Dr. Brian LaPierre, history professor at the University of Southern Mississippi, believes that Vladimir Putin’s aggressive invasion of Ukraine exposes Russia to “potentially crippling warfare.”
“U.S. intelligence analysts have determined that Moscow would consider a cyberattack against the U.S. as the Ukraine crisis grows. As a scholar of Russian cyber operations, I know the Kremlin has the capacity to damage critical U.S. infrastructure systems. In January 2022 the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued an alert that outlined the Russian cyberattack threat, with technical details of sophisticated Russian-led hacking from recent years. That included a complicated digital break-in that targeted the U.S. energy industry and gained access to the control rooms of U.S. electric utilities.”
Editor Donna Ladd writes that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is showing fearless leadership in the collaborative fight to preserve democracy, just as we have to work together and a fierce devotion to protecting one’s home from fascist control person by person and against great odds. Mississippians need to emulate this spirit to guarantee freedom for all on a local level, she writes.
“On Feb. 22, 2022, President Joe Biden warned Americans that a Russian invasion of Ukraine and U.S. efforts to thwart or punish it—would come with a price tag. ‘Defending freedom will have costs, for us as well and here at home,’ Biden said. ‘We need to be honest about that.’ His statement came one day before Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an attack on targets throughout Ukraine, including western parts of the country. Now that war has broken out, the biggest costs for the U.S. will likely be in higher prices—on top of what is already the fastest pace of inflation in 40 years.”
“This is a frightening moment. Russia has invaded Ukraine, and certainly those most frightened right now are the people of Ukraine. But violent aggression—a war mounted by a country with vast military resources against a smaller, weaker country—strikes fear in all of us.”
“White supremacy only succeeds because of Negro ineptitude. But we cannot ignore the U.S. government’s rooted history of actively destroying or stealing Black wealth. Thus, I’d like Thomas Sowell to be more balanced in his factual presentation of why African Americans continue to be second-class citizens.”
Violence issues are complex, mired in years of intentional systemic attacks. There are solutions, just not easy ones. Join our second “Beyond Policing: A Conversation about Violence Solutions in Mississippi” on Tuesday, March 1, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. central. Register now at mfp.ms/circles or email [email protected].
“Black History Month is an opportunity to have open dialogue with everyone, adults and children, to learn encouraging stories of humans from our history who overcame and found success.”
In January 2022, the American Red Cross declared its first-ever national blood crisis. A joint statement by the American Hospital Association, the American Medical Association and the American Nurses Association said that the “severity and duration of this shortage could significantly jeopardize the ability of health care providers to meet the many urgent needs of our patients and communities.”
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The Mississippi Free Press is a project of the Mississippi Journalism and Education Group, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit journalism organization (EIN 85-1403937).