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Follow-up. A number of Ukrainian saboteurs were caught, or killed, as well two Russian soldiers, in the recent terrorist incident involving Ukrainians acting on behalf of the Ukrainian military.
Off-Guardian has a piece over here: Ukraine's 'October Surprise' may be coming in September.
Some key points ...
1. After the Russian authorities parading one of the captured suspects in front of the TV cameras, the US ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt basically denied that anything had happened at all. Talk about cognitive dissonance.
The whole reply by the Kiev regime and its Washington puppet masters is just idiotic. As the article notes, "Apparently two dead Russians don’t count for much in Pyatt’s book: perhaps Putin personally killed them, and the whole thing is a set up."
2. Even MSM like NPR in the US is covering for the Kiev regime here. In fact, it's practically an embargo on the facts. So, what happened?
State terrorism, pure and simple. Sponsored by ... NATO-member states. Charming.
3.
But, but but! the MSM says it's the Russian President who's taking sides, sponsoring a Manchurian candidate, etc. , etc.
4. in conclusion , then ...
Well said.
"After all, what’s the mere prospect of World War III compared to the supreme importance of installing the First Woman President in the Oval Office?"
rabble blogger Roger Annis: Western media changes the subject over latest Ukrainian sabotage against Crimea
Well, yeah, whaddaya expect? As Annis notes, there's the ritual denial, of course, trivialization of the Russian "allegations" (I suppose the two Russian soliders killed are only "allegedly" dead), changing the subject, and all the sort of subterfuge we've come to expect from Western MSM on covering Ukraine. But the wheels are coming off anyway.
Russia will, however, honour the servicemen [Lieutenant Colonel Roman Kamenev and Private Semyon Sychov] killed defending Crimea from the Ukrainian state-sponsored terrorists.
Those very same local collaborators are now the subject of heaping praise by the Kiev regime and its sizable fascistic supporters. Let's see them square this circle.
Ukraine Marks 'Dignity & Freedom Day' as Euromaidan Dream Fades
https://youtu.be/9GL67K-GmRw
Three years after Maidan protests which resulted in riots, over a hundred deaths and an ousted government, Ukraine is an impoverished country rife with corruption and far from its Euromaidan dreams.
The British Government and the Waffen-SS Galitsia Division
https://t.co/wPaFza2IPU
As then, so now. Canada has also always had a soft spot for Ukro-nazis. Many came to Canada. "When the President of the Canadian Society of Veterans of the Waffen SS Galizien passed away earlier that year, the UCC claimed 'he will be remembered as a hero of Ukraine who fought for her independence."
UCC on Old Nazis
https://twitter.com/veravanhorne/status/585956481377378304
UCC on New Nazis
http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/news/press-releases/atlantic-council-and-...
Ukrainian nationalist leader: “ISIS is our ally in the struggle against Russia”
The enemy of our "enemy" is our friend.
Moscow imperialism! I'm only a little surprised he didn't call it "Soviet Social Imperialism".
'Poroshenko Fuels War & Corruption With IMF Money' - Fugitive MP to RT (and vid)
http://rt.com/news/369295-poroshenko-ukraine-war-corruption
"Onishchenko, who said he was a key figure in the complex scheme for two years, vowed to show western sponsors of the Ukrainian government where their money is actually going. He told RT that most IMF aid money is being used by President Poroshenko and his accomplices to fuel the ongoing civil conflict in the east of Ukraine.
'Most of the money, they use for war..."
Canada has given hundreds of millions to Ukraine. Think any Canadian MP will even ask the question? I don't.
Ukrainian nationalist leader: “ISIS is our ally in the struggle against Russia”
Yes my beloved Kherson...near Odessa, apparently now ringed with military camps in training with ISIS fighters, just a short trip from the Crimea border
Israel Shocked As Revered Rabbi's Grave in Ukraine Desecrated With Pig Head, Fake Blood
http://rt.com/news/371121-ukraine-rabbi-grave-desecrated
"The grave of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov was defaced by red paint and a pig head with a swastika carved in it, while some pilgrims were reportedly attacked with 'tear gas'."
Ultra Nationalists Attack Jewish Pilgrims at Uman, Ukraine
http://newcoldwar.org/ultra-nationalists-attack-jewish-pilgrims-at-uman-...
" Kirshboim said the current mayor of Uman was 'appointed' by members of the nationalist Svoboda party following the revolution in Ukraine. 'There is a crazy state of anarchy here,' he said. The right wing activists were seeking to harass the Hassids in order to gain political points among the local public, Kirshboim asserted. 'Whoever harasses the Hassidim more has a better chance of winning the elections in October,' he said.
Ukrainian nationalists destroyed a tent city created by Hassidic Jews in Uman ahead of the annual Rosh Hashanah pilgrimage."
Really bad news, and the comments on the article are just as bad.
According to one article it was two "skinheads". The Jerusalem Post article points out the Ukrainian Prime Minister Groysman is visiting Israel next week.
http://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Rabbi-Nachmans-grave-desecrated-with-pigs-...
Some background for those who are not familiar with Reb Nachman, and the site, which was almost destroyed in the late 70s, and rarely visited because people were not allowed access.
http://www.ucsj.org/2016/11/01/how-rabbi-nahmans-grave-in-uman-was-saved...
NATO Ramps Up Ukraine War After Defeat in Syria
http://sptnkne.ws/dbTb
"A surge in military attacks this week by NATO-backed Kiev regime forces on the breakaway eastern Ukraine region is no mere coincidence. It is the reaction to events in Syria by the US-led military alliance in its hybrid warfare against Russia."
What the NATO sycophants will not do is define the terms they use for their broad brushed smears of anyone standing in the way of Pax Americana. The far right in Ukraine politics is that only one party and the rest are peace loving social democrats? Proto-fascist Is that a real term or one that you have gotten from a fake news site?
C'mon Krop, you are starting to sound like Babble's very own grumpy old man. "Hey, you kids GET OFF MY LAWN!"
Proto-fascist is a perfectly acceptable term. Geez, it even has its own wiki page.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-fascism
From the Greek word proto, - that which comes before. The prescursor. The antecedent.
And here is an article from a respectable journal posing the age old question: Is Donald Trump leading a proto-fascist movement?
"... I also think it's fair to call Trumpism a proto-fascist movement, not in line with Hitler, but with the likes of Benito Mussolini, who was at the forefront of European fascism. Before the Nazis, he was regarded as a somewhat clownish dictator with an unusual degree of mass support. He was a racist, authoritarian warmonger, but nowhere close to the genocidal maniac that Hitler was."
http://theweek.com/articles/574097/donald-trump-leading-protofascist-movement
Thanks Sherpa so this term applies to Trump and Putin. Would it have applied to Hillary?
So Sherpa is it only you that gets to poke fun at peoples posts? Since it is only non-NATO cheerleaders' posts that you like to zero in on, maybe you can answer a question I have about making money on the internet. How well does trolling on behalf of a foreign government pay? Is there a site on line you can go to to get employed or should I just phone random NATO embassies and ask who's hiring?
It's a deflection, in any case, kropotkin. The Kiev regime is, well, impossible to defend so the only thing left is to say, "Hey! Look over there! Vlad is bad!" etc. The main point is to get you off discussing the rather obviously odious Kiev regime and its latest atrocities.
Did anyone else notice how Kiev ramped up their bombing campaign of civilians in Donetsk (and probably Lugansk as well) when things were getting very bad for the Western-backed jihadists in Aleppo?
Funny how that is.
Well I don't know about impossible, but it is pointless in this room.
Exiled Ukraine Parliament Member: I Witnessed Presidential Corruption
http://time.com/4616802/ukraine-corruption-president-poroshenko/
"The time has come for the rest of the world to call for reform instead of turning a blind eye to these crimes and atrocities."
'
NYT Admits Yanukovich Was Right Not to Sign EU Deal
https://www.rt.com/op-edge/371934-ukraine-eu-yanukovich-nyt/
"Three years after the event the establishment media is finally issuing mea culpas for its self-interested support of 'Euromaidan', the Western-backed 'regime change' crusade which destroyed Ukraine."
'This is the best government Ukraine has had in its entire history." - Chrystia Freeland, Minister of International Trade
Well if you want another look at the same situation that isn't through a toilet paper tube:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2016/10/14/how-corruption-corrodes...
"Ukraine is 130th out of 168 countries ranked by Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index 2015." That is pretty grim and a huge indictment of EU / US / IMF complicity with the current regime.
But gracious, - Russia is ranked 119th on the very same scale? Pretty daunting. You have to pity the poor Russian citizens trying to make ends meet while dealing with that level of state and corporate corruption. Meanwhile their President is gallivanting about the world sending troops to foreign lands and generally meddling in the affairs of others. Kind of mis-placed priorities one would have thought.
But Russians can look on the bright side: when it comes to corruption they did tie Sierra Leone (#119), and were a spot ahead of Gambia and Guatemala. So something to be proud of, to be sure.
The excellent thing about Russian corruption is that all the spoils seem to go to Czar Putin, who is now estimated to be one of the richest men in the world because of it.
Right. Because Forbes Magazine says so.
No, but it does take a bit of a wider look at the situation like the effect of the war, the motives of the various parties, and that the most attractive alternative for Ukrainians at this point isn't moving backwards to where they were with Yanukovich.
And I agree about the complicity to a point, sherpa-finn. No one is in full control of that situation, and parties have to work with what is there, and what the people choose.
Also, it is worth noting that as arbitrary as that measure probably is, the country has been moving slowly upwards, not down.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index
montrealer58 wrote: The excellent thing about Russian corruption is that all the spoils seem to go to Czar Putin, who is now estimated to be one of the richest men in the world because of it.
ikosmos replied: Right. Because Forbes Magazine says so.
Well, no. Forbes limits their lists of the world's richest to business people and "excludes members of royal families and dictators who derive their fortunes entirely as a result of their position of power.” So Vlad seems to be safe from the Forbes list.
http://www.newsweek.com/why-putin-isnt-forbes-billionaires-list-310818
But there is always:
The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/02/20/is-vladimir...
and the BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06z9584
Of course, these are western sources so presumably in the clutches of the CIA. Perhaps we could cite some Russian-based investigative journalism?
Oops, my bad. It appears that Russia sits at #179 out of 202 countries in terms of press freedom. (For context, that is several places BEHIND Somalia!) What does the latest country report say on freedom of the press in Russia?
"Although the Russian constitution provides for freedoms of speech and of the press, government officials frequently use the country’s politicized and corrupt court system to harass the few journalists and bloggers who expose abuses by authorities. Russian law has a broad definition of extremism that officials invoke to silence government critics. Enforcement of this and other restrictive legal provisions has encouraged self-censorship. ... Prosecutors in 2015 continued their practice of charging individuals—including journalists, bloggers, and in one case a librarian—with defamation, extremism, and other criminal offenses designed to limit free speech. In January, jailed journalist and blogger Sergey Reznik, who had written articles on alleged corruption and abuses by officials in Rostov-on-Don, received a three-year prison sentence on new charges of insulting and misleading authorities; his earlier 18-month prison term on similar charges would have expired in May."
Damn that's awkward. https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2016/russia
What to do? Hey, surely ikosmos won't quibble if I cite one of his own favoured "news" sites - Sputnik International. Because in an SI article last year, shortly after the release of the Panama Papers, they acknowledged that "The latest figure provided in the Panama leaks places Putin's wealth at no less than $2 billion."
They also acknowledged that much higher figures (ranging from $40 - $200 billion in personal wealth) have been cited by Putin's business confidants with regards to his ownership shares in major oil and gas companies. Remarkably, they also repeat Putin's ill-advised claim in 2008 that he is indeed "the wealthiest man not just in Europe but in the whole world"!
So, I am presuming that we can take THAT to the bank. No wonder Putin gets on so well with Donald Trump. Birds of a feather....
https://sputniknews.com/politics/201604051037523060-putin-personal-wealth/
aha ha ha ha. Did you think I just fell off a turnip truck? That was a satirical article you rocket scientist, you. bwa ha ha ha.
Read more: https://sputniknews.com/politics/201604051037523060-putin-personal-wealth/
C'mon, get serious. These other sources openly publish pieces comparing the Russian President to Hitler. The US President, from the rostrum of the UNGA, within the last calendar year, openly compared Russia, generally, with the Ebola virus and ISIS terrorists. Not in that order. The barbarous US regime, and its obsequious satellites in the UK, Canada, etc., and their pliant MSM, are no more reliable than Joseph Goebbels in 1935.
'Ukraine Today' Shuts Down After Oligarch Sponsor Kolomoisky Loses Assets To Kiev Regime
http://theduran.com/ukraine-today-shuts-oligarch-sponsor-kolomoisky-lose...
"Ukrainian Oligarch Igor Kolomoisky's 'Ukraine Today' closes it's doors for good after a quick 2-year stint working as an anti-Russian propaganda channel. Taking PrivatBank out of Kolomoisky's control deprives Kolomoisky of a bank he has used as a cash cow to finance his various activities [like funding Nazi terror-gangs and fighters] and which he might have used to finance his position in the oligarchic feuding, which in Ukraine passes for politics."
Retired Winnipeg Professor Alex Basilevsky has a new book on Ukrainian history. He says in advance that it will "rile up" some in the hopelessly divided Ukrainian-Canadian community.
See "Author Expects New History Book to Stir Controversy"
So let me get this straight... you point out how ridiculous it is for media to compare Putin to the Nazis, and then you turn around and do exactly the same thing - compare the U.S. and Canada to the Nazis.
sherpa-finn wrote: surely ikosmos won't quibble if I cite one of his own favoured "news" sites - Sputnik International
ikosmos responded: aha ha ha ha. Did you think I just fell off a turnip truck? That was a satirical article you rocket scientist, you. bwa ha ha ha.
So sad.
As anyone knows, despite Russia’s long and distinguished tradition in satirical writing, political satire is effectively verboten under Vlad. And to suggest that an official news agency like Sputnik International ("Telling the Untold" is ther motto!) would consciously mock The Impaler, well THAT’s sooo not going to happen!
The last folks who tried that stunt (google Kukly puppets) are probably out in some frosty field digging up the turnips ikosmos is so determined to deliver.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/the-rise-and-risks-of-political-satire-in-putins-russia-a7022436.html
So, back to the topic at hand: Vlad’s billions in ill-gotten gains. In the Sputnik International article cited, - they clearly state (dear reader, please note that this was done with no sarcasm or satire font):
a) "The latest figure provided in the Panama leaks places Putin's wealth at no less than $2 billion."
b) A higher figures (ranging from $40 - $200 billion in personal wealth) have been cited by Putin's business confidants with regards to his ownership shares in major oil and gas companies; and
c) In 2008, Putin claimed to be "the wealthiest man not just in Europe but in the whole world"!
Leap back on that turnip truck, my friend. You have plenty more deliveries to make. (Probably a good time to call the Mother Ship and ask for directions.)
Is this where I append the ‘bwahaha’?
6079
No you didn't get it straight. I would think you need remedial comprehension in reading training but that would imply that you don't post disingenuous shit purposely.