Today is Saturday, February 26, 2022. This is Day 3 of the Soviet incursion into Ukraine and there is no indication that the attack will cease anytime soon. There is a fascinating article on the psyche of the madman who started this war against a sovereign, independent country with very little support from his own countrymen, Vladimir Putin, and it appears in The U.S. Sun entitled “Vladimir Putin is egocentric, narcissistic & exhibits key traits of a psychopath,” written by Fiona Nimoni. As I summarize the main elements of this article, think if there is someone else that this writer is describing along with Putin. I’m sure there will be no mystery as to who that person is. One doesn’t have to be a Hercule Poirot to ascertain who else fits the profile described in the article.

Very simply, Putin suffers from a grandiose sense of self-worth while lacking compassion toward other human beings. Putin then exhibits many of the key traits of a psychopath. Putin has a lack of basic empathy – even for his own people, who are largely opposed to a war that will see them hit with crippling financial consequences.

In justifying attacking Ukraine, Putin has stated that he believes the country exists on land that is historically and rightfully Russian and feels a sense of righteous reclamation in bringing it back under his rule. This way of thinking characterizes an illogical kind of decision making, which illustrates a very caustic, narcissistic personality. Nimoni writes that Putin displays a “willingness to exploit others, leans toward rash actions, irritability, and a lack of remorse.”

Putin’s recent speeches about fighting neo-Nazis in Ukraine evoke an alternative reality that has surrounded Putin right now, but it will be Ukrainian citizens that, sadly, will pay for these delusions with their lives. In his mind, Putin is manufacturing an “alpha male” persona, one that is incredibly egocentric and has a confidence and arrogance he does not try to hide. “He wants everyone to think he is strong and manly – although to the Western world this often comes across as a caricature of how a man should act.”

Other emotions lacking in him are guilt and shame which do not seem to register with him – another key example of a potentially psychopathic nature.

So now can you guess who else shares such traits with this madman? His last name rhymes with “dump,” if you need help.

In the meantime, the United States, England, Europe, and Canada have moved to block Russian access to the SWIFT international payment system as part of another round of sanctions against Moscow as it continues its assault against Ukraine. The measures, which will also include restriction on the Russian central bank’s international reserves, will be implemented in the coming days, the nations said in a joint statement. This news has been reported by the Reuters news agency.

This strategic measure taken by the United States and other countries is designed to cripple Russia’s ability to finance the war. In an online article for The Hill, written by Brett Samuels, entitled “U.S., allies to kick certain Russian banks out of SWIFT banking system,” these new measures were analyzed as war continues to rage in Ukraine. This step is intended to destabilize the Russian economy in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Now Russia is cut out of access to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), which was an unlikely move just days ago. And I bet you never heard of the system. That’s okay; I didn’t either until yesterday.

The countries involved, the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States, have issued a statement, saying, the attacks on Ukraine was “an assault on fundamental international rules and norms that have prevailed since the Second World War, which we are committed to defending.”

The SWIFT system is used across the world by banks to finalize transfers and transactions. “Cutting Russia off from SWIFT would make it incredibly difficult for its banks to operate efficiently but also wreck economic havoc for European nations that depend on Russian oil and natural gas exports.”

If a Russian bank that’s removed from SWIFT wants to make a transaction with a bank located outside of Russia, it will need to resort to using a telephone or a fax machine, a senior administration official told reporters. Good luck with that!

As reported earlier, throwing Russia out of SWIFT was not part of the initial round of sanctions because not all European allies were on board with the measure. However, as fighting intensified in Ukraine in recent days and as Russian troops moved closer to the capital of Kyiv, pressure grew for Western nations to adopt a tougher response. In addition, the United States has sanctioned multiple Russian financial institutions to freeze their U.S. assets as a list of several Russian oligarchs. Yesterday, new sanctions were adopted against Russian President Putin and a dozen of his top advisers, freezing their assets in this country.

Let’s hope these measures succeed in crushing the country’s economy and financial sector. Sadly, it’s the people of Russia that will suffer as a result of these sanctions being implemented. But as the last article indicated, someone like Putin doesn’t care about people (hasn’t he had political foes murdered?) since he’s obviously a psychopath and can only pursue his own delusional agenda, no matter the cost to the Russian populace.

It’s getting late here. As a reader has suggested, I thought I would append some pictures of the kitchen in the demolition stage, if you don’t mind. I look forward to posting the “after” pictures when the job is completed – whenever that might be.

So have a good Sunday.

Stay safe and be well.

What a sight to behold!