Russia 3

josh wrote:

Putin is not a far right nationalist?  Racist, I don't know.  But he's certainly anti-gay.

 

Both men fitting the description of a far right, racist and nationalist leader might be valid. Navalny wants to end Putin's corruption but he seems to be surrounded by Western cronies. The last time Russia let Western backed cronies take over is still fresh in the memory of voters so he like other CIA puppets actually couldn't win in an unrigged election although he is not allowed to try anymore.

In Canada WE like our corruption to be less noticeable although the international gold standard is SNC Lavalin.

Moscow Protest Leader Navalny Transferred Out of Siberian Hospital, Airlifted to Germany

https://on.rt.com/aot3

"Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny, who remains in an artificially induced coma, has been transferred from a Siberian hospital to be airlifted for treatment in Germany, at his family's request..."

Where he really may die and 'evidence' of poison turn up on cue. Remember Sergei Skripal's 'novichok' doornob? [What ever happened to the Skripals by the by - anybody know?] Or Assad's 'chemical weapons'?  He was much safer in Russia. What Russian president wouldn't want to keep alive and well such an 'opposition' leader guaranteed to never win? Now he's in NATO-land where he could be worth far more dead than he ever was alive.

How fortunate then for an American Democratic Party partisan like yourself to correct us here with your redeeming messages of the yanqui intelligence agencies, Russophobic incitement and US imperialism.

Navalny Was Not Poisoned [Likely a case of diabetic shock]

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2020/08/navalny-was-not-poisoned.html

"...The 'Western media also try to connect the 'poisoning' of Navalny to Russia's President Vladimir Putin. That makes no sense at all. Navalny was in no danger to Putin and is actually    for him as he keeps other 'liberals' many with nonsensical ideas. During the last years Navalny has made some enemies by uncovering corruption cases. His last one was about the local governor of Tomsk. It was also the reason he had flown there. Should Navalny become the victim of a crime the suspects should be sought there."

Berlin Doctors Treating Navalny Expected to Make Statement on Monday

https://sptnkne.ws/DyvW

"The first statement by physicians treating Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny at the Charite Hospital is expected to be issued on Monday, hospital spokeswoman Manuela Zingl said on Saturday..."

German Clinical Statement Suggests Moscow Protest Leader Alexei Navalny was Poisoned - Hospital Statement

https://on.rt.com/aoy5

"...Following the announcement, there will now be scrutiny of the results found by the hospital in Omsk, where test results from two laboratories found no toxic chemical substances. On Thursday, the Kremlin vowed that an investigation would follow if Navalny's poisoning were to be confirmed."

The Back and Forth About Navalny's 'Poisoning'

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2020/08/the-back-and-forth-about-navalnys-...

""The case of the alleged 'poisoning' of the Russian rabble-rouser Alexei Navalny is becoming more curious..."

"Poisoned' Kremlin Critic Flown to Germany as German-Russian Nord Stream 2 Nears Completion

https://landdestroyer.blogspot.com/2020/08/poisoned-kremlin-critic-flown...

"The perfectly timed poisoning of unpopular, ineffective Russian rabble rouser Alexey Navalny and the involvement of Germany comes as Washington sought to place maximum pressure on Berlin to cancel the German-Russian Nord Stream 2 pipeline..."

https://twitter.com/melisandrePro/status/1298244225138593793

Navalny Gets Skripaled

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2020/09/navalny-gets-skripaled.html

"Yawn! was my first reaction when I read this. Couldn't they come up with a more believable fairy tale? Funny how Novichok, the 'military-grade', 'most deadly' poison, never kills anyone. Where are, by the way, the Skripals? Will Navalny now get vanished just like they were? Other questions one might ask (and will never get answered)..."

President Trump said there is “not any proof yet” of Kremlin involvement in the poisoning of corruption fighter Alexei Navalny and urged reporters to focus their criticism on China instead, the Daily Beast reports.

Said Trump: “It is interesting that everyone’s always mentioning Russia… but I think probably China at this point is a nation you should be talking about much more so than Russia.”

I think most of us were already aware that Navalny was an extreme nationalist, and also presented no political threat to Putin. If anything, he helped Putin by drawing supporters who might otherwise have gone to more dangerous rivals. So, Putin had nothing to gain by poisoning him.

Nonetheless, it does appear that Navalny was poisoned by someone, and a U.S. or allied intelligence agency seems like a pretty strong possibility. Still, questions remain.

Did the perps actually use novichok to poison him, or something else, and simply had the Germans falsify their analysis to claim that it was novichok?

If one of the objectives was to stop the nordstream pipeline, why would the Merkel government cooperate with that, since they still seem committed to the project?

Does this mean that Germany is now all in on the "isolate and strangle Russia" strategy? It didn't seem to be buying that plan over the last decade or so, when did that change?

Greyzone: In Navalny Poisoning, Rush to Judgement Threatens New Russia-NATO Crisis

https://youtu.be/jTWcVOHEQTo

"Claims that Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny has been poisoned by the nerve agent Novichok are threatening a new standoff between Russia and NATO states. Navalny's opposition action is 'marginal in Russian politics - it's not currently a threat to the Kremlin,' says Fred Weir, a [Canadian] veteran correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor..."

Navalny Case/Kremlin Urges Data Exchange, Says it Has Not Seen Poison Proof

https://youtu.be/TXCoabO-_jI

"Moscow is urging Berlin to share information about the alleged poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny as international pressure over the case mounts."

EU Tries Not to Lag Behind US in Its Attempts to 'Punish' Russia - Lavrov

https://tass.com/politics/1200253

"...Unfortunately, the EU has chosen the path of sacrificing its own geopolitical and strategic interests for the sake of immediate wishes not to lag behind the US in what is called 'punishing Russia.' We have got accustomed to this,' Lavrov said.

Speaking on Russia's possible response to the new Western sanctions, the top diplomat noted that Moscow would not leave these steps unanswered, stressing that 'no one abandoned the principle of reciprocity in international affairs..."

A look at the relationship between Putin and the United Russia Party:

Over the years, United Russia has experienced many challenges: pension reform, regional elections, the Moscow City Duma elections of 2019. Alliance with United Russia created more of a negative reputation then the help it used to be. Therefore, a deep crisis of the “official” party system in Russia is evident. The primary reason for that is not so much the way the systemic parties comported themselves during the election, but rather that this entire arrangement as such has lost any meaning. It was created in the middle of the previous decade when the situation in the country was altogether different. Putin broke with United Russia when he launched his latest presidential bid after being affiliated with the party since 2001, and the candidates endorsed by United Russia lost in almost half of the Moscow districts in the September 2019 parliamentary elections. The September 2018 gubernatorial elections in Russia’s regions produced a crisis for the party, too. But unlike the elections themselves, this crisis is far from being regional. It presents a vivid illustration of the rapidly progressing degradation of the highest echelon of Russia’s system of power, including the office of the country’s president.

Putin recognized the damage done to the party by public perceptions and corruption: “United Russia is a ruling party. Yes, to an extent this is the way it really is. But this does not mean at all that the party fully identifies itself with every official in power or with each level of the executive branch,” he said. “Loudmouths and opportunists who have been clinging to the ruling party status can betray not just the party itself but our country as well,” Putin added. “This has happened more than once in our history, including the most recent one.”

The way United Russia exists today has no political future, no other instruments for electoral victory or sustainability, just as there is no need for them in the current political climate in Russia. It is much more likely that in such a reality the Kremlin is engaged not in a search for a way to transition power down the road, but for exactly the opposite—developing plans for avoiding the transition of power and strengthening the regime with United Russia or without it.

For years, there have been no new faces, no new content, and no change either at the Congress itself or in United Russia. People are tired of the same faces and the same lies. Every year, the party threatens to launch some projects that sound like “help people,” “promote youth,” or “deploy the party facing the people.” Last year, it gave money for the Clean Country and Digital Party projects. This year, it will give to “political multifunctional centers.” I can’t say that all these initiatives are completely pointless: maybe they can help someone somewhere, but they are a cherry on a cardboard cake.

Furthermore, by supporting the myth of Putin’s infallibility, the party has painted itself into a corner. After so many years of funneling all power and authority for all aspects of running the country to the very top of the hierarchy—Putin himself—the party no longer reserves any authority for itself. The actors in the system of government are losing the ability and the will to resolve any issues, at least in the absence of direct involvement by Mr. Putin himself. The disconnect between the Russian government and the people is growing ever larger.

https://www.fpri.org/article/2019/12/united-russia-is-dead/

Although it is clear that the world must move off fossil fuels, this does not mean that there are no risks to the environment in carrying out this process, as the following example of extensive pollution in Russia by Nornickel's (one of the world's largest Arctic polluters) mining of nickel for electric car motors for Tesla and other companies illustrates. 

Every year in August and September, the people of Ust’-Avam, a remote indigenous community located in the Taimyr region of the Russian Arctic, toss nets into the Avam River to catch tugunok fish, an important traditional food. This year, the community stopped fishing early, around the start of the month. There were no tugunok to be found. Nor could locals find the fish at other common sites along the river basin fed by Lake Pyasino, which lies just a few miles north of the industrial city of Norilsk.

Gennady Shchukin, a member of the Dolgan ethnic group, has little doubt about the culprit: In late May, a reserve fuel tank at a power plant near Norilsk burst open, flooding local waterways with an estimated 23,000 tons of diesel oil. The spilled oil drifted for miles, turning part of the Ambarnaya River that feeds Lake Pyasino bright red. Norilsk Nickel, the Russian nickel mining company responsible for the spill, says it acted swiftly to contain the pollution. But Shchukin worries the contamination is far more widespread than the company claims, and that his people will be living with the consequences for years. ...

Last month, Aborigen Forum, a group of Russian indigenous activists and leaders that Shchukin heads up, launched a campaign to raise awareness of Norilsk Nickel’s impacts on their communities and to demand restitution. Rather than focus on an obscure Arctic mining company, Aborigen Forum is appealing to someone more likely to grab international headlines: Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla.

Nickel is a key ingredient in the cathodes of electric car batteries, allowing them to store more energy more cheaply. Tesla, and other EV makers, need lots of it. ...

“We don’t want the next industrial revolution of electric cars and clean energy developed for the price of indigenous peoples’ rights and traditional lands,” said Dmitry Berezhkov, a member of the Aborigen Forum network and the coordinator of a social media campaign to get Musk’s attention. ...

Aborigen Forum’s appeal to Musk was inspired by an appeal from the Tesla CEO himself. In a second-quarter earnings call in July, Musk was asked what are the biggest constraints to Tesla’s battery production capabilities. His response: nickel.

“Any mining companies out there: Please mine more nickel,” Musk said on the call. “Tesla will give you a giant contract, for a long period of time, if you mine nickel efficiently and in an environmentally sensitive way.”

Norilsk Nickel, also known as Nornickel, is one of the largest nickel producers on Earth. It claims to be the largest producer of so-called class 1 or high-purity nickel, the type coveted by battery manufacturers. Demand for high-purity nickel is predicted to surge as the electric car market grows. ...

Even before this year’s oil spill, Nornickel was one of the biggest polluters in the entire Arctic. Its nickel production sites on the Taimyr Peninsula and its refineries on the Kola Peninsula are both enormous sources of regional air pollution; the Taimyr operations alone are responsible for roughly double the annual sulfur dioxide emissions of the entire United States, according to a figure Greenpeace Russia attributes to The Russian Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring. Discharges of contaminated wastewater from Nornickel’s industrial facilities have resulted in severe heavy metal pollution in nearby water bodies and soils. Locals, Shchukin says, call the area around the city of Norilsk — a vast wasteland of dead trees and mud — “poison territory.”

https://grist.org/justice/russian-indigenous-communities-are-begging-tes..

Putin participates in the plenary session on the sidelines of the Valdai Discussion Club

https://youtu.be/uz455OCIxq8

https://youtu.be/bgwzeqgOH8U

Putin: Russia-China military alliance can't be ruled out

https://apnews.com/article/beijing-moscow-foreign-policy-russia-vladimir...

"Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday there is no need for a Russia-China military alliance now, but noted it could be forged in the future. Asked during a video conference with international foreign policy experts whether a military union between Moscow and Beijing was possible, Putin replied that 'we don't need it, but, theoretically it's quite possible to imagine it.'

Russia and China have hailed their 'strategic partnership' but so far rejected any talk about the possibility of their forming a military alliance. 'The time will show how it will develop,' the Russian president said, adding that 'we won't exclude it.' Putin on Thursday emphasized the importance of extending the New START treaty that expires in February, Russia's last arms control pact with the United States. Former vice president Joe Biden's campaign has accused Trump of being soft on Russia..."

"The Bellingcat  'research collective' is a website established in July 2014 by Eliot Higgins. Originally from Leicester in the UK, Higgins is a senior fellow in the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Labs and Future Europe Initiative. The Atlantic Council is a leading US geopolitical strategy think tank, which last month published a document outlining advanced preparations underway for the US to fight 'major and deadly' wars between 'great powers' which will entail 'heavy casualties' and 'high levels of death and destruction.' The document, titled 'The Future of the Arny,' roots the likelihood of such a war in what it calls 'Russia's resurgence..."

The Bellingcat Research Collective - War Propaganda Masquerading as 'Citizen Journalism'

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/10/13/bell-o13.html

Russia's Year of Greater Resilience Than its Enemies

http://johnhelmer.net/russias-year-of-greater-resilience-than-its-enemie...

"Not since before the end of the Soviet Union have Russians been more certain the country has deadly enemies. They are also in no doubt the US is the biggest of them..

josh wrote:

Russian government hackers breached the Treasury and Commerce departments, along with other U.S. government agencies, as part of a global espionage campaign that stretches back months, according to people familiar with the matter.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/russian-government-spies-are-behind-a-broad-hacking-campaign-that-has-breached-us-agencies-and-a-top-cyber-firm/2020/12/13/d5a53b88-3d7d-11eb-9453-fc36ba051781_story.html

Do you have anything from a reputable source?

kropotkin1951 wrote:

josh wrote:

Russian government hackers breached the Treasury and Commerce departments, along with other U.S. government agencies, as part of a global espionage campaign that stretches back months, according to people familiar with the matter.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/russian-government-spies-are-behind-a-broad-hacking-campaign-that-has-breached-us-agencies-and-a-top-cyber-firm/2020/12/13/d5a53b88-3d7d-11eb-9453-fc36ba051781_story.html

Do you have anything from a reputable source?

You mean like RT?

Oh right.  You still believe this didn't happen.

Mueller report sheds new light on how the Russians hacked the DNC and the Clinton campaign

https://techcrunch.com/2019/04/18/mueller-clinton-arizona-hack/

josh wrote:

Oh right.  You still believe this didn't happen.

Mueller report sheds new light on how the Russians hacked the DNC and the Clinton campaign

https://techcrunch.com/2019/04/18/mueller-clinton-arizona-hack/

You appear to just throw the same mud at any one who disagrees with you.  Like any American politician you just fucking lie when you need to make a point. At least you are bi-partisan in that trait. I have made very few comments on it because I think it is all an irrelevant red herring to keep the US's indoctrinated citizens, like you, distracted while your murderous oligarchy rules unchecked. I am sure Biden will keep up the imperial traditions and that the imperial media will continue to shovel piles of the bullshit that you will enthusiastically consume. American Exceptionalism is the disease and all of the American body politic is rife with it.

kropotkin1951 wrote:

josh wrote:

Oh right.  You still believe this didn't happen.

Mueller report sheds new light on how the Russians hacked the DNC and the Clinton campaign

https://techcrunch.com/2019/04/18/mueller-clinton-arizona-hack/

You appear to just throw the same mud at any one who disagrees with you.  Like any American politician you just fucking lie when you need to make a point. At least you are bi-partisan in that trait. I have made very few comments on it because I think it is all an irrelevant red herring to keep the US's indoctrinated citizens, like you, distracted while your murderous oligarchy rules unchecked. I am sure Biden will keep up the imperial traditions and that the imperial media will continue to shovel piles of the bullshit that you will enthusiastically consume. American Exceptionalism is the disease and all of the American body politic is rife with it.

So you're saying Russia didn't hack the DNC?   Or that saying that is "throwing mud"?  Or what exactly?

Finian Cunningham: Deep State Media Issue Biden with Marching Orders to be more 'Unified' (read 'hostile') towards Russia

https://on.rt.com/axie

"A flurry of articles has burnished Russia's image as America's 'real enemy.'  Then quickly followed a piece in the New York Times, which reads like an instruction to President-elect Biden for a more hostile line on Russia.

It's a one-two sequence: set up a problem, then put forward a solution...Well, it's not at all clear because no evidence is provided. All we have, therefore is lurid claims, assertion and innuendo, which is pretty much par for the course when it comes to demonizing Russia.

In any case, serious journalism,  abiding by basic reporting standards is not the point. The point is to perceive. Perception of Russia as a very, very bad country that is out to ruin virtuous America..."

Oh right.  You still believe this didn't happen.

Mueller report sheds new light on how the Russians hacked the DNC and the Clinton campaign

I tried watching the hearings with Mueller and it really did seem to devolve into a lot of fuzzed out details due to getting into 'spook' territory with the Democrats claiming it was all Russians and the Republicans claiming the redacted and muzzled parts of the report were indicative of more complicated spy vs spy activity. 

Conclusions could be drawn and I think it was pretty clear the Trump team was up to some shady activity but I think the biggest takeaway was how it is impossible to have a democracy with such an untransparent Security State. The US needs at the very least a Church Commission 2.0, but more importantly a complete abolishment of the CIA, FBI, and NSA and a total redo with new organizations that don't have their roots in the Cold War but instead are based on democracy and transparency. Or the Liberals can keep trying to make Russia as scary as possible to justify why this doesn't need to happen. I mean who could have guessed that agencies founded in order to engage in a Cold War with Russia are now pushing for another Cold War with Russia.

During Glasnost and Perestroika, the left in the West was marching for peace and disarmament. Now they are making excuses for American belligerence in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East and wondering why Russians are becoming more nationalistic and hostile.

'This is virtually a declaration of war by Russia on the United States and we should take that very seriously,' declared Richard Durbin, the chief whip of the Democratic Party in the US Senate on December 12...'

Durbin was referring to US government and media reports of the operation allegedly conducted by the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SUR) to penetrate the SolarWinds company software installations in US Government computers. What is unusual about this alleged attack is that there has been no confirmed damage, no casualty, no loss, reported Reuters 'according to three people familiar with the case.'

In this war against Russia's 'ongoing threats', there is no limit to the Russian targets which the US and allies will attack - with Durbin's approval - and no restriction on the lies required to justify the war. This is what we have to look forward to in the new year..."

Helmer: Christmas Alert - Grab Stocking, Storm Coming Down Chimney

http://johnhelmer.net/christmas-alert-grab-stocking-storm-coming-down-ch...