Antakya? Never heard of it before the recent earthquake that devastated SW turkey and NW Syria. Oh you mean Antioch? Heard of that. Dates back over 2000 years. The Greeks, Romans, the Crusades – very well documented. Why do we who speak English call Antioch by its new Turkish name Antakya? We dont do that for all sorts of cites so why Antioch? By the way, Antioch has a long history of huge earthquakes that did severe damage. The one in 119 AD devastated the city so its nothing new. The people of the region are right to level anger at builders who used cheap materials and did not follow construction laws that were put in place precisely due to earthquakes. The ire should also be directed at the government that allowed builders to skirt the rules to save money. The likelihood will be that even more construction rules will be made into law – BUT as time passes they will also be skirted or set aside from pressure to make more money. People forget and dont think long term. The reality is that the cost of reconstruction will far out weigh whatever was saved by using cheaper materials and skirting the laws.

This evening I had the misfortune of flipping across my TV channels and came across an interview between Tulsi Gabbard and Tucker Carlson on FOX which sounded remarkably like what was being said about Winston Churchill when he was warning the world about Hitlers true intentions. People forget that Churchill was called a war monger and ridiculed for his warnings. As Nevil Chamberlain, the British Prime Minister said “Mr Hitler is not the problem, Winston Churchill is”. Nevil Chamberlain did not want a war – his intentions were noble – But by trying to avoid a war he made it inevitable. In Fact his “good intentions” could be said to have led to World War II. “Peace in our time”? How long did that last? It doesnt take a lot of brains to ask the question “what if we give in and let Putin win?” What then? Well, history has given us the answer over and over again. Only the naive choose to ignore those lessons. Tulsi Gabbard is naive just like Chamberlain. And just like him choses to be blind to the obvious. We know Tucker Carlson does not believe what he says on Fox so no point thinking he is naive or stupid. Still, why give voice to a nut like Tulsi Gabbard? How is that going to earn you more money? Or enhance your star power on Fox? Its a mystery – legacy? well that ship sailed long ago. I guess he it thinking take the money now and hope for the best. Hitler said very clearly what he intended to do. He wrote a book about it. Putin has stated publicly what he intends to do. He has not made it a secret. Xi has also said what he intends to do. We did not take Hitler at his word. We learned from that terrible mistake. Thankfully most Americans and Western leaders take this new crop at their word. We are not about to let Ukraine become another Munich. We know what appeasement leads to.

The Russian play book is at work now in Moldova. Russian operatives are stirring up descent and pro Russian propaganda against the current government that is pro Western and has applied to join the European Union. There is already a break away pro Russian region on the boarder with Ukraine that actually has Russian troops and stockpiles of weapons there. The Baltic states know the playbook all to well. So do the Poles. No wonder the further east you go in Europe the more anti Russian it becomes.

For those of us that were thinking that the Fox “News” hosts could not really be believing all the nonsense from the Trump camp about stolen elections etc, it was a great relief to hear that they do NOT believe those wild ideas. In fact they thought the protagonists were nut cases and Trump himself out of control if not delusional. To learn they said on air what they did was just for the money makes sense. We all do it in one way or another. What it also shows us is the degree to which the Fox pundits and Rupert Murdoch himself would go for that money. What an irony for a company called the “News Corp”.

Russia has been trying to justify its invasion of Ukraine by pretending that it is still a superpower with a “natural” sphere of influence which it claims Ukraine is within. However, if Russia is a superpower so is Great Britain and France who also have nuclear weapons and who also in the past claimed “spheres of influence”. Both Great Britain and France have had to come to terms that they are NOT superpowers anymore and they do not have natural spheres of influence. Russia needs to do the same. It is NOT a superpower. It has nuclear weapons but so do 9 other countries. It’s economy is 9th in the world. As Putin has recently demonstrated, its army is in a sorry state. Putin is under the illusion that Russia should be a super power with a natural sphere of influence. It seems Roger Waters has bought into that misconception. The reality is that the days when Russia could be considered a superpower are long gone. Hell, they are reduced to buying weapons from Iran! If Putin remains and this old thinking persists it will never be again. Roger Waters should study history and look to the future and NOT the past as Putin is doing. Lets face it, if there is a sphere of influence at work it is the EU much more than Russia, and Ukraine belongs more in the EU than it does with a tired country like Russia. Russia is too much of a looser for a country like Ukraine to want to be part of. They know better. So do the Poles, Baltic States, Finland etc. They have seen Russia first hand. They have lived it. And they reject it totally. The shame is that Putin is perpetuating a myth that holds Russia back. Old think is not what Russia needs. Like Ukraine, Russia needs to look to the future and Putin is not it.

For all the complaints about the “over reach” of government as it relates to regulations, when we see the devastation in Turkey we should realize all those building regulations, building codes and restrictions all have a reason. If a 7.8 earthquake happened in LA, there would of course have destruction BUT nothing like what we see in Turkey and Syria. No doubt Turkey had building codes, but they were likely never enforced nor were they strict enough. In Syria, it is unlikely there were any. It costs money to build safely especially in an earthquake zone. Watch: when buildings are built again in the area how many will incorporate regulations to prevent this happening again? Few if any. The shame is that it WILL happen again.

For all the talk by Putin and his spokesmen that Russia is going to win the war in Ukraine, the penny has still not dropped that the West cannot afford to let him win so he is destined to fail. No wonder he wears bullet proof vests everywhere. He is going to be assassinated as the only way out for Russia. There are a few like Trump who call for an end to the Ukraine war and the US putting money into the “real challenge” ie China without realizing that China is looking at what we do in Ukraine to either encourage or discourage them taking Taiwan. End the war in Ukraine is code for letting Putin claim a win. Not surprising Trump would say this as a long time Putin admirer nor for the Trump supporters in the Republican Party who care more about wining elections than what’s good for America. The point is that what we spend in Ukraine is a drop in the bucket and vastly cheaper than what we spent in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is a cheap way to keep a hostel power in check, learn about war in this century, and no American lives lost. Our defense industries love it. They need a reason to develop more and more advanced weaponry and Putin has given it to them on a plate. AND, it has woken up the Europeans to the need to build up their armed forces and spend more on defense. Trump correctly tried to get Germany etc to spend more and failed. Putin did not fail. And Finland joining NATO! Wow. everything Putin did not want to happen has happened or about to happen. What a win it will be for the Russians when he is finally eliminated. A huge sigh of relief will envelope the world and Russia can be on a winning streak again. China meanwhile has nothing to loose just sitting it out. They can keep the pressure on Taiwan and do nothing. Play the long game. Go to war, and as Putin found out, you may not get the result you bargained for. And for us in the USA, we can see Trump, his cronies and whatever their ideology was finally fade into the past. Hopefully the Republican Party will once again be a party of good sense.

Tom Verlaine of the NY band Television died last week at the age of 73. I had not seen Tom for many years but remember well when I organized the band’s May 1977 tour of the UK. It was my idea to add Blondie as the opening act even though no one in the UK knew who the band was. I figured Debbie would get press as most beautiful girls do. I was right. Tom was not keen on the idea as I remember. Too pop I think was the sentiment. I saw various testimonials of the band but the reality was that they were very successful in the UK where the Marquee Moon album was hailed as one of the greats of all time Sounds Magazine named it Album of the Year – but never really got going in the USA. Electra Records did not know what they had and apparently did not care about the success in the UK. Meanwhile, I was surprised that Television did not come back to the UK to follow up on the first tour and its success. Thinking about it, I realize that in some ways the Television/Blondie tour helped me start to rebuild my own credibility in the music business. I had really blown it with the disaster of my Startruckin 75 tour and was written of by most of the music business as a looser. The one guy who would take my phone call was John Curd, the promoter who called himself Straight Music. John was a street guy and must have figured you never know in this business. Anyway John was the guy I called to promote the tour. I did not forget that either and I called him again when I managed the POLICE. The other person in the mix, someone who will probably never get the recognition she deserves was Jane Friedman. She was publicist for Patti Smith, John Cale’s girlfriend, manager of Television. She is the one who pushed me over the edge to take the whole punk thing seriously. She did the same for my brother Ian encouraging him to launch his own booking agency for the new punk movement, FBI (Fronter Booking Intl.) Anyway, it was through Jane that I got involved with Television and organized the UK tour. Tom was a real musical spark who should have had more public recognition then he ever got. He was more influential than well known. And that Marquee Moon is still one of the great albums of all time.

Better Late Than Never. Glad to see The Cramps song Goo Goo Muck is getting the attention it deserves. Ivy does the guitar so hopefully she has heard about the current notoriety. Too bad Lux is no longer with us. Always a killer band and a proud release on IRS Records.

US TV shows give a lot of coverage to Ukraine even as the disclosures of the June 6th committee keep coming. Some commentators mention the idea of an eventual negotiation. I heard several say “every war ends in negotiation”. Funny, I must have missed those. World War 2 did not end in a negotiation. What political leader could face his people after “negotiation” with Hitler or the WW2 leaders of Japan. A negotiation by its definition means that both sides of an issue gain some and loose some. What would the Allies agree to give Hitler? No, World War 2 ended in unconditional surrender. Perhaps we can point to the wars in Yugoslavia after its break up. Not much cause for celebration or a real resolution. The reality is that Putin embarked on the flawed idea that Ukraine would crumble quickly before the West really woke up to deal with it. It was a strategy of a fait accompli. Many in the West would have agreed with him. Both misjudged what had been going on in Ukraine for some time and they certainly did not count on President Zelensky. As a result Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will go down as perhaps the greatest military/political blunder in history. What’s worse is that Putin was so convinced in his view that he did not give the slightest attention to an exit strategy should he fail in any way. He is stuck with a policy with no wriggle room. Negotiation cannot take place for him unless it is within his terms. Zelensky is facing the same reality. He cannot negotiate with someone who has killed so many of his people and destroyed indiscriminately his cities and infrastructure. How would any people agree to such a negotiation? What would they think of any leader who agreed to such a negotiation? Zelensky is right. Negotiation ONLY after ALL Russian troops leave all parts of Ukraine. Then, WHO is going to pay for rebuilding Ukraine after such massive destruction? Can anyone imagine a scenario where Ukraine agrees to let Russia keep the territory it now occupies or even a part of it and NOT demand money needed for reconstruction? Can one imagine Putin agreeing to pay for such reconstruction and still retain power? What about the war crimes? Can the world just forget them? There is also talk here in the USA about a Republican view (a minority to be sure) that might put the brakes on full US support for Ukraine. The problem is that once the Republicans control the House they too will face the consequences of their decisions. Its one thing to attack when you dont have to deal with any of the consequences. Its another when you have to accept some of the blame for an attack. The Republicans will have no option but to continue support without a hitch. Just like Putin being stuck, the Republicans too are stuck having taken positions that will not allow them to change US foreign policy. They point to giving a message of weakness to the Russians like the US departure from Afghanistan. What message would it be to withdraw support from Ukraine? What message would it be to China in its quest for Taiwan? How would all those Republican donners within the defense establishment think of a reduction on arms expenditure? AND would all the money being spent re Ukraine really be spent in the US? Would the Republicans really want to be stuck saying the money should be spent on programs, social or infrastructure in the US? They have resisted such spending in the past and dont want to be called on putting their money where their mouth is. Lets also not forget that Zelensky and Ukraine have gained great support within the body politique of the US and indeed within Western Europe. Unlike Putin and the Russian Army. Combined with Trump and his allies loosing ground, it would not be wise for Republican politicians who want to get elected in 2024 to oppose continued support. After all, the Ukrainians are white and Christian and look just like the people so much of the Republican base is made up of. Then there are the Russian people themselves. Do they really want to go back to the isolation of the Soviet Union or the rule of an autocratic leader who can do anything he wants to anyone he wants? As the Iranian regime is learning, the younger generation of the internet and social media, have changed the game. Putin is an anachronism as are his ideas. All leaders, everywhere best learn that. The only out for the Russians I can see is the assignation of Putin and the Russian people laying all the blame on that one man. Negotiation? cant see how that can happen. Anyone imagining that is in the cards is dreaming.