@100
I look at them burning their bridges behind them … all of them, Germany, France, the UK as well as the US … and conclude that they’re in for ‘the whole enchilada’. They are literally banking on destroying, dismembering, and divvying up Russia …
Plan b is collapse … or nuclear war.

Posted by: jfl | Dec 30 2014 10:58 utc | 103

Posted by: jfl | Dec 30, 2014 5:58:04 AM | 103
It never turns out as planned.
Russia has been through this before – a drop in oil price strangely coinciding with the Georgia war (and US financial crisis as with – maybe – global recession this time “There is a ying and yang in trade. Major exporting countries are generally major importing countries.”)
Putin used the crisis to control his oligarchs last time, same will happen this time. Plus, he – not the US – has a pivot to Asia.
Stratfor on Russian Oligarchs via Wikileaks

In 2004, Putin set his sights on the oligarchs, starting with strategic sectors that he proceeded to pick off one by one. By 2009, the Kremlin had begun its final push to destroy the once-powerful class of business rulers. With the help of the global financial crisis, the Kremlin is now putting an end to the two decades in which the oligarchs rose and created their empires. Upon completion, Putin’s consolidation of Russian power, now in its last phase, will leave the prime minister and his factions unrivaled.
…
Because of the financial crisis and government consolidation, the once-powerful oligarchs no longer have a say in their future and are merely along for the ride. Indeed, they no longer constitute a powerful and distinct business “class.” Some oligarchs will survive the shakeout, but not with their independence. To some degree, they all will become part of the Kremlin machine so carefully engineered by Putin. As copper oligarch Iskander Makhmudov said in a rare interview: “The oligarchs now have mixed fortunes, but we will all end up being soldiers of Putin one day.”

Seems now there has to be a Russia/IMF agreement on the bail out of the Ukrainian state. Whoever will bail out Ukrainian businesses will take them over.
Now, assuming that Georgia was encouraged to do this war by Western spooks, and the same applies to Ukraine’s “Maidan” – why would anybody repeat a scenario that had been tested as a failure?

He referred to this as a turning point in U.S. –Russian relations, “The relationship between Russia and the West is long and complicated. There have been many turning points, for good and ill. This is another turning point. Let me be clear: we seek a future of cooperative engagement with the Russian government, and friendship with the Russian people. We want Russia to play its rightful role as a great nation – but with that role comes the responsibility to act as a force for progress in this new century, not regression to the conflicts of the past.”
Obama’s language was similar in strength to that of President Bush who said that, Russia had “invaded a sovereign neighboring state.” He also said, “Such an action is unacceptable in the 21st century.” This is a critical moment for Russian-American relations, because Georgia has been a strong U.S. ally, and other than diplomacy, the Bush administration has few options in dealing with Russia.
There really isn’t a military option available, and if the United States stands by while Georgia falls, they risk losing other allies in the region. This is a situation that goes beyond electoral politics and requires Obama, Bush, and McCain to present a unified front, which is what they each are in the process of doing.

Posted by: somebody | Dec 30 2014 13:23 utc | 105

Banderastan Today.
First, good news and bad news, from Roger Annis at NCW. Social protest rising in Ukraine as gov’t approves harsh austerity budget.

A wave of public protests against the regressive social policies of the Ukraine government is rising in Ukraine. The Christmas season has been punctuated by protest across the country.
Simultaneously, a fragile ceasefire in the east of the country is coming undone. The government in Kyiv is regrouping and rearming its military and extreme-right militias after a devastating blow delivered to them in late August by the pro-autonomy, rebel movement in southeast Ukraine.

It goes on to detail a number of actions, and ends with a brief discussion of the political and military situation.
Eric Zuess continues to produce interesting work. Ukraine’s War ‘is a Prelude to World War III’ Says Former Ukrainian U.S. Ambassador. He says this about Yuri Shcherbak, ambassador from ’94 to ’98, who appeared on the Poroshenko-owned Channel 5. “In fact, unlike virtually all major current Ukrainian politicians, Dr. Shcherbak was never a communist, and he was also opposed to the nazism that is represented especially by Ukraine’s Right Sector Party, and by Ukraine’s Svoboda (or ‘Freedom’) Party that had called itself ‘The Social Nationalist Party of Ukraine’ until the U.S. CIA advised them to change their name to ‘Svoboda.’
While Shcherbak’s comments are of interest (“Can we declare war against Moscow and conduct it by means of merely a swift operation? No. Because in this case the cruise missiles will fly from Russia against Kiev.”) I thought Zeuss’ account on the current political situation of more import.

Poroshenko is now being strenuously attacked by other Ukrainian oligarchs, especially by the U.S. White House’s friend Ihor Kolomoysky (a big financial backer himself of the extermination-campaign), as being insufficiently aggressive in exterminating the residents in Ukraine’s rebelling region. Dr. Shcherbak is saying, basically, that exterminating those people with increased intensity would be dangerous for all Ukrainians, not only for the ones in the southeast, whom the Government has been bombing.

Finally, I would be remiss if I did not plug a little history. You probably know already, but if you need a refresher course, discover Who was Stepan Bandera? Originally from the History News Network, back in 2010. The Holidays are always a time of old favorites, are they not?
And finally —
somebody at 105 —
“Georgia on my mind…” Good call, several Georgians in the new gov’t. apparently; similarities with the present obvious.

Posted by: rufus magister | Dec 31 2014 1:34 utc | 107

@okie farmer #72:
I’d like to thank you for making that post about Russian Old Believers. I found it informative, and have no reason for thinking that what you quoted was misleading in any way. I don’t, however, know what, if any, point you wanted to make by making that post.
Unlike the Saker, I am into neither Russian Orthodox theology nor worship, so figuring out what the correct Russian Orthodox theology or liturgy is is of no interest to me. I believe that the Russian Orthodox church is largely a quasi-political institution of the Russian state. Thus, I have no reason to believe that killing Old Believers was not justified by reasons of state. I have not thought about this matter for decades, but my impression is that most Russians think the same way. I also believe that it is quite correct for Calvinists to burn Anabaptists at the stake, even though I don’t like Calvinism. (As far as I know, Lutherans did not do this.) So it’s not as if I’m giving Russian Orthodoxy a special break here. People used to be killed in Europe for heresy; that’s just how things worked.
By the way, I take a Lockean position on religious freedom. Religious freedom means the freedom to be a liberal Protestant. This is also how the American founders thought about this matter. Aside from that, I have no problem with countries having a state religion and restricting what varieties of religion people may practice. So I would have no problem with Iran, for example, allowing the practice of Lutheranism and Anglicanism, but no other Christian sects.

Posted by: Demian | Dec 31 2014 6:48 utc | 109

Putin’s Approval Spikes as US Admits Attack on Russian Economy

According to a survey made by Gallup, Vladimir Putin’s popularity increased by 29 percent compared with 2013 data, when 54 percent of Russians surveyed approved his role as leader of the country.
Putin’s popularity to 83 percent, despite the economic trouble that his nation currently faces due to the drop in oil prices.
“For the first time since 2008, a majority of Russians (73%) believe their country’s leadership is leading them in the right direction. This renewed faith is apparent in their record-level confidence in the country’s military (78%), their national government (64%), and honesty of elections (39%),” states the survey.

Obama’s approval ratings climb as year ends

Gallup’s weekly tracking poll put Obama’s approval at 45% through Sunday, the highest since May. Gallup’s more volatile three-day average had Obama at 47% over the weekend, the highest level of the year.

Right Direction or Wrong Track

Sixty-three percent (63%) of voters now believe the nation is headed down the wrong track, down four points from last week.

Americans Most Confident in Military, Least in Congress

Americans continue to express greater confidence in the military than in 15 other national institutions, with 78% saying they have a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in it. (2011)

Trust in Government

“How much trust and confidence do you have in our federal government in Washington … when it comes to handling [International/Domestic Problesm] problems? Not very much or None at all [International 55%/Domestic 59%]

40% Think U.S. Elections Are Fair

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 40% of Likely U.S. Voters think American elections are fair to voters

Well … Russians and Americans have about the same confidence in their respective militaries and elections … but it’s day and night as far as their respective belief in Russian and American national direction, leadership, and government are concerned.

Posted by: jfl | Dec 31 2014 10:49 utc | 111

Posted by: radiator | Dec 31, 2014 6:04:49 AM | 112
You mean “Maneschnaja”? I doubt it. It is named after an – equestrian – manege.
Euromaidan very likely will not survive Oliver Stone who seems to have done an interview with Yanukovich.

Posted by: somebody | Dec 31 2014 12:03 utc | 113

@114 Standard operating procedure. People you agree with make ‘measured comments’. People you don’t like make ‘bizarre rants’.

Posted by: dh | Dec 31 2014 14:29 utc | 115

s’body at 110
I believe you’re referring to Gehlen and his post-war activities. We just quietly took over much of the existing Nazi spy apparatus in the East and used it vs. the Soviets. Much like we took over von Braun and his rocketry.
Latvian article is interesting — econ. issues were perhaps a proximate cause. Hitler’s attack on the Soviets was ideologically necessary and inevitable. People forget, it was anti-Bolshevism that was his main appeal; the brownshirts and party needed to hear it, but the respectable white collar and professional middle class frowned on the Nazi’s anti-Semitism.
The German elite had been seriously eyeballing the Ukraine as “Lebensraum” back in WWI. Some think if they had shifted troops from the Eastern Front instead of trying to hold onto their gains there, they might have been able to shore up the Western Front.
And that’s quite a rogues gallery of collaborators there. As you may know, Ribbentrop’s talk remained that. But the Waffen-SS recruited widely, not only in the East and Balkans but in the Low Countries and Scandinavia as well (even a few stray Brits). They were serious about making the SS a multi-national fascist elite within the Reich, and these units saw action.
and on 113
Manezh Sq. takes its name from a exhibition & performance hall commemorating the 5th. anniv. of victory over Napoleon. It was originally envisioned as a riding school, hence the name. Large roof truss is technologically interesting. The square itself, says Wikipedia, is a Soviet-era urban renewal project.
On the charges — perhaps I’m misreading the situation, as I have not had a thorough look. I assume anyone at that level of Russian politics today is corrupt; some of course more or less so, like our own politicos (Christy and Cuomo — there’s a tag team). I’m hearing people say the charges are politically motivated, but somewhat less that they are not true.
Disturbing how govt’s. everywhere use selective prosecution to silence critics, isn’t it?
I noted in the the reporting that pro-Ukraine slogans were shouted out at the demo as well.

Posted by: rufus magister | Dec 31 2014 14:54 utc | 117

Juannie @ 23: Thanks for the Counterpunch piece. You’re right, it should be read by all.

Posted by: ben | Dec 31 2014 15:20 utc | 119

To Demian@102 – I hadn’t realized there was a second page here before I commented above – yes, nothing surpasses “The Saint Matthew Passion” in my book also; it is so beautiful! As is the Orthodox liturgy. We in our little church (small is beautiful) did use some Slavonic – we had some Russian members, and the Slavonic is sonorous and beautiful to listen to. But also we used English, and at times Greek. The hymn to the Trinity we sang in all three languages as the first phrase is repeated three times. (We had a family of Greeks also.) And the year before our priest died, we sang selections from Russian hymnology in Saint Francis Cathedral in Santa Fe, which is a Catholic cathedral.
Here in New Mexico, faiths intermingle historically in a special way, and even the pueblos still have their practising kivas across the plaza from the adobe churches built when the Spanish came. What is celebrated every year at fiesta is the return, of the Spanish community twelve years after they had been driven south – it is all a fascinating story, in that they were invited back, and La Conquistadora, who is Mary, replaced the vicious conquistadors of the first invasion at the time of that return.
I was thinking this morning that the singular teaching often missed by those reading the familiar parable of the Good Samaritan is that one’s neighbor isn’t just the person next to you, but it is, in the specific instance of the parable, the person who is of a different faith from you.
In my church we omitted prayers for president and armed forces (separation of church and state) and the word ‘heretic’ never crossed our lips. We were not part of a larger diocese, simply a home chapel, and Catholic seminarians came to our services, served with our priest, as well as nuns from the nearby Carmelite mission on Easter, because they loved that service (when our Easter fell differently from theirs.) Our church would be packed, because standing (which is what most do and did) you can fit lots of people into a small space!

Posted by: juliania | Dec 31 2014 18:12 utc | 121

Happy New Year b and all moonkind.

Posted by: beq | Jan 1 2015 3:29 utc | 123

and what a fucked up cuntry ?
http://sainthoward.blogspot.sg/2014/12/putting-saints-in-jail.html

Posted by: denk | Jan 1 2015 4:18 utc | 125

juliana @ 120 —
I’ve heard a bit of it (“1812 Overture”). I like the Orthodox Easter custom of leaving the church and returning, symbolically, to the empty sepulchre.
Went many years ago the the Grand Canyon, passed through Albuequerque, stunning country.
in re 109 —
You are aware the Founding Fathers included at least one Catholic, Carroll from Maryland?
Colonies like Rhode Island and Pennsylvania offered complete religious freedom, Maryland was founded as a Catholic colony. Freedom of religion, press, assembly, and the right to arms were all part of the federal Bill of Rights. Discussion around ratification of the Constitution had lead to the need to make explicit certain basic human rights.
Even in England after the Glorious Revolution, of which Locke writes in justification, one could be of any faith, but only members of the Church of England could hold public office.

Posted by: rufus magister | Jan 1 2015 5:39 utc | 127

@ rufus magister #127:
I am aware that my claim that the American founders believed that the only religion that should be allowed was mainline Protestantism was imprecise. But this is an obscure topic for this blog.
You have expressed blind, ignorant hatred of both Christianity and German culture, so I am ignoring all posts from you from now on. I have had enough of the hatred that exists on the Internet against anything other than the mainstream Anglophone view of things. You made the argument that because the Holocaust occurred, the Anglosphere should dismiss German culture. That is such bigoted reasoning that I don’t see how you can expect anyone on this blog to ever take you seriously again, or bother reading your pedantic posts. Good bye.

Posted by: Demian | Jan 1 2015 7:50 utc | 129

ISIS seems to be “stumbling” (collapsing ??)
https://consortiumnews.com/2014/12/30/the-islamic-state-stumbles/
My take is that ISIS’ attempt to capture/conquer Kobani seems to have broken the back of ISIS. But that’s my (highly) personal take when I read the story above.

Posted by: Willy2 | Jan 1 2015 8:23 utc | 131

Jonathan Landay from McClatchy Newspapers:
– The divide between Jabat-Al-Nusrah (JAN, a nice name for Al Qaida) & ISIS was about the strategy. JAN wanted to take on the distant/far enemy (the US) but ISIS wanted take on Iraq & Syria first. But now the US & Israel seem to direct JAN to attack Syria first. So, anyone who thinks that JAN or ISIS don’t want to take on/damage the US is dreaming. This begs the question: Are the US & Israel able to control ISIS & JAN once Assad has been defeated ?
– The successor of Maliki, Al Abadi, actually got more votes than Maliki in a previous iraqi election but the US & Iran preferred Maliki instead. Reports from http://www.antiwar.com seem to suggest that Al Abadi is/was on the payroll of the CIA. Al Abadi seems to have a much better chance to be a succesful leader of Iraq than Maliki because Al Abadi is not as corrupt as Maliki. But can Abadi re-win “the hearts & minds” of the sunnis ?
– ISIS is trying to build a government struture (e.g. providing social services) but ISIS is spread out thinly over northern Iraq & eastern Syria. In that regard ISIS is to be regarded as “vulnerable” and the (failed (???)) attempt to conquer Kobani (any news lately ???) could be “one bridge too far”/the “Stalingrad” for ISIS.

Posted by: Willy2 | Jan 1 2015 11:20 utc | 133

beq at 134 —
Thanks. An Irish toast — May you be in heaven a half-hour before the devil knows you’re dead. Another round, innkeeper! Shots of your best Kirschwasser for the house! I like mine with some hot tea as a chaser. Great winter tipple.
Here’s a joke from a friend, who picked it up a number of years ago, after about 6 mos. in Europe.
In Heaven
The Germans run the trains.
The French cook.
The lovers are Italian.
The bankers are Swiss.
The police are English.
In Hell
The English cook.
The lovers are Swiss.
The French run the trains.
The Italians are the bankers.
And the police are German.

Posted by: rufus magister | Jan 1 2015 17:57 utc | 135

An Italian reporter writes “It is Impossible Not to See a Planned Program of Ethnic Cleansing” in Lugansk.
The parallel with the Ukrainians/Israelis and Novorosyans/Palestinians is plain, down to the averted Xtian eye, and silence on the ongoing genocide.

Posted by: jfl | Jan 1 2015 23:13 utc | 137

How the Israel Lobby Protected Ukrainian N

If passed, Conyers’ amendment would have explicitly barred those found to have offered “praise or glorification of Nazism or its collaborators, including through the use of white supremacist, neo-Nazi, or other similar symbols” from receiving any form of support from the US Department of Defense.
The amendment was presented by congressional staffers to lobbyists from Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Simon Wiesenthal Center, two of the country’s largest established Jewish pressure groups. Despite their stated mission to combat anti-Semitism and violent extremism, the ADL and Wiesenthal Center refused to support Jeffries and Conyers’ proposal.

Posted by: jfl | Jan 2 2015 11:52 utc | 139

jfl
Not everyone like Stone.
From the ukrainian extremist one read:
Anton Shekhovtsov ‏@A_SHEKH0VTS0V

Oliver Stone is a US supremacist of the worst kind, as he combines a belief in the omnipotence of the US with self-indulgent American guilt.
https://twitter.com/A_SHEKH0VTS0V/status/550963781783023616
What a weirdo.

Posted by: Anonymous | Jan 2 2015 16:39 utc | 141

De-Americanization is Needed No Less than Denazification after the World War II

In general, the end of the current geopolitical conflict lays beyond 2015 and should lead to the elimination of today’s civilization, built on the principle of military-political and financial-economic dominance of the United States (which already do not live up to this role) and replacing it with a different, more equitable polycentric civilization of a multipolar world, in which the Anglo-Saxon countries, as the initiators of the current world conflict and the defeated party will be able to play the same role as the current Germany and Japan – important economically, but politically secondary. To build a new fair world de-americanization is needed not less than denazification after the World War II.

Earlier on in his account, Rostislav Ishchenko recounts the Libya, Syria, Ukraine sequence and concludes that the US has nowhere else to go, having lost in Ukraine – by his accounting.
But perhaps the sanctions on North Korea are the opening of a further cycle of attempted US destabilization? North Korea not only shares a long border with China, but lies along the route of a Russia – South Korea pipeline.
What’s next? Rapprochement between Russia and Japan over the Kurills and a pipeline to Hokkaido?

Posted by: jfl | Jan 3 2015 2:26 utc | 143

Russian Spring
Evening message from the Information Center of Novorossia:
Several instances when Ukrainian fascists used weapons were registered…
No casualties resulted from their strikes. The combatants did not retaliate…

Posted by: Fete | Jan 4 2015 2:37 utc | 145

in your face…
they are teasing, taunting us,
* u know i did it, so what are u gonna do about it ?*
*Mr Can’t-lie is just one of many name-game characters to come across the stage recently though. Remember Cia-n-Cia from the hoaxed LAX/TSA incident [link]. Or what about the even more recent Nancy Writ-ebol so-called first ebola victim. Would that ‘writ’ of ‘ebol’ have something to do possibly with some new pending legal ‘writs’ of some sort that the ZWO-ers are planning to pull out of their ‘ebol-a’ hats – and in fact is already being done to Africa [1].*
*seen too often to not take note, the ‘name-game’ seems to be a favorite tool of those who operate by the kabbalist/occultic credo ‘hidden-in-plain-sight’ – and this case is no exception with the reported name of the alleged LAX Shooter, Paul CIAnCIA* [2]
*KaBOOM! to commemorate 9/11?
What a great joke. The ZNWO script-writers must be getting a really good chuckle with this one. The thing about it though – is it an admission?* [4]
*Other names that pop up are “Smart Azan” (smart ass) and “Rubah Khan” (as in “crossing the Rubicon” or taking a decisive step)*
[5]
*What a great joke. The ZNWO script-writers must be getting a really good chuckle with this one !*
so why do they keep sending all these *msg hidden in plain sight*
* ?
by now they should know that many people are wise up to it ?
1.) Many of these globalists are Satanists. In ritual magic it is necessary to inform the victim of the spell being cast in order for it to work. Keep in mind, it doesn’t matter if you believe in Satan, they do
2. Predictive programming helps generate the Reaction part of Problem, Reaction and Solution.
3. Arrogance- They honestly feel that they can not be stopped so what’s the harm in broadcasting it? Think of the stereotypical Superhero/Super villain expository scene where the villain reveals all his plans to the hero.*
http://www.reactorbreach.com/showthread.php?tid=8
[1]
http://anothervoicerev184.blogspot.sg/2014/09/imaginary-isis-releases-new-video-of.html
[2]
http://anothervoicerev184.blogspot.com/2013/11/tsa-lax-shooting-hoax-practiced-three.html
[4]
http://anothervoicerev184.blogspot.com/2014/09/beyond-pale-obamas-commemorate-911-by.html
[5]
http://willyloman.wordpress.com/2015/01/03/the-pakistan-school-shooting-psyop-featuring-noah-pozner-as-huzaifa-huxaifa/#comments

Posted by: denk | Jan 4 2015 4:48 utc | 147

Denk@147
Smearing Satanists is an easy way to deflect the blame for the worlds evils from the actual perpetrators, Judeo/Xtians. Can you name one war started by Satanists? This is just more superstition and projection often used by the powerful to avoid responsibility.

Posted by: Wayoutwest | Jan 4 2015 16:43 utc | 149