fantastic negative result

Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://rt.com/business/221775-us-manufacturing-comeback-myth/>
The "rosy scenario" of so-called recovery in US manufacturing is a hyped
media myth, and is more fiction than reality. A new study says it offers
a dangerous sense of complacency to business and the public ..

Ya know, good propaganda should be as factual as
it is personal, to get the reader's blood boiling.
Your link from Russia Today had to use a 25 year
chart to make it appear as if there's a decline
But if you just look at the last five years it's
up, up and away! And no one gets too upset over
manufacturing statistics anyway.

Pretty lame propaganda!

Assuming you're a Russian, shouldn't you be more
worried about the fact the Russian standard of
living is now dropping from $14,500 to $9,500, a
40% drop in o n e year.

And that inflation is tripling at the same time
while the Ruble is now officially the worst
performing currency anywhere within fifteen
light years?

Let me check on the Ruble today, here it is...

http://www.tradingsystemforex.com/general-discussion/105463-dead-cat-bounce-definition-and-chart-example.html

Oh wait, I'm sorry that was an example
of a 'Dead Cat Bounce' chart. Below is the
one year chart of the Ruble. I think you can
see how I mixed them up~ Again sorry!

http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/RUBUSD:CUR

But about the US economy, a couple
of charts...

Five Year Chart of the Dow
http://bigcharts.marketwatch.com/quickchart/quickchart.asp?symb=djia&insttype=&freq=2&show=&time=12

US Unemployment Chart
http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000

Thanks for reading

Jonathan

s

s

jonathan

2015-01-14 00:36:47 UTC

Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://rt.com/business/221775-us-manufacturing-comeback-myth/>
The "rosy scenario" of so-called recovery in US manufacturing
is a hyped media myth, and is more fiction than reality.
A new study says it offers a dangerous sense of complacency
to business and the public ..

Oleg Smirnov

2015-01-14 20:35:22 UTC

<http://tinyurl.com/q8n5323> salon.com

.. Anyone who thinks of America and its place in the world clearly and
honestly understands, with no shred of doubt after the destructive year gone
by, that this nation is now well into its late-imperial phase. As history
instructs us, two signs of an imperial power’s decline at this point in its
story are blindness and deafness: It gives up all capacity to see the world as
it is and takes no interest in what those dwelling in it have to say. Clear
sight and open ears are unbearable, for both bring news that history’s wheel
is turning and an era of primacy is passing into the past. ..

It has long been true that this nation’s foreign policy cliques think and
act — often the latter while skipping the former — independently of any
electorate. But the sharpening of this contradiction is among the significant
realities to come to the fore in 2014. We are back in the pre-crisis years of
the Vietnam period, in my estimation. A lot goes on people do not like. ..

Among the aspects of our time that continues to astonish is the speed with
which events unfold. .. the chaos American policy causes spreads ever more
quickly. In the confrontation with Russia, for instance, we have come to the
edge of real disaster in a matter of months: There could be war; sooner, there
could be an economic crash. .. In its pursuit of chaos, America harms itself
as well as others. ..

.. Media have emerged this year as an instrument of aggression. “The
information age is actually a media age,” John Pilger, the noted English
journalist, said in a remarkable speech delivered in London earlier this
month. “We have war by media, censorship by media, demonology by media,
retribution by media, diversion by media — a surreal assembly line of obedient
clichés and false assumptions.”

Taking this to the specific, Pilger had this to say on the Ukraine crisis,
which has done much to worsen the crisis in the media:
The suppression of the truth about Ukraine is one of the most complete news
blackouts I can remember. The biggest Western military build-up in the
Caucasus and Eastern Europe since World War II is blacked out. Washington’s
secret aid to Kiev and its neo-Nazi brigades responsible for war crimes
against the population of eastern Ukraine is blacked out. Evidence that
contradicts propaganda that Russia was responsible for the shooting down of
a Malaysian airliner is blacked out. ..

All very pessimistic, it would seem. ..

DVH

2015-01-14 20:42:07 UTC

Post by Oleg Smirnov
Among the aspects of our time that continues to astonish is the speed
with which events unfold. .. the chaos American policy causes spreads
ever more quickly. In the confrontation with Russia, for instance, we
have come to the edge of real disaster in a matter of months: There
could be war; sooner, there could be an economic crash.

Yeah. Putin-land was just sitting there peacefully when suddenly Ukraine
invaded.

How are you enjoying that cheap oil, Oleg?

DVH

2015-01-14 20:42:59 UTC

Yeah. Putin-land was just sitting there peacefully when suddenly Ukraine
invaded.

How are you enjoying that cheap oil, Oleg?

Oleg Smirnov

2015-01-18 19:34:00 UTC

Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/q8n5323> salon.com
blindness and deafness: It gives up all capacity to see
the world as it is and takes no interest in what those
dwelling in it have to say. Clear sight and open ears are
unbearable, for both bring news that history’s wheel is
turning and an era of primacy is passing into the past. ..
It has long been true that this nation’s foreign policy
cliques think and act — often the latter while skipping
the former — independently of any electorate. But the
sharpening of this contradiction is among the significant
realities to come to the fore in 2014.

<http://vz.ru/opinions/2015/1/16/724739.html>
"Unfortunately, in the United States, only a few of ordinary
people are interested in foreign policy and really understand
it. When people vote they take into account mostly what a
candidate promises to do in domestic affairs. And the media
are contributing with improper coverage of world events. Not
only the Ukraine is an example of this, there was Iraq, with
sad outcome for the world and for United States. There was no
WMD, and the media were unable to exercise their right - or
rather the duty - to find the truth out and report it properly.
Now it's too late to apply to the American people - they have
already decided due to 'work' of the mass media that all the
fault falls on Russia and Putin." (draft abridged translation)

Some Russian outlets time to time publish notes of this
American guy <http://is.gd/IT109S>, where he tells to Russian
public 'how it works' in the US.

Someone who reads the American mass media on regular basis
may notice the same by him- / herself. What Mr. Ebert has not
mentioned is that the media not only distort the reality but
they also implant in minds of the American people the false
belief that they get the most qualitative and comprehensive
information while those who see the world different are victims
of enemy propaganda. It makes the system 'self-enclosed': the
lazy zombies have no correct idea about foreign reality, and
with that the zombies blindly believe they are well-informed.

Oleg Smirnov

2015-01-18 22:36:51 UTC

<https://consortiumnews.com/2015/01/17/neocons-the-anti-realists/>

Neocons: The ‘Anti-Realists’ / January 17, 2015

Special Report: America’s neocons, who wield great power inside the U.S.
government and media, endanger the planet by concocting strategies inside
their heads that ignore real-world consequences. Thus, their “regime changes”
have unleashed ancient hatreds and spread chaos across the globe, as Robert
Parry explains. ..

Moral Crusades

These interventions are always dressed up as moral crusades – the need to
free some population from the clutches of a U.S.-defined “monster.” .. But
the reality about these “anti-realists” is that their actions, in real life,
almost always inflict severe harm on the country being “rescued.” .. The
neocons and the liberal interventionists have become, in effect, carriers
of the deadly disease called chaos. ..
The neocons and their liberal interventionist pals now fully dominate the
U.S. opinion centers, from the right-wing media to the editorial pages (and
the foreign desks) of many establishment publications, including the
Washington Post and the New York Times. By contrast, the voices of the
remaining “realists” and their current unlikely allies, the anti-war
activists, are rarely heard in the mainstream U.S. media anymore. To the
extent that these dissidents do get to criticize U.S. meddling abroad, they
are dismissed as “apologists” for whatever “monster” is currently in line
for the slaughter. ..

The True Dark Side

But here is the dark truth about this “humanitarian” interventionism: it is
spinning the world into an endless cycle of violence. Rather than improving
the prospects for human rights and democracy, it is destroying those goals.
While the interventionist strategies have made huge fortunes for
well-connected government contractors and well-placed speculators who profit
off chaos, the neocons and their “human rights” buddies are creating a hell
on earth for billions of others, spreading death and destitution.

Take, for example, the beginnings of the Afghan War in the 1980s .. Even
though the Saudis officially broke with bin Laden after he declared his
intentions to attack the United States, some wealthy Saudis and other
Persian Gulf multi-millionaires, who shared bin Laden’s violent form of
Islamic fundamentalism, continued to fund him and his terrorists right up to
– and beyond – al-Qaeda’s attacks on 9/11.

Then, America’s fear and fury over 9/11 opened the path for the neocons to
activate one of their longstanding plans, to invade and occupy Iraq, though
it had nothing to do with 9/11. The propaganda machinery was cranked up and
again all the “smart” people fell in line. Dissenters were dismissed as
“Saddam apologists” or called “traitors.” ..

An Expanding Bloodbath

In the rush to war in Iraq, the neocons and the liberal interventionists
won hands down in 2002-2003 but ended up causing a bloodbath for the people
of Iraq, with estimates of those killed ranging from hundreds of thousands
to more than a million. But the U.S. invaders did more than that. They
destabilized the entire Middle East by disturbing the fragile fault lines
between Sunni and Shiite. ..

Though the disaster in Iraq should have been a powerful cautionary tale, the
neocons and the liberal interventionists proved to be much more adept at
playing the political-propaganda games of Washington than in prevailing in
the complex societies of the Middle East.

Instead of being purge en masse, the Iraq War instigators faced minimal
career accountability. They managed to spin the Iraq “surge” as “victory at
last” and maintained their influence over Washington even under President
Obama, who may have been a “closet realist” but who kept neocons in key
posts and surrounded himself with liberal interventionists. ..

Thus, Obama grudgingly was enlisted into the next neocon-liberal-
interventionist crusades in 2011: the military intervention to overthrow
Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi and the covert operation to remove Syria’s Bashar
al-Assad. In both cases, the propaganda was ramped up again, presenting
the opposition groups as “pro-democracy moderates” who were peacefully
facing down brutal dictators. .. After the U.S.-led air war destroyed
Gaddafi’s military and opened the way for an opposition victory, Gaddafi
was captured and brutally murdered. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who
might be called a “neocon-lite,” joked: “We came, we saw, he died.”

But the chaos that followed Gaddafi’s death was not so funny, contributing
to the killing of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other
American diplomatic personnel in Benghazi on Sept. 11, 2012, and to the
spreading of terrorism and violence across northern Africa. By July 2014,
the U.S. and other Western nations had abandoned their embassies in Tripoli
as all political order broke down. ..

Syrian Madness

.. Though the mainstream U.S. media blamed almost everything on Syrian
President Assad, many Syrians recognized that the Sunni extremists who
emerged as the power behind the opposition were a grave threat to other
Syrian religious groups, including the Shiites, Alawites and Christians —
and that Assad’s authoritarian but secular regime represented their best
hope for survival. .. But instead of looking for a realistic political
solution, the neocons and the liberal interventionists insisted on a U.S.
military intervention, either covertly by arming the opposition or overtly
by mounting a Libyan-style bombing campaign to destroy Assad’s armed forces
and open the gates of Damascus to the rebels. Under pressure from the likes
of Ambassador Power and Secretary of State Clinton, Obama bowed to the
demand to ship weapons to the rebels, although the CIA later discovered that
many U.S. weapons ended up in extremist hands. ..

Those doubts and Obama’s fear of an extremist victory led him to call off
the planned bombing at the last minute, and he accepted a deal brokered by
Russian President Vladimir Putin to arrange for Assad to surrender all
Syria’s chemical weapons, while Assad continued to deny any role in the
Sarin attack. The neocons and liberal interventionists were furious at both
Obama and Putin. Alarmed about this “realist” Obama-Putin collaboration,
the “anti-realists” turned to demonizing the Russian president and driving
a wedge between him and Obama. ..

The Ukraine coup played out along another historic fault line, between
European-oriented western Ukraine, where Adolf Hitler’s SS had gained
significant support during World War II, and eastern Ukraine with its ethnic
Russian population and close business ties to Russia.
After the U.S. State Department rushed to embrace the coup regime as
“legitimate” and as the U.S. media dished out anti-Yanukvych propaganda,
such as citing a sauna in his home , Obama tagged along, falling into the
neocon trap, again. ..

Shattering Ukraine

Yet, while the neocons and their liberal allies had “won” again, what did
that winning mean for the people of Ukraine? Their country, already teetering
on the status of failed state, slid into deeper economic chaos and civil war.
With neo-Nazis and other extremists appointed to key national security
positions, the new regime began lashing out at ethnic Russians who were
resisting Yanukovych’s ouster.

Crimea voted overwhelmingly to secede from Ukraine and rejoin Russia, a move
that Western government’s denounced as an illegal “annexation” and the major
U.S. media termed an “invasion,” although the Russian troops involved were
already stationed in Crimea under an agreement to maintain the Russian naval
base at Sevastopol.

Ukraine’s eastern provinces also sought secession, prompting military clashes
that inflicted some of the worst bloodshed seen on the European continent in
decades. Thousands died and millions fled.

Of course, the standard line in the U.S. media was that it was all Putin’s
fault, even as the Kiev regime shelled eastern cities and unleashed brutal
neo-Nazi militias to engage in street fighting, the first time storm troopers
emblazoned with Nazi insignias had been deployed in Europe since World War II.
Yet, buoyed by how easily the anti-Putin propaganda had prevailed, some
neocons even began fantasizing about “regime change” in Moscow.

Yet, if you were to step back for a minute and look at the history of the
past 35 years – from the Afghan covert op through the Iraq War and the U.S.
interventions in Libya, Syria, Ukraine and elsewhere – what you would see is
the neocons and their liberal sidekicks behaving like the Sorcerer’s
Apprentice, stirring up troubles that soon spun out of control. ..

Yet, this neocon madness – this “anti-realism” – has been playing out in the
real world on a grand scale, destroying real lives and endangering the real
future of the planet.

Oleg Smirnov

2015-01-20 11:46:47 UTC

<http://time.com/3673548/europe-russian-language-tv/>

Europe Mulls a Russian Language TV Channel to Counter Moscow Propaganda ..
Diplomats feel they are losing the information war to Russia Now Latvia
is proposing that the E.U. fights back with its own Russian-language
television station. “We cannot just prohibit it,” Makarovs told reporters
in the Latvian capital recently, “but we want to create an alternative of
comparable quality in technical terms.” ..
The truth is the best weapon the E.U. has, analysts say.

<http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/russia-s-reaction-to-eu-counter-propaganda-channel-hints-at-fear/514323.html>

Alexander Morozov, a Russian media analyst based in Europe, told The Moscow
Times that while such a channel is undoubtedly necessary, its prospects for
success look grim: Even the well-established, independent news outlets now
catering to Russian-speakers in Europe are struggling to expand their
readership within the Russian diaspora.

Most of the Russians living abroad rely on Kremlin-backed media for news from
home, Morozov said, and they "trust the depictions of the conflict with the
West provided to them by Russia's state-run channels." ..

...

Idiots. The leaders of Western public opinion actually have nothing
interesting to say to Russian audience. Those pompously ranting about 'truth
is the best weapon' don't notice that they are living themselves in a virtual
reality and within a sea of hypocrisy. The coverage of Russia in the Western
news media is not based on reality but mostly on [sick] fantasies and wishful
thinking. They may sell such a stuff to home audience, but the Russian one
hardly will buy it, whether there would be 1 or 1001 propaganda TV channels,
- that's why even Russian expats, most of which are speaking well the
languages of their host countries, prefer to receive Russia-related news from
'Kremlin-backed' news media. Actually, there's already a number of outlets
in Russian language controlled by Western governments, CIA etc - they are not
somehow prohibited in Russia, but these outlets gather only a small part of
Russian public simply because they are not credible nor interesting.

Dr. Vincent Quin, Ph.D.

2015-01-21 11:09:02 UTC

Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://time.com/3673548/europe-russian-language-tv/>
Europe Mulls a Russian Language TV Channel to Counter Moscow Propaganda ..
Diplomats feel they are losing the information war to Russia Now Latvia
is proposing that the E.U. fights back with its own Russian-language
television station. “We cannot just prohibit it,” Makarovs told reporters
in the Latvian capital recently, “but we want to create an alternative of
comparable quality in technical terms.” ..
The truth is the best weapon the E.U. has, analysts say.
<http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/russia-s-reaction-to-eu-counter-propaganda-channel-hints-at-fear/514323.html>
Alexander Morozov, a Russian media analyst based in Europe, told The Moscow
Times that while such a channel is undoubtedly necessary, its prospects for
success look grim: Even the well-established, independent news outlets now
catering to Russian-speakers in Europe are struggling to expand their
readership within the Russian diaspora.
Most of the Russians living abroad rely on Kremlin-backed media for news from
home, Morozov said, and they "trust the depictions of the conflict with the
West provided to them by Russia's state-run channels." ..
...
Idiots. The leaders of Western public opinion actually have nothing
interesting to say to Russian audience. Those pompously ranting about 'truth
is the best weapon' don't notice that they are living themselves in a virtual
reality and within a sea of hypocrisy. The coverage of Russia in the Western
news media is not based on reality but mostly on [sick] fantasies and wishful
thinking. They may sell such a stuff to home audience, but the Russian one
hardly will buy it, whether there would be 1 or 1001 propaganda TV channels,
- that's why even Russian expats, most of which are speaking well the
languages of their host countries, prefer to receive Russia-related news from
'Kremlin-backed' news media. Actually, there's already a number of outlets
in Russian language controlled by Western governments, CIA etc - they are not
somehow prohibited in Russia, but these outlets gather only a small part of
Russian public simply because they are not credible nor interesting.

Isn't about time that you realized you are talking to yourself when you post
this drivel to sci.military.naval?

Incorrect, son...I read all his posts...very informative.

btw deadbeat, do you pay your bills now? When you promise to
pay then keep your promise...you show a character deficiency.
;-)

jack595

2015-01-21 11:37:24 UTC

Post by Dr. Vincent Quin, Ph.D.

In article <Q72dnXpcd7ZWFSLJnZ2dnUU7-***@supernews.com>, Dr. Vincent Quin,
Ph.D. says...

Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://time.com/3673548/europe-russian-language-tv/>
Europe Mulls a Russian Language TV Channel to Counter Moscow Propaganda ..
Diplomats feel they are losing the information war to Russia Now Latvia
is proposing that the E.U. fights back with its own Russian-language
television station. âWe cannot just prohibit it,â Makarovs told reporters
in the Latvian capital recently, âbut we want to create an alternative of
comparable quality in technical terms.â ..
The truth is the best weapon the E.U. has, analysts say.
<http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/russia-s-reaction-to-eu-counter-propaganda-channel-hints-at-fear/514323.html>
Alexander Morozov, a Russian media analyst based in Europe, told The Moscow
Times that while such a channel is undoubtedly necessary, its prospects for
success look grim: Even the well-established, independent news outlets now
catering to Russian-speakers in Europe are struggling to expand their
readership within the Russian diaspora.
Most of the Russians living abroad rely on Kremlin-backed media for news from
home, Morozov said, and they "trust the depictions of the conflict with the
West provided to them by Russia's state-run channels." ..
...
Idiots. The leaders of Western public opinion actually have nothing
interesting to say to Russian audience. Those pompously ranting about 'truth
is the best weapon' don't notice that they are living themselves in a virtual
reality and within a sea of hypocrisy. The coverage of Russia in the Western
news media is not based on reality but mostly on [sick] fantasies and wishful
thinking. They may sell such a stuff to home audience, but the Russian one
hardly will buy it, whether there would be 1 or 1001 propaganda TV channels,
- that's why even Russian expats, most of which are speaking well the
languages of their host countries, prefer to receive Russia-related news from
'Kremlin-backed' news media. Actually, there's already a number of outlets
in Russian language controlled by Western governments, CIA etc - they are not
somehow prohibited in Russia, but these outlets gather only a small part of
Russian public simply because they are not credible nor interesting.

Isn't about time that you realized you are talking to yourself when you post
this drivel to sci.military.naval?

Incorrect, son...I read all his posts...very informative.
btw deadbeat, do you pay your bills now? When you promise to
pay then keep your promise...you show a character deficiency.
;-)

I think that verifies my contention, nobody reads Olegs posts

Mr. B1ack

2015-01-22 03:17:13 UTC

Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://time.com/3673548/europe-russian-language-tv/>
Europe Mulls a Russian Language TV Channel to Counter Moscow Propaganda ..
Diplomats feel they are losing the information war to Russia Now Latvia
is proposing that the E.U. fights back with its own Russian-language
television station. We cannot just prohibit it, Makarovs told reporters
in the Latvian capital recently, but we want to create an alternative of
comparable quality in technical terms. ..
The truth is the best weapon the E.U. has, analysts say.
<http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/russia-s-reaction-to-eu-counter-propaganda-channel-hints-at-fear/514323.html>
Alexander Morozov, a Russian media analyst based in Europe, told The Moscow
Times that while such a channel is undoubtedly necessary, its prospects for
success look grim: Even the well-established, independent news outlets now
catering to Russian-speakers in Europe are struggling to expand their
readership within the Russian diaspora.
Most of the Russians living abroad rely on Kremlin-backed media for news from
home, Morozov said, and they "trust the depictions of the conflict with the
West provided to them by Russia's state-run channels." ..
...
Idiots. The leaders of Western public opinion actually have nothing
interesting to say to Russian audience. Those pompously ranting about 'truth
is the best weapon' don't notice that they are living themselves in a virtual
reality and within a sea of hypocrisy. The coverage of Russia in the Western
news media is not based on reality but mostly on [sick] fantasies and wishful
thinking. They may sell such a stuff to home audience, but the Russian one
hardly will buy it, whether there would be 1 or 1001 propaganda TV channels,
- that's why even Russian expats, most of which are speaking well the
languages of their host countries, prefer to receive Russia-related news from
'Kremlin-backed' news media. Actually, there's already a number of outlets
in Russian language controlled by Western governments, CIA etc - they are not
somehow prohibited in Russia, but these outlets gather only a small part of
Russian public simply because they are not credible nor interesting.

What 'news' seems interesting or 'truthier' tends to depend on
the listener and their background. Americans have developed
a stereotype of what Russia and Russians are all about over
the past century. A lot of it is wrong or distorted but it *feels
right* and never gets corrected. Profitible 'news' means that
you tell people what they want to hear, bias the facts to fit
the preconceptions.

But surely this is also true of Russians. They too will have a
stereotype of Americans - built up over three or four generations -
a different collection of stuff that *feels right*. Russian news
sources - govt or not - will cater to those biases - and as the
news people are usually native-borns they don't even have to
TRY to slant the news, their own brains pre-slant it to fit
their view on reality.

Short of mixing the two populations at gunpoint I'm not sure
what can be done about this sort of problem. Most of what
humans call 'reality' is built from rather 'soft' truths liberally
spiced with prejudices and preconceptions.

Oleg Smirnov

2015-01-28 11:41:23 UTC

Post by Mr. B1ack
What 'news' seems interesting or 'truthier' tends to
depend on the listener and their background. Americans
have developed a stereotype of what Russia and Russians
are all about over the past century. A lot of it is
wrong or distorted but it *feels right* and never gets
corrected. Profitible 'news' means that you tell people
what they want to hear, bias the facts to fit the
preconceptions.
But surely this is also true of Russians. They too will
have a stereotype of Americans - built up over three or
four generations - a different collection of stuff that
*feels right*. Russian news sources - govt or not -
will cater to those biases - and as the news people are
usually native-borns they don't even have to TRY to
slant the news, their own brains pre-slant it to fit
their view on reality.
Short of mixing the two populations at gunpoint I'm not
sure what can be done about this sort of problem. Most
of what humans call 'reality' is built from rather
'soft' truths liberally spiced with prejudices and
preconceptions.

The stereotypes exist everywhere, and the Russians also
have same false stereotypes about America or 'the West'
in general. Besides that a tribes(wo)man usually feels
the stockholm syndrome towards his or her tribe (which is
called patriotism or nationalism). This is 'natural'.

With that, I still tend to believe that average Russian
view of America / West is more realistic than vice versa.
This is not only because the Russians consume much more
various Western media production than in the opposite
direction. They also get much more first-hand information
via various internet communities. Today, there's many
persons that migrated from Russia elsewhere, including in
the US, and many share their stories in detail including
'subtle' issues.

The average Americans are not too fond of traveling
outside the US, tend to consider America a navel of the
universe, and largely receive information about other
world in a prepared and adapted form, from professional
intermediaries in the news media. When I read articles
in 'reputable' outlets that keep their own reporters in
Russia, I can see well where they deliberately lie. In
turn, when I read rants in second-class outlets, reader
comments, conversations in the internet communities, I
often see very dense and sometimes pretty weird myths in
people's minds. Also I see a lot of those who imagines
Russia in stereotypes of the USSR of 1950s (which in
turn are inaccurate themselves). Thus I think that the
public in West thinks in terms of inadequate stereotypes
about Russia to more great extent than vice versa.

Oleg Smirnov

2015-01-28 14:15:06 UTC

<http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1501/S00120/canada-leaps-into-the-empire-of-chaos.htm>

The Saudis and our relationship to them are the height of hypocrisy and double
standards.
This is the country that supported Bahrain in violently crushing the peaceful
demonstrations by the majority Shia against their absolutist monarchy. Saudi
Arabia is a country that is itself a monarchy, a fundamentalist autocratic
tribal fiefdom writ large on the Arabian peninsula, supported by the reactionary
fundamentalist Sunni Wahabi sect.

Rule of law is Sunni sharia law with no written “rule of law” which the Canadian
neoCons always tout as being one of the requirements of a country with whom they
have good relationships. Misogyny, torture, beheadings, stonings, whippings,
amputations, and death (well obviously for beheading) are traits of their“legal”
system. “Freedom” and “democracy” have little application in Saudi Arabia.

9/11 has the Saudi name written all over it yet nothing was done concerning
those incriminating liaisons. al-Qaeda and the Taliban - associated further back
with U.S. efforts to militarize the mujahideen freedom fighters in Afghanistan
against Soviet forces - are products of U.S. geopolitical interests. The oil
interests of the U.S. have protected the House of Saud in the arc of instability
and allowed the free flow of dollars between the oil country and the military
corporations and investment houses of the U.S. (see House of Bush - House of
Saud, Craig Unger, Scribner, 2004) Two other events are occurring which adds
more hypocrisy and double standards to the mix, both tied in with the empire of
chaos: the first is a feature of war; the second is a feature of financial
predation, but another part of war in itself. ..

..

Oleg Smirnov

2015-01-29 12:07:30 UTC

<http://www.larouchepub.com/other/2015/4205obama_sou_war.html>

Jan. 27—President Barack Obama faithfully demonstrated his allegiance to British
imperial policy in his State of the Union speech Jan. 20. In the midst of
spewing out his delusions about the state of the U.S. economy and his own
accomplishments, Obama pressed forward on the path of confrontation with Russia
and China, which will lead, unless stopped very soon, to World War III.

“Obama’s State of the Union address was clinically insane, filled with the most
corrupt, rotten, foolish, idiotic statements,” commented Lyndon LaRouche. “And
what was worse, the audience was cheering him on like a pack of idiots. It was
an echo of the Nuremberg rallies of Nazi Germany.” ..

“We’re upholding the principle that bigger nations can’t bully the small—by
opposing Russian aggression, and supporting Ukraine’s democracy... ,” Obama
said. “Today it is America that stands strong and united with our allies, while
Russia is isolated with its economy in tatters.”

It is not surprising that the delusional Obama would “forget” about the U.S.
bullying and invasion of Panama, Serbia (by insisting on independence of
Kosovo), and Iraq — not to mention the fact that his State Department emissary
Victoria Nuland helped orchestrate a coup in Ukraine that brought Nazis into the
government. But how could the full Congress stand to applaud this blatant lie?

And how could that Congress, and the American population, swallow the absurdity
that Russia has been “isolated” by Western economic warfare? The BRICS alliance,
of which Russia is a crucial part, is comprised of more than 3 billion people,
and represents the fastest-growing section of the world economy. It is Obama who
is isolated — with his own delusions of grandeur. ..
Two days after the State of the Union, China’s state-owned press began issuing
diatribes against Obama’s war-mongering. ..

...

Is the American imperialism really a 'continuation' of the British one? The
British were more 'realistic' while the ideas of the American exceptionalism
and global mission are reminiscent of other not so old precedents: the ideas of
global supremacy and mission developed in the Nazi Germany, and the Trotskyist
globalism. You can also ask yourself, who in the world, presently, besides the
American 'liberal interventionism', is pushing a globalist agenda? The answer
may look sudden: the radical islamic / Global Jihadist movement. These two are
very different, of course. But they're similar in the sense of globalist agenda
and ideology. An alternative globalism against the American globalism, sort of.
My point is that any sort of globalist ideology that pretends to be 'universal'
and supposes a global mission in the world, is not good and leads to evil.

Oleg Smirnov

2015-01-29 14:38:28 UTC

To make it more clear, any globalism sooner or later meets
with insurmountable contradictions in the real world. Sooner
or later an attempt to implement 'the only true doctrine' in
an inappropriate situation miserably fails (eg look at Iraq
and Libya). In turn, the obsessive desire for domination
makes it no longer possible to follow enunciated principles
and 'high ideals'. Look at the Saudi Arabia and other oil
dictatorships, the nice American allies. Is this all about
'values' and 'democracy', oh really?

For Hitler, 'the Jews' were a sacred evil, and now for the
ideologists of the American supremacy, 'Russia' is a sacred
evil. The American agitprop demonizes 'Russia' is similar way
as Nazi propaganda demonized 'the Jews'. It has a little to
do with 'democracy' and 'values'.

With respect to the global jihadism, I've recently noticed
<https://groups.google.com/d/msg/talk.politics.misc/890KlygnajU/7373nqybF6wJ>
that, as sociologic researches show, the Muslims living in
the West are much more inclined to justify the ISIS ie. the
radical militant islamism bases on idea of the global jihad,
rather than the Muslims living in genuine Muslim societies.
I tend to explain this as a 'dialectic' response to heavy
promotion of ideas of the globalism in the Western countries
under American patronage / surveillance.

Oleg Smirnov

2015-01-31 18:58:09 UTC

<http://www.mintpressnews.com/hrw-wests-double-standards-fueled-rise-islamist-groups/201716/>

Kenneth Roth, executive director of HRW, said that Wahhabism and western
“double standards” were behind the meteoric rise of the Islamic State of Iraq
and Syria (ISIS) and other militant groups in the region in 2014. ..
The emergence of ISIS was in part fueled by the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq
.. The Iraq invasion led to a security vacuum and abuses in Abu Ghraib prison
and Guantanamo Bay which fueled distrust of the US occupying forces in the
region. ..

Yet, the West has also fallen back on “a good-versus-bad mentality” and in its
desire to show Ukraine as a victim of Russian aggression has been “reluctant
to address Ukrainian abuses.”

Roth went on to criticize US President Barack Obama’s failure to comment on
Saudi Arabia’s “disastrous human rights record” during his visit to Riyadh
this week.

“He went to India and gave a beautiful speech about women’s rights, religious
freedoms and respect for different ethnicities — then he went to Saudi Arabia
and didn’t say anything,” Roth said.

In Saudi Arabia, he added, “women are completely second-class citizens. Any
efforts at dissent are being ruthlessly snuffed out with people handed 15-year
prison sentences and a thousand lashes — and Obama has nothing to say about
this.” “That overt double standard… leaves Saudi people in the lurch,” Roth
asserted. ..

The need for security in the digital age has also triggered concerns for HRW,
alarmed by daily data snooping by governments targeting hundreds of millions
of people.

“Governments everywhere are expanding their own mass surveillance capacity,”
argued senior HRW Internet researcher Cynthia Wong. The US and Britain remain
the leaders in the field, having “thrown away any notion of proportionality.”
Wong said the transatlantic allies “have provided a roadmap for governments of
all political persuasions to build their own systems of mass surveillance.” ..

...

It's understandable that these human right fighters want to be in a white
tuxedo above all, but the main idea that comes into my mind while reading this
is that it would be very much better if those opinionated and hypocritical
liberal interventionalists and regime changers stayed at home and minded their
domestic affairs instead of running obsessively around the world and making
the wrong worse, - this world is too complex, and it does not fit into their
primitive models of how it should be.

Post by Oleg Smirnov
To make it more clear, any globalism sooner or later meets
with insurmountable contradictions in the real world. Sooner
or later an attempt to implement 'the only true doctrine' in
an inappropriate situation miserably fails (eg look at Iraq
and Libya). In turn, the obsessive desire for domination
makes it no longer possible to follow enunciated principles
and 'high ideals'. Look at the Saudi Arabia and other oil
dictatorships, the nice American allies. Is this all about
'values' and 'democracy', oh really?

Oleg Smirnov

2015-02-02 00:07:58 UTC

<http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article49253.html>

.. Escalation by the U.S. and European powers will make matters worse. As a
general rule, U.S. interventions make matters worse and fail to achieve even
their advertised goals, about which one may also be rightly skeptical. See,
for example, this 1994 article <http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-209.html>
arguing a case for the futility of U.S. interventions.

U.S. interventions tend to intensify wars, resulting in more and worse
civilian casualties and refugees, more and greater destruction, and more and
greater military casualties.

U.S. interventions result in a more powerful state at home. Wars and related
interventions on any scale establish precedents for greater powers of the
state. The idea of using the state to eradicate or ameliorate evils takes
root. This idea leads to government that knows no ideological limits, because
evils are everywhere both here and abroad. As time passes, the state then
applies its enhanced powers in whatever spheres of American life turn out to
be politically favorable. The result after many interventions and decades is a
warfare-welfare-regulatory state, a spying-police state, and a state with a
massive propaganda apparatus. The departments of the federal government
control every significant sector of American life.

Intervention after intervention by government embeds the idea that we the
people need the government for the sake of our safety and security. This is a
totally false idea. ..

Michael S. Rozeff

http://www.lewrockwell.com

Michael S. Rozeff [send him mail] is a retired Professor of Finance living in
East Amherst, New York. He is the author of the free e-book Essays on American
Empire: Liberty vs. Domination and the free e-book The U.S. Constitution and
Money: Corruption and Decline.

Post by Oleg Smirnov
It's understandable that these human right fighters want
to be in a white tuxedo above all, but the main idea that
comes into my mind while reading this is that it would be
very much better if those opinionated and hypocritical
liberal interventionalists and regime changers stayed at
home and minded their domestic affairs instead of running
obsessively around the world and making the wrong worse,
- this world is too complex, and it does not fit into
their primitive models of how it should be.

Post by Oleg Smirnov
To make it more clear, any globalism sooner or later
meets with insurmountable contradictions in the real
world. Sooner or later an attempt to implement 'the only
true doctrine' in an inappropriate situation miserably
fails (eg look at Iraq and Libya). In turn, the
obsessive desire for domination makes it no longer
possible to follow enunciated principles and 'high
ideals'. Look at the Saudi Arabia and other oil
dictatorships, the nice American allies. Is this all
about 'values' and 'democracy', oh really?

jack595

2015-02-02 01:12:58 UTC

Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article49253.html>
.. Escalation by the U.S. and European powers will make matters worse. As a
general rule, U.S. interventions make matters worse and fail to achieve even
their advertised goals, about which one may also be rightly skeptical. See,
for example, this 1994 article <http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-209.html>
arguing a case for the futility of U.S. interventions.
U.S. interventions tend to intensify wars, resulting in more and worse
civilian casualties and refugees, more and greater destruction, and more and
greater military casualties.
U.S. interventions result in a more powerful state at home. Wars and related
interventions on any scale establish precedents for greater powers of the
state. The idea of using the state to eradicate or ameliorate evils takes
root. This idea leads to government that knows no ideological limits, because
evils are everywhere both here and abroad. As time passes, the state then
applies its enhanced powers in whatever spheres of American life turn out to
be politically favorable. The result after many interventions and decades is a
warfare-welfare-regulatory state, a spying-police state, and a state with a
massive propaganda apparatus. The departments of the federal government
control every significant sector of American life.
Intervention after intervention by government embeds the idea that we the
people need the government for the sake of our safety and security. This is a
totally false idea. ..
Michael S. Rozeff
http://www.lewrockwell.com
Michael S. Rozeff [send him mail] is a retired Professor of Finance living in
East Amherst, New York. He is the author of the free e-book Essays on American
Empire: Liberty vs. Domination and the free e-book The U.S. Constitution and
Money: Corruption and Decline.

Post by Oleg Smirnov
To make it more clear, any globalism sooner or later
meets with insurmountable contradictions in the real
world. Sooner or later an attempt to implement 'the only
true doctrine' in an inappropriate situation miserably
fails (eg look at Iraq and Libya). In turn, the
obsessive desire for domination makes it no longer
possible to follow enunciated principles and 'high
ideals'. Look at the Saudi Arabia and other oil
dictatorships, the nice American allies. Is this all
about 'values' and 'democracy', oh really?

Read about Michael Rozeff, he is a Libertarian with some funny ideas to spew.

http://mgt.buffalo.edu/faculty/academic/finance/faculty/msroz

Oleg Smirnov

2015-02-03 11:19:54 UTC

Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://www.mintpressnews.com/hrw-wests-double-standards-fueled-rise-islamist-groups/201716/>
“Governments everywhere are expanding their own mass
surveillance capacity,” argued senior HRW Internet
researcher Cynthia Wong. The US and Britain remain the
leaders in the field, having “thrown away any notion of
proportionality.” Wong said the transatlantic allies
“have provided a roadmap for governments of all political
persuasions to build their own systems of mass
surveillance.” ..

<http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jan/31/british-army-facebook-warriors-77th-brigade>

The British army is creating a special force of Facebook warriors, skilled in
psychological operations and use of social media to engage in unconventional
warfare in the information age.

The 77th Brigade, to be based in Hermitage, near Newbury, in Berkshire, will
be about 1,500-strong and formed of units drawn from across the army. It will
formally come into being in April.

The brigade will be responsible for what is described as non-lethal warfare.
Both the Israeli and US army already engage heavily in psychological
operations. ..

The Israel Defence Forces have pioneered state military engagement with social
media, with dedicated teams operating since Operation Cast Lead, its war in
Gaza in 2008-9. The IDF is active on 30 platforms ..

Andrew Swallow

2015-02-03 12:26:32 UTC

<http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jan/31/british-army-facebook-warriors-77th-brigade>
The British army is creating a special force of Facebook warriors, skilled in
psychological operations and use of social media to engage in
unconventional
warfare in the information age.
The 77th Brigade, to be based in Hermitage, near Newbury, in Berkshire, will
be about 1,500-strong and formed of units drawn from across the army. It will
formally come into being in April.
The brigade will be responsible for what is described as non-lethal warfare.
Both the Israeli and US army already engage heavily in psychological
operations. ..
The Israel Defence Forces have pioneered state military engagement with social
media, with dedicated teams operating since Operation Cast Lead, its war in
Gaza in 2008-9. The IDF is active on 30 platforms ..

I see you have dropped sci.military.naval from the follow ups again. The
retired naval officers probably know too much.

Andrew Swallow

2015-01-29 19:36:42 UTC

Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://www.larouchepub.com/other/2015/4205obama_sou_war.html>
Jan. 27—President Barack Obama faithfully demonstrated his allegiance to British
imperial policy in his State of the Union speech Jan. 20. In the midst of
spewing out his delusions about the state of the U.S. economy and his own
accomplishments, Obama pressed forward on the path of confrontation with Russia
and China, which will lead, unless stopped very soon, to World War III.
“Obama’s State of the Union address was clinically insane, filled with the most
corrupt, rotten, foolish, idiotic statements,” commented Lyndon LaRouche. “And
what was worse, the audience was cheering him on like a pack of idiots. It was
an echo of the Nuremberg rallies of Nazi Germany.” ..
“We’re upholding the principle that bigger nations can’t bully the small—by
opposing Russian aggression, and supporting Ukraine’s democracy... ,” Obama
said. “Today it is America that stands strong and united with our allies, while
Russia is isolated with its economy in tatters.”
It is not surprising that the delusional Obama would “forget” about the U.S.
bullying and invasion of Panama, Serbia (by insisting on independence of
Kosovo), and Iraq — not to mention the fact that his State Department emissary
Victoria Nuland helped orchestrate a coup in Ukraine that brought Nazis into the
government. But how could the full Congress stand to applaud this blatant lie?
And how could that Congress, and the American population, swallow the absurdity
that Russia has been “isolated” by Western economic warfare? The BRICS alliance,
of which Russia is a crucial part, is comprised of more than 3 billion people,
and represents the fastest-growing section of the world economy. It is Obama who
is isolated — with his own delusions of grandeur. ..
Two days after the State of the Union, China’s state-owned press began issuing
diatribes against Obama’s war-mongering. ..
...
Is the American imperialism really a 'continuation' of the British one? The
British were more 'realistic' while the ideas of the American
exceptionalism
and global mission are reminiscent of other not so old precedents: the ideas of
global supremacy and mission developed in the Nazi Germany, and the Trotskyist
globalism. You can also ask yourself, who in the world, presently, besides the
American 'liberal interventionism', is pushing a globalist agenda? The answer
may look sudden: the radical islamic / Global Jihadist movement. These two are
very different, of course. But they're similar in the sense of globalist agenda
and ideology. An alternative globalism against the American globalism, sort of.
My point is that any sort of globalist ideology that pretends to be 'universal'
and supposes a global mission in the world, is not good and leads to evil.

The British imperialists made large efforts to stay out of Europe.

Byker

2015-01-29 14:15:57 UTC

The oil interests of the U.S. have protected the House of Saud

Without the oil the Saudis would be still killing each other over waterholes

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Oleg Smirnov

2015-02-06 02:33:16 UTC

<http://russia-insider.com/en/2015/02/05/3162>

Reports of Foreigners Fleeing Russia Are Pure Fiction
Leading Russian business daily RBC says that foreigners are leaving
Russia in droves. The problem: their report is completely fabricated

Jon Hellevig MEDIA WATCH 16 hours ago

RBC Daily, belonging to the media group of oligarch Mikhail Prokhorov,
has just been caught red-handed in a deliberate and blatant fraud on
migration statistics. In a media story billed as RBC’sspecial research
report the publication proclaims that foreigners are leaving Russia in
droves.

The storyline is very popular both among the Russian liberal opposition
media and the Western mainstream media. Just last fall there was a big
drive to announce that Russia is experiencing a brain drain with hordes
of people emigrating to the West. Those claims were totally baseless.
This time the media has dreamed up a new fantasy: Westerners, fearing
for their lives, are fleeing Russia. ..
I was not the least surprised when I noticed this morning that The
Moscow Times and other members of the Western press had picked up this
story. ..

I don’t understand how the relevant authorities of Russia put up with
this deliberate smearing of Russia’s image. Fraudulent reporting like
this directly affects public sentiment ..

Oleg Smirnov

2015-02-06 02:48:42 UTC

<http://russia-insider.com/en/2015/02/04/3135>

The Numbers Don't Lie: Russia's "Junk" Status Is Ludicrous

a.. Low debt to GDP ratio
b.. High revenue to debt ratio
c.. High reserves to debt ratio

Henry Kirby BUSINESS 14 hours ago

Standard & Poor’s downgrade of Russia to junk status on January 27 was met by
the Kremlin with accusations of US-influenced politicking. Russian news agency
RIA Novosti quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Vasily Nebenzya as saying that he
has “no doubt that this was done not even on the prompting but on direct
orders from Washington”.
While there is little argument that 2014 proved to be a damaging year for the
Russian economy, a closer look at some basic macroeconomic figures would offer
some credence to the Kremlin’s cries of foul play – especially when compared
to other economies still ranked investment grade. .. [.. read more ..]

Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://russia-insider.com/en/2015/02/05/3162>
Reports of Foreigners Fleeing Russia Are Pure Fiction
Leading Russian business daily RBC says that foreigners are leaving
Russia in droves. The problem: their report is completely fabricated

Byker

2015-02-06 04:13:56 UTC

RBC Daily, belonging to the media group of oligarch Mikhail Prokhorov, has
just been caught red-handed in a deliberate and blatant fraud on migration
statistics. In a media story billed as RBC’s special research report the
publication proclaims that foreigners are leaving Russia in droves.

Tajiks, perhaps: http://tinyurl.com/lgrdn6c

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Oleg Smirnov

2015-02-06 07:33:53 UTC

"Oleg Smirnov" wrote in message

Post by Oleg Smirnov
RBC Daily, belonging to the media group of oligarch
Mikhail Prokhorov, has just been caught red-handed in a
deliberate and blatant fraud on migration statistics. In
a media story billed as RBC’s special research report
the publication proclaims that foreigners are leaving
Russia in droves.

Tajiks, perhaps: http://tinyurl.com/lgrdn6c

".. draconian migration regulations .."

It's true about changing of the migration regulations,
however there's a little 'draconian' about them. In the
previous decades the regulations for citizens of the
post-Soviet states were very liberal in Russia. Recently
the rules had been changed in order to reduce abuse of
illegal immigration and provide more social security to
legal labor migrants.

According to official / UN data, Russia ranks second in
the number of immigrants, after the US. Official number
for 2013 was 11 million. But taking into account a large
and profitable shady business linked to the issue, many
believe the real number may be about twice as much.

Byker

2015-02-07 05:05:10 UTC

Post by Oleg Smirnov
".. draconian migration regulations .."
It's true about changing of the migration regulations, however there's a
little 'draconian' about them. In the previous decades the regulations for
citizens of the post-Soviet states were very liberal in Russia. Recently
the rules had been changed in order to reduce abuse of illegal immigration
and provide more social security to legal labor migrants.

If anything, Russia NEEDS immigrants, legal or otherwise, to boost its
dwindling population. Putin is proposing monthly cash incentives for women
to bear more than two children:

"'These measures are not enough,' said Anatoly Vishnevsky, director of the
Moscow-based Demography Institute at the Higher School of Economics.
"'It's impossible to imagine how you could boost the population except
through massive immigration,' he told AFP, adding his latest proposals
contradicted his earlier pledge to toughen up immigration legislation."
http://tinyurl.com/nufb8d2

It's been tried before. The Romans 2,000 years ago imposed a "bachelor tax"
on men who refused to get married. The bachelors paid the tax and then went
on their merry way. Both Hitler and Stalin imposed taxes on singles, with
the proceeds going to women who had lots of kids. Now it appears Putin is
becoming equally desperate...

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Oleg Smirnov

2015-02-07 07:30:23 UTC

"Oleg Smirnov" wrote in message

Post by Oleg Smirnov
".. draconian migration regulations .."
It's true about changing of the migration regulations,
however there's a little 'draconian' about them. In the
previous decades the regulations for citizens of the
post-Soviet states were very liberal in Russia. Recently
the rules had been changed in order to reduce abuse of
illegal immigration and provide more social security to
legal labor migrants.

If anything, Russia NEEDS immigrants, legal or otherwise,
to boost its dwindling population. Putin is proposing
monthly cash incentives for women to bear more than two
"'These measures are not enough,' said Anatoly
Vishnevsky, director of the Moscow-based Demography
Institute at the Higher School of Economics. "'It's
impossible to imagine how you could boost the population
except through massive immigration,' he told AFP, adding
his latest proposals contradicted his earlier pledge to
toughen up immigration legislation."
http://tinyurl.com/nufb8d2

What's the goal 'to boost the population'?

A flock owner may want to boost the number of livestock.

From the economic perspective, more employables and
less olds is better for productivity, though in a broader
context this is very complex and multilayered subject.

It's been tried before. The Romans 2,000 years ago
imposed a "bachelor tax" on men who refused to get
married. The bachelors paid the tax and then went on
their merry way. Both Hitler and Stalin imposed taxes on
singles, with the proceeds going to women who had lots of
kids. Now it appears Putin is becoming equally
desperate...

Oh man ..

Everybody wants to tell me some thing about Putin.

Byker

2015-02-07 14:34:31 UTC

Post by Oleg Smirnov
Everybody wants to tell me some thing about Putin.

I wonder what he thinks of the latest fad diet...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Russian Weight Loss Group Slammed for Promoting 'Leningrad Blockade Diet'

The Moscow Times
Jan. 27 2015

A Russian weight-loss group has come under fire after it invited its
followers to adopt a food regime based on the rations supplied during the
Siege of Leningrad — when 630,000 people died of starvation.

The call for a "blockade diet," posted on Facebook on Tuesday by a group
named "Get Thin Like Me," was timed to coincide with the 71st anniversary of
the city's liberation from a Nazi siege.

Participants were asked to honor World War II veterans by eating only those
products available to the population during the blockade, to "watch your
figure and commemorate the Leningrad siege at the same time," the post read.
"We'll load up at the rate of factory workers doing a full day's shift in
December 1941 — 400 grams of bread, and as many glasses of water as you
like. Men can have 100 grams of vodka at night, but only in place of bread,"
the post said, followed by the recipe for "blockade bread" which, the
authors said, included ingredients now only found at pet stores.

Only 20 people had signed up the Facebook event as of Tuesday afternoon.

Social media users were quick to criticize the single-day action.

"Are you mentally insane? What's going on in your 'thin' heads?!" a user who
identified herself as Yana Podyanova Timmerman wrote beneath the post.

"There are no words! What an infinitely sick fantasy," said Elena Antipas,
another user.

Among the less controversial stunts to commemorate the siege of Leningrad,
5,000 people gathered Tuesday in St. Petersburg to read poem excerpts in
memory of the victims.

The Siege of Leningrad lasted 872 days from Sept. 8, 1941 to Jan. 27, 1944.
During this time, more than 630,000 people died of starvation after Nazi
forces cut off food supplies to the city.

http://tinyurl.com/okat7qz

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Mr. B1ack

2015-02-08 03:16:39 UTC

Post by Byker

Post by Oleg Smirnov
Everybody wants to tell me some thing about Putin.

Well ... it'd WORK, wouldn't it ? :-)

Now that the 'paleo diet' is getting old here in
the states, expect the 'Neanderthal diet' craze ...
something that eliminated an entire subspecies :-)

Oleg Smirnov

2015-02-09 23:47:48 UTC

<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/10/opinion/roger-cohen-western-illusions-over-ukraine.html>

".. President Vladimir Putin’s Russia would be quite happy to absorb all
of Ukraine, which it views as an extension of the motherland, an upstart
deluded by the West into imagining independent statehood."

This passage illustrates an utter idiocy in the minds of the American
'analysts', or their desire to pile a falsehood against reality (or both
things). In reality, it would be a kind of sick nightmare for Russia to
try to 'absorb' those parts of the Ukraine where anti-Russia moods are
massively cultivated, and even those that are just 'different' enough.
The current reality is rather the opposite: the Kiev freaks desperately
try to 'absorb' Donbas by brute force despite the fact that the people of
Donbas clearly expressed that most of them don't support new, post-coup
Kiev's agenda and want to live autonomously from that.

jack595

2015-02-10 01:09:06 UTC

Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/10/opinion/roger-cohen-western-illusions-over-ukraine.html>
".. President Vladimir Putinâs Russia would be quite happy to absorb all
of Ukraine, which it views as an extension of the motherland, an upstart
deluded by the West into imagining independent statehood."
This passage illustrates an utter idiocy in the minds of the American
'analysts', or their desire to pile a falsehood against reality (or both
things). In reality, it would be a kind of sick nightmare for Russia to
try to 'absorb' those parts of the Ukraine where anti-Russia moods are
massively cultivated, and even those that are just 'different' enough.
The current reality is rather the opposite: the Kiev freaks desperately
try to 'absorb' Donbas by brute force despite the fact that the people of
Donbas clearly expressed that most of them don't support new, post-coup
Kiev's agenda and want to live autonomously from that.

All the Russians want is free passageway to the Black Sea. They don't realize
that their way to an ice-free port must get past Turkey to succeed. Fantasy.

Oleg Smirnov

2015-02-10 01:23:30 UTC

<http://www.vox.com/2015/2/9/8005833/russia-anti-american>

Chart: Anti-Americanism is exploding in Russia

Updated by Max Fisher on February 9, 2015, 1:00 p.m. ET

However bad you thought attitudes toward the US were in Russia, you're
probably underestimating the severity and suddenness of rising
anti-Americanism there. Just over 80 percent of Russians now see the US
negatively — an astounding and apparently unprecedented high — according to
the reputable Levada Center polling organization. The poll also finds that 42
percent of Russians see the US and Russia as "hostile" or as "enemies,"
depending on the translation.

That number is even more striking when you look at it over time. This chart,
from Levada, shows Russian attitudes toward the US from 1990 through today.
<http://goo.gl/SkB1I9> (currently, in response to question "How do you view
the US generally" only about 10% in Russia view the US 'positively' while
more than 80% the US 'negatively' - OS).

There have been three previous spikes — in the late 1990s during the Kosovo
War; in 2003, when the US invaded Iraq; and in 2008, when the US was critical
of Russia's war with Georgia — but none so profound as now, and all quite
temporary. Generally, Russian attitudes toward the US have been pretty
positive. Until now. ..

In Russia, this is often experienced as a belief that the US backed a 2013
fascist coup in Ukraine (in fact, the US was moderately supportive of a
popular uprising against the pro-Russia president), ..

For all those reasons, don't expect anti-American attitudes in Russia to
improve until Russia's economic collapse slows and likely until the Ukraine
crisis ends.

...

Max Fisher is a lying bastard since he claims that 'in fact, they supported a
popular uprising', you may read here <http://goo.gl/xRAKx9> with numbers about
how much it was really popular, and whether it was really a popular uprising.

As to the expectations whether the anti-American attitudes in Russia could be
improved and in what way, I can say that it's unlikely that they can return to
previous usual 'positive' level even if 'the crisis ends'. There's much more
serious thing. Many of the Russians rather sincerely believed that the ideas
of 'democracy', 'rule of law' and things like that is what largely drives the
US and the 'the West', but the observation of how the anti-constitutional coup
in Kiev was implemented, and how shamelessly the top American figures and the
mainstream mass media were / are spreading lies about that has destroyed this
illusion, and this destruction is hardly revocable for the foreseeable future.

jack595

2015-02-10 03:04:32 UTC

Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://www.vox.com/2015/2/9/8005833/russia-anti-american>
Chart: Anti-Americanism is exploding in Russia
Updated by Max Fisher on February 9, 2015, 1:00 p.m. ET
However bad you thought attitudes toward the US were in Russia, you're
probably underestimating the severity and suddenness of rising
anti-Americanism there. Just over 80 percent of Russians now see the US
negatively â an astounding and apparently unprecedented high â according to
the reputable Levada Center polling organization. The poll also finds that 42
percent of Russians see the US and Russia as "hostile" or as "enemies,"
depending on the translation.
That number is even more striking when you look at it over time. This chart,
from Levada, shows Russian attitudes toward the US from 1990 through today.
<http://goo.gl/SkB1I9> (currently, in response to question "How do you view
the US generally" only about 10% in Russia view the US 'positively' while
more than 80% the US 'negatively' - OS).
There have been three previous spikes â in the late 1990s during the Kosovo
War; in 2003, when the US invaded Iraq; and in 2008, when the US was critical
of Russia's war with Georgia â but none so profound as now, and all quite
temporary. Generally, Russian attitudes toward the US have been pretty
positive. Until now. ..
In Russia, this is often experienced as a belief that the US backed a 2013
fascist coup in Ukraine (in fact, the US was moderately supportive of a
popular uprising against the pro-Russia president), ..
For all those reasons, don't expect anti-American attitudes in Russia to
improve until Russia's economic collapse slows and likely until the Ukraine
crisis ends.
...
Max Fisher is a lying bastard since he claims that 'in fact, they supported a
popular uprising', you may read here <http://goo.gl/xRAKx9> with numbers about
how much it was really popular, and whether it was really a popular uprising.
As to the expectations whether the anti-American attitudes in Russia could be
improved and in what way, I can say that it's unlikely that they can return to
previous usual 'positive' level even if 'the crisis ends'. There's much more
serious thing. Many of the Russians rather sincerely believed that the ideas
of 'democracy', 'rule of law' and things like that is what largely drives the
US and the 'the West', but the observation of how the anti-constitutional coup
in Kiev was implemented, and how shamelessly the top American figures and the
mainstream mass media were / are spreading lies about that has destroyed this
illusion, and this destruction is hardly revocable for the foreseeable future.

And who is insisting that Yankovich was victim of a coup? Sounds like he left
without putting up a struggle.

"KIEV, Ukraine Abandoned by his own guards and reviled across the Ukrainian
capital but still determined to recover his shredded authority, President Viktor
F. Yanukovych fled Kiev on Friday night to denounce what he called a violent
coup, as his official residence, his vast, colonnaded office complex and other
once impregnable centers of power fell without a fight to throngs of joyous
citizens stunned by their triumph."

Oleg Smirnov

2015-02-16 01:00:23 UTC

<http://www.globalresearch.ca/ron-paul-ukraine-coup-planned-by-nato-and-eu/5431460>

As Ron Paul recently exclaimed, the war propagandists are very active and are
winning over the support of many unsuspecting American citizens. So we thought
the followingg 90 seconds of 'pure Paul' would provide a refreshingly
different perspective as he explains, "I'm not pro-Russia, I'm not pro-Putin,
I'm pro-facts."
"The Ukraine coup was planned by NATO and EU. The best thing we can do for
Ukraine is get the foreigners out."

As Ron Paul previously concluded <http://is.gd/pzSSLK>:

Our government has no more credibility in telling us the truth about the
facts that require us to expand our military presence in this region than
Brian Williams.

Constant war propaganda has proven too often to be our nemesis in supporting
constant war promoted by the neoconservatives and the military industrial
complex.

...

The only way that Congress can be persuaded to back off with our dangerous
interventionism, whether it's in the Middle East or Ukraine, is for the
American people to speak out clearly in opposition.

...

<http://is.gd/pzSSLK> Ron Paul

We have been fighting in the Middle East for 25 years. There have been no
victories and no "mission accomplished." Many needless deaths and dollars have
been spent and yet we never reassess our policies of foreign interventionism.

jack595

2015-02-16 01:18:38 UTC

Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://www.globalresearch.ca/ron-paul-ukraine-coup-planned-by-nato-and-eu/5431460>
As Ron Paul recently exclaimed, the war propagandists are very active and are
winning over the support of many unsuspecting American citizens. So we thought
the followingg 90 seconds of 'pure Paul' would provide a refreshingly
different perspective as he explains, "I'm not pro-Russia, I'm not pro-Putin,
I'm pro-facts."
"The Ukraine coup was planned by NATO and EU. The best thing we can do for
Ukraine is get the foreigners out." http://youtu.be/G93SlyJIQSg
Our government has no more credibility in telling us the truth about the
facts that require us to expand our military presence in this region than
Brian Williams.
Constant war propaganda has proven too often to be our nemesis in supporting
constant war promoted by the neoconservatives and the military industrial
complex.
...
The only way that Congress can be persuaded to back off with our dangerous
interventionism, whether it's in the Middle East or Ukraine, is for the
American people to speak out clearly in opposition.
...
<http://is.gd/pzSSLK> Ron Paul
We have been fighting in the Middle East for 25 years. There have been no
victories and no "mission accomplished." Many needless deaths and dollars have
been spent and yet we never reassess our policies of foreign interventionism.

When anyone, especially Russia, starts to use Ron Paul as a guideline for
policy, then they are in the pits without any means of rescue.

Mr. B1ack

2015-02-16 03:19:44 UTC

When anyone, especially Russia, starts to use Ron Paul as a guideline for
policy, then they are in the pits without any means of rescue.

Isolationism has been a feature of big-'L' Libertarianism
since its inception. Might have worked in 1800 ... won't
work now. Less/smarter intervention & tampering however,
may be something to that approach.

In any case, we really REALLY haven't a fuckin' clue what
we're doing in the 'arab' countries. Everything we touch
turns to shit. Everything we plan to make better gets worse.
Time to re-think. "Let's just bomb somebody" - the Big Stick
approach - needs to be replaced.

Oleg Smirnov

2015-02-19 02:07:30 UTC

<http://www.gilmermirror.com/view/full_story/26474429/article-Foreign-Policy-Failure-Everywhere>

Foreign Policy Failure Everywhere

by SHELDON RICHMAN

If one tried to design a foreign policy to embroil Americans in endless
conflicts that would otherwise be quite remote, one could hardly do better
than recent presidents of the United States. What could you do that these men
have not done to keep Americans mired in distant turmoil?

Signs of apparent failure abound while the ruling elite feigns ignorance of
the connection between U.S. intervention abroad and widening regional wars.
Despite President Obama's assurances that America's combat role in the
unceasingly violent Afghanistan is over, we know it is not. ISIS expands under
American and allied airstrikes, the best recruiting program the Islamists
could want. There was no ISIS in Iraq or Syria before America invaded the
former and called open season on the regime in the latter. In response, Obama
seeks unlimited war power.

ISIS franchises are emerging throughout the Arab and Muslim world. Libya,
which America and NATO "liberated" from Col. Gaddafi after prodding by
then-secretary of state Hillary Clinton, is in militia-ridden hell and is now
a haven for ISIS sympathizers. Obama can't make up his mind about what his war
on ISIS means for his opposition to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who also
opposes ISIS and al-Qaeda.

Meanwhile in Europe, the U.S.-instigated coup in Ukraine, following the
in-your-face expansion of NATO to the Russian border, has not had the intended
effect of making Russian President Putin skulk to his corner in fear of the
global hegemon. Instead, Putin capitalized on the explicit provocation to
engineer the dubious annexation of Crimea and to aid separatists (or perhaps
federalists) in eastern Ukraine, who are fighting neo-Nazis among others.
Despite the current ceasefire, a war between nuclear powers Russia and the
United States is not impossible.

Well done, Messrs. Obama, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Reagan, Carter, and on back.
Each faithfully pursued the geopolitical and economic interests embodied in
the idea of American hegemony. We see the results: slaughter and incineration
abroad (often by remote control), humanitarian catastrophe for homeless
survivors, and American deaths and injuries far outnumbering those of the 9/11
attacks - themselves a response to decades of U.S.-inflicted and -sponsored
killing and upheaval in the Muslim world. And then there are the fiscal costs
to Americans.

Unsurprisingly, the ruling elite has no incentive to reconsider the premise of
U.S. foreign policy, namely, that America can and should run the world. It is
"our" manifest destiny and not to be questioned. Obama occasionally looks like
the reluctant emperor, but whenever he appears to waver, someone - Mrs.
Clinton or Samantha Power or Susan Rice - keeps him from "going wobbly" (as
Mrs. Thatcher did with George H. W. Bush in 1990 after Iraq's Saddam Hussein
invaded Kuwait.)

We must acknowledge, of course, that what looks like failure to us Americans
outside the privileged elite may not actually be failure for our overlords.
After all, turmoil is integral to the ingenious political perpetual-motion
machine. Turmoil furnishes the "threats" that then can be called on to justify
the very policies that manufactured those threats in the first place. How
clever! We'll hear no more talk of a "peace dividend," that dangerous idea -
dangerous, that is, to Pentagon and intelligence budgets and
government-contractor bottom lines - that nearly ran amok when the Soviet
Union and its Warsaw Pact alliance imploded, 1989-1991. That was indeed a
close one. Imagine the world's only superpower without an enemy. People might
wonder what's the point of it all. Thank goodness there were years of
intervention in the Muslim world in the bank, compound interest accruing.

While failure may in fact be success for the empire's custodians and
profiteers, the victimized foreign populations and American people have not
been so fortunate, and there's no end in sight.

If those populations and the American people are to get any relief, U.S.
foreign policy will need deep rethinking from outside elite circles. That
won't
be easy. As over two centuries show, American hegemony - "exceptionalism" - is
in the nation's political DNA. Even the opening of foreign markets to American
producers was always seen as a government program backed by a navy with global
reach.

It's well past time for us to think about what horrifies our rulers:
nonintervention.

Sheldon Richman is vice president and editor at The Future of Freedom
Foundation in Fairfax, Va. (www.fff.org).

Oleg Smirnov

2015-02-19 11:20:25 UTC

<http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-obama-extremism-summit-20150217-story.html>

Obama to call for global effort against spread of extremist ideas ..

.. But administration officials noted that the president's talk was about
tackling root causes, such as economic opportunity and education, with no
immediate responses or quick fixes. ..

...

As those great and ordinary thinkers already repeatedly noted, the root
cause of the spread of the extremist ideas in the world is the cavalier
American foreign policy of interventionism. Mr Obama personally, being driven
by his personal inferiority complex in probable combination with the bipolar
disorder, is a symbol of this, and the idea of the American exceptionalism
is extremist itself. Maybe we should rather call for global effort against
the destructive American meddling in the world affairs.

Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://www.gilmermirror.com/view/full_story/26474429/article-Foreign-Policy-Failure-Everywhere>
ISIS expands under
American and allied airstrikes, the best recruiting program the Islamists
could want. There was no ISIS in Iraq or Syria before America invaded the
former and called open season on the regime in the latter. In response, Obama
seeks unlimited war power.
ISIS franchises are emerging throughout the Arab and Muslim world. Libya,
which America and NATO "liberated" from Col. Gaddafi after prodding by
then-secretary of state Hillary Clinton, is in militia-ridden hell and is now
a haven for ISIS sympathizers.
Well done, Messrs. Obama, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Reagan, Carter, and on back.

Mr. B1ack

2015-02-20 02:58:01 UTC

He couldn't do much for American jobs & wages, but
apparently he thinks he can just open up ten thousand
Starbucks franchises in Syria and all the differences
will just melt away .......... what a putz !

Actually, a lot of the jihadists HAD jobs, even fairly decent
educations. It wasn't poverty that drove them but religious
convictions.

But Obama is trapped in a quasi-Marxist mentality, common
to those in his party, that money fixes everything and that the
only reason for unhappiness and strife is a lack of cash. This
has been the rationale behind the left-wings "free money"
programs since the 1960s. It didn't work here - and it sure as
hell won't work in Syria or Afghanistan or Iraq. You just get
slightly richer angry people ....

I'd also like to know how he's going to "grow jobs" in a warzone.
The growth of jobs and wages FOLLOWS wars because the
necessary enviroment has to be reasonably STABLE. Little
point in investing time, money and resources in ANYTHING if
it's just likely to be blown up tomorrow. A pity Obama knows
so little about economic ecology.

Finally, what works in the western socioeconomc environment
isn't necessarily possible to transplant to a radically different
system with a whole different book of what's right/wrong
fair/unfair, valuable/junk, worthy/unworthy ... a different and
ancient socioeconomic reality.

Post by Oleg Smirnov
As those great and ordinary thinkers already repeatedly noted, the root
cause of the spread of the extremist ideas in the world is the cavalier
American foreign policy of interventionism.

Well ... such problems pre-existed the USA, by about
ten thousand years at least. Nothing new about political
and religious extremism, holy wars or lust for empire.

Let's just say the USA and its tinkering haven't really
IMPROVED the situation ....

And it's not (not always anyway) because Americans are
especially evil - it's because we're the proverbial bull in a
china shop, our sheer (economic/military) bulk cannot
help but cause a lot of collateral damage as we
nearsightedly lumber along in the world. Our size also
breeds ethnocentrism - makes us a sort of sealed
environment - and that makes it very hard for us to
understand why everyone in the world doesn't think
and do exactly like us.

Post by Oleg Smirnov
Mr Obama personally, being driven
by his personal inferiority complex in probable combination with the bipolar
disorder, is a symbol of this, and the idea of the American exceptionalism
is extremist itself. Maybe we should rather call for global effort against
the destructive American meddling in the world affairs.

I don't think he's mentally ill ... I think he's just a typical
left-wing putz who's in over his head. Of late however
I'm wondering if he scored a big bag of Colorado's
finest herbal product ..... :-)

The seeds of ISIL were always there. If you want to blame
anybody for watering them it was the way the British split-
up the middle east after WW-1. To dilute potential rivals
they intentionally drew national borders through the middle
of ethnic/religious enclaves. This is when everything began
to heat up. Took a little while to reach combustion temperature,
but by the early 60s smoke was eventually turning into fires
that have done nothing but grow since then.

Post by Oleg Smirnov
ISIS franchises are emerging throughout the Arab and Muslim world. Libya,
which America and NATO "liberated" from Col. Gaddafi after prodding by
then-secretary of state Hillary Clinton, is in militia-ridden hell and is now
a haven for ISIS sympathizers.

People like "new ideas" - even if they're just a re-hash of old
ideas. Islamism, the idea of a Caliphate ... this stuff is HOT
now and like any emerging 'fad' draws in people in droves
and spawns fanaticism. Islamism is a *cause* again after
over 500 years, something that seems like it will make the
long-neglected IMPORTANT once again.

And it is.

We have barely yet seen the beginning of the New Islam. It
will continue to gather strength and adherents as the years
and decades pass. What the idea of "democracy" was in
the 18th century, New Islam is in the 21st.

Post by Oleg Smirnov
Well done, Messrs. Obama, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Reagan, Carter, and on back.

They did as well as they COULD ... but that really wasn't
much. The USA is not the center of the universe, presidents
are not gods.

Oleg Smirnov

2015-02-22 20:12:26 UTC

<http://www.wsj.com/articles/putin-the-improviser-1424473405>

Putin the Improviser
The Ukraine crisis is even scarier than you think: Russia’s strongman is
making it up as he goes along

By ANDREW S. WEISS

Feb. 20, 2015 6:03 p.m. ET

After this week’s devastating military setbacks for the Ukrainian government,
Western observers are trying urgently to get inside the head of Vladimir
Putin. ..

...

'To get inside the head' is a very much stupid effort. That's what is called
mind reading and recognized as a surely faulty exercise. All has already been
said in simple plain words.

Oleg Smirnov

2015-02-24 21:54:57 UTC

<http://www.forbes.com/sites/dougbandow/2015/02/21/washingtons-foolish-foreign-policy-american-people-must-say-no-to-more-wars/>

Doug Bandow / 2/21/2015 @ 9:44AM

Washington's Foolish Foreign Policy: American People Must Say No To More Wars

American foreign policy is controlled by fools. What else can one conclude
from the bipartisan demand that the U.S. intervene everywhere all the time,
irrespective of consequence? No matter how disastrous the outcome, the War
Lobby insists that the idea was sound. Any problems obviously result from
execution, a matter of doing too little: too few troops engaged, too few
foreigners killed, too few nations bombed, too few societies transformed, too
few countries occupied, too few years involved, too few dollars spent. ..

[.. read more <http://is.gd/r2xuEG> ..]

Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-obama-extremism-summit-20150217-story.html>
Obama to call for global effort against spread of
extremist ideas ..
.. But administration officials noted that the
president's talk was about tackling root causes, such as
economic opportunity and education, with no immediate
responses or quick fixes. ..
...
As those great and ordinary thinkers already repeatedly
noted, the root cause of the spread of the extremist
ideas in the world is the cavalier American foreign
policy of interventionism. Mr Obama personally, being
driven by his personal inferiority complex in probable
combination with the bipolar disorder, is a symbol of
this, and the idea of the American exceptionalism is
extremist itself. Maybe we should rather call for global
effort against the destructive American meddling in the
world affairs.

Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://www.gilmermirror.com/view/full_story/26474429/article-Foreign-Policy-Failure-Everywhere>
ISIS expands under
American and allied airstrikes, the best recruiting
program the Islamists could want. There was no ISIS in
Iraq or Syria before America invaded the former and
called open season on the regime in the latter. In
response, Obama seeks unlimited war power.
ISIS franchises are emerging throughout the Arab and
Muslim world. Libya, which America and NATO "liberated"
from Col. Gaddafi after prodding by then-secretary of
state Hillary Clinton, is in militia-ridden hell and is
now a haven for ISIS sympathizers.
Well done, Messrs. Obama, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Reagan,
Carter, and on back.

Oleg Smirnov

2015-03-01 02:42:39 UTC

<http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/27036/61/>

China sides with Russia over Ukraine conflict

Friday, 27 February 2015

When it comes to the Ukraine proxy war, which started in earnest just about one
year ago with the violent coup that overthrew then president Yanukovich and
replaced him with a local pro-US oligarch, there has been no ambiguity who the
key actors were: on the left, we had the west, personified by the US, the
European Union, and NATO in general; while on the right we had Russia.

In fact, if there was any confusion, it was about the role of that other
"elephant in the room" - China.

To be sure, a question few asked throughout the Ukraine civil war is just whose
side is China leaning toward. After all the precarious balance of power between
NATO and Russia had resulted in a stalemate in which neither side has an obvious
advantage (even as the Ukraine economy died, and its currency hyperinflated,
waiting for a clear winner), and the explicit or implicit support of China to
either camp would make all the difference in the world, not to mention the
world's most formidable axis.

Today we finally got the answer, and the winner is... this guy:
http://is.gd/9wxBXn

Xinhua reported that late on Thursday Qu Xing, China's ambassador to Belgium, was
quoted as blaming competition between Russia and the West for the Ukraine crisis,
urging Western powers to "abandon the zero-sum mentality" with Russia.

Cited by Reuters, Xing said that Western powers should take into consideration
Russia's legitimate security concerns over Ukraine.

Reuters' assessment of Xing speech: "an unusually frank and open display of
support for Moscow's position in the crisis."

At least it is not a warning to the US to back off or else. Yet.

Speaking in very clear and explicit language, something diplomats are not used to
doing, the Chinese ambassador said the "nature and root cause" of the crisis was
the "game" between Russia and Western powers, including the United States and the
European Union.

He said external intervention by different powers accelerated the crisis and
warned that Moscow would feel it was being treated unfairly if the West did not
change its approach.

"The West should abandon the zero-sum mentality, and take the real security
concerns of Russia into consideration," Qu was quoted as saying.

His comments were an unusually public show of understanding from China for the
Russian position. China and Russia see eye-to-eye on many international
diplomatic issues but Beijing has generally not been so willing to back Russia
over Ukraine.

As noted above, China has long been very cautious not to be drawn into the
struggle between Russia and the West over Ukraine's future, not wanting to
alienate a key ally. And yet, something changed overnight, with this very clear
language, warning some could say, that China will no longer tolerate Pax
Americana, and even the mere assumption of a unipolar western world, let alone
the reality.

Qu's comments take place just as talks between the United States and its European
allies over harsher sanctions against Moscow.

On Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Western powers of
trying to dominate and impose their ideology on the rest of world. The United
States and European delegations slammed Moscow for supporting rebels in eastern
Ukraine.

Qu said Washington's involvement in Ukraine could "become a distraction in its
foreign policy".

And then, Qu's slap in the face of Obama: "The United States is unwilling to see
its presence in any part of the world being weakened, but the fact is its
resources are limited, and it will be to some extent hard work to sustain its
influence in external affairs."

Especially if and when China decides to send a few peacekeepers of its own into
Ukraine. You know - just to make sure US influence in external affairs isn't
"sustained" too much.

...

In contrast to this insanely agonizing American pursuit of 'exceptionalism' and
'leadership' China is more responsible world power, and China holds its own line
in the world affairs.

That's true, the Western "zero-sum mentality" was the root cause of the mess.

<http://www.thenation.com/article/178344/distorting-russia>
The now exceedingly dangerous confrontation between the two Ukraines was not
"ignited," as the Times claims, by Yanukovych's duplicitous negotiating - or
by Putin - but by the EU's reckless ultimatum, in November, that the
democratically elected president of a profoundly divided country choose between
Europe and Russia. Putin's proposal for a tripartite arrangement, rarely if
ever reported, was flatly rejected by US and EU officials.

<http://goo.gl/qS7JoA>
According to Ukrainian polls in the early February 2014, - already after the
most harsh (before February 18) riots in January and two weeks before the anti-
constitutional coup - 45% of the people of the Ukraine *approved* Yanukovych's
decision to postpone the trade association with the EU, - against 42% 'contra'.
This doesn't contradict to other known numbers where a small majority were in
favor of the EU association in a strategic perspective - a significant part of
this camp realistically saw the postponement being justified. Thus, the small
majority supported Yanukovych's decision. But the Western media and politicians
tried their best to paint a false picture of a dictator preventing people from
what they wish. Those monkeys spoke for 'the Ukrainians' ignoring the reality
(and many continue to do so). Now it's visible where this arrogance, ignorance
and wishful thinking have led to.

george152

2015-03-01 03:21:01 UTC

Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/27036/61/>
China sides with Russia over Ukraine conflict

How do they feel about Putin killing off the opposition ?

Byker

2015-03-01 03:59:31 UTC

Post by george152
How do they feel about Putin killing off the opposition ?

Westerners in Russia, especially those who speak and read Russian, report
that state-controlled Russian media has seemingly reverted to stories and
attitudes right out of the Cold War. It is, in short, unreal but actually
happening. Russian media is full of stories of NATO aggression against
Russia and anything that is going wrong in Russia is blamed on a NATO
conspiracy to destroy Russia. The Russian aggression in Ukraine is described
as largely a fable created by a NATO conspiracy to take over the Ukrainian
government and institute a terror campaign against the ethnic Russian
minority in Ukraine, especially eastern Ukraine. There, the Russian media
described ethnic Russians leading a rebellion against this NATO puppet
government running Ukraine and NATO soldiers pretending to be Ukrainians
doing most of the fighting, yet no captured NATO agents are presented which
Russian media describes as proof of how clever and dangerous this
"aggression" is.

---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
http://www.avast.com

Oleg Smirnov

2015-03-01 04:14:19 UTC

"george152" wrote in message
Westerners in Russia, especially those who speak and read
Russian, report that state-controlled Russian media has
seemingly reverted to stories and attitudes right out of
the Cold War. It is, in short, unreal but actually
happening. Russian media is full of stories of NATO
aggression against Russia and anything that is going
wrong in Russia is blamed on a NATO conspiracy to destroy
Russia. The Russian aggression in Ukraine is described as
largely a fable created by a NATO conspiracy to take over
the Ukrainian government and institute a terror campaign
against the ethnic Russian minority in Ukraine,
especially eastern Ukraine. There, the Russian media
described ethnic Russians leading a rebellion against
this NATO puppet government running Ukraine and NATO
soldiers pretending to be Ukrainians doing most of the
fighting, yet no captured NATO agents are presented which
Russian media describes as proof of how clever and
dangerous this "aggression" is.

This pathetic rant has been answered <http://goo.gl/86KyIF>.

Oleg Smirnov

2015-03-02 19:52:49 UTC

<http://www.moonofalabama.org/2015/03/whodunnit.html>

March 01, 2015

Whodunnit?

So someone killed Boris Nemtsov while the 56 year old man walked with his 22 year
old Ukrainian "model" on a bridge in Moscow. There is some CCTV coverage of the
crime scene.

As vice-premier under Boris Yeltsin Nemtsov was at least partially responsible
for the mafiazation of the Russian economy. Everyone but some oligarchs and the
"western" neoliberals was happy when he and the Yeltsin gang had to leave.

After he was kicked out and until yesterday Nemtsov was a very minor opposition
politician polling at some 1%. The communists, the real opposition party in
Russia, poll at about 20%. No one in the government had reason to care about or
fear Nemtsov.

The former Soviet president Gorbachov points to those who will gain from
Nemtsov's death:

Asked if he thought anti-Russian forces abroad might exploit the crime in
pursuit of their own ends, he argued this would definitely happen.
"Of course, certain forces will try to take advantage of this crime for their
own ends - all of them are thinking how to get rid of Putin, aren't they? But I
don't think, after all, that the West will go as far as that, that it will use
that crime to attain its own purposes. However, that was unquestionably the goal
of the criminals who murdered Boris," he said.

"Crimes of this kind are taken on by executors who are hard to find. All
efforts must be made to find the criminals," the ex-president said.

Gorbachov still uses rose colored glasses when locking at the "west". The "west"
would never use a crime to attain its purpose? That is laughable naive.

And what about all those legitimate and popular opposition politicians currently
getting suicided in Ukraine?

So whodunnit?

Someone with relations to the "model"? Someone hurt in the gangster
"privatizations" executed under Nemtsov's rule? Some Ukrainian oligarch
interested in creating more schism between the "west" and Russia? Some "western"
government plotting the destabilization of Russia?

Your guess is as good as mine.

...

Nemtsov's murder hardly can lead to destabilization of Russia. Its main effect
is to produce an impact on the minds outside Russia. If there's the question cui
bono, then the answer is Kiev (and those in the West that are closely linked to
Kiev). Those initial mysterious snipers, and a set of some next events cause to
suspect 'a pattern' of false flags usage. And - by some coincidence - something
suddenly happens each time when Kiev is of urgent need to renew the anti-Russia
hysteria in the West.

Oleg Smirnov

2015-03-03 16:40:49 UTC

<http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/02/26/when-did-obama-give-up-speeches/>

WHEN DID OBAMA GIVE UP?

READING BETWEEN THE LINES
Six years ago, a visionary president blessed with the rare gift of speech came to
Washington to change the world. What happened?

BY JAMES TRAUB ..

.. Obama’s worldview is not parsimonious; he is still, for all his setbacks, a
believer. / But does it matter? The cadets and the parents gathered for the
graduation ceremony sat silently through several of the president’s applause
lines. CNN described the reception as “icy.” What had changed since 2009 was not
so much the substance of Obama’s views as his capacity to inspire the audience
before him. And not only that; Obama himself seemed to have lost faith in the
efficacy of oratory. A speech is a transaction between orator and listener; some
crucial energy had dissipated from both sides of that transaction. Obama’s words
no longer carry a charge. It is hard to recapture, even to remember, the sense of
excitement he once generated.

What are we to think today of this man whose voice, whose face, whose story
inspired millions of Americans and people all over the world only a few years
ago? I was one of those people. I can’t quite fault the excessive faith that
Obama’s inner circle placed in his empathic powers because I felt it too. I still
admire Obama — even the Obama of singles and doubles. But I feel deeply the sense
of collective deflation, and not only the one surrounding the president. The
splendid hopes of people in Tahrir Square and Bahrain's Pearl Roundabout and the
other great spaces of the Arab world have evaporated as if they never were. Words
have proved so much weaker, and facts so much more intractable, than we once
thought. ..

...

<http://tinyurl.com/obama-is-messiah>

Taking into account shameless and blatant Obama's and his staff's lies about the
Ukraine I cannot - to big regret - take the sublimely reflections in this writing
other than a kind of a stilted / pompous graphomaniacal scribbling.

Oleg Smirnov

2015-03-03 16:49:00 UTC

<http://tass.ru/en/russia/780777>

Russian foreign minister slams Obama’s remarks about Nemtsov murder ..
"His speechwriters had no time to deliver anything, while he himself was
unable to offer decent wording," Lavrov said.

Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/02/26/when-did-obama-give-up-speeches/>
WHEN DID OBAMA GIVE UP?
READING BETWEEN THE LINES
Six years ago, a visionary president blessed with the rare gift of speech came
to Washington to change the world. What happened?
BY JAMES TRAUB ..
.. Obama’s worldview is not parsimonious; he is still, for all his setbacks, a
believer. / But does it matter? The cadets and the parents gathered for the
graduation ceremony sat silently through several of the president’s applause
lines. CNN described the reception as “icy.” What had changed since 2009 was
not so much the substance of Obama’s views as his capacity to inspire the
audience before him. And not only that; Obama himself seemed to have lost faith
in the efficacy of oratory. A speech is a transaction between orator and
listener; some crucial energy had dissipated from both sides of that
transaction. Obama’s words no longer carry a charge. It is hard to recapture,
even to remember, the sense ofexcitement he once generated.
What are we to think today of this man whose voice, whose face, whose story
inspired millions of Americans and people all over the world only a few years
ago? I was one of those people. I can’t quite fault the excessive faith that
Obama’s inner circle placed in his empathic powers because I felt it too. I
still admire Obama — even the Obama of singles and doubles. But I feel deeply
the sense of collective deflation, and not only the one surrounding the
president. The splendid hopes of people in Tahrir Square and Bahrain's Pearl
Roundabout and the other great spaces of the Arab world have evaporated as if
they never were. Words have proved so much weaker, and facts so much more
intractable, than we once thought. ..
...
<http://tinyurl.com/obama-is-messiah>

george152

2015-03-03 19:16:18 UTC

Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tass.ru/en/russia/780777>
Russian foreign minister slams Obama’s remarks about Nemtsov murder ..
"His speechwriters had no time to deliver anything, while he himself was
unable to offer decent wording," Lavrov said.

Of course he agrees with/sucks up to Putin.
To do otherwise will make him Number Two to Nemtsov.
So its back to the old 'evil Americans' crap

jack595

2015-03-03 21:02:04 UTC

Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tass.ru/en/russia/780777>
Russian foreign minister slams Obamaâs remarks about Nemtsov murder ..
"His speechwriters had no time to deliver anything, while he himself was
unable to offer decent wording," Lavrov said.

Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/02/26/when-did-obama-give-up-speeches/>
WHEN DID OBAMA GIVE UP?
READING BETWEEN THE LINES
Six years ago, a visionary president blessed with the rare gift of speech came
to Washington to change the world. What happened?
BY JAMES TRAUB ..
.. Obamaâs worldview is not parsimonious; he is still, for all his setbacks, a
believer. / But does it matter? The cadets and the parents gathered for the
graduation ceremony sat silently through several of the presidentâs applause
lines. CNN described the reception as âicy.â What had changed since 2009 was
not so much the substance of Obamaâs views as his capacity to inspire the
audience before him. And not only that; Obama himself seemed to have lost faith
in the efficacy of oratory. A speech is a transaction between orator and
listener; some crucial energy had dissipated from both sides of that
transaction. Obamaâs words no longer carry a charge. It is hard to recapture,
even to remember, the sense ofexcitement he once generated.
What are we to think today of this man whose voice, whose face, whose story
inspired millions of Americans and people all over the world only a few years
ago? I was one of those people. I canât quite fault the excessive faith that
Obamaâs inner circle placed in his empathic powers because I felt it too. I
still admire Obama â even the Obama of singles and doubles. But I feel deeply
the sense of collective deflation, and not only the one surrounding the
president. The splendid hopes of people in Tahrir Square and Bahrain's Pearl
Roundabout and the other great spaces of the Arab world have evaporated as if
they never were. Words have proved so much weaker, and facts so much more
intractable, than we once thought. ..
...
<http://tinyurl.com/obama-is-messiah>

You will have to admit that Obama's intelligence on that subject is superior to
anything you have.

jack595

2015-03-04 08:47:59 UTC

Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/02/26/when-did-obama-give-up-speeches/>
WHEN DID OBAMA GIVE UP?
READING BETWEEN THE LINES
Six years ago, a visionary president blessed with the rare gift of speech came
to Washington to change the world. What happened?
BY JAMES TRAUB ..
.. Obamaâs worldview is not parsimonious; he is still, for all his setbacks, a
believer. / But does it matter? The cadets and the parents gathered for the
graduation ceremony sat silently through several of the presidentâs applause
lines. CNN described the reception as âicy.â What had changed since 2009 was
not so much the substance of Obamaâs views as his capacity to inspire the
audience before him. And not only that; Obama himself seemed to have lost faith
in the efficacy of oratory. A speech is a transaction between orator and
listener; some crucial energy had dissipated from both sides of that
transaction. Obamaâs words no longer carry a charge. It is hard to recapture,
even to remember, the sense ofexcitement he once generated.
What are we to think today of this man whose voice, whose face, whose story
inspired millions of Americans and people all over the world only a few years
ago? I was one of those people. I canât quite fault the excessive faith that
Obamaâs inner circle placed in his empathic powers because I felt it too. I
still admire Obama â even the Obama of singles and doubles. But I feel deeply
the sense of collective deflation, and not only the one surrounding the
president. The splendid hopes of people in Tahrir Square and Bahrain's Pearl
Roundabout and the other great spaces of the Arab world have evaporated as if
they never were. Words have proved so much weaker, and facts so much more
intractable, than we once thought. ..
...
<http://tinyurl.com/obama-is-messiah>

Re your meandering attempt at documenting the obvious.

I can't find a quotation, but it's evident Obama believes and certainly many
have told him so that Putin is a sort of Criminal-in-Chief surrounded by
lesser criminals and if these lesser criminals can be hurt enough by
sanctions, they will overthrow Putin. Here's the theory voiced by
Khodorkovskiy <http://goo.gl/TtkKf6>.

That is what everyone. outside the few who toady to Putin's mania. believe. You
are caught in the whirlpool of "Putin must be right" and nobody outside of the
few like you who echo the party line believes it. Think about it, Putin has
maybe 100 believers, the other 7 billion in this world go along with
Khodorkovskiy.

Hunker down and wait for the sky to fall on Putin, because it is only a matter
of time. Maybe a year or two, but it's coming.

Byker

2015-03-01 03:37:08 UTC

Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/27036/61/>
China sides with Russia over Ukraine conflict

Although Russia and China are allies, Russia has no compunctions about
selling major weapons systems to countries who need them for fighting China.
A few months ago, for the first time ever, two Vietnamese warships visited
the Philippines. The two Russian-built frigates were obtained by Vietnam
from Russia, along with six modern submarines, to provide some deterrence
against growing Chinese aggression in the South China Sea. Vietnam has
joined forces with the Philippines and other Chinese neighbors to discourage
China.

---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
http://www.avast.com

jack595

2015-03-02 13:19:29 UTC

Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/27036/61/>
China sides with Russia over Ukraine conflict
Friday, 27 February 2015
When it comes to the Ukraine proxy war, which started in earnest just about one
year ago with the violent coup that overthrew then president Yanukovich and
replaced him with a local pro-US oligarch, there has been no ambiguity who the
key actors were: on the left, we had the west, personified by the US, the
European Union, and NATO in general; while on the right we had Russia.
In fact, if there was any confusion, it was about the role of that other
"elephant in the room" - China.
To be sure, a question few asked throughout the Ukraine civil war is just whose
side is China leaning toward. After all the precarious balance of power between
NATO and Russia had resulted in a stalemate in which neither side has an obvious
advantage (even as the Ukraine economy died, and its currency hyperinflated,
waiting for a clear winner), and the explicit or implicit support of China to
either camp would make all the difference in the world, not to mention the
world's most formidable axis.
http://is.gd/9wxBXn
Xinhua reported that late on Thursday Qu Xing, China's ambassador to Belgium, was
quoted as blaming competition between Russia and the West for the Ukraine crisis,
urging Western powers to "abandon the zero-sum mentality" with Russia.
Cited by Reuters, Xing said that Western powers should take into consideration
Russia's legitimate security concerns over Ukraine.
Reuters' assessment of Xing speech: "an unusually frank and open display of
support for Moscow's position in the crisis."
At least it is not a warning to the US to back off or else. Yet.
Speaking in very clear and explicit language, something diplomats are not used to
doing, the Chinese ambassador said the "nature and root cause" of the crisis was
the "game" between Russia and Western powers, including the United States and the
European Union.
He said external intervention by different powers accelerated the crisis and
warned that Moscow would feel it was being treated unfairly if the West did not
change its approach.
"The West should abandon the zero-sum mentality, and take the real security
concerns of Russia into consideration," Qu was quoted as saying.
His comments were an unusually public show of understanding from China for the
Russian position. China and Russia see eye-to-eye on many international
diplomatic issues but Beijing has generally not been so willing to back Russia
over Ukraine.
As noted above, China has long been very cautious not to be drawn into the
struggle between Russia and the West over Ukraine's future, not wanting to
alienate a key ally. And yet, something changed overnight, with this very clear
language, warning some could say, that China will no longer tolerate Pax
Americana, and even the mere assumption of a unipolar western world, let alone
the reality.
Qu's comments take place just as talks between the United States and its European
allies over harsher sanctions against Moscow.
On Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Western powers of
trying to dominate and impose their ideology on the rest of world. The United
States and European delegations slammed Moscow for supporting rebels in eastern
Ukraine.
Qu said Washington's involvement in Ukraine could "become a distraction in its
foreign policy".
And then, Qu's slap in the face of Obama: "The United States is unwilling to see
its presence in any part of the world being weakened, but the fact is its
resources are limited, and it will be to some extent hard work to sustain its
influence in external affairs."
Especially if and when China decides to send a few peacekeepers of its own into
Ukraine. You know - just to make sure US influence in external affairs isn't
"sustained" too much.
...
In contrast to this insanely agonizing American pursuit of 'exceptionalism' and
'leadership' China is more responsible world power, and China holds its own line
in the world affairs.
That's true, the Western "zero-sum mentality" was the root cause of the mess.
<http://www.thenation.com/article/178344/distorting-russia>
The now exceedingly dangerous confrontation between the two Ukraines was not
"ignited," as the Times claims, by Yanukovych's duplicitous negotiating - or
by Putin - but by the EU's reckless ultimatum, in November, that the
democratically elected president of a profoundly divided country choose between
Europe and Russia. Putin's proposal for a tripartite arrangement, rarely if
ever reported, was flatly rejected by US and EU officials.
<http://goo.gl/qS7JoA>
According to Ukrainian polls in the early February 2014, - already after the
most harsh (before February 18) riots in January and two weeks before the anti-
constitutional coup - 45% of the people of the Ukraine *approved* Yanukovych's
decision to postpone the trade association with the EU, - against 42% 'contra'.
This doesn't contradict to other known numbers where a small majority were in
favor of the EU association in a strategic perspective - a significant part of
this camp realistically saw the postponement being justified. Thus, the small
majority supported Yanukovych's decision. But the Western media and politicians
tried their best to paint a false picture of a dictator preventing people from
what they wish. Those monkeys spoke for 'the Ukrainians' ignoring the reality
(and many continue to do so). Now it's visible where this arrogance, ignorance
and wishful thinking have led to.

When it comes to picking " Westerners" to cite Oleg can come up with some gems,
here is the Wiki bit on James Petras, plus a bit on his anti-Semitism I didn't
copy

Petras describes himself as a "revolutionary and anti-imperialist" activist and
writer. He was a founding member of the Young Socialist Alliance and early
articles by him appeared in the The Young Socialist in 1959 and 1960. He's
listed as the Bay Area correspondent for the paper for several issues. He has a
long history of commitment to social justice, through the decades Petras has
worked directly with indigenous workers as an organizer, in particular with the
Brazilian Landless Workers Movement and the unemployed workers' movement in
Argentina.

He has advised left-wing presidents like President Andreas Papandreou (Greece
1981-84), President Salvador Allende of Chile (1970-73) and in recent years,
President Hugo Chávez, and defended the rights of the indigenous in Latin
America. From 1973-76 Petras worked on the Bertrand Russell Tribunal on
Repression in Latin America. Petras has referred to American policy towards Iraq
as "The US/Iraqi Holocaust (UIH)" which he describes as "an ongoing process
spanning the last 16 years (1990-2006) provides us with a striking example of
state-planned systematic extermination, torture and physical destruction
designed to de-modernize a secular developing society and revert it into a
series of warring clan-tribal-clerical-ethnic based entities devoid of any
national authority or viable economy."

In November 2006 the FARC in Colombia addressed a letter concerning three
American hostages (Keith Stansell, Marc Gonsalves and Thomas Howes) to American
film stars, the Reverend Jesse Jackson and leftist intellectuals Noam Chomsky,
Angela Davis, and James Petras.[9]

Describing the struggle in Iran as pitting "high income, free market oriented
capitalist individuals" reformists against Ahmadinejad's "working class, low
income, community-based supporters of a 'moral economy'", he denounced the claim
that the election was stolen as a "hoax" perpetrated by "Western opinion
makers".

Oleg Smirnov

2015-03-02 13:34:32 UTC

Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/27036/61/>
Xinhua reported that late on Thursday Qu Xing, China's
ambassador to Belgium, was quoted as blaming competition
between Russia and the West for the Ukraine crisis,
urging Western powers to "abandon the zero-sum mentality"
with Russia.
He said external intervention by different powers
accelerated the crisis and warned that Moscow would feel
it was being treated unfairly if the West did not change
its approach.
"The West should abandon the zero-sum mentality, and
take the real security concerns of Russia into
consideration," Qu was quoted as saying.
That's true, the Western "zero-sum mentality" was the
root cause of the mess.
<http://www.thenation.com/article/178344/distorting-russia>
The now exceedingly dangerous confrontation between the
two Ukraines was not "ignited," as the Times claims, by
Yanukovych's duplicitous negotiating - or
by Putin - but by the EU's reckless ultimatum, in
November, that the democratically elected president of a
profoundly divided country choose between Europe and
Russia. Putin's proposal for a tripartite arrangement,
rarely if ever reported, was flatly rejected by US and
EU officials.
<http://goo.gl/qS7JoA>
According to Ukrainian polls in the early February 2014,
- already after the most harsh (before February 18)
riots in January and two weeks before the anti-
constitutional coup - 45% of the people of the Ukraine
*approved* Yanukovych's decision to postpone the trade
association with the EU, - against 42% 'contra'. This
doesn't contradict to other known numbers where a small
majority were in favor of the EU association in a
strategic perspective - a significant part of this camp
realistically saw the postponement being justified.
Thus, the small majority supported Yanukovych's
decision. But the Western media and politicians tried
their best to paint a false picture of a dictator
preventing people from what they wish. Those monkeys
spoke for 'the Ukrainians' ignoring the reality (and
many continue to do so). Now it's visible where this
arrogance, ignorance and wishful thinking have led to.

When it comes to picking " Westerners" to cite Oleg can
come up with some gems, here is the Wiki bit on James
Petras, plus a bit on his anti-Semitism I didn't copy

What could overexcite you so that you have confused
the message you're replying, Jack, can you say anything
about the Western zero-sum mentality (see above)?

jack595

2015-03-02 19:35:23 UTC

When it comes to picking " Westerners" to cite Oleg can
come up with some gems, here is the Wiki bit on James
Petras, plus a bit on his anti-Semitism I didn't copy

What could overexcite you so that you have confused
the message you're replying, Jack, can you say anything
about the Western zero-sum mentality (see above)?

I can read a definition of zero-sum and I cannot see where that fits any of the
West's actions in the past 25 years. You are playing the old Russian game of
trying to define your adversary with a meaningless term. The adversary is
supposed to now be on the defensive. Understand, Putin is the enemy now, if he
wants to play some game let him understand he needs the oil sales more than he
needs a friendly chuck of Ukraine.

Wiki says
In game theory and economic theory, a zero-sum game is a mathematical
representation of a situation in which each participant's gain (or loss) of
utility is exactly balanced by the losses (or gains) of the utility of the other
participant(s). If the total gains of the participants are added up and the
total losses are subtracted, they will sum to zero. Thus cutting a cake, where
taking a larger piece reduces the amount of cake available for others, is a
zero-sum game if all participants value each unit of cake equally (see marginal
utility). In contrast, non-zero-sum describes a situation in which the
interacting parties' aggregate gains and losses can be less than or more than
zero. A zero-sum game is also called a strictly competitive game while
non-zero-sum games can be either competitive or non-competitive. Zero-sum games
are most often solved with the minimax theorem which is closely related to
linear programming duality, or with Nash equilibrium.

Oleg Smirnov

2015-03-02 20:10:20 UTC

Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/27036/61/>
Xinhua reported that late on Thursday Qu Xing, China's
ambassador to Belgium, was quoted as blaming
competition between Russia and the West for the
Ukraine crisis, urging Western powers to "abandon the
zero-sum mentality" with Russia.
He said external intervention by different powers
accelerated the crisis and warned that Moscow would
feel it was being treated unfairly if the West did not
change its approach.
"The West should abandon the zero-sum mentality, and
take the real security concerns of Russia into
consideration," Qu was quoted as saying.
That's true, the Western "zero-sum mentality" was the
root cause of the mess.
<http://www.thenation.com/article/178344/distorting-russia>
The now exceedingly dangerous confrontation between the
two Ukraines was not "ignited," as the Times claims, by
Yanukovych's duplicitous negotiating - or
by Putin - but by the EU's reckless ultimatum, in
November, that the democratically elected president of
a profoundly divided country choose between Europe and
Russia. Putin's proposal for a tripartite arrangement,
rarely if ever reported, was flatly rejected by US and
EU officials.
<http://goo.gl/qS7JoA>
According to Ukrainian polls in the early February
2014, - already after the most harsh (before February
18) riots in January and two weeks before the anti-
constitutional coup - 45% of the people of the Ukraine
*approved* Yanukovych's decision to postpone the trade
association with the EU, - against 42% 'contra'. This
doesn't contradict to other known numbers where a small
majority were in favor of the EU association in a
strategic perspective - a significant part of this camp
realistically saw the postponement being justified.
Thus, the small majority supported Yanukovych's
decision. But the Western media and politicians tried
their best to paint a false picture of a dictator
preventing people from what they wish. Those monkeys
spoke for 'the Ukrainians' ignoring the reality (and
many continue to do so). Now it's visible where this
arrogance, ignorance and wishful thinking have led to.

When it comes to picking " Westerners" to cite Oleg can
come up with some gems, here is the Wiki bit on James
Petras, plus a bit on his anti-Semitism I didn't copy

What could overexcite you so that you have confused
the message you're replying, Jack, can you say anything
about the Western zero-sum mentality (see above)?

You see yourself more clever than Mr Qu Xing, China's
professional diplomat, while one may notice it still was
about "zero-sum mentality" (close but not identical).

You've proven this mentality by your rant above, btw.

jack595

2015-03-02 20:50:16 UTC

Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/27036/61/>
Xinhua reported that late on Thursday Qu Xing, China's
ambassador to Belgium, was quoted as blaming
competition between Russia and the West for the
Ukraine crisis, urging Western powers to "abandon the
zero-sum mentality" with Russia.
He said external intervention by different powers
accelerated the crisis and warned that Moscow would
feel it was being treated unfairly if the West did not
change its approach.
"The West should abandon the zero-sum mentality, and
take the real security concerns of Russia into
consideration," Qu was quoted as saying.
That's true, the Western "zero-sum mentality" was the
root cause of the mess.
<http://www.thenation.com/article/178344/distorting-russia>
The now exceedingly dangerous confrontation between the
two Ukraines was not "ignited," as the Times claims, by
Yanukovych's duplicitous negotiating - or
by Putin - but by the EU's reckless ultimatum, in
November, that the democratically elected president of
a profoundly divided country choose between Europe and
Russia. Putin's proposal for a tripartite arrangement,
rarely if ever reported, was flatly rejected by US and
EU officials.
<http://goo.gl/qS7JoA>
According to Ukrainian polls in the early February
2014, - already after the most harsh (before February
18) riots in January and two weeks before the anti-
constitutional coup - 45% of the people of the Ukraine
*approved* Yanukovych's decision to postpone the trade
association with the EU, - against 42% 'contra'. This
doesn't contradict to other known numbers where a small
majority were in favor of the EU association in a
strategic perspective - a significant part of this camp
realistically saw the postponement being justified.
Thus, the small majority supported Yanukovych's
decision. But the Western media and politicians tried
their best to paint a false picture of a dictator
preventing people from what they wish. Those monkeys
spoke for 'the Ukrainians' ignoring the reality (and
many continue to do so). Now it's visible where this
arrogance, ignorance and wishful thinking have led to.

When it comes to picking " Westerners" to cite Oleg can
come up with some gems, here is the Wiki bit on James
Petras, plus a bit on his anti-Semitism I didn't copy

What could overexcite you so that you have confused
the message you're replying, Jack, can you say anything
about the Western zero-sum mentality (see above)?

You see yourself more clever than Mr Qu Xing, China's
professional diplomat, while one may notice it still was
about "zero-sum mentality" (close but not identical).
You've proven this mentality by your rant above, btw.

I see Qu Xing as an example of those whom you seem to choose for their qualities
of siding with the Russian aggression and interference in Ukraine. Not really a
neutral since

Qu Xing, China's ambassador to Belgium, said the Ukrainian crisis came about due
to the ongoing game a metaphor similar to that used by US geopolitical
strategist Zbigniew Brzezinski, who referred to it as the grand chessboard
between Russia and the West, which has not abated despite, or because of, the
collapse of the Soviet Union. China agrees to amend $3.6bn loan agreement with
Ukraine Arguing that outside interference by various powers inflamed the
Ukrainian situation, Xing said Moscow would naturally feel threatened unless
Western powers engaged in a more constructive approach.

The "game" on question would be your idea of a zero-sum, while Brzezinski used a
chess analogy, hardly a zero-sum game. Stick to your lies, your nominees lack
credence.

Oleg Smirnov

2015-03-02 21:41:00 UTC

Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/27036/61/>
Xinhua reported that late on Thursday Qu Xing,
China's ambassador to Belgium, was quoted as blaming
competition between Russia and the West for the
Ukraine crisis, urging Western powers to "abandon the
zero-sum mentality" with Russia.
He said external intervention by different powers
accelerated the crisis and warned that Moscow would
feel it was being treated unfairly if the West did
not change its approach.
"The West should abandon the zero-sum mentality,
and take the real security concerns of Russia into
consideration," Qu was quoted as saying.
That's true, the Western "zero-sum mentality" was the
root cause of the mess.
<http://www.thenation.com/article/178344/distorting-russia>
The now exceedingly dangerous confrontation between
the two Ukraines was not "ignited," as the Times
claims, by Yanukovych's duplicitous negotiating - or
by Putin - but by the EU's reckless ultimatum, in
November, that the democratically elected president
of a profoundly divided country choose between
Europe and Russia. Putin's proposal for a tripartite
arrangement, rarely if ever reported, was flatly
rejected by US and EU officials.
<http://goo.gl/qS7JoA>
According to Ukrainian polls in the early February
2014, - already after the most harsh (before February
18) riots in January and two weeks before the anti-
constitutional coup - 45% of the people of the
Ukraine *approved* Yanukovych's decision to postpone
the trade association with the EU, - against 42%
'contra'. This doesn't contradict to other known
numbers where a small majority were in favor of the
EU association in a strategic perspective - a
significant part of this camp realistically saw the
postponement being justified. Thus, the small
majority supported Yanukovych's decision. But the
Western media and politicians tried their best to
paint a false picture of a dictator preventing
people from what they wish. Those monkeys spoke for
'the Ukrainians' ignoring the reality (and many
continue to do so). Now it's visible where this
arrogance, ignorance and wishful thinking have led
to.

When it comes to picking " Westerners" to cite Oleg
can come up with some gems, here is the Wiki bit on
James Petras, plus a bit on his anti-Semitism I
didn't copy

What could overexcite you so that you have confused
the message you're replying, Jack, can you say anything
about the Western zero-sum mentality (see above)?

You see yourself more clever than Mr Qu Xing, China's
professional diplomat, while one may notice it still was
about "zero-sum mentality" (close but not identical).
You've proven this mentality by your rant above, btw.

I see Qu Xing as an example of those whom you seem to
choose for their qualities of siding with the Russian
aggression and interference in Ukraine. Not really a
neutral since
Qu Xing, China's ambassador to Belgium, said the
Ukrainian crisis came about due to the ongoing game a
metaphor similar to that used by US geopolitical
strategist Zbigniew Brzezinski, who referred to it as the
grand chessboard between Russia and the West, which has
not abated despite, or because of, the collapse of the
Soviet Union. China agrees to amend $3.6bn loan
agreement with Ukraine Arguing that outside interference
by various powers inflamed the Ukrainian situation, Xing
said Moscow would naturally feel threatened unless
Western powers engaged in a more constructive approach.
The "game" on question would be your idea of a zero-sum,
while Brzezinski used a chess analogy, hardly a zero-sum
game. Stick to your lies, your nominees lack credence.

Looks like you're a bit drunk or loaded with something else.

george152

2015-03-02 19:00:46 UTC

Post by jack595
When it comes to picking " Westerners" to cite Oleg can come up with some gems,
here is the Wiki bit on James Petras, plus a bit on his anti-Semitism I didn't
copy

Oleg is restricted with the people he can cite.
They have to have impeccable leftist nutter credentials

jonathan

2015-02-26 02:05:51 UTC

Washington Post

Ukraine is today’s West Berlin

By Mikheil Saakashvili
February 24

A year ago, events on Kiev’s Maidan square led to the demise of the
corrupt, pro-Russian regime of Viktor Yanukovych and to the victory of
Ukraine’s pro-European forces. Now Ukraine is engulfed in a nearly
full-blown war with Russia and its local proxies. The total area of
Ukraine no longer under government control is larger than the size of
the Netherlands, and Ukraine’s economy is in free fall while Russia’s
stumbles under the weight of Western sanctions. The neighborhood around
Russia is in turmoil, and the West seems to be confused and divided
about what to do next.

This war is not a land grab, and it is not a war about specific leaders.
What is being decided in Ukraine — the largest country in Europe — is
whether the post-Soviet space will be allowed to free itself from a
vicious cycle of inefficiency, corruption, violence and failed
governments to build instead modern, open, democratic societies.

Reforming Ukraine is no simple task. Old habits must be changed. For
almost a quarter-century, the preferred occupation of many elites was
plundering their own national wealth (often in close cooperation with
the Russians), leading to two popular revolutions. But Ukraine’s younger
generation is amazing and fearless. It has brought lively debate and an
open political system, and finally there is more or less consensus among
the political class that business as usual cannot continue. Drastic
reform — to tackle corruption, advance deregulation, attract foreign
investment and liberate the country from the stranglehold of oligarchs
and kleptocrats — is unavoidable.

This month, President Petro Poroshenko invited me to chair an
international advisory council to encourage prominent reformers
worldwide to help Ukraine succeed in this crucial transition. Foreigners
with successful records of reform are also being directly integrated
into the government — an unusually bold step, but one that may help
Ukraine break the cycle of the past two decades and finally go in a new
direction. Police reform — a clear priority after the Maidan
demonstrations — has been put under the leadership of Ekaterina
Zguladze, who spearheaded an innovative police initiative in Georgia.
Another Georgian will direct prosecution reform. Natalie Jaresko, a
former U.S. diplomat, has become finance minister. Other foreign
nationals have taken key positions in the reform team in Kiev.

These steps will be vital to the defense of Ukraine, which requires
three components.

First, and most important, Ukraine must become a successful model of
economic growth and democratic reform that is attractive to all
Ukrainians — just as West Berlin became a beacon for those in East
Berlin and also a symbol to those beyond. For better or worse, Russians
feel ties to the land and people of Ukraine. A successful Ukraine will
help change Russia for the better by providing the Russian people with a
relevant alternative model.

Second, the economic cost for Russian President Vladimir Putin must be
raised through further economic sanctions, which will eventually help to
weaken his position inside Russia, as happened to Serbia’s Slobodan
Milosevic in the 1990s.

Third, the military cost for Putin must be raised by supplying Ukraine
with defensive weapons, specifically antitank weapons that can halt the
further advance of the Russian tanks and armored vehicles. Ukraine may
not be a member of NATO, but Ukraine can be encouraged to form bilateral
or trilateral regional alliances that can work with NATO and the United
States to enhance regional security. And just as the goal of the
European Union’s Eastern Partnership program must include full
membership for Ukraine in the E.U., full membership in NATO must remain
an option if conditions are met.

Both Ukraine and Russia need some tough love from the West. Ukrainian
leaders must continue to tackle tough reforms and deliver to their
people, and further Western aid packages should be conditioned on these
real, deep reforms. But so, too, must Russia pay a price for failing to
halt its aggression.

Much more is needed, but failure cannot be an option. The success of
Ukrainian reform is the best chance for defending the peace of Europe.
The defense of Ukrainian sovereignty will allow Ukraine to become the
European nation that Ukrainians have twice taken to the streets to
demand — the nation, and the ideals, they now shed blood for in the east.

One thing is clear: The post-Cold War order in Europe has been
irreversibly undermined. New solutions need to be found to avoid further
chaos. But the West should accept that Putin is not just after pieces of
the former Soviet empire. He clearly regards his hybrid war as payback
for Russia’s defeat in the Cold War. Ukraine is Putin’s frontline in a
standoff with the West. It is his West Berlin — the taking of which was
a matter of principle for Stalin and the successful protection of which
ultimately reversed the spread of communism in Europe. The dismantlement
of Ukraine is how Putin seeks to erode the values of the transatlantic
alliance, and the future of Europe is no less at risk than it was
decades ago in Germany.

The West must also accept that Ukraine is today’s West Berlin: the
frontline in the defense of Western values against Russian revanchism.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ukraine-is-todays-west-berlin/2015/02/24/f1bc755a-bab3-11e4-bdfa-b8e8f594e6ee_story.html

Mr. B1ack

2015-02-26 02:23:24 UTC

Post by Oleg Smirnov
Washington Post
Ukraine is todays West Berlin
By Mikheil Saakashvili
February 24
A year ago, events on Kievs Maidan square led to the demise of the
corrupt, pro-Russian regime of Viktor Yanukovych and to the victory of
Ukraines pro-European forces. Now Ukraine is engulfed in a nearly
full-blown war with Russia and its local proxies. The total area of
Ukraine no longer under government control is larger than the size of
the Netherlands, and Ukraines economy is in free fall while Russias
stumbles under the weight of Western sanctions. The neighborhood around
Russia is in turmoil, and the West seems to be confused and divided
about what to do next.
This war is not a land grab, and it is not a war about specific leaders.
What is being decided in Ukraine the largest country in Europe is
whether the post-Soviet space will be allowed to free itself from a
vicious cycle of inefficiency, corruption, violence and failed
governments to build instead modern, open, democratic societies.

No it's not ! The whole thing is an oil & gas grab
by the EU ... oh, and they wouldn't have minded
all those Russian-built ports in Crimea for
free either ...

The EU-sponsored coup leaders are borderline
fascists who overthrew a recently-elected govt.
When others do that most western powers
refuse to recognize them as legitimate - but in
this case the EU and US rushed in to kiss their
asses and praise them as "freedom fighters"
even though Ukranians were awfully damned
free to begin with.

Learn to spot propaganda like this or you'll be
forever lost on the sea of disinformation ...
your "truths" being whatever lies your political
overlords find convenient this week.

jonathan

2015-02-26 03:17:40 UTC

Post by Oleg Smirnov
Washington Post
Ukraine is today’s West Berlin
By Mikheil Saakashvili
February 24
A year ago, events on Kiev’s Maidan square led to the demise of the
corrupt, pro-Russian regime of Viktor Yanukovych and to the victory of
Ukraine’s pro-European forces. Now Ukraine is engulfed in a nearly
full-blown war with Russia and its local proxies. The total area of
Ukraine no longer under government control is larger than the size of
the Netherlands, and Ukraine’s economy is in free fall while Russia’s
stumbles under the weight of Western sanctions. The neighborhood around
Russia is in turmoil, and the West seems to be confused and divided
about what to do next.
This war is not a land grab, and it is not a war about specific leaders.
What is being decided in Ukraine — the largest country in Europe — is
whether the post-Soviet space will be allowed to free itself from a
vicious cycle of inefficiency, corruption, violence and failed
governments to build instead modern, open, democratic societies.

No it's not ! The whole thing is an oil & gas grab
by the EU ... oh, and they wouldn't have minded
all those Russian-built ports in Crimea for
free either ...

Europeans didn't fill the streets of Kiev, they were
Ukrainian protestors that exploded the day after Putin
strong-armed Yanukovych into betraying the public's desire
to move west.

There were no protests before Yanukovych flipped
and in the middle of the night, btw.
Behind closed door betrayals have a way of
pissing off the people.

Live and learn!

Post by Mr. B1ack
The EU-sponsored coup leaders are borderline
fascists

If you recall, WW2 started right after Hitler
annexed Austria, and then sent his 'little brown men'
into the Sudetanland to give him an excuse to
invade Czechoslovakia. Notice what happens next, Hitler
runs out of cash so he ...has to keep marching on
from Dunkirk to Stalingrad.

Austria and Czechoslovakia

"On 12 March 1938, Hitler declared unification of
Austria with Nazi Germany in the Anschluss. Hitler
then turned his attention to the ethnic German
population of the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia.

"On 15 March 1939, in violation of the Munich accord
and possibly as a result of the deepening economic crisis
requiring additional assets, Hitler ordered the
Wehrmacht to invade Prague, and from Prague Castle
he proclaimed Bohemia and Moravia a German protectorate."

HINT! ***** Start of World War II ****** HINT!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler#World_War_II

Has a familiar ring to it?
Hitler was no socialist, and Russia is no democracy.

YOU'RE the fascists.

Post by Mr. B1ack
who overthrew a recently-elected govt.

Nixon had to circle the White House with
city buses to save his neck from a public
lynching.

When people feel betrayed by their leaders,
elected or otherwise, things can get out of hand.
And it's the leader's fault every time, they're
supposed to do the people's bidding.

Post by Mr. B1ack
When others do that most western powers
refuse to recognize them as legitimate - but in
this case the EU and US rushed in to kiss their
asses and praise them as "freedom fighters"
even though Ukranians were awfully damned
free to begin with.
Learn to spot propaganda like this or you'll be
forever lost on the sea of disinformation ...
your "truths" being whatever lies your political
overlords find convenient this week.

Right back 'atcha with all the Kremlin Big Lies!
Even Khrushchev wouldn't stoop to the level of lies
coming out of Russia these days.

If you asked Putin, tanks grow on trees
and Buks can be plucked out of the ground
like carrots.

s

Kerryn Offord

2015-02-26 03:29:52 UTC

No it's not ! The whole thing is an oil & gas grab
by the EU ... oh, and they wouldn't have minded
all those Russian-built ports in Crimea for
free either ...

Europeans didn't fill the streets of Kiev, they were
Ukrainian protestors that exploded the day after Putin
strong-armed Yanukovych into betraying the public's desire
to move west.
There were no protests before Yanukovych flipped
and in the middle of the night, btw.
Behind closed door betrayals have a way of
pissing off the people.
<SNIP>

Putin "strong-armed Yanukovych" by offering cheaper gas and a 15 billion
dollar loan.. to keep the country afloat.

Which was a lot more than the west was offering... (in addition to the
demands that Ukraine remove the gas subsidy for domestic users etc)

As for the public desire.. Just what proportion of the Ukrainian public
actually wanted to "move west"?

Certainly not the East that has most of it's economy dependent on trade
with Russia...

jonathan

2015-02-26 03:47:18 UTC

Post by Kerryn Offord

No it's not ! The whole thing is an oil & gas grab
by the EU ... oh, and they wouldn't have minded
all those Russian-built ports in Crimea for
free either ...

Europeans didn't fill the streets of Kiev, they were
Ukrainian protestors that exploded the day after Putin
strong-armed Yanukovych into betraying the public's desire
to move west.
There were no protests before Yanukovych flipped
and in the middle of the night, btw.
Behind closed door betrayals have a way of
pissing off the people.
<SNIP>

Judging from the nation wide protests that broke out
right after, the Ukrainian people weren't all that
interested in the 'better' deal. It was who the
deal was with that mattered.

Post by Kerryn Offord
As for the public desire.. Just what proportion of the Ukrainian public
actually wanted to "move west"?

Read it and weep, poll and poll shows 60 - 40 split
or better favoring the EU.

Public Opinion Survey
Residents of Ukraine
March 14 – 26, 2014

The survey was conducted by the public opinion and market
research company Baltic Surveys/The Gallup Organization

http://www.iri.org/sites/default/files/2014%20April%205%20IRI%20Public%20Opinion%20Survey%20of%20Ukraine,%20March%2014-26,%202014.pdf

Post by Kerryn Offord
Certainly not the East that has most of it's economy dependent on trade
with Russia...

Democracies are /majority/ rule, not minority rule.
East Ukraine and Russia refuse to accept that
concept, it's why Russia has the low moral ground
in the eyes of the world.

s

Oleg Smirnov

2015-02-28 01:04:05 UTC

Post by Kerryn Offord

On Wed, 25 Feb 2015 21:05:51 -0500, jonathan

There were no protests before Yanukovych flipped
and in the middle of the night, btw.
Behind closed door betrayals have a way of
pissing off the people.
<SNIP>

Judging from the nation wide protests that broke out
right after, the Ukrainian people weren't all that
interested in the 'better' deal. It was who the
deal was with that mattered.

Speak for yourself, Jonathan, not for 'the Ukrainian people'.

I already cited here various sociological data and polls.

Post by Kerryn Offord
As for the public desire.. Just what proportion of the
Ukrainian public actually wanted to "move west"?

Read it and weep, poll and poll shows 60 - 40 split
or better favoring the EU.
Public Opinion Survey
Residents of Ukraine
March 14 – 26, 2014

"March 14 – 26" means: after the coup, after a month of
very significant strengthening of the pro-coup propaganda in the
mass media, and already without Crimea.

Post by Kerryn Offord
Certainly not the East that has most of it's economy
dependent on trade with Russia...

Democracies are /majority/ rule, not minority rule.
East Ukraine and Russia refuse to accept that
concept, it's why Russia has the low moral ground
in the eyes of the world.

<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-l-phillips/crimeas-technically-flawe_b_4992908.html>
"Elections .. serve to renegotiate and redistribute power in
a society by channeling and transforming the clash of divergent
interests into acceptable and peaceful solutions. .. Participants
need confidence that the referendum does not establish tyranny
of the majority. Disenfranchising or disadvantaging minorities
leads to disaffection. .. Betraying the aspirations of a
significant segment of society can spark violence, rather than
foster political dialogue."

The cited above is an amusing article, the writers are very
good in theory (cited above) but they have managed to make many
silly mistakes when applied to practice.

Fred J. McCall

2015-02-26 03:57:35 UTC

Post by jonathan
If you recall, WW2 started right after Hitler
annexed Austria, and then sent his 'little brown men'
into the Sudetanland to give him an excuse to
invade Czechoslovakia.

On what planet?

--
"Ignorance is preferable to error, and he is less remote from the
truth who believes nothing than he who believes what is wrong."
-- Thomas Jefferson

Mr. B1ack

2015-02-26 16:12:36 UTC

On Wed, 25 Feb 2015 20:57:35 -0700, Fred J. McCall

Post by jonathan
If you recall, WW2 started right after Hitler
annexed Austria, and then sent his 'little brown men'
into the Sudetanland to give him an excuse to
invade Czechoslovakia.

On what planet?

Really .... the de-facto NAZIfication of Austria
went seamlessly and the Sudetanland was
handed over with hardly a complaint. Hitler
completely got away with those two things.

But then he wanted Poland ...

Dr. Vincent Quin, Ph.D.

2015-02-26 17:59:59 UTC

Post by Mr. B1ack
On Wed, 25 Feb 2015 20:57:35 -0700, Fred J. McCall

Post by jonathan
If you recall, WW2 started right after Hitler
annexed Austria, and then sent his 'little brown men'
into the Sudetanland to give him an excuse to
invade Czechoslovakia.

On what planet?

There are 2 sides to every story, son.

Austria had been a part of 'Greater' Germany before ww1 and
they, the Austrians, apparently wanted back in.

Ditto the Germans of Danzig (now Gdansk), who the Poles had
allegedly been mistreating.

Where ya been?
;-)

Mr. B1ack

2015-02-27 02:43:11 UTC

Post by Dr. Vincent Quin, Ph.D.

On Thu, 26 Feb 2015 09:59:59 -0800, "Dr. Vincent Quin, Ph.D."

Post by Mr. B1ack
On Wed, 25 Feb 2015 20:57:35 -0700, Fred J. McCall

Post by jonathan
If you recall, WW2 started right after Hitler
annexed Austria, and then sent his 'little brown men'
into the Sudetanland to give him an excuse to
invade Czechoslovakia.

On what planet?

There are 2 sides to every story, son.
Austria had been a part of 'Greater' Germany before ww1 and
they, the Austrians, apparently wanted back in.

Wouldn't you ? Most of the world was still hip-deep
in the Great Depression - but Mr. Hitler had BEATEN
that dragon, Germany was doing extremely well, an
incredibly rapid turnaround. Even a lot of American
businessmen were convinced Hitler had the magic
formula, that he was a miracle-worker.

So yea, as I said, Austria was very easily NAZIfied.
Kinda like with eastern Ukraine ... but in this case
the Austrians felt they were kin to Germany (hell,
Hitler was Austrian after all !). Go with the winners !

Of course what wasn't so obvious is how Hitler saved
Germany by running up a variety of huge debts that
could only be paid by stealing everybody elses stuff
at gunpoint .........

Post by Dr. Vincent Quin, Ph.D.
Ditto the Germans of Danzig (now Gdansk), who the Poles had
allegedly been mistreating.

And WHO exactly made that claim ?

Maybe living in Poland was 'torture' ... and
not just for ethnic Germans ? :-)

In any case, Hitler wanted ALL of Poland, not
just Gdansk - and Poland had solid treaties
with England .............

Post by Dr. Vincent Quin, Ph.D.
Where ya been?
;-)

Trapped in this dismal dimension where the
biggest liars are elevated to the highest offices ...

Fred J. McCall

2015-02-27 03:29:34 UTC

Post by Dr. Vincent Quin, Ph.D.
Ditto the Germans of Danzig (now Gdansk), who the Poles had
allegedly been mistreating.

That would be a neat trick, since Danzig wasn't controlled by the
Poles.

Does NOBODY know history any more?

--
"Some people get lost in thought because it's such unfamiliar
territory."
--G. Behn

Mr. B1ack

2015-02-28 03:04:38 UTC

On Thu, 26 Feb 2015 20:29:34 -0700, Fred J. McCall

Post by Dr. Vincent Quin, Ph.D.
Ditto the Germans of Danzig (now Gdansk), who the Poles had
allegedly been mistreating.

That would be a neat trick, since Danzig wasn't controlled by the
Poles.
Does NOBODY know history any more?

We don't need no education .....

Hmmm ... the push towards replacing all books
with e-books and all newspapers with e-news
and TV news with streaming net newsfeeds ...
never been easier to do Winston Smiths job :-)

Andrew Swallow

2015-02-26 20:53:38 UTC

Post by jonathan
If you recall, WW2 started right after Hitler
annexed Austria, and then sent his 'little brown men'
into the Sudetanland to give him an excuse to
invade Czechoslovakia.

On what planet?

In 1938 there was the Munich agreement. In early 1939 Britain introduced
conscription and told its civilians to build air raid shelters.

Fred J. McCall

2015-02-27 03:31:01 UTC

Post by jonathan
If you recall, WW2 started right after Hitler
annexed Austria, and then sent his 'little brown men'
into the Sudetanland to give him an excuse to
invade Czechoslovakia.

On what planet?

In 1938 there was the Munich agreement. In early 1939 Britain introduced
conscription and told its civilians to build air raid shelters.

That ain't WWII. Nobody was at war with Germany over any of that.

--
"Ignorance is preferable to error, and he is less remote from the
truth who believes nothing than he who believes what is wrong."
-- Thomas Jefferson

Andrew Swallow

2015-02-27 06:24:33 UTC

Post by jonathan
If you recall, WW2 started right after Hitler
annexed Austria, and then sent his 'little brown men'
into the Sudetanland to give him an excuse to
invade Czechoslovakia.

On what planet?

In 1938 there was the Munich agreement. In early 1939 Britain introduced
conscription and told its civilians to build air raid shelters.

That ain't WWII. Nobody was at war with Germany over any of that.

That is the rearmament leading to WW2.

We are in the rearmament stage of Cold War 2.

Fred J. McCall

2015-02-27 13:09:47 UTC

Post by jonathan
If you recall, WW2 started right after Hitler
annexed Austria, and then sent his 'little brown men'
into the Sudetanland to give him an excuse to
invade Czechoslovakia.

On what planet?

In 1938 there was the Munich agreement. In early 1939 Britain introduced
conscription and told its civilians to build air raid shelters.

That ain't WWII. Nobody was at war with Germany over any of that.

That is the rearmament leading to WW2.

So WWII started in, uh, 1480...

Post by Andrew Swallow
We are in the rearmament stage of Cold War 2.

Oh, don't be silly. Nobody can afford that right now.

--
"We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night
to visit violence on those who would do us harm.
-- George Orwell

Andrew Swallow

2015-02-27 18:10:54 UTC

Post by jonathan
If you recall, WW2 started right after Hitler
annexed Austria, and then sent his 'little brown men'
into the Sudetanland to give him an excuse to
invade Czechoslovakia.

On what planet?

In 1938 there was the Munich agreement. In early 1939 Britain introduced
conscription and told its civilians to build air raid shelters.

That ain't WWII. Nobody was at war with Germany over any of that.

That is the rearmament leading to WW2.

So WWII started in, uh, 1480...

Armaments production was reduced at the end of WW2. Britain reacted to
Hitler gaining power in 1934.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_re-armament>
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_re-armament

Post by Andrew Swallow
We are in the rearmament stage of Cold War 2.

Oh, don't be silly. Nobody can afford that right now.

There are strategic advantages in fighting a war whey your opponent
cannot afford it.

Money - reverse the peace dividend. Raise the retirement age, make the
school leaving age 13 and single mothers to live in dormitories instead
of their own flat.

Mr. B1ack

2015-02-26 16:10:01 UTC

No it's not ! The whole thing is an oil & gas grab
by the EU ... oh, and they wouldn't have minded
all those Russian-built ports in Crimea for
free either ...

Europeans didn't fill the streets of Kiev, they were
Ukrainian protestors

Geez guy ... don't you know what
a proxy revolution is ? The US has
done the same thing in south and
central America ... how do you think
the Shah of Iran got HIS job ... and
then there's Libya and Egypt .......
anytime we don't like what 'democracy'
has created.

We pay, locals do the killing. Wise up.

Oleg Smirnov

2015-02-24 10:28:14 UTC

<http://tinyurl.com/l4jyvoz> OpEdNews

Op Eds 2/22/2015 at 08:58:13

The tragedy in Ukraine and James Madison

By Neal Herrick

.. OUR GREAT AND EXTRAORDINARY SITUATION

We are presently in a state of political, economic and moral decline. Our
decline is not only continuing. It is accelerating. .. Our economic decline is
illustrated by the ever-widening gap between our rich and our poor. One
evidence of our moral decline is our use of torture. .. Our political decline
affects all aspects of our lives. For example, we are unable (or unwilling) to
choose peaceful foreign policies. Our out-of-control government persists in
supporting fascist governments in other countries (for only two examples,
Nicaragua and Ukraine) and leaving these countries in ruins..

A DECLINE IN PUBLIC WATCHFULNESS

Our decline comes into focus when we compare our reaction to events in
Nicaragua during the 1980's to our present reaction to analogous events in
Ukraine today. In 1979, the people of Nicaragua overthrew their dictatorial
government. In 1984 they elected a president from the revolutionary party.
(the Sandinistas). The US organized a counter revolutionary army (the Contras)
and fought (by proxy) a 10-year war in the Nicaraguan countryside. Our
government justified this war on the grounds that the Sandinistas, by
accepting Russian aid, were making communism a threat to our hemisphere. The
mainstream media accepted the US position, supported the Contras and referred
to them as "freedom fighters."

During the 1980's an estimated 40,000 Americans, in small groups sponsored by
churches and peace organizations, traveled to Nicaragua to see for themselves
whether the mainstream media's characterizations of the Contras as "freedom
fighters" and the Sandinistas as brutal communists (armed by Russia) were
accurate. These groups traveled about Nicaragua talking to its inhabitants and
to combatants from both sides. Upon their return to the US, they were
instrumental in (eventually) persuading Congress to stop funding the Contras.

Recently, a coup in Ukraine deposed the elected president. Crimea held a
referendum and voted to leave Ukraine and rejoin Russia, but the coup
government, supported by the US, moved militarily to prevent eastern Ukraine
from following suit. Our mainstream media supports the official version of
this conflict. They refer to the coup government as "Ukraine" and the war as
provoked by Russia. Our alternative media take a different view of the matter.
They report that there has been no Russian provocation and that "Ukraine"
consists of a coup government created by the US, a reluctant army and
volunteer battalions largely led and manned by Neo-Nazis and other extremists.
[2] ..

William J. Bennett noted in his 1990 book, The Death of Outrage, that our
collective sense of justice has been numbed. Since the 1980's, we have had to
come to terms with further government encroachments and with a multitude of
complex and disturbing events, both at home and abroad. However, we should not
take our government's view of the situation in Ukraine at face value. One of
the journalists that told us the truth about Nicaragua in the 1980's is now
writing about Ukraine. Robert Parry, whose reporting on Nicaragua was
confirmed by the Final Report of the Independent Counsel for Iran-Contra
Matters (1993), can be read on such alternative internet newspapers as
opednews.com and consortiumnews.com.

However, our decline cannot be stopped solely by attending to one of its
symptoms -- such as the on-going tragedy in Ukraine. It can be stopped only by
eliminating its root cause: the dominance of our domestic and foreign policies
and actions by a few very wealthy people.

GRADUAL AND SILENT ENCROACHMENTS ..

EXISTING APPROACHES TO GOVERNMENT REFORM ..

OUR FOREFATHERS ATTEMPTED TO ARM US AGAINST PLUTOCRACY ..

WHY WE NEED ALTERATIONS IN OUR CONSTITUTION ..

WHY WE APPEAR TO BE CHECKMATED ..

MADISON'S THIRD METHOD ..

CONCLUSION

While our present crisis has come on us incrementally, it is a major crisis
and requires the taking of major measures. These major measures cannot be
taken without constitutional amendments. We cannot expect Congress to propose
such amendments. As for calling a convention, under present circumstances,
such a convention would no doubt be unduly influenced by "big money."
Therefore, we need a third method that (1) is consistent with Article V, (2)
alters our constitution without the involvement of Congress and (3) takes
effect prior to the calling of a convention. Madison's prescient words of
Sept. 15, 1787 provide us with such a method. Polls suggest that an amendment
proposed by the states focused on taking the money out of politics would earn
the support of an overwhelming majority of Americans. [7] ..

Neal Herrick is author of the award-wining After Patrick Henry (2009). His
most recent book is (2014) Reversing America’s Decline. He is a former sailor,
soldier, auto worker, railroad worker, assistant college football coach, ..

...

Read the full text of the article here <http://tinyurl.com/l4jyvoz>.

Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/q8n5323> salon.com
.. Anyone who thinks of America and its place in the world clearly and
honestly understands, with no shred of doubt after the destructive year gone
by, that this nation is now well into its late-imperial phase. As history
instructs us, two signs of an imperial power’s decline at this point in its
story are blindness and deafness: It gives up all capacity to see the world
as it is and takes no interest in what those dwelling in it have to say.
Clear sight and open ears are unbearable, for both bring news that history’s
wheel is turning and an era of primacy is passing into the past. ..
It has long been true that this nation’s foreign policy cliques think and
act — often the latter while skipping the former — independently of any
electorate. ..

Oleg Smirnov

2015-02-24 19:10:00 UTC

<http://rinf.com/alt-news/editorials/washington-resurrected-threat-nuclear-war-paul-craig-roberts/>

Washington Has Resurrected The Threat Of Nuclear War – Paul Craig Roberts

2015/02/24

Foreign Affairs is the publication of the elitist Council on Foreign
Relations, a collection of former and current government officials, academics,
and corporate and financial executives who regard themselves as the custodian
and formulator of US foreign policy. The publication of the council carries
the heavy weight of authority. One doesn’t expect to find humor in it, but I
found myself roaring with laughter while reading an article in the February 5
online issue by Alexander J. Motyl, “Goodbye, Putin: Why the President’s Days
Are Numbered.”

I assumed I was reading a clever parody of Washington’s anti-Putin propaganda.
Absurd statement followed absurd statement. It was better than Colbert. I
couldn’t stop laughing.

To my dismay I discovered that the absolute gibberish wasn’t a parody of
Washington’s propaganda. Motyl, an ardent Ukrainian nationalist, is a
professor at Rugers University and was not joking when he wrote that Putin had
stolen $45 billion, that Putin was resurrecting the Soviet Empire, that Putin
had troops and tanks in Ukraine and had started the war in Ukraine, that Putin
is an authoritarian whose regime is “exceedingly brittle” and subject to being
overthrown at any time by the people Putin has bought off with revenues from
the former high oil price, or by “an Orange Revolution in Moscow” in which
Putin is overthrown by Washington orchestrated demonstrations by US financed
NGOs as in Ukraine, or by a coup d’etat by Putin’s Praetorial guards. And if
none of this sends Putin goodbye, the North Caucasus, Chechnya, Ingushetia,
Dagestan, and the Crimean Tarters are spinning out of control and will do
Washington’s will by unseating Putin. Only the West’s friendly relationship
with Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakstan can shield “the rest of the world from
Putin’s disastrous legacy of ruin.”

When confronted with this level of ignorant nonsense in what is alleged to be
a respectable publication, we experience the degradation of the Western
political and media elite. To argue with nonsense is pointless.

What we see here with Motyl is the purest expression of the blatant
propagandistic lies that flow continually from the likes of Fox “News,” Sean
Hannity, the neocon warmongers, the White House, and executive branch and
congressional personnel beholden to the military/security complex.

The lies are too much even for Henry Kissinger.

As Stephen Lendman <http://is.gd/vfIcNC>, who documents the ever growing anti-
Russian propaganda, honestly states: “America’s war on the world rages.
Humanity’s greatest challenge is stopping this monster before it destroys
everyone.”

The absurdity of it all! Even a moron knows that if Russia is going to put
tanks and troops into Ukraine, Russia will put in enough to do the job. The
war would be over in a few days if not in a few hours. As Putin himself said
some months ago, if the Russian military enters Ukraine, the news will not be
the fate of Donetsk or Mauriupol, but the fall of Kiev and Lviv.

Former US Ambassador to the Soviet Union (1987-91) Jack Matlock cautioned
against the crazed propagandistic attack against Russia in his speech at the
National Press Club on February 11. Matlock is astonished by the dismissal of
Russia as merely “a regional power” of little consequence to the powerful US
military. No country, Matlock says, armed with numerous, accurate, and mobile
ICBMs is limited to regional power. This is the kind of hubristic
miscalculation that ends in world destruction.

Matlock also notes that the entirely of Ukraine, like Crimea, has been part of
Russia for centuries and that Washington and NATO have no business being in
Ukraine.

He also points out the violations of promises made to Russia not to expand
NATO eastward and how this and other acts of US aggression toward Russia have
recreated the lack of trust between the two powers that Reagan worked
successfully to overcome.

Reagan’s politeness toward the Soviet leadership and refusal to personalize
differences created an era of cooperation that the morons who are Reagan’s
successors have thrown away, thus renewing the threat of nuclear war that
Reagan and Gorbachev had ended.

Washington’s foreign policy, Matlock says, is autistic, which he defines as
impaired social interaction, failed communication, and restricted and
repetitive behavior.

Read Matlock:
http://www.larouchepub.com/eiw/public/2015/2015_1-9/2015-08/pdf/10-14_4208.pdf

Don’t bother with the utter fool Motyl:
http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/142840/alexander-j-motyl/goodbye-putin

Fred J. McCall

2015-02-24 19:35:59 UTC

Washington Has Resurrected The Threat Of Nuclear War Paul Craig Roberts

We're not the ones flying bombers near other peoples' borders...

--
"False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the
soul with evil."
-- Socrates

Oleg Smirnov

2015-02-24 19:37:37 UTC

Washington Has Resurrected The Threat Of Nuclear War -
Paul Craig Roberts

We're not the ones flying bombers near other peoples'
borders...

You're much worse, you know (speak for yourself btw).

Fred J. McCall

2015-02-24 21:08:03 UTC

Washington Has Resurrected The Threat Of Nuclear War -
Paul Craig Roberts

We're not the ones flying bombers near other peoples'
borders...

You're much worse, you know (speak for yourself btw).

Bullshit (and I am, you English-challenged shill).

--
"False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the
soul with evil."
-- Socrates

george152

2015-02-24 21:21:24 UTC

Washington Has Resurrected The Threat Of Nuclear War -
Paul Craig Roberts

We're not the ones flying bombers near other peoples'
borders...

You're much worse, you know (speak for yourself btw).

How do you claim that?
You -are- flying bombers close to other countries borders.
Maybe you're willing to provoke the nuclear war you mentioned ?

jack595

2015-02-24 22:00:21 UTC

Washington Has Resurrected The Threat Of Nuclear War -
Paul Craig Roberts

We're not the ones flying bombers near other peoples'
borders...

You're much worse, you know (speak for yourself btw).

How do you claim that?
You -are- flying bombers close to other countries borders.
Maybe you're willing to provoke the nuclear war you mentioned ?

That nuclear war would be interesting, given the Russian ABMs are about 50 years
old. Flying slow turboprop bombers (Tu-95 Bears) would be sitting ducks for the
interceptors all over North America. When the Soviet Union died the KGB-state
didn't bother to bring their collection of old iron up to date.

Fred J. McCall

2015-02-25 02:59:21 UTC

Washington Has Resurrected The Threat Of Nuclear War -
Paul Craig Roberts

We're not the ones flying bombers near other peoples'
borders...

You're much worse, you know (speak for yourself btw).

How do you claim that?
You -are- flying bombers close to other countries borders.
Maybe you're willing to provoke the nuclear war you mentioned ?

That nuclear war would be interesting, given the Russian ABMs are about 50 years
old.

And we don't have any.

Post by jack595
Flying slow turboprop bombers (Tu-95 Bears) would be sitting ducks for the
interceptors all over North America.

The WHAT? There are like half a dozen interceptor squadrons in the
entire USAF. All the rest were shut down during the 1980's and
1990's.

Post by jack595
When the Soviet Union died the KGB-state
didn't bother to bring their collection of old iron up to date.

Mostly neither did we and the move to be 'up to date' radically
lowered the count of aircraft.

--
"Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute."
-- Charles Pinckney

jack595

2015-02-25 03:22:41 UTC

Washington Has Resurrected The Threat Of Nuclear War -
Paul Craig Roberts

We're not the ones flying bombers near other peoples'
borders...

You're much worse, you know (speak for yourself btw).

How do you claim that?
You -are- flying bombers close to other countries borders.
Maybe you're willing to provoke the nuclear war you mentioned ?

That nuclear war would be interesting, given the Russian ABMs are about 50 years
old.

And we don't have any.

Post by jack595
Flying slow turboprop bombers (Tu-95 Bears) would be sitting ducks for the
interceptors all over North America.

The WHAT? There are like half a dozen interceptor squadrons in the
entire USAF. All the rest were shut down during the 1980's and
1990's.

Post by jack595
When the Soviet Union died the KGB-state
didn't bother to bring their collection of old iron up to date.

Mostly neither did we and the move to be 'up to date' radically
lowered the count of aircraft.

Well, somebody is flying F-15s and F-22s after the intruders.

Fred J. McCall

2015-02-25 06:15:36 UTC

Washington Has Resurrected The Threat Of Nuclear War -
Paul Craig Roberts

We're not the ones flying bombers near other peoples'
borders...

You're much worse, you know (speak for yourself btw).

How do you claim that?
You -are- flying bombers close to other countries borders.
Maybe you're willing to provoke the nuclear war you mentioned ?

That nuclear war would be interesting, given the Russian ABMs are about 50 years
old.

And we don't have any.

Post by jack595
Flying slow turboprop bombers (Tu-95 Bears) would be sitting ducks for the
interceptors all over North America.

The WHAT? There are like half a dozen interceptor squadrons in the
entire USAF. All the rest were shut down during the 1980's and
1990's.

Post by jack595
When the Soviet Union died the KGB-state
didn't bother to bring their collection of old iron up to date.

Mostly neither did we and the move to be 'up to date' radically
lowered the count of aircraft.

Well, somebody is flying F-15s and F-22s after the intruders.

Nobody is flying F-15s anymore except for the strike model. They're
all training squadrons and such now. Around half a dozen squadrons of
F-22, most of them in the same place...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Air_Force_fighter_squadrons

--
"Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute."
-- Charles Pinckney

Oleg Smirnov

2015-02-24 21:59:37 UTC

<http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=109561>

Venezuela Under Fascist Threat

February 24, 2015 / Elio Delgado Legón

=====
Elio Delgado-Legon: I am a Cuban who has lived for 76 years, therefore I know
full well how life was before the revolution, having experienced it directly
and indirectly. As a result, it hurts me to read so many aspersions cast upon
a government that fights tooth and nail to provide us a better life. If it
hasn’t fully been able to do so, this is because of the many obstacles that
have been put in its way.
=====

HAVANA TIMES — I am not exaggerating: the Venezuelan Right has already shown
us its fascist credentials on more than one occasion. Now, it charges once
again, with a (recently frustrated) plot to stage a coup and assassinate the
nation’s president. The most disquieting thing isn’t the fascist-like nature
of those who are desperate to recover their benefits and distribute amongst
themselves the country’s oil profits, today used to improve the life of
Venezuela’s humble, a people who have been forsaken and neglected for nearly
200 years.

The most disquieting thing is that they enjoy the moral and material support
of an imperial power that claims to defend democracy. Can the actions against
a legally constituted government that was democratically elected by the people
be called democratic? Are the violent protests and the murder of more than 40
people who were loyal to the government democratic? Is the economic war, the
hoarding of products and the artificial shortages staged to destabilize the
government democratic?

We cannot forget the coup against President Hugo Chavez staged in April of
2002, with full support from Washington, a coup that was thwarted thanks to
the intervention of the people and the armed forces that were loyal to the
president and defended both legality and democracy, restoring the government
legitimately elected by the people.

We must also recall how the fascist actions and atrocities carried out by
those who attempted the coup were never condemned by the White House, the
State Department or the US Embassy in Caracas. On the contrary, Washington
offered those behind the coup attempt support to continue with their plans.

I still recall the images of the fascist hordes attacking the Cuban embassy in
Caracas, led by former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles.

They are the people who have lost the elections on several occasions and are
now once again betting on a coup, to take power illegally and dismantle all of
the programs developed by the Bolivarian revolution, such as free healthcare
and education for all, mass construction efforts aimed at providing all
Venezuelans with a decorous home, sporting and cultural development programs
and many others.

To pave the road towards their fascist coup, they have been waging an economic
war, emptying markets of products to lay the blame on the government and using
a media campaign loaded with lies to create confusion among the population, as
the media at the service of the oligarchy and imperialism tend to do.

They have followed the same roadmap used in countries such as Libya, Syria and
the Ukraine: they have created public disorder to accuse the government of
repression, secure economic sanctions that weaken it and obtain support for
those responsible for the chaos, as though this were the tried-and-true method
of so-called representative democracy.

Violently overthrowing a government that was elected by the people will never
bring positive results. We need only look at the recent history of countries
where these formulas have been applied.

Sowing chaos in Venezuela is not convenient for anyone, not even the United
States, which has supported destabilizing efforts and coup attempts. Nor are
the revolutionary people of Venezuela, who are prepared for victory, going to
allow such a coup to take place.

jack595

2015-02-24 23:29:01 UTC

Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=109561>
Venezuela Under Fascist Threat
February 24, 2015 / Elio Delgado LegÃ³n
=====
Elio Delgado-Legon: I am a Cuban who has lived for 76 years, therefore I know
full well how life was before the revolution, having experienced it directly
and indirectly. As a result, it hurts me to read so many aspersions cast upon
a government that fights tooth and nail to provide us a better life. If it
hasnât fully been able to do so, this is because of the many obstacles that
have been put in its way.
=====
HAVANA TIMES â I am not exaggerating: the Venezuelan Right has already shown
us its fascist credentials on more than one occasion. Now, it charges once
again, with a (recently frustrated) plot to stage a coup and assassinate the
nationâs president. The most disquieting thing isnât the fascist-like nature
of those who are desperate to recover their benefits and distribute amongst
themselves the countryâs oil profits, today used to improve the life of
Venezuelaâs humble, a people who have been forsaken and neglected for nearly
200 years.
The most disquieting thing is that they enjoy the moral and material support
of an imperial power that claims to defend democracy. Can the actions against
a legally constituted government that was democratically elected by the people
be called democratic? Are the violent protests and the murder of more than 40
people who were loyal to the government democratic? Is the economic war, the
hoarding of products and the artificial shortages staged to destabilize the
government democratic?
We cannot forget the coup against President Hugo Chavez staged in April of
2002, with full support from Washington, a coup that was thwarted thanks to
the intervention of the people and the armed forces that were loyal to the
president and defended both legality and democracy, restoring the government
legitimately elected by the people.
We must also recall how the fascist actions and atrocities carried out by
those who attempted the coup were never condemned by the White House, the
State Department or the US Embassy in Caracas. On the contrary, Washington
offered those behind the coup attempt support to continue with their plans.
I still recall the images of the fascist hordes attacking the Cuban embassy in
Caracas, led by former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles.
They are the people who have lost the elections on several occasions and are
now once again betting on a coup, to take power illegally and dismantle all of
the programs developed by the Bolivarian revolution, such as free healthcare
and education for all, mass construction efforts aimed at providing all
Venezuelans with a decorous home, sporting and cultural development programs
and many others.
To pave the road towards their fascist coup, they have been waging an economic
war, emptying markets of products to lay the blame on the government and using
a media campaign loaded with lies to create confusion among the population, as
the media at the service of the oligarchy and imperialism tend to do.
They have followed the same roadmap used in countries such as Libya, Syria and
the Ukraine: they have created public disorder to accuse the government of
repression, secure economic sanctions that weaken it and obtain support for
those responsible for the chaos, as though this were the tried-and-true method
of so-called representative democracy.
Violently overthrowing a government that was elected by the people will never
bring positive results. We need only look at the recent history of countries
where these formulas have been applied.
Sowing chaos in Venezuela is not convenient for anyone, not even the United
States, which has supported destabilizing efforts and coup attempts. Nor are
the revolutionary people of Venezuela, who are prepared for victory, going to
allow such a coup to take place.

But it's okay to use your "volunteers" and "loaned equipment" to destabilize an
adjacent country you find needing your advice.

Oleg Smirnov

2015-02-25 20:35:41 UTC

<http://sputniknews.com/world/20150225/1018728748.html>

Former NATO Intel Officer Blames US for Ukraine Crisis

WORLD 14:54 25.02.2015 (updated 15:58 25.02.2015)

A former NATO intelligence analyst has said that the crisis in Ukraine stems from
as far back as 30 years when the United States "deliberately sabotaged" relations
between Europe and Russia.

The current crisis in Ukraine stems from as far back as 1986, when the United
States saw an opportunity to model itself as the new single world superpower at
the close of the Cold War and saw friendly Russian overtures to Western Europe as
a threat.

Lieutenant Commander (Retd.) Martin Packard, a former NATO intelligence analyst
said: "The real ending of the Cold War was in 1986, when the USSR's leadership
resolved on a five-year programme to move to a parliamentary democracy and market
economy. The intention in Moscow was to use that period to achieve a progressive
convergence with the EU."

Packard was writing in response to the publication of a new book, 'Frontline
Ukraine: Crisis in the Borderlands' by Richard Sakwa, in which the author argues
that Mikhail Gorbachev saw the end of the Cold War as a shared victory which
might lead to the building of a "common European home".

However, Sakwa says the US promulgated the idea within Europe that Russia was a
defeated nation that could be left isolated from Europe and the rest of the world
if it did not accept the US as the single world superpower. He says it was the
eastward expansion of NATO that lies at the root of the current crisis in
Ukraine.

NATO's Eastward March

Historically, NATO — heavily backed by the United States — has sought to spread
its influence further eastward, despite an agreement after the reunification of
Germany, that it would not encroach on the former Warsaw Pact nations. At the
time, former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev was assured by (then) US
Secretary of State James Baker there would be "no extension of NATO's
jurisdiction one inch to the east".

Since then, the onward march of NATO eastward has continued unabashed with the
Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia,
Albania, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia all joining the Washington-led military
coalition.

Deliberate Sabotage

Lieutenant Commander Packard, in a letter to The Guardian newspaper, said the
failure to allow a Russian-European convergence in the late 1980s and the spread
of NATO are at the centre of the crisis in Ukraine.

"There could have been huge benefits to Europe in such convergence, but the
process was deliberately sabotaged by US intelligence agencies, working from the
hypothesis that a tie-up between the EU and a democratic Russia would pose a
major threat to American long-term economic interests.

"The chaos that we now have, and the distrust of America which motivates Russian
policy, stems primarily from decisions taken in Washington 30 years ago."

jonathan

2015-02-26 01:33:39 UTC

Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://sputniknews.com/world/20150225/1018728748.html>
Former NATO Intel Officer Blames US for Ukraine Crisis
WORLD 14:54 25.02.2015 (updated 15:58 25.02.2015)
A former NATO intelligence analyst has said that the crisis
in Ukraine stems from as far back as 30 years when the
United States "deliberately sabotaged" relations
between Europe and Russia.

1975? The relations between Breznev and Carter soured
in 1978 when RUSSIA flippin' invaded Afghanistan, creating
that long-running crime against humanity we're s t i l l
spending mightily trying to clean up.

You see a trend there? As in after Russia invades someone
the relations with America turn south?
A child could see it.

And America doesn't even expect Russia to say 'thanks' for
cleaning up their messes, whether in Afghan, or you're man
Saddam in Iraq, and now the ISIS thing pouring out of
Russian built 'Chemical-Assad' Syria.

And those aren't flippin American tanks or American rocket
launchers killing everyone in Ukraine.

Are they?

But once Putin has finished trying to convince the world
he's got a bigger dick than anyone else (gay-in-denial)
we'll clean up the Ukraine mess for you too.

It's just the way we are.

Putin may succeed in crashing Ukraine's economy first, but
all that means is when Russia's goes belly-up in a year
or two, Ukraine will already be climbing out since it'll
have the west behind it, while once Russia crashes they'll
and have NO ONE AT ALL TO BAIL RUSSIA OUT.

Since the only thing Putin has truly been successful at
is p i s s i n g off every nation in the world.

But I'll admit that America thinks it's exceptional, or
more accurately, we know we are. And I'll admit America
is on a religious-like crusade to remake the world
in our image, sparing no expense.

In fact, this drive is the only thing that everyone
in America agrees upon, whether left or right, dove
or hawk, this crusade goes hand-in-hand with our
religious and political beliefs.

We've done it, remade others in our image, to perhaps the
most vicious military regime of the last century with
Imperial Japan. We did it to the most powerful western
European nation ever in Nazi Germany, we're half way
to doing it in China with their rising capitalism.

And we've already done it in your mother Russia t w i c e
with the third go-round coming in the next couple of years.

And we won't stop until everyone is as free and prosperous
as America. Whether you like it or not.

WE DON'T CARE WHAT ANYONE THINKS ABOUT US EITHER.

Blame us for everything...WE DON'T CARE.
It won't change a thing.

Jonathan

s

Post by Oleg Smirnov
The current crisis in Ukraine stems from as far back as 1986, when the United
States saw an opportunity to model itself as the new single world superpower at
the close of the Cold War and saw friendly Russian overtures to Western Europe as
a threat.
Lieutenant Commander (Retd.) Martin Packard, a former NATO intelligence analyst
said: "The real ending of the Cold War was in 1986, when the USSR's leadership
resolved on a five-year programme to move to a parliamentary democracy and market
economy. The intention in Moscow was to use that period to achieve a progressive
convergence with the EU."
Packard was writing in response to the publication of a new book, 'Frontline
Ukraine: Crisis in the Borderlands' by Richard Sakwa, in which the author argues
that Mikhail Gorbachev saw the end of the Cold War as a shared victory which
might lead to the building of a "common European home".
However, Sakwa says the US promulgated the idea within Europe that Russia was a
defeated nation that could be left isolated from Europe and the rest of the world
if it did not accept the US as the single world superpower. He says it was the
eastward expansion of NATO that lies at the root of the current crisis in
Ukraine.
NATO's Eastward March
Historically, NATO — heavily backed by the United States — has sought to spread
its influence further eastward, despite an agreement after the
reunification of
Germany, that it would not encroach on the former Warsaw Pact nations. At the
time, former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev was assured by (then) US
Secretary of State James Baker there would be "no extension of NATO's
jurisdiction one inch to the east".
Since then, the onward march of NATO eastward has continued unabashed with the
Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia,
Albania, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia all joining the Washington-led military
coalition.
Deliberate Sabotage
Lieutenant Commander Packard, in a letter to The Guardian newspaper, said the
failure to allow a Russian-European convergence in the late 1980s and the spread
of NATO are at the centre of the crisis in Ukraine.
"There could have been huge benefits to Europe in such convergence, but the
process was deliberately sabotaged by US intelligence agencies, working from the
hypothesis that a tie-up between the EU and a democratic Russia would pose a
major threat to American long-term economic interests.
"The chaos that we now have, and the distrust of America which motivates Russian
policy, stems primarily from decisions taken in Washington 30 years ago."

Oleg Smirnov

2015-02-26 01:50:20 UTC

Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://sputniknews.com/world/20150225/1018728748.html>
Former NATO Intel Officer Blames US for Ukraine Crisis
WORLD 14:54 25.02.2015 (updated 15:58 25.02.2015)
A former NATO intelligence analyst has said that the
crisis
in Ukraine stems from as far back as 30 years when the
United States "deliberately sabotaged" relations
between Europe and Russia.

2015 - 30 = 1985

Post by jonathan
A child could see it.

jonathan

2015-02-26 02:47:50 UTC

Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://sputniknews.com/world/20150225/1018728748.html>
Former NATO Intel Officer Blames US for Ukraine Crisis
WORLD 14:54 25.02.2015 (updated 15:58 25.02.2015)
A former NATO intelligence analyst has said that the
crisis in Ukraine stems from as far back as 30 years when the
United States "deliberately sabotaged" relations
between Europe and Russia.

2015 - 30 = 1985

Post by jonathan
A child could see it.

DAMN! Ya got me there~

Me: 99
You: 01

OK so 1985 was when your anti-hero Gorbachev
came into office, you're going to blame us for that?
And Reagan convinced Saudi to pump-and-dump oil
and crush Russia's oil revenue until it defaulted.

Gee, has a familiar ring, doesn't it?

Me: 100

s

Oleg Smirnov

2015-03-02 13:05:02 UTC

<http://www.eurasiareview.com/01032015-fifty-years-of-imperial-wars-results-and-perspectives-oped/>

FIFTY YEARS OF IMPERIAL WARS: RESULTS AND PERSPECTIVES – OPED

MARCH 1, 2015

By James Petras

Over the past 50 years the US and European powers have engaged in countless
imperial wars throughout the world. The drive for world supremacy has been
clothed in the rhetoric of “world leadership”, the consequences have been
devastating for the peoples targeted.

The biggest, longest and most numerous wars have been carried out by the United
States. Presidents from both parties direct and preside over this quest for world
power. The ideology which informs imperialism varies from “anti-communism” in the
past to “anti- terrorism” today.

Washington’s drive for world domination has used and combined many forms of
warfare, including military invasions and occupations; proxy mercenary armies and
military coups; financing political parties, NGO’s and street mobs to overthrow
duly constituted governments. The driving forces in the imperial state , behind
the quest for world power, vary with the geographic location and social economic
composition of the targeted countries.

What is clear from an analysis of US empire building over the last half century
is the relative decline of economic interests, and the rise of politico-military
considerations. In part this is because of the demise of the collectivist regimes
(the USSR and Eastern Europe) and the conversion of China and the leftist Asian,
African and Latin American regimes to capitalism. The decline of economic forces
as the driving force of imperialism is a result of the advent of global
neoliberalism. Most US and EU multi-nationals are not threatened by
nationalizations or expropriations, which might trigger imperial state political
intervention.

In fact, MNC are invited to invest,trade and exploit natural resources even by
post-neoliberal regimes . Economic interests come into play in formulating
imperial state policies, if and when nationalist regimes emerge and challenge US
MNC as is the case in Venezuela under President Chavez.

The key to US empire building over the past half-century is found in the
political, military and ideological power configurations which have come to
control the levers of the imperial state. The recent history of US imperial wars
has demonstrated that strategic military priorities – military bases, budgets and
bureaucracy – have expanded far beyond any localized economic interests of MNC.

Moreover, the vast expenditures and long term and expensive military
interventions of the US imperial state in the Middle East has been at the behest
of Israel. The take-over of strategic political positions in the Executive branch
and Congress by the powerful Zionist power configuration within the US has
reinforced the centrality of military over economic interests.

The ‘privatization’ of imperial wars – the vast growth and use of mercenaries
contracted by the Pentagon- has led to the vast pillage of tens of billions of
dollars from the US Treasury. Large scale corporations which supply mercenary
military combatants have become a very ‘influential’ force shaping the nature and
consequences of US empire building.

Military strategists, defenders of Israeli colonial interests in the Middle East,
mercenary military and intelligence corporations are central actors in the
imperial state and it is their decision-making influence which explains why US
imperial wars do not result in a politically stable, economic prosperous empire.
Instead their policies have resulted in unstable, ravaged economies, in perpetual
rebellion.

We will proceed by identifying the changing areas and regions of US empire
building from the mid 1970’s to the present. We then examine the methods, driving
forces and outcomes of imperial expansion. We will then turn to describe the
current ‘geo-political map of empire building and the varied nature of the
anti-imperialist resistance. We will conclude by examining the why and how of
empire building and more particularly, the consequences, and results of a half
century of US imperial expansion.

Imperialism in the post Vietnam Period: Proxy Wars in Central America,
Afghanistan and Southern Africa ..

US Imperialism in Latin America: Changing Structure, External and Internal
Contingencies, Shifting Priorities and Global Constraints. ..

Theoretical Reflections on Empire Building in Latin America ..

The Demise of the USSR and China’s conversion to Capitalism ..

The Pivotal Year 2000: the Pinnacle and Decline of Empire ..

Contemporary Imperialism: Present and Future Perspectives

To understand the future of US imperialism it is important to sum up and evaluate
the experience and policies of the past quarter of a century.

If we compare, US empire building between 1990 and 2015, it is clearly in decline
economically, politically and even militarily in most regions of the world,
though the process of decline is not linear and probably not irreversible.

Despite talk in Washington of reconfiguring imperial priorities to take account
of MNC economic interests, little has been accomplished… Obama’s so-called “pivot
to Asia” has resulted in new military base agreements with Japan, Australia and
the Philippines surrounding China and reflects an inability to fashion free trade
agreements that exclude China. Meantime, the US has militarily re-started the war
and reentered Iraq and Afghanistan in addition to launching new wars in Syria and
the Ukraine. It is clear that the primacy of the militarist faction is still the
determinant factor in shaping imperial state policies.

The imperial military drive is most evident in the US intervention in support of
the coup in the Ukraine and subsequent financing and arming of the Kiev junta.
The imperial takeover of the Ukraine and plans to incorporate it into the EU and
NATO, represents military aggression in its most blatant form: The expansion of
US military bases and installations and military maneuvers on Russia’s borders
and the US initiated economic sanctions, have severely damaged EU trade and
investment with Russia.. US empire building continues to prioritize military
expansion even at the cost of Western imperial economic interests in Europe.

The US-EU bombing of Libya destroyed the burgeoning trade and investment
agreements between imperial oil and gas MNC and the Gadhafi government… NATO air
assaults destroyed the economy, society and political order, converting Libya
into a territory overrun by warring clans, gangs, terrorists and armed thuggery.
..

The main “beneficiaries” of the current imperial state policies are the war
contractors and the security-military-industrial complex in the US. Oversees the
state beneficiaries include Israel and Saudi Arabia. In addition Jordanian,
Egyptian, Iraqi, Afghani and Pakistani client rulers have squirreled away tens of
billions in off-shore private bank accounts.

The “non-state” beneficiaries include mercenary, proxy armies. In Syria, Iraq,
Libya, Somalia and the Ukraine, tens of thousands of collaborators in self-styled
“non-governmental” organizations have also profited. ..

The US sanctions policy toward Iran has failed to undermine the nationalist
regime and has totally undercut the economic opportunities of all the major US
and EU oil and gas MNC as well as US manufacturing exporters. China has replaced
them.

The US-EU invasion of Libya led to the destruction of the economy and the flight
of billions in MNC investments and the disruption of exports.

The US imperial states’ seizure of power via a proxy coup in Kiev, provoked a
powerful anti-imperialist rebellion led by armed militia in the East (Donetsk and
Luhansk) and the decimation of the Ukraine economy. ..

.. the US militarists’ seizure of power in the Ukraine and the sanctions
against Russia have eroded EU’S profitable trade and investments in Russia. The
Ukraine under IMF-EU-US tutelage has become a heavily indebted , broken economy
run by kleptocrats who are totally dependent on foreign loans and military
intervention. ..

James Petras
James Petras is the author of more than 62 books published in 29 languages, and
over 600 articles in professional journals, including the American Sociological
Review, British Journal of Sociology, Social Research, and Journal of Peasant
Studies.
He has published over 2000 articles in nonprofessional journals such as the New
York Times, the Guardian, the Nation, Christian Science Monitor, Foreign Policy,
New Left Review, Partisan Review, TempsModerne, Le Monde Diplomatique, and his
commentary is widely carried on the internet. ..

Oleg Smirnov

2015-03-04 07:08:28 UTC

<http://russia-insider.com/en/2015/03/03/4064>

Ten Delusions That Show Obama Hasn't a Clue about Russia
And that's just stuff he and his advisors don't know about Russia
Lots of other things out there to be wrong about too

Patrick Armstrong <http://russia-insider.com/user/146>

Something to bear in mind is that Obama and his advisors are spectacularly (is
that strong enough? how about apocalyptically?) mis-informed about Russia.
Rather frighteningly so indeed for people who are making such important
decisions. For example...

“Russia doesn’t make anything.”
“Immigrants aren’t rushing to Moscow in search of opportunity.”
“The life expectancy of the Russian male is around 60 years old. The
population is shrinking.” <http://goo.gl/0ez1O4>

“Russia is isolated” “with its economy in tatters.” <http://goo.gl/H2iQ54>

The above five have been adequately exploded in numerous pieces on this
website and elsewhere. They are, in short... no other way to put it... wrong.
Russia makes lots of things; it attracts immigrants second only to the USA;
its population is growing; Washington and its followers may not like Putin
very much, but he's an honoured guest in many parts of the world; its economy
is doing reasonably well.

What is (scarily, if you think about it) interesting about all these beliefs
is how out-of-date they are. They are as old-fashioned as John McCain's notion
that the Russian equivalent of the NYT is Pravda. <http://goo.gl/Yu8bki>

Let's see if we can find another five delusions.

I can't find a quotation, but it's evident Obama believes – and certainly many
have told him so – that Putin is a sort of Criminal-in-Chief surrounded by
lesser criminals and if these lesser criminals can be hurt enough by
sanctions, they will overthrow Putin. Here's the theory voiced by
Khodorkovskiy <http://goo.gl/TtkKf6>. Here's another piece of wishful thinking
about how fragile Russia is <http://goo.gl/Kh7wnk>. Not working, is what one
would say. And, in a ridiculous attempt to save the theory, we have this
notion: the theory was true but it isn't any more <http://goo.gl/FqiFBn>.
Anything but admit that Putin and his team are strongly supported because of
their record of success and that Russians, of all people (history, people, a
thousand years of stubborn defiance and eventual victory) aren't to be
bullied. They believe they are at war and they rally around the leader; always
have, always will.

Obama's circle believe that they can fool the Russians (as easily as they can
fool their own people). While Western media outlets are in full shriek over
Nemtsov's murder, not even Putin's opposition thinks he was responsible for it
<http://goo.gl/sJF3mM>; nor does one of Nemtsov's closest associates
<http://goo.gl/3GqjWz>. Even if Putin were in the habit of killing his critics
(and how many prosperous and long-lived Putin opponents, without any shred of
irony, will assure us that he is?), only the most credulous would think he
would do it against a photo backdrop of the Kremlin. Russians know, even if
consumers of managed Western media outlets do not, that there have been too
many conveniently timed events of late.

Obama's entourage believe they are (in their boss's absence of course
<http://goo.gl/ugJh>) the smartest guys in the room <http://goo.gl/Hm03uy>.
Well, Dear Reader, you decide how small the room is. Here's US Secretary of
State John Kerry keeping it real. “Russia Today can be heard in English.
(Takes off glasses to show sincerity) Do we have an equivalent that can be
heard in Russian?” <http://www.gofundme.com/naqm9k>. Yes, actually, you have,
and it's been broadcasting away for most of your life <http://goo.gl/58P2oc>.
Who briefs these people?

Putin is short and that somehow means something <http://goo.gl/oO9xeX>. I
wouldn't bet on it. And let's stop talking about bare chests
<http://goo.gl/N45Vt2>.

The tenth reason. You – Washington – you can't take on everybody at once. You
can't do regime changes in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Hungary,
Syria, Yemen, Czech Republic, China, Macedonia all at once. You can't have
wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Ukraine, Yemen, Somalia, Uganda all at once.
“During the fiscal year that ended on September 30, 2014, U.S. Special
Operations forces (SOF) deployed to 133 countries” <http://goo.gl/VUcuWD>.
“According to the report, US forces are deployed and equipped for combat in no
less than fourteen countries!” <http://goo.gl/VXAc11> Big as you are you're
not big enough to take on everybody at once. It's all falling apart. Every day
there's another crisis caused by what you did about the last crisis. Listen to
some Chinese advice: Washington's involvement in Ukraine could "become a
distraction in its foreign policy... The United States is unwilling to see its
presence in any part of the world being weakened, but the fact is its
resources are limited, and it will be to some extent hard work to sustain its
influence in external affairs.” <http://goo.gl/ejV1FC> “A distraction”,
“limited”, “to some extent hard work”... Typically enigmatic but clear enough.
It's over. Live with it.

And one bonus reason. If we get rid of Putin, all will be well. If we get rid
of Qaddafi, all will be well. If we get rid of Saddam Hussein, all will be
well. If we get rid of Milosevic, all will be well. If we get rid of Aidid,
all will be well.

Oh, and by the way, Russia is not Libya.

There's lots of other things they don't know, but as I'm concerned about
Russia here, I'll just enumerate a few. They don't know Lecture 1 of Ukraine
101 <http://goo.gl/oZcz9E>. They're constantly being fooled
<http://goo.gl/2iVNTZ> by the “moderate opposition” they fund. Always
surprised when something goes wrong <http://goo.gl/4TyJJE>. Like Yemen, just
after boasting about it <http://goo.gl/TpLGnn>. Of course it helps that the
MSM is covering your back <http://goo.gl/t3yxJY>. But that just leads to more
hubris.

These people are in charge of our destinies. They don't know what they're
doing, (“speaking languages that other people understand”
<http://www.gofundme.com/naqm9k>, “I don't know what the term is in Austrian”

not only the wrong word, but the wrong alphabet
<http://goo.gl/tDV9Pv> , “I think there is too much of, ‘Oh, look, this is
what intervention has wrought’ … one has to be careful about overdrawing
lessons” <http://goo.gl/RoFWe0>) and nobody is there to tell them.

Sleep well.

Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://www.eurasiareview.com/01032015-fifty-years-of-imperial-wars-results-and-perspectives-oped/>
FIFTY YEARS OF IMPERIAL WARS: RESULTS AND PERSPECTIVES – OPED

george152

2015-03-04 19:21:03 UTC

Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://russia-insider.com/en/2015/03/03/4064>
Ten Delusions That Show Obama Hasn't a Clue about Russia
And that's just stuff he and his advisors don't know about Russia
Lots of other things out there to be wrong about too

You have an economy the same size as Texas.
And a short shirtless megalomaniac who would be Tsar.
What else is there to know ?

Oleg Smirnov

2015-03-04 19:25:29 UTC

An illuminating writing: the modern American foreign policy agenda follows
patterns first discovered and used in Russia's Bolshevik practice (you may
read also another somewhat related stuff here <http://goo.gl/k8D7DF>).

<http://nationalinterest.org/feature/americas-weaponized-diplomacy-ukraine-12358>

America's 'Weaponized' Diplomacy in Ukraine

Has the State Department gone too far?
James Carden
March 4, 2015

Thirty years ago, the historian and diplomat George F. Kennan published a
seminal essay in Foreign Affairs titled "Morality and Foreign Policy"
<http://is.gd/bGlYFx> in which he decried the stubborn tendency of the
stewards of American foreign policy to treat every problem of geopolitics that
arises in the course of human events as soluble, and what's more, soluble by
the American government. It was his considered opinion that it was folly for
any government, especially our own, to get caught up in what he called the
"histrionics of moralism."

Though the following sentiment - if expressed today - would cause howls of
protest from the self-appointed guardians of human freedom at the McCain
Institute, Freedom House, the National Endowment for Democracy, the National
Democratic Institute for International Affairs, the International Republican
Institute, USAID and, above all, the State Department, Kennan dryly noted
that:

Democracy, as Americans understand it, is not necessarily the future of all
mankind, nor is it the duty of the U.S. government to assure that it becomes
that. Despite frequent assertions to the contrary, not everyone in this
world is responsible, after all, for the actions of everyone else,
everywhere.

This, like much of the advice he offered during the latter part of his career
as a historian and public intellectual, made regrettably little impact.

The by-now distinctly American view that our government has the right, duty
and wisdom to bypass the regular channels of intergovernmental discourse and
appeal directly to the citizens of other countries has, as few realize, a
surprising (and distinctly un-American) pedigree. For some of the history, we
must turn again to-who else? - George Kennan.

In his Pulitzer Prize - and National Book Award - winning history of U.S. -
Soviet relations in the period between 1917-1920, Russia Leaves the War (1956)
<http://is.gd/RNImj9>, Kennan recounts the events leading up to and following
the Bolshevik seizure of power in Petrograd in November 1917. One of the very
first acts of the new regime was to issue a "Decree on Peace" addressed "to
all belligerent peoples and their Governments in the immediate opening of
negotiations for a just and democratic peace."

Kennan noted that the other members of the Triple Entente saw this, quite
naturally, as a "bitterly unfriendly move."

Making matters worse was the fact that the "Decree" was issued without warning
to the allied governments and was "directed not only to governments but also,
over their heads, to their respective peoples." This was, according to Kennan,
the first use of what later became known as "demonstrative diplomacy," which
would become a staple of Soviet foreign policy.

Kennan defined "demonstrative diplomacy" thusly: diplomacy designed not to
promote freely accepted and mutually profitable agreement as between
governments, but rather" one designed "to embarrass other governments and stir
up opposition among their own people." If this sounds at all familiar, it
should.

No better example of a diplomacy designed to "embarrass" and "stir up
opposition" exists than the State Department and USAID's decades-long
involvement in Ukrainian politics. Speaking at the U.S.-Ukrainian Foundation
Conference in December 2013, Assistant Secretary of State for Eurasian Affairs
Victoria Nuland told the assembled <http://is.gd/RZQMKY> that:

Since Ukraine's independence in 1991, the United States has supported
Ukrainians as they build democratic skills and institutions, as they promote
civic participation and good governance . . . We've invested over $5 billion
to assist Ukraine in these and other goals that will ensure a secure and
prosperous and democratic Ukraine.

The return on investment speaks for itself.

Almost as bad an advertisement for our propensity to inculcate democratic
"values" in Ukraine is the Alan Gross affair. Mr. Gross, who received a $3.2
million settlement from the U.S. government in December 2014, was held
prisoner by the Cuban government for five years. Why? Gross was arrested for
smuggling in Internet-related technology that is known to be illegal in Cuba
for a pro-democracy program that was run out of USAID. The idea was to funnel
the technology to dissident groups who were seen to be incubators of Cuban
"civil society"-presumably so they'd be ready when the revolution came.

And finally, we come to Secretary of State John Kerry's latest State
Department budget proposal. In it Mr. Kerry requests "$639 million to help our
friends in Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova as they seek to strengthen their
democracies, withstand pressure from Russia, and to integrate more closely
into Europe." The Department's budget proposal also requests "[o]ver $2
billion for democracy, human rights, and governance programs."

One will note the absence of the word "diplomacy" in any of the foregoing. Its
use would prove problematic in the context of promoting "democracy, human
rights and governance," since diplomacy is itself defined, pace
Merriam-Webster, as: 1. the art and practice of conducting negotiations
between nations. 2 : skill in handling affairs without arousing hostility
[emphasis added]. What Kerry is requesting money for is actually the opposite
of diplomacy. More than anything else, it's a kind of counterdiplomacy.

Nevertheless, the point is is that the ideas that now largely animate
civil-society enthusiasts today owe a direct debt to Bolshevik practice.
Advocates for and practitioners of this sort of engagement might, every now
and again, think about in whose footsteps they're traveling.

James Carden is a Contributing Editor for The National Interest.

Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://russia-insider.com/en/2015/03/03/4064>
Ten Delusions That Show Obama Hasn't a Clue about Russia

Oleg Smirnov

2015-03-04 19:40:54 UTC

Post by Oleg Smirnov
An illuminating writing: the modern American foreign policy agenda follows
patterns first discovered and used in Russia's Bolshevik practice (you may
read also another somewhat related stuff here <http://goo.gl/k8D7DF>).
<http://nationalinterest.org/feature/americas-weaponized-diplomacy-ukraine-12358>

<http://sputniknews.com/radio_burning_point/20141102/1014215330.html>

Trotskyist-Type Revolutions Go On Without the World Even Knowing It

BURNING POINT 20:00 02.11.2014 (updated 19:31 17.11.2014)

Ekaterina Kudashkina

Now, almost a hundred years on the Soviet state is gone, but Trotskyist policy
has grown into a global threat that has never existed before.

"Trotsky" might be the code word for understanding the nature of chaos in the
Middle East and beyond. The 1917 October revolution in Russia shook the world
spreading horror of "communist atrocities" and "red terror". Now, almost a
hundred years on the Soviet state is gone, but Trotskyist policy has grown
into a global threat that has never existed before.

Says Dr. Mateusz Piskorski, Director of European Centre of Geopolitical
Analysis:

I think that most of the former American Trotskyists turned to neoconservative
ideas. Those are the people like Irving Kristol and his song, people like
Robert Kagan and all those elites who are forming the agenda of the
contemporary American politics, regardless of which party is in power now. I
mean, we had the neoconservative agenda during the administration of George W.
Bush, of course. It was very open at that time.

But it is still continuing. We have people like Victoria Nuland, who was
actually very active when it comes to the Ukrainian crisis. And she is the
wife of Mr. Kagan who is one of the leaders of the neoconservative movement.
Which means that the idea that lies behind the American policy, the American
way of interfering in the foreign affairs, in the affairs of other countries
is actually the same or it is quite similar.

Of course, during the Bush administration we had some voices which stated it
more openly, which more openly claimed that they are going to interfere with
the so-called hard power, which means military interference. And now we have
more focus on the so-called soft power, but anyway, the final goals of the
Obama administration and of the former Bush administration are quite similar.

Do you think we could remind our listeners of what the Trotsky theory is all
about? Is it something dealing with permanent revolution?

Dr. Mateusz Piskorski: First, it is something dealing with the permanent
revolution, but, second, this is an idea which claims that there is one
universal political system, one universal civilization which should be spread
all over the world, regardless of the local traditions, of local history of
several nations. This is quite the way the Americans do their international
politics since many years.

I mean, on the one hand, they are claiming that they are a unique state which
is the only one in the world. But, on the other hand, they try to impose all
their values and also their way of thinking about the political system and the
organization of the public life onto the other countries, doing it, of course,
by force. And this is the ideological basis. Of course, we cannot forget about
the interests which lie behind all those interventions in different places.
But, anyway, from the ideological point of view, that claim that the American
system and the American system of values is the only one which is of universal
importance, is quite characteristic of the Trotskyists' way of thinking and
which is continued by the neoconservatives in the US. And this is the most
important, I would say, basis of the American foreign policy ideology in the
contemporary times.

I suppose everyone knows that Russia has had some experience with Trotsky's
theory and practices. And something we do remember is that they are all
associated with the outmost cruelties, something that would now be described
as crimes against humanity. Do I get it right that this is also the case right
now?

Dr. Mateusz Piskorski: Yes, of course. According to the idea of Trotsky's
permanent revolution the end justifies the means, all the means, which means
that all kinds of bloody terror revolutions might be organized just to bring
the final goal, which is the world revolution - the change that would embrace
all the countries of the world. And secondly, of course, to control the power
in different countries, the Americans are also using another idea of Trotsky -
the idea of a permanent revolution.

This means that during a revolution, if you bring to power one political
force, it should feel all the time the threat of being overthrown by another
political force, which is already prepared and ready. And this makes it very
obedient to those who are organizing all the so-called fake revolution
processes. In this particular case it is the US.

Of course, the instrumentalisation of the ideas of Trotsky, including the idea
of the terror of permanent revolution embracing all the world, are used or,
perhaps, some contemporary Trotskyists would say that they are abused by the
American neoconservatives since several years.

So, is there anything in common with something more known as the controlled
chaos theory? Any relations?

Dr. Mateusz Piskorski: Yes, of course, the modified Trotskism is behind all
the activities of the US authorities all over the world. And the way of
thinking which was presented by Trotsky in the past is still alive in the
minds of the American political elites. And this is quite interesting,
concerning that, on the one hand, the US is still rejecting all the leftist
ideas of the 20th century, regarding them as communist or dangerous left-wing
revolutionary ideas, but on the other hand, it uses very successfully the
methods which were invested by Trotsky and other Trotskyists. So, in this
case, it is just using the left-wing, perhaps, not ideology but methodology of
revolutionary activities to achieve its own goals.

It is interesting that, I suppose, it is precisely what we are witnessing in
Ukraine right now.

Dr. Mateusz Piskorski: Yes, I think that the Americans, after having their
successful - let's say - test of these methods during the overthrow of
President Victor Yanukovych earlier this year, are thinking that any president
of Ukraine in the future who would dare not to obey the orders from Washington
and who would dare to build the bridges between Ukraine and Russia, he will be
threatened by another Maidan or EuroMainda.

Perhaps, it will be called in another way, but there will be a new Maidan with
the new ideas voiced during it. But anyway, all the Ukrainian politicians and
leaders must feel that the fate of President Yanukovych is an example for them
to be obedient to their masters who brought them to power when Yanukovych
fell.

And that might explain why the US administration has been congratulating the
Kiev authorities with this election, though the Rada has largely become
ultra-nationalistic, not to say neo-Nazi.

Dr. Mateusz Piskorski: Yes, the US are legitimizing the only political force
now, which could be capable of organizing another Maidan, as we have seen in
the last months, several times during the different protests which were
organized by the ultra-nationalist camp. We could notice that this is the only
power which is still able to bring the people out in the streets in Kiev, to
organize a brutal and aggressive protests and actions. Like the one near the
Parliament, when they were throwing people into the trash bins and so on.
So, the Americans realize perfectly well that this is the only force which
could mobilize the people and which could possibly organize another so-called
revolution, for instance, if President Poroshenko would try to be more
compromising with his Russian partners. So, he must feel the threat all the
time. The threat that if he will not be obedient, he might have problems
similar to those of President Yanukovych.

And I think that President Poroshenko is actually aware of that, and that is
why he tries to appease all those ultra-nationalist forces. He tries to
symbolically support several ideas, like the idea of building a new historical
identity of Ukraine. Here, he is fulfilling the wishes of the
ultra-nationalists, by glorifying the Nazi collaborators from the times of the
WW II.

So, as long as Poroshenko understands this, he will have the support of the
US. If he would try to somehow, let's say, sincerely negotiate with Russia and
try to get a compromise with Russia, he might have real troubles with his
former supporters from the US.

Mr. Trotsky used to say that real revolutionaries are located in the Wall
Street. Which might imply that he is pointing to the financial companies and
financial system. Now, we see that the EU financial system of governance is
drawing a lot of criticism from inside the EU and Hungary is the latest
example. So, do you think that the situation we have witnessed in Ukraine
might be somehow extrapolated to the EU and the old world at large?

Dr. Mateusz Piskorski: Well, when it comes to the EU, it is another discussion
about the extent of sovereignty of the EU as the subject of the international
law, and the extent of the American influence on the EU. If you look at
Hungary, their real problems started when Prime Minister Viktor Orbán tried
to, let's say, build bridges and the possibilities of cooperation with those
global superpowers which are not very friendly to the US - Russia, in the
first place, but then also China.

So, he tried to play a role of a country which has a pragmatic foreign policy
and which tries to cooperate with different centers of power in this world.
And the consequence was that, first, there was a campaign within the EU
against Viktor Orbán and his party. And this campaign was organized mostly by
the pro-American forces and pro-American political leaders in the EU. And
second, we had the sanctions, the black list of those people who are not
allowed to enter the US published officially by the Department of State just a
few weeks ago.

So, this is a kind of pressure exerted on a small country which still tries to
have partly independent and sovereign foreign policy. And of course, the
Hungarians are a good example of that. If the Hungarians would succeed in the
diversification of their foreign and economic relations, that would be an
example for other European countries, perhaps, including also Ukraine. I mean,
for the Ukrainians who are still talking about their European dream, as they
call it, Hungary might be a good example, that within these existing European
financial structures the so-called troika which decides on the economical
transformation of the EU countries, that even inside the EU it is not that
ideally and every country should try to build and create different options for
their external policy not depending on only one center of power.

But could the financial institutions start to react in a more decisive manner,
shall we put it that way?

Dr. Mateusz Piskorski: When it comes to Hungary, we have to remember the
situation of the year 2012, when after introducing some political reforms the
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his cabinet were refused the financial support
and the credits from different banks which are representing the EU. Like the
European Bank of Development and Reconstruction. So, this is the kind of
financial influence exerted on those countries which are not obedient.

So, jut to round up our interview, do I get it right that Trotsky's kind of
revolutions are still going on in the world, with the world not much aware of
that?

Dr. Mateusz Piskorski: Yes, Trotsky's kind of revolutions are organized now in
the name of the corporate interests, which of course is a paradox, that the
ideas and the methods proposed by one of the far-left thinkers are actually
used to strengthen the control and strengthen the grip of the international
capital which is politically represented by the US in the contemporary world.
So, this is a paradox from the ideological point of view, but this is how the
things are now.