Continued from here.
Issues Pages:
Russia 2
Mon, 2015-03-30 08:02
#1
Russia 2
Mon, 2015-03-30 13:26
#2
ikosmos
A couple of points from the previous thread. Firstly, Canadian Patrick Armstrong has written another of his brilliant SITEREP reports on Russia. Armstrong is a critical and sympathetic observer of Russia and his summaries are great sources of well footnoted information. You could spend hours just checking and investigating his links to confirm his claims and looking deeper into whatever aspect of Russian social or political life you were interested in. It's such a refreshing contrast to the unrelenting torrent of Russophobic propaganda awash in Western MSM generally.
The second point is a remark by Armstrong in his summary. To wit,
Moscow is required to do nothing, Kiev much. So when the WMSM tells you Moscow has broken it, as it will, ask yourself what part of the agreement it's broken. A resumption of war is likely, and the end result will be the same. But this time, I expect Moscow to really intervene (why bother with another agreement Kiev won't keep?) And, when it does, there will be no need for blurry satellite photos and reporters who forgot their smart phones. But, should the oligarch war get violent – see below – there will be no requirement.
The quote refers to Minsk-2, which is being broken hourly by the Kiev putsch regime. Renewed hostilities can be expected soon. It's therefore noteworthy regarding the highlighted remarks...
"Moscow is required to do nothing, Kiev much. So when the WMSM tells you Moscow has broken it, as it will, ask yourself what part of the agreement it's broken."
Ask yourself, or any interlocutor, what part of the agreement the Russians have broken.
I think we will find that the Western MSM has no answer to this question (other than trotting out the usual Russophobic shibboleths, "can't trust the Rooskies", "they control the resistance", etc. )
OK, all that aside, there is an interesting article about the misrepresentation of the favorite authors of Russian President Putin. I've linked to the article in the Russophobia thread, because it merits being included there, as the appalling depths of flat out lies and misrepresentation going on now about Russia is really quite unprecedented. But the article has some interesting remarks and lifts the lid on what sort of thing the Russian President actually DOES believe, which is useful I think.
Some quotes from that article follow.
.........................................................................
Demonising Putin's Favourite Philosophers
"Upscale US pundits have taken to misrepresenting the views of several Russian philosophers whom Putin is known to admire, apparently following the theory that whatever Putin likes must be evil."
... the philosophers Putin endorses are genuine intellectual heavyweights whose ideas do not set out a program or blueprint for an aggressive, expansionist, ethnocentric, authoritarian, “messianic” Russia, as Western critics of Putin allege, but on the contrary do the diametric opposite.As the article also says, the philosophers under discussion were highly regarded in the West until Putin endorsed them. At that moment - but not before - their ideas suddenly became "dangerous" and "sinister".
This brings us to our next point. The article shows how cynically the ideas of the three philosophers are being misrepresented in order to prove the thesis of a dangerous, aggressive and authoritarian Russia.
This sort of misrepresentation is now no longer the exception but the rule.
"Dr Grenier, the writer of this article, is clearly aware of this. One other way in which this article stands out is in its insight into the ideological and ultimately corrupt thinking of those behind current US foreign policy. Consider this quite brilliant summation at the end of the article with its implicit warning of the incipient totalitarianism of current US thinking..."
Among those who so aspire are many in the Slavic world, with its roots in Eastern Orthodox Christianity; or the Chinese sphere, with its Confucian heritage which is just beginning to awaken; and of course the Middle East. And that is just to name the groups the United States has identified as in dire need of a makeover.The West, and specifically the United States, has before it a fateful choice: should it seek a “live and let live” co-existence of the liberal and non-liberal nations of the world, or should it try to make the rest of the world liberal at gunpoint, and in that way prove that history really has finally ended? Should we make the world safe for diversity, or should we make the world uniform for the safety of the United States?
"...trying to make the rest of the world liberal at gunpoint." Could not have said it better myself.
And who are the authors?
Maria Snegovaya: “To get a grasp … one needs to check what Putin’s preferred readings are. Putin’s favorites include a bunch of Russian nationalist philosophers of early 20th century – Berdyaev (1874-1948), Solovyev (1853-1900), Ilyin (1883-1954) — whom he often quotes in his public speeches. Moreover, recently the Kremlin has specifically assigned Russia’s regional governors to read the works by these philosophers during 2014 winter holidays. The main message of these authors is Russia’s messianic role in world history, preservation and restoration of Russia’s historical borders and Orthodoxy.”
Not my favorites, not by a long shot. But hardly threatening to the US or any other country.
Mon, 2015-03-30 19:51
#3
montrealer58
"Liberal at gunpoint" is the French Revolution. If it is aimed at a monarchy, it might be progressive. If it is aimed at anything downhill from it, it is probably the tyrant.
Tue, 2015-03-31 00:34
#4
ikosmos
The quote was "trying to MAKE the rest of the world liberal at gunpoint." And that is the point. The fake democracy the US exports isn't democracy, such things cannot be exported like McDonald's burgers anyway, what the US wants, in any case, is an arrangement in which the US dominates the globe and plunges its storm trooper boots into the face of humanity forever, squawking "free trade", "free markets" and other articles of economic religious faith like the parrot on Treasure Island.
No thanks. The sooner this fetid, amoral, bloated, violent, hateful, racist, impoverished Empire detonates, the better.
Tue, 2015-03-31 16:45
#5
"Is it possible for opposition parties in Ottawa to promise big change from Conservative rule when they share the Conservative - and NATO - ambition for a 'long war' with Russia?
It is not.
Canadians are seriously mistaken if we believe that a country embarked on confrontation with the peoples of Russia and elsewhere in eastern Europe can simultaneously tackle the important issues of our times..."
Canada's Political Mainstream Backs War in Ukraine
http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/03/31/canadas-political-mainstream-back...
Wed, 2015-04-01 03:39
#6
Nemtsov allies plan to publish report on Russian soldiers in Ukraine:
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/nemtsov-allies-plan-to-publis...
Wed, 2015-04-01 12:29
#7
ikosmos
Maybe he can follow up with a report on NATO stormtroopers in Ukraine.
You know. The ones in the Security building, and elsewhere, where the US flag is brazenly flying on foreign soil.
Wed, 2015-04-01 21:41
#8
ikosmos
The sixth annual Double Dv@ Online Festival of Russian Film will take place on the website of Rossiyskaya Gazeta from April 6-20. Most films will be shown with English subtitles.Each film will be available for 48 hours.
Details:
The 2015 program will feature a wide range of films, some of which were released a number of years ago. The program includes:
"Fat Stupid Rabbit" by Vyacheslav Ross (2007); "Elysium,” by Andrey Eshpai (2010); "The Shaft" by Nurbek Egen (2013); "Dog’s Paradise," by Anna Chernakova (2014); "Corrections Class,” by Ivan Tverdovsky (2014); "Name Me,” by Nigina Sayfullayeva (2014); and Yury Bykov's "The Fool" (2014).
Viewers also have the opportunity to rate the films on a scale of one to 10. The score will be used to determine the “Viewer’s Choice” award.
Each year, the festival organizers open the festival with the presentation of a special award for "Outstanding Contribution to Cinema." This time the award went to actor Vladimir Menshov and director Vera Alentova, who are partners both on and off the screen. Their film "Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears," which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 1980, celebrates its 35 anniversary this year. The Double Dv@ festival will show two other films featuring Menshov: “Rozygrysh” (1977) and, “The Envy of Gods” (2000).
The festival will also feature a special program for documentaries, called “Memory.” Two films will be shown as part of this program: "Triumph Over Violence," by Mikhail Romm (1965), about Germany society and the Nazi government during World War II, and “The Process,” by Alexander Zeldovich (2002), which examines the totalitarian system and the fate of the members of the Jewish anti-fascist committee who were shot on Stalin’s orders in 1952.
Thu, 2015-04-02 07:52
#9
I'm wondering if this explains some of the posts on this thread:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/02/putin-kremlin-inside-russia...
Just after 9pm each day, a long line of workers files out of 55 Savushkina Street, a modern four-storey office complex with a small sign outside that reads “Business centre”. Having spent 12 hours in the building, the workers are replaced by another large group, who will work through the night.
The nondescript building has been identified as the headquarters of Russia’s “troll army”, where hundreds of paid bloggers work round the clock to flood Russian internet forums, social networks and the comments sections of western publications with remarks praising the president, Vladimir Putin, and raging at the depravity and injustice of the west.
The trolls were firmly instructed that there should never be anything bad written about the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) or the Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR), and never anything good about the Ukrainian government.
Thu, 2015-04-02 09:05
#10
Nicky, that is fascinating, and could explain how disconnected these posters are from the widespread concerns of people here and specifically of rabblers and babblers, who have never shown any great lust for war on Russia. There was even an accusation that the leftwing online journal from Québec, Presse-toi-à-gauche, is a groupie for Nato aggression in Ukraine. That is utterly ludicrous.
I'm actually really insulted that some of us who have been activists against war and imperialism for years or even decades, are nothing but NATO tools as we point out homophobia and repression against artists in Russia, just as we would point it out anywhere in the world including right here.
Thu, 2015-04-02 10:01
#11
Putin Spokesman Slams West's 'Demonization' of Russia Over Perceived Nuclear Threat
http://rt.com/news/246213-russia-demonization-west-putin/
"Russia never threatened to use nuclear weapons over Crimea and the Baltic States, according to Vladimir Putin's press secretary. The Kremlin official added the claims were simply 'hysteria' and 'a classic example of the West's demonization of Russia.
'This is a classic example of the continuing hysteria and demonization of our country. They are fanning the flames concerning this. However it is not guided by any particular facts and they themselves are afraid of what they wrote,' Peskov told reporters.
US officials stated that President Putin was ready to respond forcibly to any further NATO build up of troops in the Baltic States and they would deliver 'a spectrum of responses from nuclear to non-military,'..."
Thu, 2015-04-02 10:06
#12
Another one!
Thu, 2015-04-02 10:42
#13
I'm sorry you don't think news of possible nuclear war is important. I do.
Thu, 2015-04-02 10:51
#14
What a very odd conclusion to draw. I'm of the generation that had repeated nightmares about that as a child.
Thu, 2015-04-02 10:57
#15
So now there's 'another one'.
Sat, 2015-04-04 23:03
#16
The Unelectable Liberal Opposition in Russia
http://newcoldwar.org/the-unelectable-liberal-opposition-in-russia/
"Like it or not, these are the numbers we have...
I have trouble spotting a viable liberal opposition.'
Sun, 2015-04-05 09:25
#17
ikosmos
The real opposition in Russia is the Communist Party. Since Western media prefers to treat the Communists with silence, they're obliged to prop up the dead parrots of the "liberal" opposition any way they can.
Problem is, some of these "liberals" are in the habit of echoing the missives of the US State Department, neo-con talking points, and so on. But any problem can be forgiven, or ignored, because Russophobia trumps everything, even simple truths of private conversations (as an EU Commissioner did with lies about a private convo with the Russian President) are fair game.
Sun, 2015-04-05 09:52
#18
swallow
Nicky, that is fascinating, and could explain how disconnected these posters are from the widespread concerns of people here and specifically of rabblers and babblers, who have never shown any great lust for war on Russia. There was even an accusation that the leftwing online journal from Québec, Presse-toi-à-gauche, is a groupie for Nato aggression in Ukraine. That is utterly ludicrous.
I'm actually really insulted that some of us who have been activists against war and imperialism for years or even decades, are nothing but NATO tools as we point out homophobia and repression against artists in Russia, just as we would point it out anywhere in the world including right here.
It's odd, isn't it? The oddest yet, for me, is the suggestion that you can't work for social change in Canada without backing the Putin regime in Russia, and all those who don't back Putin are somehow agents of imperialism.
Sun, 2015-04-05 19:56
#19
They also don't answer any of our points, except for accusing us of favouring nuclear war or far-right Ukranians (who certianly exist, but so do far-right Russians).
I'm just sick of this wholesale takeover of babble, part of rabble, a voice OPPOSING MSM 1% and militaristic views.
Sun, 2015-04-05 20:57
#20
They also don't answer any of our points, except for accusing us of favouring nuclear war or far-right Ukranians (who certianly exist, but so do far-right Russians).
I'm just sick of this wholesale takeover of babble, part of rabble, a voice OPPOSING MSM 1% and militaristic views.
I agree and sympathize, even though it's not really even a takeover, just a couple of posters working double overtime.
One presumes there would be a limit if I decided to start a thread celebrating every time Vladimir Putin goes to the bathroom. Clearly we haven't reached a level of saturation, obstruction or offense where someone decides it has to be dealt with quite yet.
Sun, 2015-04-05 20:59
#21
War With Russia More Possible Than Ever
http://stopmakingsense.org/2015/04/04/war-with-russia-more-possible-than...
"the most dangerous time in Russia-US relations since the Cuban missile crisis..."
'We must speak out against this dangerous ideology, which is present in our own city of Toronto, present across Canada, which comes to us via Russia state sponsored channels which are preaching absolute poison!' - Chris Alexander
Sun, 2015-04-05 21:08
#22
Speaking of not making sense, I would have thought that last post would for sure go in the thread about the US and NATO's plans to sneak attack Russia tomorrow. For sure. But for some reason it's here.
Tell me NDPP, do you have a little wheel of fortune you spin whenever you find three articles and just post them randomly according to that? Inquiring minds want to know.
Sun, 2015-04-05 21:27
#23
Yes, it doesn't even make sense.
But that poster never tires of answering itself. If it must be repeated, NO, I don't want a war, nuclear or otherwise, against Russia or anyone else.
Mon, 2015-04-06 03:17
#24
Letter To the Editor of the 'Globe and Mail' by Press Secretary of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Canada
Re: How Private Canadians Are Aiding Kiev's War Effort
http://www.rusembassy.ca/node/968
"Canada could have played a more positive role in bringing authorities in Kiev to political dialogue with representatives of Donbas, rather than encourage 'party of war' politicians and warmongers in Ukraine.
Encouraging the 'party of war' in Kiev and supplying arms is an invitation to more killings and the resumption of a fratricidal bloodbath.
It may sound like heresy to many in Canada, but people in Eastern Ukraine do not share a nationalist vision of a Ukrainian state where former Nazi collaborators (Stepan Bandera and Roman Shukhevych) are deemed as heroes and Russophobia is proclaimed a new religion.
Mon, 2015-04-06 09:03
#25
Again, what does that globe piece have to do with Russia, other than it is a letter to the editor from an ambassador? Vlad keeps insisting he has no role in the conflict and no influence over the rebels and that it is all Ukraine's responsibility. I would have thought you'd post it in Ukraine or perhaps Russophobia. But then pretty much every one of these posts could go there because that's the nonsense accusation that is made in every one.
As for that last claim, where do you think the Azov battalion came from, NDPP? And don't you remember that the hub of this invasion used to be Slaviansk? It isn't any more, so I question your claim that everyone in eastern Ukraine is of one mind about this.
Mon, 2015-04-06 14:37
#26
It is true that control of a contested Slaviansk was wrested back by Kiev after a series of intense and repeated military engagements. Nor have I claimed everyone to be of one mind. Eastern autonomy was incited by Banderite belligerence/ animus. And your point on thread drift is relevent and applicable here also.
Russian Rouble Seen as World's Best Performing Currency, Hits 2015 High
http://rt.com/business/247145-ruble-winner-gains-economy/
"Russia's currency went from the world's worst performer to the best in the first quarter of 2015, despite all the predictions, Bloomberg reported Monday..."
Mon, 2015-04-06 16:49
#27
swallow
I'd put them all in one big Putinophilia thread, personally.
Mon, 2015-04-06 17:29
#28
ikosmos
Russia can never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, be forgiven for once being a socialist country.
Even a fucked up one.
That' s the goddam truth in a sentence.
Wed, 2015-04-08 06:20
#29
Theatre director fired for blasphemy:
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/4/5/blasphemy-siberia-kremlin...
Wed, 2015-04-08 11:56
#30
It is true that control of a contested Slaviansk was wrested back by Kiev after a series of intense and repeated military engagements.
Actually it was one quick sweep once Ukraine started fighting. And it was in response to that that Putin realized he would have to start using the regular army.
and @ Doug Woodward
Putinophilia, actually. As has been pointed out, Russia and Putin are not the same.
Wed, 2015-04-08 12:08
#31
I would have thought that last post would for sure go in the thread about the US and NATO's plans to sneak attack Russia tomorrow.
In noting that you've expanded your jurisdiction from policing content to policing where it should go, I'm drawing an image of a badge that says 'sheriff,' and a plastic six shooter replica.
Wed, 2015-04-08 12:23
#32
Nothing so imperious; just questioning the random nature of it all. I am not the one who has started more than a dozen threads on what could actually be one or two. If someone is going to do that, fine. But if they can't even keep it straight themselves I think those of us who have to wade through it are justified in asking them to keep it together.
Or maybe you prefer a completely random, free-form style of posting just to demonstrate that they aren't the boss of us.
Wed, 2015-04-08 12:39
#33
You don't actually 'have' to wade through anything you know. You choose to, and as such I would argue that the frustrations you're experiencing are your own doing. There's really too many historical examples across thousands of threads where things can get confusing because posts are not even marginally related to the topic. I wouldn't start worrying too much about it at this point in babble's history.
Wed, 2015-04-08 12:52
#34
ikosmos
I would have thought that last post would for sure go in the thread about the US and NATO's plans to sneak attack Russia tomorrow.In noting that you've expanded your jurisdiction from policing content to policing where it should go, I'm drawing an image of a badge that says 'sheriff,' and a plastic six shooter replica.
Wed, 2015-04-08 13:26
#35
swallow
So two guys walked into a bar.
Fri, 2015-04-10 07:03
#36
Fri, 2015-04-10 12:43
#37
ikosmos
lol. I guess that story goes along with the fabrication of a population decline and, of course, Putin's responsibility for the bad weather we've been having lately.
I've got a nice Russophobia thread for just that sort of thing.
Fri, 2015-04-10 13:05
#38
ikosmos
Dusha: The Russian Soul and the Collapse of the West
The trajectory of Western civilization, characterized now by accelerating energy decline and global climate change – a trajectory that Homo sapiens started in motion with those first city walls – is possibly nearing an apocalyptic end.
By no means does the author put the blame solely on the brutal US Empire.
While many have identified pursuit of the American Dream as a proximate cause of this global unraveling, the USA was not alone in its reliance upon certain fundamental assumptions about management and control of nature, leading ineluctably to potentially devastating outcomes. All civilized regimes – from the first empires of ancient Mesopotamia to modern nations like Russia and China – all can share the responsibility.
Yet the author still notes something special about Russia, its messianic views of itself, and its Siberian hinterland.
Yet, there is something ancient, nay, primitive, pulling concurrently at the emotional core of Siberians, something that once spoke clearly to a more archaic need, and perhaps still speaks to the older generations of Siberian’s even today. I am referring to the well-mythologized Russian soul: a soul that in the mother tongue is feminine in gender (душа: dusha) and, as such, is intimately connected with the mystery of Mother Earth. I recall Dostoevsky’s many references to the fact that the Russian soul is a reflection of the people’s unfailing and non-negotiable connection to the land from which life springs.
Certainly, many first nations have a similar focus on female strength, female power, and the land itself, as indicators of something beyond the masculinist ideology of endless "growth" characteristic of the neo-liberal fundamentalism.
Yet, this autochthonous connection to the land – the Siberian’s more elemental experience of life in wilder, mysterious nature – may still be capable of influencing the future trajectory of both the new Russia and Western civilization.
This connection is not dissimilar to some Canadian attitudes and views.
Perhaps Russia’s long-suffering messianic mission still stands firm in the Siberian wilderness, albeit less vociferously than before: quietly recalling humanity from the abyss of an alienated spirit that haunts the self-understanding of the West – its scientific rationalism, its consumerism, and its otherworldly transcendence – a self-understanding that seems to be marching all of us mindlessly to global collapse. Perhaps a more primal Siberian awareness can call us back to a feral memory trace, helping us recall our essential rootedness in Mother Earth and the earthly sensuous – our flesh, the flesh of the world.Unfortunately, the delusion of ‘manifest destiny’ driving the Western hegemony and its belligerent commodity culture is chipping away relentlessly and callously at that archaic Russian soul, perhaps more rapidly than she is able to redirect the self-destructive trajectory of Western imperialism and its global appetite. Siberians, and those of us living here in Altai Krai, must rethink their commitment to this curriculum of the West as it continues to lead us relentlessly, mindlessly, towards a precipice.
A possible corrective to this obsessive Western fantasy is Vladimir Putin's apparent calm and the foundational Russian patience providing him the resolve to not respond to further Western provocations, but rather refocusing on that still quiet voice of Russia's soul calling us back yet again from the precipice of Western extravagance and chatter.
Despite the Russian President's firm rebuff of relentless Western antagonism and hostility, I don't see him as the custodian of anything except a well-deserved Russian revival and as a pole of opposition to the bloody and deadly US juggernaut.
We are ALL going to have to find our strength, from our own traditions, where we can, and hopefully the Russian messianism will be of the saving kind and not, like the Empire that Canada is currently bound to, hand and foot, a destructive one. I think there are plenty over there who well understand the difference.
Fri, 2015-04-10 15:08
#39
swallow
lol. I guess that story goes along with the fabrication of a population decline and, of course, Putin's responsibility for the bad weather we've been having lately.
I've got a nice Russophobia thread for just that sort of thing.
Are you inviting people to post critical views opf Putin's governemnt in that thread?
Fri, 2015-04-10 19:04
#40
Politics, Bullshit, and Ukraine
http://offguardian.org/2015/04/09/politics-bullshit-and-ukraine/
"What are we doing in Ukraine and why - could and should be the subject of public debate; what we get instead is the endless criticism of Putin and Russian politics.
One can approve of it or condemn it, but it is squarely rooted in rather traditional concepts - Russia was unhappy about Western expanding of NATO into its backyard, and it was clear about it, both in the case of Georgia and Ukraine.
Russian politics might be described as legal or illegal, rational or irrational, but anyone free of hysterical Russophobia would hardly detect any secret agenda in Putin's actions. Does anyone really believe that he set up a whole overthrow of Yanukovych's government to establish an excuse for land-grabbing?
While one can catch the Russian president in lies, it is much harder to detect bullshit in his words. With the West, the very opposite is true."
Fri, 2015-04-10 22:05
#41
Documents; How the Empire Plans to Overthrow Putin
http://thesaker.is/documents-showing-how-the-empire-plans-to-overthrow-p...
The attached docs show NATO, US and UK military advisors are acting in Ukraine [Canada also]. One NATO doc suggests the popularity of Russian leadership among the population of the southern and eastern regions is a challange for Ukraine.
Mon, 2015-04-13 23:35
#42
Munk Debates: The West vs Russia (and vid)
http://www.munkdebates.com/debates/The-West-vs-Russia
'Be it resolved that West should engage not isolate Russia."
Stephen Cohen, Gary Kasporov, Vladimir Pozner, Anne Applebaum
Fri, 2015-04-17 00:54
#43
Fri, 2015-04-17 13:06
#44
ikosmos
Say what you want about Putin's conservative views, he's a total stud when it comes to appearing in public and answering questions from the public. And the West "can't figure out" why he's so popular.
Yeah, right.
So that’s a baker’s dozen for Putin: Thirteen years of a unique question and answer marathon which has no comparison that I know of in the rest of the world. Whatever your opinion of the Russian president, you have to admire both his stamina and his grasp of his brief.While many Western leaders can barely issue a compete sentence without a teleprompter, Putin is able to wax lyrical for just shy of 4 hours on topics as diverse as milk prices and fleeing a burning banya with a former German Chancellor. One questioner even solicited relationship advice.
We should expect this sort of performance from all public figures in high office. That wimp at 24 Sussex Drive would be a blubbering pile of jelly after a few tough questions. It's remarkable the silence about this.
... the other major takeaway from the Q&A was Putin reiterating his stance on what he perceives to be renewed US imperialism.
"Big superpowers which pretend to be exceptional and consider themselves the only center of power in the world do not need allies, they need vassals,” he said. “I’m talking about the United States. Russia cannot exist in such a system of relations.”
Back in December, the President mused: “Sometimes you don’t even know to whom it is better to talk: The governments of certain countries or directly with their American patrons.”
Like the poodle in Ottawa and his yapping foreign policy chums in the Liberal party and the NDP.
Mon, 2015-04-20 03:51
#45
Russian health care is dying a slow death:
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/russian-health-care-is-dyi...
Mon, 2015-04-20 03:54
#46
There is another Russia beyond Putin:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/apr/19/another-russia-puti...
Mon, 2015-04-20 07:21
#47
We should expect this sort of performance from all public figures in high office.
Expect nothing, avoid disappointment. We can't even get proper inquiries formulated at Question Period.
Mon, 2015-04-20 10:46
#48
Putin Makes It Clear That Moscow Will Continue to Stand Up to America - by Bryan Macdonald
http://rt.com/op-edge/250429-putin-challenges-washington-policy/
For years, Kremlin officials often quoted the Belgian politician Jean Francois Thiriart, who dreamed of a united Europe from Dublin to Vladivostok. Now a concordant Asia from Hong Kong to Kalingrad seems more likely.
It was widely believed that many in Russia and Germany including Putin and Gerhard Schroeder - hoped for an adapted version of Thiriart's vision. A debate between Moscow and Berlin to counterbalance the USA and the emerging Chinese superpower.
This dream has been on life support for years and it's fair to say that the Ukraine crisis finally killed it."
Another Idiotic Plan to Hurt Russia - by Mike Whitney
http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/04/20/another-idiotic-plan-to-hurt-russia/
"The Laussane negotiations between Iran and the so called P5+1 group have nothing to do with nuclear proliferation. They are in fact another attempt to weaken and isolate Russia by easing sanctions, thus allowing Iranian gas to replace Russian gas in Europe.
Mon, 2015-04-20 15:28
#49
Another Idiotic Plan to Hurt Russia - by Mike Whitney
http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/04/20/another-idiotic-plan-to-hurt-russia/
"The Laussane negotiations between Iran and the so called P5+1 group have nothing to do with nuclear proliferation. They are in fact another attempt to weaken and isolate Russia by easing sanctions, thus allowing Iranian gas to replace Russian gas in Europe.
Far be it from me to defend the motives of the Obama administration, but if this theory were true, don't you think the Putin haters in congess would have gotten the memo, and be supporting the agreement? Instead, they are comparing Obama to Neville Chamberlain. I guess they just love Netanyahu more than they hate Putin?
Mon, 2015-04-20 15:41
#50
clearly they love Netanyahu and hate Obama. Just look how many standing ovations they gave him...
Mon, 2015-04-27 08:10
#51