Ukraine
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Just got a very disturbing news feed. 'Taoiseach Micheál Martin has called on Russian State TV to apologise for airing a clip which shows how Ireland would be completely destroyed by an underwater nuclear drone launched by one of its navy’s submarines'.
It reads, 'A Russian State TV programme, which is presented by Dmitry Kiselyov, showed a simulation of a nuclear attack on Europe, which it claims would decimate Ireland and the UK.
It claims an explosion from the 100 megatonne warhead would cause a “gigantic tsunami wave up to 500m high”.'To date I have never thought about a nuke attack coming in the form of a 500m high tsunami radio active wave over my home! I have now!!!!
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We all are rowing in the same boat. If a Nuke threat happens we all lose and politicians know that they inevitably are included in. But Putin and his media are using all their power to justify their modern-world-era bullying. If there would be a 3rd WW, it wouldn't take for a long while though.
Russia is trying to say that NATO expansion has led it to invade; misleading, total garbage... In my opinion, Russia is already defeated and these sharp-teeth performances are just a desperate try to escape the reality that sooner or later will face. -
Russia is lashing out in typical bully style, hit me and I will hit you harder so, just let me hit you 'til I want to stop or else.
Threatening everyone else is aimed at stopping assistance to resistance so they can get on with doing what they want. As the reporting has shown, they are not the all conquering military force they want to be and after this, never will be.
What does not help is the fringe media with tales of Putin having cancer and near death etc.
Should the not so united nations do more? Can they really do more than lecture the schoolboy and threaten detention? Seems not and another institution is being put under the microscope, all the carbuncles and wrinkles are plain to see. Time to work out what we put in the place of those not so united nations.
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You are right Mike.
Well, I woke up this morning not under a 500m high tsunami so was thankful for that. It plays on the mind as it was intended to do was. My daughter in NZ is following all this and told me to get my arse out there as soon as possible but I told her that if thing go pear shape its all the same where we are located.
I listened to / watched a very practical and sensible man late night, Senator Richard Black and what he said made a lot of sense. He is a senior with vast military service and experience and shoots from the hip.
He recognised that the West are as much to blame for the current situation as Putin is and he also believes / wants to see a serious replacement for the UN
Col. Richard Black: U.S. Leading World to Nuclear War
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcp0TYx_eUIOne thing has crossed my mind that might help to bring the matter to a sensible and peaceful conclusion. I think there may be a possibility for China to get serious with Putin and take a lead that would put the West in the shadows. China are more interested in doing business rather than war! If Putin proceeds with his threats there will be no business done in the world with the exception of some bartering beans for bread!
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Noam Chomsky’s take on things is worth listening to. BTW, begrudgingly gives credit to Trump for coming up with a solution to much of the conflicts in the world. One thing I will say for Trump is that he was capable of rolling up his sleeves and meeting his adversaries with a view to reaching 'deal' which could result in a peaceful solution to conflicts. One instance of his approach comes to mind, his meeting with Kim! I also think that if Trump was currently in power he would have had a meeting with Putin possibly before the invasion took place and we would now be in a happier situation.
Noam Chomsky on the Russia-Ukraine war, The Media, Propaganda, Orwell, Newspeak and Language
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YeRX6ZYXH0 -
I patiently wait for some YT clips here explicitly blaming Ukraine (directed by Israel (for sure!), its Zionist lobby and Military–industrial complex) in warmongering. Common Mike don't be shy
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Albert Einstein said "World War IV would be fought with sticks and stones."
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It looks like Putin didn't have much to say at the 9th May parade. The Western media has been playing up a possible 'thunder and lighting' speech and I now imagine they are very disappointed with what he actually said which was very controlled.
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There was a documentary on the idiot box recently, about the fall and rise of the Japanese empire after WW1.
Devastation by WW1, the resultant world crash and flu epidemic led to Japan wanting to expand to ensure resources were available thus the action in China. Thus the US denied them the resources which meant the Japanese entered WW2 on the side of the Nazi's.
Ringing any bells?
The Japanese paid the price for their empire of the Sun and we have to make sure that the Russian and PRC also fail but where in the past losing nations have been stripped for reparations. We must ensure there is no cause celebre among the people of Russia and the PRC, so they do not get left behind in our recovery. All the better to avoid any repetition in the future.
Perhaps we could even work together toward security for everyone. Stranger things have happened.
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I see the Democrats have managed to 'decouple' relief for its own citizens in relation to Covid, from its proxy war funding! The figures involved are huge, $40 billion plus! It seems the reason for taking this action is that they want the proxy war to have priority and move through quickly!
This smacks of Imperialism at its worst and is pushing things towards inevitable nuclear brinkmanship. All it will take is a slip of the finger by man or machine and it's game over for life on Earth with the exception of a few cockroaches which will probably evolve into something more intelligent than current humans.
I used to be a Democrat supporter dating back to JFK but that position has changed in recent years since the Democrats more and more seem to be serving the Military Industrial Complex et al.
I think it's a great pity that Trump is not sitting in the White House at present. Whether one likes him or not, I think most will agree that he at least he would have made every effort to meet personally with Putin and tried to sort out some form of an acceptable 'deal' for all with the exception of the Military Industrial Complex.
I hope, probably in vain, he takes the 'bull by the horns' and makes his own arrangements to meet with Putin quickly even if protocol doesn't condone same. He should be able to do it with his own personal, tried and tested, security that he trusts.
What Putin has done is simply WRONG but the West's leaders are making no serious efforts, with the exception of Macron, who unfortunately has no major support, to open pathways to a peaceful resolution of the conflict.
I still live in hope!
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Life being tough has thought me to humiliate bad situations, and here is one:
The possible peaceful solution goes through washing-machine factories!!! If they supply enough free products and deploy to Russia, the war will definitely end immediately!
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The abiding thing for me is how Putin has thoroughly isolated Russia which will limit cooperation to the PRC and NK.
I one fell swoop he has done more than any US president has, to get european nations to pull their financial weight in NATO and unify to one end.
In the rest of the world, that would get him a putty medal and a raise.
I see the UN is still doing it's overfed, overpaid and under invested stupid people act.
I have increased my emails to the Duma and also to the UN to at least two each per diem, no more computer intrusions so I suppose they found me harmless and ignorable. They require MORE reminders of their duty. Anyone else up for it?
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I suggest to watch this movie first. If your gouverment let you.
https://youtu.be/ywdtmpK_AP0 -
@srx said:
I suggest to watch this movie first. If your government let you.
https://youtu.be/ywdtmpK_AP0SRX, thanks for the link. I managed to watch the full video even with a few breakups along the way. Don't know if this is being caused or just my broadband.
I have been an admirer of Oliver Stone's work for some years, particularly the work he did on the JFK assassination. His work just provides hard provable facts and lets the viewer/listener make up their own mind.
This work, Ukraine on Fire (2016) is no different. He provides a lot of background and historic information on Ukraine which I was not aware of. I'm glad I viewed as it has broadened my perspective.
My opinion remains the same however, powers, not just political powers, outside Ukraine are at work steering a sought devastation of the country in order to progress an agenda of probable total World hegemony.
The only update that is needed to the video is in relation the the Doomsday Clock. At the time of production the clock was at 3 minutes (180 seconds) to midnight. That figure now stands at 100 seconds and I imagine that figure is decreasing as each day of carnage unfolds.
One thought that struck me while watching was the fact that Ukraine has two predominant languages, Ukrainian, the official language and Russian in much to the Eastern and Southern parts. Even though it was sought to have Russian recognised as an official language in Ukraine this did not happen.
I firmly believe that a language can be the single most uniting factor in a country. It makes for common sense if one thinks about it. People instantly understand each other which in turn leads to common ground and peaceful existence.
Countries that have different language speakers are always prone to disagreements and misunderstands. They simply are not a natural grouping. Maybe the best result for Ukraine would be a split into two semi autonomous sections, a Ukrainian speaking section and a Russian speaking section possibly with a joint executive for mutual cooperation. Probably a pipe dream!
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I cannot see that, truth is, people move across the world, it's just a fact of human life but it does not mean that those settlers can seize territory.
Do we English allow the speakers of Urdu to cede parts of the country because as a minority they feel better able to live their life it the area becomes part of India? Just part of the issue.
Tamil separatists fought for a long time because ethnic Indians had become the majority and they had lost their voice in their own country.
Does living in peace mean telling other people that we want what they have and they have to give it to us? No. Being blunt and that is how to deal with issues like this, we humans defend what is ours. I know that this is not as it seems in the news. I knew it was coming a long time ago and pointed it out to eu senior folk then.
This is why I voted to leave the eu with it's expansion at any cost and "Damn the torpedoes". I do not believe Russia the main driving force in this, I point my fingers at the PRC tbh. I am fully aware that Russia has a feeling of being pushed back into it's own back yard, surrounded by hostile nations but honestly, this feeling is paranoia and not fact. Take a look at NATO nations inability to actually pay for defence for a start. Even quite recently a situation existed where a certain eu nation did not have enough rifles or beds for it's soldiers, parts for their aircraft to fly properly and ALL of it's submarines (Yes, all SIX) were stuck pier side with serious shortages of spare parts. The minister in charge then is now the eu president. Now we have talk of the independent nations in the region being concerned enough to join NATO. Russia has achieved what US presidents have failed to do since the end of ww2.
This action has increased the isolationist state of Russia and the economy is going to crash in a way we have not seen since the great depression of the twenties. How can this be what the Russian people need?
Overall my view of this is coloured by the waste. Life does not have to be this way, we are supposed to be an intelligent species. As someone who has to fight to get medical care I view the wanton killing and destruction as a crime against humanity and the other species that have to share this planet with us. HOW much pollution has been chucked into the atmosphere? HOW much crap put into the water table? HOW many bodies left to rot on the ground because they cannot be retrieved?
There was a television program a long time ago now "Angry old gits", they complained about stuff done for this, that and nothing and I am afraid I am now a fully paid up member. Goes feeling aggrieved at the existence of another nation mean our soldiers can go in and shoot civilians whenever we feel like it? Is THAT how Russia wants to tell the world how badly they feel let down? Do Russians think that is something the world will listen to?
People, real people across the world will have their lives shortened by this, will find the cost of living too much, not be able to feed themselves or their kids, be unable to heat their homes - if they have them. Damn something, the torpedoes are a LONG way down the list.
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@srx said:
I suggest to watch this movie first. If your gouverment let you.
Let me guess.. Western elites (Rothschilds) set up color neo-nazi revolution in Ukraine in order to take away from great russia it's sovereign right to rape, execute and burn to ashes its neighbors.
Exactly like they stole this right from the people of great serbia back in 1999.
Hope this RTLM MF Stone will end his days hiding somewhere in Nicaragua jungles. -
I have an eye on Finland's decisions. I think, attending NATO or not will have a crucial impact on the war result or even Russia's destiny.
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If Russia continues on this path their future will be as a PRC satellite. Something I doubt many of them spotted on the horizon.
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At last they start to call a spade a spade. Thanks Tim Snyder
Fascism was never defeated as an idea.
As a cult of irrationality and violence, it could not be vanquished as an argument: So long as Nazi Germany seemed strong, Europeans and others were tempted. It was only on the battlefields of World War II that fascism was defeated. Now it’s back — and this time, the country fighting a fascist war of destruction is Russia. Should Russia win, fascists around the world will be comforted.
We err in limiting our fears of fascism to a certain image of Hitler and the Holocaust. Fascism was Italian in origin, popular in Romania — where fascists were Orthodox Christians who dreamed of cleansing violence — and had adherents throughout Europe (and America). In all its varieties, it was about the triumph of will over reason.
Because of that, it’s impossible to define satisfactorily. People disagree, often vehemently, over what constitutes fascism. But today’s Russia meets most of the criteria that scholars tend to apply. It has a cult around a single leader, Vladimir Putin. It has a cult of the dead, organized around World War II. It has a myth of a past golden age of imperial greatness, to be restored by a war of healing violence — the murderous war on Ukraine.
It’s not the first time Ukraine has been the object of fascist war. The conquest of the country was Hitler’s main war aim in 1941. Hitler thought that the Soviet Union, which then ruled Ukraine, was a Jewish state: He planned to replace Soviet rule with his own and claim Ukraine’s fertile agricultural soil. The Soviet Union would be starved, and Germany would become an empire. He imagined that this would be easy because the Soviet Union, to his mind, was an artificial creation and the Ukrainians a colonial people.
The similarities to Mr. Putin’s war are striking. The Kremlin defines Ukraine as an artificial state, whose Jewish president proves it cannot be real. After the elimination of a small elite, the thinking goes, the inchoate masses would happily accept Russian dominion. Today it is Russia that is denying Ukrainian food to the world, threatening famine in the global south.
Many hesitate to see today’s Russia as fascist because Stalin’s Soviet Union defined itself as antifascist. But that usage did not help to define what fascism is — and is worse than confusing today. With the help of American, British and other allies, the Soviet Union defeated Nazi Germany and its allies in 1945. Its opposition to fascism, however, was inconsistent.
Before Hitler’s rise to power in 1933, the Soviets treated fascists as just one more form of capitalist enemy. Communist parties in Europe were to treat all other parties as the enemy. This policy actually contributed to Hitler’s ascent: Though they outnumbered the Nazis, German communists and socialists could not cooperate. After that fiasco, Stalin adjusted his policy, demanding that European communist parties form coalitions to block fascists.
That didn’t last long. In 1939, the Soviet Union joined Nazi Germany as a de facto ally, and the two powers invaded Poland together. Nazi speeches were reprinted in the Soviet press and Nazi officers admired Soviet efficiency in mass deportations. But Russians today do not speak of this fact, since memory laws make it a crime to do so. World War II is an element of Mr. Putin’s historical myth of Russian innocence and lost greatness — Russia must enjoy a monopoly on victimhood and on victory. The basic fact that Stalin enabled World War II by allying with Hitler must be unsayable and unthinkable.
Stalin’s flexibility about fascism is the key to understanding Russia today. Under Stalin, fascism was first indifferent, then it was bad, then it was fine until — when Hitler betrayed Stalin and Germany invaded the Soviet Union — it was bad again. But no one ever defined what it meant. It was a box into which anything could be put. Communists were purged as fascists in show trials. During the Cold War, the Americans and the British became the fascists. And “anti-fascism” did not prevent Stalin from targeting Jews in his last purge, nor his successors from conflating Israel with Nazi Germany.
Soviet anti-fascism, in other words, was a politics of us and them. That is no answer to fascism. After all, fascist politics begins, as the Nazi thinker Carl Schmitt said, from the definition of an enemy. Because Soviet anti-fascism just meant defining an enemy, it offered fascism a backdoor through which to return to Russia.
In the Russia of the 21st century, “anti-fascism” simply became the right of a Russian leader to define national enemies. Actual Russian fascists, such as Aleksandr Dugin and Aleksandr Prokhanov, were given time in mass media. And Mr. Putin himself has drawn on the work of the interwar Russian fascist Ivan Ilyin. For the president, a “fascist” or a “Nazi” is simply someone who opposes him or his plan to destroy Ukraine. Ukrainians are “Nazis” because they do not accept that they are Russians and resist.
A time traveler from the 1930s would have no difficulty identifying the Putin regime as fascist. The symbol Z, the rallies, the propaganda, the war as a cleansing act of violence and the death pits around Ukrainian towns make it all very plain. The war against Ukraine is not only a return to the traditional fascist battleground, but also a return to traditional fascist language and practice. Other people are there to be colonized. Russia is innocent because of its ancient past. The existence of Ukraine is an international conspiracy. War is the answer.
Because Mr. Putin speaks of fascists as the enemy, we might find it hard to grasp that he could in fact be fascist. But in Russia’s war on Ukraine, “Nazi” just means “subhuman enemy”— someone Russians can kill. Hate speech directed at Ukrainians makes it easier to murder them, as we see in Bucha, Mariupol and every part of Ukraine that has been under Russian occupation. Mass graves are not some accident of war, but an expected consequence of a fascist war of destruction.
Fascists calling other people “fascists” is fascism taken to its illogical extreme as a cult of unreason. It is a final point where hate speech inverts reality and propaganda is pure insistence. It is the apogee of will over thought. Calling others fascists while being a fascist is the essential Putinist practice. Jason Stanley, an American philosopher, calls it “undermining propaganda.” I have called it “schizofascism.” The Ukrainians have the most elegant formulation. They call it “ruscism.”
We understand more about fascism than we did in the 1930s. We now know where it led. We should recognize fascism, because then we know what we are dealing with. But to recognize it is not to undo it. Fascism is not a debating position, but a cult of will that emanates fiction. It is about the mystique of a man who heals the world with violence, and it will be sustained by propaganda right to the end. It can be undone only by demonstrations of the leader’s weakness. The fascist leader has to be defeated, which means that those who oppose fascism have to do what is necessary to defeat him. Only then do the myths come crashing down.
As in the 1930s, democracy is in retreat around the world and fascists have moved to make war on their neighbors. If Russia wins in Ukraine, it won’t be just the destruction of a democracy by force, though that is bad enough. It will be a demoralization for democracies everywhere. Even before the war, Russia’s friends — Marine Le Pen, Viktor Orban, Tucker Carlson — were the enemies of democracy. Fascist battlefield victories would confirm that might makes right, that reason is for the losers, that democracies must fail.
Had Ukraine not resisted, this would have been a dark spring for democrats around the world. If Ukraine does not win, we can expect decades of darkness.
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Just a thought on breaking up Ukraine and allowing Russia to have some, ceding territory to Russia. Next is moldova, do not forget Georgia btw, 2008.
Putin IS a Stalinist example of megalomania, complete with paranoid leanings. Stalin executed many of his officer corp along with anyone he thought was against him. Mad as a box of frogs. Who has Putin had the Russian state kill? Oh nobody important?
Facism? Sorry mate but call it what it is, a thing the PRC call "Cult of personality" whenever they want to end opposition. Take a look at treatment of the Uigar people for a start. The long arm of the PRC communist party is nearby.
Until folk face down these oppressive cultures we will face more war. How on earth can we allow a few individuals to put millions into the situation where they can afford food or heat but not both? We have this situation now in parts of the UK so what is it like in poorer nations? What a state to be in.
The UN have the power to act but will not, are they afraid? They acted without every member state say so when South Korea was invaded by the North so why not now? A rolling no fire zone spreading eastwards until it reaches the Russian border by UN forces. A no fly zone by either party controlled by UN aircraft and systems.
Declaration of Principles
The Universe speaks in many languages, but only one voice.
The language is not Narn or Human or Centauri
or Gaim or Minbari.It speaks in the language of hope. It speaks in
the language of trust.
It speaks in the language of strength, and
the language of compassion.
It is the language of the heart and the language of the soul.
But always it is the same voice.It is the voice of our ancestors speaking through us.
And the voice of our inheritors waiting to be born.
It is the small, still voice that says we are One.No matter the blood, no matter the skin,
No matter the world, no matter the star,
We are One.
No matter the pain, no matter the darkness,
No matter the loss, no matter the fear.
We are One.Here, gathered together in common cause
We agree to recognize this singular truth and this singular rule:
That we must be kind to one another.Because each voice enriches us and ennobles us,
And each voice lost diminishes us.
We are the voice of the universe, the soul of creation,
The fire that will light the way to a better future.
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