://www.thedailybeast.com/wilton-manors-spring-breakers-overdose-on-cocaine-laced-with-fentanylEmergency responders were called out to a horrifying scene in Wilton Manors, Florida, on Thursday after six young people on Spring Break overdosed on cocaine laced with fentanyl, according to officials.
Local10 reports that Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue responded to an emergency at a short-term holiday rental late Thursday afternoon and found six people suffering from overdoses.
Chief Stephen Gollan reportedly said: “There were multiple people in cardiac arrest in the front yard... Narcan was deployed as quickly as possible.”
The six were rushed to hospital, where one reportedly had to be intubated and remains in critical condition, according to Gollan. “This is extremely alarming to us,” said the chief. Wilton Manors police and the Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies have opened an investigation.
snip
https://www.local10.com/news/local/2022/03/10/6-people-overdose-in-wilton-manors-fire-rescue-confirms/
https://twitter.com/WMPD411/status/1502101881119723523
March 11, 2022
RA.783 Experimental Housewife
https://soundcloud.com/resident-advisor/ra783-experimental-housewife
March 11, 2022
https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/try-mexican-gin-from-the-yucatan
The Yucatán Peninsula is a lush slab of limestone separating the Gulf of Mexico from the Caribbean Sea. Along its edges, white sand meets cerulean sea, resulting in some of the most beautiful beaches anywhere on the planet. Upwards of 3.2 million annual visitors flock to the region of Mexico to bask in that serenity. And many of them arrive thirsty for Mexican tipples, which most often means tequila (in margarita and paloma form) or warm-weather-friendly lagers.
But at the Rosewood Mayakoba, a resort set amidst the emerald lagoons and mangrove jungles of the Riviera Maya, guests are treated to a distilled drink that speaks with a specific sense of place: It is the language of the Yucatán, in liquid form. And it's not another tequila.
The idea for a brand-new Mexican liquor—the result of a lasting friendship between a celebrated chef and an iconic distiller—was born at the resort’s cocktail bar, Zapote, which itself is billed as a love letter to the Yucatán. “We called it the ‘Journey Bar,’ because that’s exactly how we like our guests to feel,” explains chef Juan Pablo Loza, director of culinary operations. “There are different ways to create the journeys and sometimes its literal. For example, when a guest is curious about mezcales… We take them to our little blue room where we have a beautiful collection of ancestral spirits. We like to describe it as a place of discovery.”
As an engineer of unique flavors—both in the kitchen and behind the bar—Loza often discovers his own inspiration through collaboration with like-minded colleagues. For the cocktail program at Zapote, he enlisted help from his friends at Licorería Limantour, a Mexico City drinking den frequently mentioned among the world’s best bars. Together they conceived signature drinks including the Hoja Santa (mezcal, sherry, and elderflower liqueur imbued with the eponymous, peppery herb) and the Eneldo, which combines vodka with a local anise liqueur called Xtabentún.
snip
Taste Mexico in a New Drink Using Foraged Ingredients Native to the Yucatan
And it’s even better when you travel there to get it.https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/try-mexican-gin-from-the-yucatan
The Yucatán Peninsula is a lush slab of limestone separating the Gulf of Mexico from the Caribbean Sea. Along its edges, white sand meets cerulean sea, resulting in some of the most beautiful beaches anywhere on the planet. Upwards of 3.2 million annual visitors flock to the region of Mexico to bask in that serenity. And many of them arrive thirsty for Mexican tipples, which most often means tequila (in margarita and paloma form) or warm-weather-friendly lagers.
But at the Rosewood Mayakoba, a resort set amidst the emerald lagoons and mangrove jungles of the Riviera Maya, guests are treated to a distilled drink that speaks with a specific sense of place: It is the language of the Yucatán, in liquid form. And it's not another tequila.
The idea for a brand-new Mexican liquor—the result of a lasting friendship between a celebrated chef and an iconic distiller—was born at the resort’s cocktail bar, Zapote, which itself is billed as a love letter to the Yucatán. “We called it the ‘Journey Bar,’ because that’s exactly how we like our guests to feel,” explains chef Juan Pablo Loza, director of culinary operations. “There are different ways to create the journeys and sometimes its literal. For example, when a guest is curious about mezcales… We take them to our little blue room where we have a beautiful collection of ancestral spirits. We like to describe it as a place of discovery.”
As an engineer of unique flavors—both in the kitchen and behind the bar—Loza often discovers his own inspiration through collaboration with like-minded colleagues. For the cocktail program at Zapote, he enlisted help from his friends at Licorería Limantour, a Mexico City drinking den frequently mentioned among the world’s best bars. Together they conceived signature drinks including the Hoja Santa (mezcal, sherry, and elderflower liqueur imbued with the eponymous, peppery herb) and the Eneldo, which combines vodka with a local anise liqueur called Xtabentún.
snip
March 11, 2022
https://thred.com/tech/twitters-new-tor-service-can-circumvent-state-internet-censorship/
Twitter claims this move had been in the works since 2014, but the timing seems awful convenient. This week, the social media giant has announced plans to launch a version of Twitter that functions through a virtual private network (of sorts). What this means is that user data will be encrypted, allowing people to access the platform as normal in regions where service is suspended.
Given the Kremlin state is aggressively squeezing the free flow of information from both social media and traditional media sources – with Twitter now banned throughout the country – this ballsy move will instantly allow Russian citizens to reclaim their accounts and freely follow social commentary about the invasion.
‘This is possibly the most important and long-awaited Tweet I’ve ever composed,’ said software engineer Alec Muffet, as he announced Twitter’s integration with Tor’s (short for ‘The Onion Router’) service.
If you’ve never heard of a virtual private network or Tor before, don’t worry. We’re about to break down all the jargon.
https://twitter.com/AlecMuffett/status/1501282223009542151
snip
Twitter's new 'Tor' service can circumvent state internet censorship
In regions where Twitter is partially or completely restricted, a new ‘Tor’ service could soon allow people to circumvent censorship measures. This won’t be well received by certain government figures, but is a big win for online democracy.https://thred.com/tech/twitters-new-tor-service-can-circumvent-state-internet-censorship/
Twitter claims this move had been in the works since 2014, but the timing seems awful convenient. This week, the social media giant has announced plans to launch a version of Twitter that functions through a virtual private network (of sorts). What this means is that user data will be encrypted, allowing people to access the platform as normal in regions where service is suspended.
Given the Kremlin state is aggressively squeezing the free flow of information from both social media and traditional media sources – with Twitter now banned throughout the country – this ballsy move will instantly allow Russian citizens to reclaim their accounts and freely follow social commentary about the invasion.
‘This is possibly the most important and long-awaited Tweet I’ve ever composed,’ said software engineer Alec Muffet, as he announced Twitter’s integration with Tor’s (short for ‘The Onion Router’) service.
If you’ve never heard of a virtual private network or Tor before, don’t worry. We’re about to break down all the jargon.
https://twitter.com/AlecMuffett/status/1501282223009542151
snip
March 11, 2022
More and more House Democrats are talking about pressing President Joe Biden to use his executive authority to enact big chunks of the party’s agenda. It demonstrates a level of frustration with how stymied the legislative process has become on Capitol Hill. And, with the clock ticking down toward the November midterms – there are 242 days until Election Day – it’s a recognition that the calendar has become one of Democrats’ biggest enemies. Here’s what we know:
→ Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said her group will release a proposed slate of executive orders next week. Jayapal wouldn’t lay out the specific proposals the group will push, but here’s what she had to say. “We’re gonna make sure that we do everything we can to cut costs for American consumers. And that means that we are going to look at executive actions, and we’re going to look at legislation. I don’t want anyone to think that we believe that executive action is better than legislation. We would always prefer to have legislation. But certainly there are a lot of areas where a) if we don’t get legislation, the administration could take action and b) the administration can take action to help move us more quickly towards the goals that we’re working on.”
→ House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn — a close Biden ally — threw his considerable political weight behind the executive action strategy on Thursday as well. “I did have a very extensive discussion on the extent to which the president may intercede on [his priorities] with executive orders. I tend to remind people all the time, that before the 13th Amendment was passed, it was in the summer 1865, slaves were freed in 1863 by executive order. So executive orders do have the power. The Armed Services were integrated by Harry Truman by executive order. I’d be very pleased if [Biden’s] legal staff could do some research on those two issues, as well as others to see whether that or not executive order can be used to accomplish some of these.
→ Rep. Raúl Ruiz (D-Calif.), the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said Biden should lift the refugee cap by executive order in order to help Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion. Ruiz also said the CHC would have other ideas for executive orders, although he declined to offer details. “The CHC has developed a strategy on executive orders, and we’re going to start negotiating with the administration very soon. There [is] a lot of capacity that we can do to reduce the backlog and to provide help for the immigrant family, women and children and help them on their path of professionalizing. “And creating a professional, humane immigration system. One of the things that we are now at the cusp is reevaluating the title 42, the omicron surge is coming down, we have the capacity to test, to use precautionary measures, including vaccines that will help us address the pandemic. “And of course, there are different ways that we can abolish the [Migrant Protection Protocols] program, which has shown to put children and vulnerable populations at risk for kidnappings, human trafficking while they stayed in Mexico. … [T]here’s gonna be more that we will discuss as soon as we have these very direct conversations with the administration. In terms of the Ukrainian war and refugees, I applaud the administration’s decision to grant TPS for Ukrainian, something that the Congressional Hispanic Caucus also called for. And those that reach our shores from now on from Ukraine should also be granted TPS status.”
☀️Punchbowl News AM: Dems say it's time for the pen
no link, it is a newsletterMore and more House Democrats are talking about pressing President Joe Biden to use his executive authority to enact big chunks of the party’s agenda. It demonstrates a level of frustration with how stymied the legislative process has become on Capitol Hill. And, with the clock ticking down toward the November midterms – there are 242 days until Election Day – it’s a recognition that the calendar has become one of Democrats’ biggest enemies. Here’s what we know:
→ Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said her group will release a proposed slate of executive orders next week. Jayapal wouldn’t lay out the specific proposals the group will push, but here’s what she had to say. “We’re gonna make sure that we do everything we can to cut costs for American consumers. And that means that we are going to look at executive actions, and we’re going to look at legislation. I don’t want anyone to think that we believe that executive action is better than legislation. We would always prefer to have legislation. But certainly there are a lot of areas where a) if we don’t get legislation, the administration could take action and b) the administration can take action to help move us more quickly towards the goals that we’re working on.”
→ House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn — a close Biden ally — threw his considerable political weight behind the executive action strategy on Thursday as well. “I did have a very extensive discussion on the extent to which the president may intercede on [his priorities] with executive orders. I tend to remind people all the time, that before the 13th Amendment was passed, it was in the summer 1865, slaves were freed in 1863 by executive order. So executive orders do have the power. The Armed Services were integrated by Harry Truman by executive order. I’d be very pleased if [Biden’s] legal staff could do some research on those two issues, as well as others to see whether that or not executive order can be used to accomplish some of these.
→ Rep. Raúl Ruiz (D-Calif.), the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said Biden should lift the refugee cap by executive order in order to help Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion. Ruiz also said the CHC would have other ideas for executive orders, although he declined to offer details. “The CHC has developed a strategy on executive orders, and we’re going to start negotiating with the administration very soon. There [is] a lot of capacity that we can do to reduce the backlog and to provide help for the immigrant family, women and children and help them on their path of professionalizing. “And creating a professional, humane immigration system. One of the things that we are now at the cusp is reevaluating the title 42, the omicron surge is coming down, we have the capacity to test, to use precautionary measures, including vaccines that will help us address the pandemic. “And of course, there are different ways that we can abolish the [Migrant Protection Protocols] program, which has shown to put children and vulnerable populations at risk for kidnappings, human trafficking while they stayed in Mexico. … [T]here’s gonna be more that we will discuss as soon as we have these very direct conversations with the administration. In terms of the Ukrainian war and refugees, I applaud the administration’s decision to grant TPS for Ukrainian, something that the Congressional Hispanic Caucus also called for. And those that reach our shores from now on from Ukraine should also be granted TPS status.”
March 11, 2022
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/11/world/europe/ireland-church-female-saint-brigid.html
KILDARE, Ireland — Around the year 480, as legend has it, a freed slave named Brigid founded a convent under an oak in the east of Ireland. To feed her followers, she asked the King of Leinster, who ruled the area, for a grant of land.
When the pagan king refused, she asked him to give her as much land as her cloak would cover. Thinking she was joking, he agreed. But when Brigid threw her cloak on the ground, it spread across 5,000 acres — creating the Curragh plains, which still stretch beside the religious settlement she founded at Kildare (from the Irish Cill Dara, “church of the oak”).
A millennium and a half later, a renewed cult of Saint Brigid is thriving in Kildare, even at a time when the Roman Catholic church is in retreat in Ireland, weakened by clerical sex abuse scandals, growing secularism and — Catholic feminists say — by its refusal, despite a collapse in the numbers of its all-male priesthood, to give equal status to women.
Much of the revitalized interest is the result of the Brigidines’ emphasis on nature, ecology and healing, and their shift away from the patriarchal faith of traditional Irish Catholicism.
snip
As Ireland's Church Retreats, the Cult of a Female Saint Thrives
The cult of Saint Brigid, with its emphasis on nature and healing, and its shift away from the patriarchal faith of traditional Catholicism in Ireland, is attracting people from around the world.https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/11/world/europe/ireland-church-female-saint-brigid.html
KILDARE, Ireland — Around the year 480, as legend has it, a freed slave named Brigid founded a convent under an oak in the east of Ireland. To feed her followers, she asked the King of Leinster, who ruled the area, for a grant of land.
When the pagan king refused, she asked him to give her as much land as her cloak would cover. Thinking she was joking, he agreed. But when Brigid threw her cloak on the ground, it spread across 5,000 acres — creating the Curragh plains, which still stretch beside the religious settlement she founded at Kildare (from the Irish Cill Dara, “church of the oak”).
A millennium and a half later, a renewed cult of Saint Brigid is thriving in Kildare, even at a time when the Roman Catholic church is in retreat in Ireland, weakened by clerical sex abuse scandals, growing secularism and — Catholic feminists say — by its refusal, despite a collapse in the numbers of its all-male priesthood, to give equal status to women.
Much of the revitalized interest is the result of the Brigidines’ emphasis on nature, ecology and healing, and their shift away from the patriarchal faith of traditional Irish Catholicism.
snip
March 11, 2022
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/10/world/europe/france-presidential-election-media-cnews-.html
PARIS — The face of President Emmanuel Macron’s possibly fiercest rival in France’s coming election is not on any campaign poster. He has not given a single speech. His name will not be on the ballot.
He is not a candidate at all, but the man often described as France’s Rupert Murdoch: Vincent Bolloré, the billionaire whose conservative media empire has complicated Mr. Macron’s carefully plotted path to re-election by propelling the far-right candidacy of Éric Zemmour, the biggest star of Mr. Bolloré’s Fox-style news network, CNews.
With the first round of France’s presidential election just a month away, polls show Mr. Macron as the favorite. But it is Mr. Zemmour who has set the themes of the race with the openly anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim views he had put forth each evening on television for the past couple of years. “Bolloré’s channels have largely created Zemmour,” François Hollande, France’s former president, said in an interview.
But Mr. Zemmour’s emergence is just the latest example of the power of France’s media tycoons, Mr. Bolloré most prominent among them, to shape political fortunes. In a nation with very strict campaign finance laws, control over the news media has long provided an avenue for the very rich to influence elections.
snip
Behind the Scenes, Billionaires Shape French Presidential Campaign
In a nation with strict political finance laws, control over the news media has provided an avenue for the very rich to influence elections, this one more than ever.https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/10/world/europe/france-presidential-election-media-cnews-.html
PARIS — The face of President Emmanuel Macron’s possibly fiercest rival in France’s coming election is not on any campaign poster. He has not given a single speech. His name will not be on the ballot.
He is not a candidate at all, but the man often described as France’s Rupert Murdoch: Vincent Bolloré, the billionaire whose conservative media empire has complicated Mr. Macron’s carefully plotted path to re-election by propelling the far-right candidacy of Éric Zemmour, the biggest star of Mr. Bolloré’s Fox-style news network, CNews.
With the first round of France’s presidential election just a month away, polls show Mr. Macron as the favorite. But it is Mr. Zemmour who has set the themes of the race with the openly anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim views he had put forth each evening on television for the past couple of years. “Bolloré’s channels have largely created Zemmour,” François Hollande, France’s former president, said in an interview.
But Mr. Zemmour’s emergence is just the latest example of the power of France’s media tycoons, Mr. Bolloré most prominent among them, to shape political fortunes. In a nation with very strict campaign finance laws, control over the news media has long provided an avenue for the very rich to influence elections.
snip
March 11, 2022
The Metropolitan Police breached the rights of the organisers of the Sarah Everard vigil, High Court judges ruled.
Scotland Yard came under fire for its 'heavy handed' response to the vigil in Clapham Common, London, last year.
Images of women being pinned to the floor by male police officers sent shockwaves around the world. The Met had previously refused permission for the event to go ahead due to Covid laws.
Reacting to the new High Court ruling, campaign group Reclaim These Streets, which organised the vigil, said: "Today's judgement is a victory for women.
snip
Met Police breached rights of Sarah Everard vigil organisers, High Court rules
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/breaking-met-police-breached-rights-26442642The Metropolitan Police breached the rights of the organisers of the Sarah Everard vigil, High Court judges ruled.
Scotland Yard came under fire for its 'heavy handed' response to the vigil in Clapham Common, London, last year.
Images of women being pinned to the floor by male police officers sent shockwaves around the world. The Met had previously refused permission for the event to go ahead due to Covid laws.
Reacting to the new High Court ruling, campaign group Reclaim These Streets, which organised the vigil, said: "Today's judgement is a victory for women.
snip
March 11, 2022
https://www.bonappetit.com/story/cook-for-ukraine
When my wife Trina and I started Dacha 46, a queer Jewish Eastern European pop-up project celebrating Eastern European food, it was a business venture, but also a deep dive into my cultural roots and a way to rediscover my identity.
My parents grew up in Soviet Russia. The majority of my childhood, I would tell people I was Russian. They would ask where I was from—regardless of the fact that I was born in New York—after hearing my mom’s thick accent or learning of my dad’s name, Boris, or seeing my brown-bag lunches of chopped liver sandwiches or butter and caviar black bread tartines. It wasn’t until much later, in high school even, that I realized that wasn’t entirely true. I’m Latvian Ukrainian, a fact I now take deep pride in.
This past week, after the entire world watched as Putin invaded Ukraine, the hashtag #cookforukraine began trending on Instagram. The movement—in which chefs seek to raise both awareness of Ukrainian cuisine and money for various aid organizations—was started by London-based chefs and authors Olia Hercules and Alissa Timoshkina, two people Trina and I greatly respect and admire for their thoughtful and comprehensive support of Ukrainian and Russian culture and cuisine. We’ve since seen many fundraisers popping up all across the world, selling cheesecakes, hosting piroshki pop-ups, teaching virtual varenyky cooking classes, and donating millions of dollars to vital organizations such as Razom, World Central Kitchen, and UNICEF UK.
From here in Brooklyn, Dacha 46 teamed up with 11 incredible local chefs to sell pastry boxes and raise funds for several organizations providing assistance to people in Ukraine, such as Razom, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), and Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation. Each chef baked an Eastern European-inspired pastry, so we offered goods like strudel, piroshki, medovik, and mak bulochki—and sold out in a matter of hours.
snip
How to Help People in Ukraine Through #CookForUkraine
These fundraisers are sending donations to relief organizations while celebrating Ukrainian cuisine.https://www.bonappetit.com/story/cook-for-ukraine
When my wife Trina and I started Dacha 46, a queer Jewish Eastern European pop-up project celebrating Eastern European food, it was a business venture, but also a deep dive into my cultural roots and a way to rediscover my identity.
My parents grew up in Soviet Russia. The majority of my childhood, I would tell people I was Russian. They would ask where I was from—regardless of the fact that I was born in New York—after hearing my mom’s thick accent or learning of my dad’s name, Boris, or seeing my brown-bag lunches of chopped liver sandwiches or butter and caviar black bread tartines. It wasn’t until much later, in high school even, that I realized that wasn’t entirely true. I’m Latvian Ukrainian, a fact I now take deep pride in.
This past week, after the entire world watched as Putin invaded Ukraine, the hashtag #cookforukraine began trending on Instagram. The movement—in which chefs seek to raise both awareness of Ukrainian cuisine and money for various aid organizations—was started by London-based chefs and authors Olia Hercules and Alissa Timoshkina, two people Trina and I greatly respect and admire for their thoughtful and comprehensive support of Ukrainian and Russian culture and cuisine. We’ve since seen many fundraisers popping up all across the world, selling cheesecakes, hosting piroshki pop-ups, teaching virtual varenyky cooking classes, and donating millions of dollars to vital organizations such as Razom, World Central Kitchen, and UNICEF UK.
From here in Brooklyn, Dacha 46 teamed up with 11 incredible local chefs to sell pastry boxes and raise funds for several organizations providing assistance to people in Ukraine, such as Razom, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), and Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation. Each chef baked an Eastern European-inspired pastry, so we offered goods like strudel, piroshki, medovik, and mak bulochki—and sold out in a matter of hours.
snip
March 10, 2022
https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/03/03/nato-must-prepare-to-defend-its-weakest-point-the-suwalki-corridor/
https://archive.ph/TC0Qc
As the Biden administration monitors Moscow’s reaction to dramatic U.S. and allied increases in assistance to Ukraine as well as the punishing Western economic and financial sanctions on Russia, it should turn its focus to a relatively small corner of northeastern Europe that is familiar to military strategists but often overlooked by most policymakers and the general public.
The Suwalki corridor (also known as the Suwalki Gap) separates the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea from Belarus, now host to thousands of Russian troops and soon home to permanently stationed Russian forces, including advanced fighter jets and nuclear weapons. It is also the only way to get by road or rail from Poland and Central Europe to the Baltic states—arguably NATO’s most exposed members.
A Russian move to seize control of the corridor may seem far-fetched, as it would explicitly involve an attack on NATO territory, triggering a U.S. military response. Nonetheless, if Moscow’s reinvasion of Ukraine has any central lesson to offer at this point, it’s that U.S. and allied officials must prepare now for worst-case scenarios by focusing on actual Russian military capabilities in the region, rather than the Kremlin’s announced intent, considered estimates of Russia’s strategic logic, or intelligence assessments of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s outlook.
Forty miles wide as the crow flies, the Suwalki corridor isn’t much of a corridor, at least in terms of natural boundaries such as rivers, coastlines, or mountains. Driving through the area last October while on a research trip to NATO units, I found it a wide-open rural region, predominantly characterized by rolling farmland interspersed with forests and small villages. Much of it is ideal terrain for tracked vehicles like tanks, given the very limited roadways and the gentle hills.
snip
NATO Must Prepare to Defend Its Weakest Point--the Suwalki Corridor
On the Polish-Lithuanian border, the West must respond to Russia’s actual capabilities rather than making assumptions about its intent.https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/03/03/nato-must-prepare-to-defend-its-weakest-point-the-suwalki-corridor/
https://archive.ph/TC0Qc
As the Biden administration monitors Moscow’s reaction to dramatic U.S. and allied increases in assistance to Ukraine as well as the punishing Western economic and financial sanctions on Russia, it should turn its focus to a relatively small corner of northeastern Europe that is familiar to military strategists but often overlooked by most policymakers and the general public.
The Suwalki corridor (also known as the Suwalki Gap) separates the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea from Belarus, now host to thousands of Russian troops and soon home to permanently stationed Russian forces, including advanced fighter jets and nuclear weapons. It is also the only way to get by road or rail from Poland and Central Europe to the Baltic states—arguably NATO’s most exposed members.
A Russian move to seize control of the corridor may seem far-fetched, as it would explicitly involve an attack on NATO territory, triggering a U.S. military response. Nonetheless, if Moscow’s reinvasion of Ukraine has any central lesson to offer at this point, it’s that U.S. and allied officials must prepare now for worst-case scenarios by focusing on actual Russian military capabilities in the region, rather than the Kremlin’s announced intent, considered estimates of Russia’s strategic logic, or intelligence assessments of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s outlook.
Forty miles wide as the crow flies, the Suwalki corridor isn’t much of a corridor, at least in terms of natural boundaries such as rivers, coastlines, or mountains. Driving through the area last October while on a research trip to NATO units, I found it a wide-open rural region, predominantly characterized by rolling farmland interspersed with forests and small villages. Much of it is ideal terrain for tracked vehicles like tanks, given the very limited roadways and the gentle hills.
snip
Profile Information
Gender: FemaleHometown: London
Home country: US/UK/Sweden
Current location: Stockholm, Sweden
Member since: Sun Jul 1, 2018, 07:25 PM
Number of posts: 50,821