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February 26, 2015
Open Thread 2015-10
Comments
can anyone bring me up to speed on theories circling around Konstantin Malofeyev as the source for the document given out in Novaya Gazeta about a week ago? thanks.
Posted by: james | Feb 26 2015 20:50 utc | 1
Confirmed: US government dirty cooperation with the biggest arms smuggler
Posted by: nmb | Feb 26 2015 21:34 utc | 2
@james:
If you ask a question like that, you should at least give a link, so people know what your question is about.
I googled, and came up with this, which provides a context for your question. That article is so loony that I don’t think this matter is worth pursuing any further, unless the Western press has picked this up in a major way, which it has not as far as I know.
Novaya Gazeta is as bad as Kyiv Post. It comes across as if it is written not by Russians, but by Martians.
Wow…
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/feb/19/frontline-ukraine-crisis-in-borderlands-richard-sakwa-review-account
Sakwa rightly calls (it) a “fateful geographical paradox: that Nato exists to manage the risks created by its existence”.
Posted by: chuckvw | Feb 26 2015 23:07 utc | 4
“Americans catching a new war fever”
https://consortiumnews.com/2015/02/26/americans-catching-a-new-war-fever/
Posted by: Willy2 | Feb 26 2015 23:39 utc | 5
Has anyone seen the Saker’s new blog? Pretty flashy. I’m impressed.
At first I thought that the domain “is” is Israel (so that the Saker was making a joke), but it turns out to be Iceland. Anyway, good show Saker and your helpers!
The US State Department might as well close up shop. It cannot compete with the Saker as a source of information that anyone takes seriously. All it can do competently now is stage coups.
@Demian, 6:
“At first I thought that the domain “is” is Israel”
IIRC, Icelandic for Iceland is “Island” with the “s” pronounced (“Eessland”), not silent as in English. I’m glad they got “.is” rather than “the Zionist entity” (perhaps “.ze”?)
Posted by: Vintage Red | Feb 26 2015 23:52 utc | 7
@demian
Deutsche Welle gave the story big play. Daily Beast is running it. Haven’t seen it yet in the UK press.
Posted by: chuckvw | Feb 27 2015 0:33 utc | 8
@chuckvw:
Thanks. Here is where I stopped reading that Novaya Gazeta story:
a sensational document that indicated the Kremlin had plans to annex Crimea and the Donbass at the same time
This is ridiculous, because the Kremlin’s strategy vis-à-vis the Ukraine is fairly well understood now. (1) The Kremlin wants to use the Donbass as the anti-Ukraine, in the same way that Poland, Germany, and the US have used the Ukraine as the anti-Russia. Incorporating the Donbass into Russia at the present moment would defeat that purpose. (2) The Kremlin wants Western Europe to enter into the Eurasian space, with the US excluded from that and hence isolated in its own hemisphere. Russia acting aggressively towards Ukraine, instead of simply letting time take its course and waiting for Ukraine to fall apart, would undermine that goal.
jas @ 1 —
I came across it yesterday on a routine visit to Kyiv Post. I bird-dogged it on the 2015-08 open thread (and be sure to read Benu’s take at 124), and took note of some early press coverage.
I did not look at Novaya Gazeta until Demian at 3 thoughtfully provided the link. I’d seen a lot of it quoted, but always nice to get it direct from the horse. They began promoting it about 2 wks. ago, apparently, but published it just yesterday.
It does seem to be gaining attention — it conveniently confirms the false narrative of “Russian aggression” versus genuine popular reaction against the coup regime. A sort of modern “Zinoviev letter.”
Bloomberg posted Putin’s ‘Soros’ Dreams of Empire as Allies Wage Ukraine Revolt about 4 hrs. ago. I googled this morning, the Boston Globe and a number of international news sites were carrying it.
The most interesting piece I found is Another Rusology Fail: U.S. Experts Continue to Lie About Russia and Ukraine by Gordon Hahn. He discusses postings by Paul Goble, popular with the Heritage Foundation and RFE/RL, to Johnson’s Russia List, a presitigious discussion board in academia. “Goble has falsified the facts.” That’s like cussin’ in academia.
In addition to his examination of the document, Hahn has a good refresher course on prior Banderaist disinformation.
I originally found the LiveLeak version, which has links to coverage by Voice of America, amongst other outlets, and some intro. commentary.
Posted by: rufus magister | Feb 27 2015 1:00 utc | 10
chuckvw at 8 — It won’t be long, the Irish Times has it.
Posted by: rufus magister | Feb 27 2015 1:10 utc | 11
@rufus magister #10:
This is obviously very crude propaganda, for the simple reason that Crimea and the Donbass have completely different significance for Russia in strategic terms. I don’t care whether this document that Novaya Gazeta writes about is authentic or not. All kinds of plans get written up in government bureaucracies and think tanks. That a given plan has been written up does not mean that it represents the position of the government in question.
The Crimea is of absolute strategic importance to Russia because of the warm weather port in the Black Sea Sevastopol. The Donbass has no comparable strategic significance, so this lumping together of Donbass with the Crimea is very silly and obviously crude propaganda. That Western propaganda outlets (of which Novaya Gazeta is the main one in Russia) are coming out with this shows the desperation of the Western propaganda machine. The “Russian aggression” meme just isn’t working anymore.
The Irish Times has it …
I stopped reading at …
“The authenticity of the document could not be independently verified.”
Posted by: Alberto | Feb 27 2015 2:15 utc | 13
Here is something from the last paragraph of The Interpreter‘s translation of the Novaya Gazeta article:
The authors of the document made a significant mistaken with the definition of the regions most ready to join Russia
The four main Web sites which publish English translations of Russian media/blogs are Fort Russ, Russia Insider, Vineyard of the Saker, and Colonel Cassad (English). I have never seen any of those publish an article with such a glaring typo.
That Interpreter translation was probably done by a Ukrainian. (The Interpreter is the nazi counterpart of Fort Russ and Russia Insider.) Ukrainians find it more difficult to get a working command of the English language than Russians do. The reason could be that the language centers of Ukrainian brains get damaged by Ukrainians at the same time trying to be fluent in Russian and in the broken variant of Russian known as Ukrainian.
It could well be a document that found its way into the Kremlin. Doesn’t mean Putin saw it, or if he did that he thought any more of it than any other random document that crossed his desk. The MSM will eat it up, of course. The smoking gun!
It’s part and parcel with nasty terrorists shooting down an airliner (no evidence of which has ever been or ever will be disclosed). Or the filthy terrorist snipers gunning down freedom loving civilians in Maidan… (When evidence emerged to the contrary, oh well, that’s what the memory hole is for). It’s the old Rove strategy of throwing shit at the wall until people stop trying to figure out what’s true and what’s not. Hard to focus on one piece of shit among hundreds. By the time one thing has been disproved, ten more bloody lies have come along…
This document “suddenly” being leaked is business as usual. They want a war and they’re not going to stop until they get one. We’re #1! We must be #1″
Posted by: chuckvw | Feb 27 2015 3:10 utc | 15
STILL no correction from “The Largest Online News Show in the World.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1SD1HIy7bM&list=PLfrlsC1yJ2dQ-U1-DblOYLLxYYCcqaFtu
Posted by: Tom Murphy | Feb 27 2015 3:20 utc | 16
The Saker has a guest post by Ivan Lizan about the destruction of industrialized Ukraine:
At the finish line of deindustrialization: how Ukraine loses its industry
The goal of this break in cooperation, initiated by the Western curators of Kiev – while talking heads in the government only announced Washington’s decision, wrapped in the slogan “Not a single spare part for the occupier!” – was actually the disruption of the state defense order of the Russian Federation.
“Geniuses” of the Ukrainian political thought expressed the intention to force Moscow’s capitulation by refusing to cooperate and to export components. For example, the Ukrainian political “giant” Yuri Lutsenko suggested to use the Yuzhmash plant as a means to blackmail Russia. The argument was truly “deadly”, but, as turned out, not for Russia: “… all Russian nuclear missiles can be serviced only by our Yuzhmash. Without this service, the whole world will sing la-la-la-la” [reference to the obscene ditty “Putin huilo la-la-la-la” popular among anti-Russian Ukrs] – Lutsenko repeated in mid-July last year.
There is one exception to the rule: the Luhansk Locomotive Works Luhanskteplovoz / Луганськтепловоз in Lugansk in the Lugansk People’s Republic. Their order books are full with some 500 locomotives a year to be delivered to the Russian State Railways. (No orders have ever been coming from Ukraine.)
Production was stopped in the summer for two or maybe three months because of the war and lack of electricity. After the ceasefire work was (supposedly) resumed at full capacity with all but a few hundred of the 8,000 employees.
I have been following their news here. Apparently everything has not gone by plan. In January 2015 the company only produced 10 locomotives The financial result for last year was “positive”. More from the same news item:
However, it should be noted that the company is facing serious difficulties in the organization of logistics and shipment of finished products to customers in terms of continuing hostilities in the region and the introduction of new restrictive measures to block the transport. In this regard, difficult forecasting production and business activities “Luganskteplovoz” for the future.
On the positive side, war damage seems to have been repaired.
P.S. ̣- You guessed it. The company is owned by Russian ZAO “Transmashholding”.
Posted by: Petri Krohn | Feb 27 2015 3:23 utc | 17
I think Putin and other Russian leaders would have been derelict in their duty if they did not have some plan for this and other possible emergencies affecting their naval bases.
The release of these stories is nothing more than the West manufacturing consent for the next stage in this conflict.
Posted by: Wayoutwest | Feb 27 2015 3:25 utc | 18
Demian at 12 —
I don’t know that I’d call it crude; unimaginative, a standard insider document leak from a “reliable source” near to people who are near to…<
I disagree on the Donbas. It has strategic as well as economic value. If you want a port, you want reliable land access. The Federation is getting quite a collection of non-contiguous territories — Kaliningrad, Transdnistria (effectively), Crimea.
But I’m biased towards a “Greater” versus “Lesser” Novorossiya. That will have to wait until the likely renewal of hostilities by a rearmed Kyiv.
Posted by: rufus magister | Feb 27 2015 3:26 utc | 19
errata to 18 — oops, I forget html….near to [[insert target here]]
Posted by: rufus magister | Feb 27 2015 3:28 utc | 20
Seventy-five Brit “advisers” in Ukraine “…for up to six months,” longer of course, plus “non-lethal aid.”
Boots on the Ground: Britain to Deploy 75 Military Advisers to Ukraine
Cameron said Europe listened to Britain on how to implement sanctions, and he said the level of sanctions “might become materially different” in the future . He held out the possibility of excluding Russia from the international Swift banking payments system, saying there was a logic to such a move if Moscow continued trying to “dismember” Ukraine.
“I think what we should be putting in to place is a sense that if there is another Debaltseve [a Ukrainian town seized by pro-Russia forces this month] then that will trigger a round of sanctions that will be materially different to what we have seen so far,” he said.
From war materiel to military advisors, Canucks have been feeding the warmongering junta for a while now.
Canada Quietly Tiptoeing into Ukraine Civil War
As debate over Canada’s role in the latest Iraq war rages, Ottawa is quietly being drawn into a second, more dangerous, conflict.
That second war is in Ukraine. The U.S. and Britain are sending military advisers there to help Ukraine’s embattled central government fight Moscow-backed secessionists. Defence Minister Jason Kenney says Canada might do the same.
The US is deploying 800 troops to train 3 Ukinazi battalions in how to fight Russia.
US military to train Kiev troops fighting in E. Ukraine – US Army commander
“We’ll train them in security tasks, medical [tasks], how to operate in an environment where the Russians are jamming [communications] and how to protect [themselves] from Russian and rebel artillery,” (Ben)* Hodges (CINCUSAREUR)* was cited as saying by Reuters.
France threatens more sanctions against Russia if the federalists move to Mariupol. Whatever happened to the Mistral deal?
France Threatens More Russia Sanctions If Ukraine Rebels Move on Mariupol
“…The problem today is particularly around Mariupol. We’ve told the Russians clearly that if there was a separatist attack in the direction of Mariupol things would be drastically altered, including in terms of sanctions,” Fabius said…
…(Pavlo) Klimkin (Ukraine FM)told reporters in Paris late on Tuesday, “Mariupol is critical. Any kind of attack on Mariupol would change things … Debaltseve was a game changer because it disrupted the spirit of the Minsk accords.”
“Any further attacks would trigger a counter attack.”
So, Ukinazis and their Western supporters declared Debaltsevo a “game changer,” a disruption of the “spirit of the Minsk Accords,” while in Minsk they denied its existence. Now is clear their game was to deny the Debaltsevo cauldron, sacrificing thousands of troops and materiel, to use it later as a jumping pad for their new campaign, of lies first, accussing DNR/LNR of cease-fire violations for cleaning the cauldron, then justify a new military aggression.
It’s clear they fear the falling of Mariupol and understand the strategic consequences of such a loss, hence their rallying around the “poor” Ukinazis, hoping their threats of a Third World War if the rebels advance on Mariupol, would deter them from taking contested territory. The attacks against Russia come from all angles, and the threat of denying Russia access to SWIFT, is the equivalent of a declaration of war. Russia is about to finish its own SWIFT banking network (May, 2015), hopefully before the Western pirates come blasting their cannons.
No doubt the Western mafia is itching for a fight, and has made a decision to go for broke in their attempts to destroy Russia. British bull-dog Cameron has been unleashed by his masters, and is now declaring to be the sharp end of the stick in the West’s anti-Russia campaign, soon to be joined by the Canucks and followed by the usual suspects, Kiwis and Aussies, always ready to kill Russkis, the eternal enemy of the Evil Empire of Chaos. Ukraine’s conditions are perfect for Western mercenaries from all corners of the world, nazi Eurotrash, soldiers of fortune, glory-seekers from all walks of life, and of course the usual brainwashed and the useful idiots.
Estonia’s laughable display of US military machismo is not only a show for media consumption; its purpose was to send Russia the message that’s being surrounded. Every rebel victory in Donbass oblast will become a pretext for NATO to pile up more troops, more weapons, and more “command centers,” Estonia being one of six, all in Eastern Europe. Next to NATO’s 30,000 rapid reaction force, 5,000 of them ready to move in 48 hours, this is all part of the wall of Full Spectrum Dominance US/NATOstan are building under the delusion of encircling Russia.
So, the Western-mafia supported Ukinazi junta is playing a farce within a farce within a farce. They unleashed hell on the people of Donbass, with total support from their Western masters and the quiet, criminal approval of the Western media, but once “yesterday’s miners or yesterday’s tractor drivers” (Putin)* beat their nazi asses, the aggressors become the victims, aided and abbetted by a world-wide massive campaign of lies and misinformation. The Ukinazis then denounce Russia and the “pro-Russian rebels,” their lies get magnified by the MSM echo-chamber, which starts calling for more weapons, more troops, more intervention, opening their Op-Ed pages and TV shows to all and any warmonger who is willing to make some coins on the anti-Russian gravy train.
What more evidence could we have that the real intention of the US/NATOstan mafia is the utter destruction of Russia, by any means necessary? None. The axis of the new main contradiction between the Empire of Chaos and the periphery is now in Ukraine, pointing directly at Russia’s heart.
* Note: Words between parentheses are mine.
Posted by: Lone Wolf | Feb 27 2015 3:44 utc | 21
A friend and I were laughing about an email he got from his company’s Chinese accounting department, that he “remediate the form”…What could that mean, we giggled. We concluded they must want more detail re the expenses in question.
I had earlier been reading at RT and saw this heinousness: Right Sector ultranationalists hold ‘March of Truth’ in Kiev
Here’s the caption to the video:
Activists from the extremist Right Sector movement marched through Kiev on Wednesday to express their dissatisfaction with the current Ukrainian government. Under the banner of the “March of Truth – March of the Right,” the protesters made several demands of the Ukrainian government, including the introduction of a better system of lustration, the introduction of martial law, the legalization of the volunteer battalions and an active response to corruption within the government.
Lustration, I said to him. I wonder what that means? He laughingly asked me if my fingers were broken…or if I had become a journalist who could not/would not do an internet search?
Oh, I said, I’m sure it’s something to do with their pay or medals and awards or something like that. And then I looked it up at wikipedia.
Posted by: Benu | Feb 27 2015 4:04 utc | 22
The release of these stories is nothing more than the West manufacturing consent for the next stage in this conflict.
Posted by: Wayoutwest | Feb 26, 2015 10:25:26 PM | 17
Yeppers. But let’s be sure and say “attempting to manufacture consent”
Posted by: Benu | Feb 27 2015 4:19 utc | 23
@15 chuckvw
“It’s the old Rove strategy of throwing shit at the wall until people stop trying to figure out what’s true and what’s not. Hard to focus on one piece of shit among hundreds.”
Boy howdy, it does seem like that. And I smell more than methane…and sulfur…I’m getting a pickly top-note of desperation.
Posted by: Benu | Feb 27 2015 4:26 utc | 24
Putin stole the missing MH 370 for as a “show of power” whatever that means.
http://www.businessinsider.com/cnn-aviation-expert-theory-on-mh370-2015-2
Posted by: Aka | Feb 27 2015 4:32 utc | 25
@rufus magister #18:
I disagree on the Donbas. It has strategic as well as economic value. If you want a port, you want reliable land access.
Time, it’s all a question of time.
For your added enjoyment, there is this: Nitzer Ebb: Warsaw Ghetto. The tyranny of rhythm. Something your Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen have no conception of.
#6 demian. I agree. Saker might seem off the wall often, but his analysis of current events (when he is focused on facts) is often brilliant. He is almost as good as b when he focuses on reality.
Posted by: ToivoS | Feb 27 2015 4:57 utc | 27
Russian Spring
02/26/2015-21:27
Leader of Donetsk Republic Aleksandr Zakharchenko announced that if the Ukrainian forces would not be pulling off military hardware away of contact line by 18:00 on February 27, the combatants will return withdrawn combat units on the original positions.
From his words, Donetsk Republic had already pulled off 90% of its weaponry. Kiyev did not commit reciprocal measures.
“The attacks by Ukrainian forces continue. Unless they stop, we will deem the Minsk agreements breached”, stated Zakharchenko enumerating new facts of shelling in Gorlovka and Yelenovka.
The leader of Donets Republic noted that the text of this ultimatum was submitted for signatures of OSCE representatives.
The General Staff of Ukraine reported that the order to pull off the heavy weapons from the line of contact with the combatants was received merely today. Even though, the leadership of Ukrainian forces declared that will “amend the time line to withdraw weapons” as appropriate.
In his address, Aleksandr Zakharchenko called this declaration by the General Staff of Ukraine a rhetoric.
OSCE does not typically comment whether sides are pulling off the hardware. However, today, having seen “Gvozdicas” leaving positions of Lugansk Republic army in settlement Kalinovo, representatives of OSCE carefully expressed appreciation of steps by the combatants to defuse tension in Donbass.
Posted by: Fete | Feb 27 2015 5:07 utc | 28
Penny’s latest:http://pennyforyourthoughts2.blogspot.com/
Posted by: ben | Feb 27 2015 5:40 utc | 30
This coming Tuesday is the day Bibi is scheduled to perform his most “brilliant” pre-election stunt in front of Congress, 14 days before polling day in Jewish-occupied Palestine. I’m quietly confident that a true blue American will find an excuse to expose him as a sick joke – if he’s stupid enough to show up…
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Feb 27 2015 6:12 utc | 31
CIA active in Greece:
Greek debt crisis: Violence in Athens ahead of Germany vote
Police and protesters have clashed in Athens after the first anti-government demonstration since Greece’s far-left Syriza party took power last month.
Dozens of activists hurled petrol bombs and stones at police and set cars alight after the march.
The unrest came ahead of a vote by the German parliament on Friday on whether to extend financial aid for Greece.
The deal, approved by Greece and international creditors last week, has triggered dissent within Syriza itself.
If ratified, the agreement will give Greece a four-month bailout extension in return for government reforms.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has defended it, but some on the hard left have accused the government of going back on pre-election pledges.
Syriza swept to power in January by promising to renegotiate the country’s debt and end austerity.
About 450 far-left protesters took to the streets of Athens on Thursday to voice their anger.
After the march, about 50 demonstrators clashed with riot police. Shop windows and bus stops were also smashed.
This demo is the hard right, not the “leftists”. Look at the pic lower down in the article.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31653878
Posted by: okie farmer | Feb 27 2015 6:17 utc | 32
Demian at 26 — Wolfgang Press seemed like some fairly pleasant early techno. Nitzer Ebb never appealed, too harsh & repetitive a sound. But some nice visuals in the video.
Dylan is about the poetry. He’s a great songwriter, many folks have made great covers of his material.
“No reason to get excited”, the thief he kindly spoke
“There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke
But you and I, we’ve been through that, and this is not our fate
So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late”
And typically, he’s not that difficult to play. “All Along the Watchtower,” quoted above, is classic three chord rock.
Springsteen (whom I don’t recall mentioning, BTW) speaks to what it meant to be working class in America in the late 20th. century. Very broad palette. And he had the Big Man on sax in the band.
For me, it’s more about the freedom and possibilities of the harmony and the melody, the possibilities of change and development. I appreciate the rhythm section, I do keyboard bass, have an early Roland drum machine. It’s not rhythm that’s the tyrant — it’s the Triple Alliance of time, tempo, and key.
Here’s a nice little study in rhythm and progression, Eno’s The Big Ship, from “Another Green World” and apparently used in the soundtrack to “Lovely Bones.”
Posted by: rufus magister | Feb 27 2015 6:43 utc | 33
http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/world_news/Ukraine/article1522268.ece
Half Ukrainian fighters killed by poor kit and friendly fire
AN ELITE soldier who resigned from the British MobArmy to train Ukrainian forces fighting Russian-backed separatists has revealed the true extent of disarray in Kiev’s military.
He said the string of bloody defeats for Ukraine, including last week’s fall of Debaltseve, was due largely to a failure of command and a lack of skills and discipline.
The 40-year-old, a naturalised Briton of Ukrainian descent, who served in Afghanistan and the Middle East, said Ukraine’s forces, made up largely of volunteers and conscripts, suffer great casualties because of frequent incidents of friendly fire and the mishandling of weapons.
“Six out of 10 casualties among the Ukrainian volunteers occur because of blue-on-blue shooting [the army term for friendly fire] and the inability to handle weapons,” said the man, who would give only his nom-de-guerre Saffron.
Posted by: okie farmer | Feb 27 2015 7:15 utc | 35
B@29
Hezbollah doesn’t seem to be making much progress in their offensive to retake control of the Syrian Golan from the Southern Front and reopen the second Israeli Front. This after being routed from Aleppo must be frustrating for the Iranians directing these actions.
Posted by: Wayoutwest | Feb 27 2015 7:18 utc | 36
i thought i’ve seen everything by now but im wrong.
if ever anyone can out-hypocrite and out-hubris the murcunts,
it has to be those perfidous albions !
this cunt is a BritishBushitCorp hack journo,
on the scs conflict,
Bill Hayton
“These countries (in Southeast Asia) are petrified of what you are doing. Stop doing it and make some friends,”
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/118717/bbc-journalist-to-chinese-envoy-stop-it-make-some-friends/
hehehehe
media alert.
bbc assholes darent engage me in a fair debate.
mind u, its one of the most vociforus critics of ccp censorship !
Posted by: denk | Feb 27 2015 7:46 utc | 37
Demian 25
I got this when I went to Warsaw Ghetto
This video contains content from [Merlin] PIAS, who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds.
What’s Merlin or PIAS?
Posted by: okie farmer | Feb 27 2015 8:45 utc | 38
@demian and others.. thanks for your feedback on that. i apologize for not giving a link as i didn’t have one, but read a couple of articles talking about it. a friend asked me about it, but i didn’t have a clear answer.
since you are all so gracious answering my query, here is another one thrown at me – why was putin at the minsk talks, but not the usa? he went on to conclude this meant russia was involved in the shitstorm presently called ukraine, while usa didn’t have any involvement.. my own view of this is his perspective couldn’t be more removed from reality, but apparently image is everything and if you see the stage set a certain way, it means that the players on the stage are the only players in the game!
@20 lonewolf.. thanks for your post and links.
fete – thanks as always.
everyone else – thanks for the links and insights.
Posted by: james | Feb 27 2015 8:56 utc | 39
Netanyahu goes nuclear… now wait for the fallout
This week’s leak has been downplayed by the Israeli media, at a time when it has the potential to seriously damage Netanyahu’s election campaign. His rivals are making almost no capital from the revelations either.
The low-key reception is even more surprising, given that Netanyahu is expected to reprise his 2012 fearmongering at the UN in an address to the US Congress next week. He hopes to undermine talks between the US and Iran on reaching a deal on the latter’s nuclear programme.
Well if things are as quiet as they say they are the least I can do is post the leaked report, DATE 22 OCTOBER 2012 – REPORT NO. 9342 – URGENCY.
Posted by: jfl | Feb 27 2015 10:16 utc | 40
Greece: Austerity for the Bankers
This sounds excellent to me. Well, as excellent as things can be, given the circumstances. Anyone have a link to the actual Greek proposal?
Posted by: jfl | Feb 27 2015 11:06 utc | 41
why was putin at the minsk talks, but not the usa? – james.
Take your pick!
1) Obama / US had no interest in a Minsk.2. Therefore they “let the children play”, figuring that pressure can be applied to Europe anyway. Obama talked with Merkel before hand and told her it was fine to go ahead.
2) The EU-US-Kiev woke up and perceived the Ukr. army was about to lose, for the third time. Therefore the hostilities needed to be stopped, temporarily, before re-grouping (arming, etc.) That is what happened last time. Obama prefers to distance himself from this move, and let Merkel carry the responsibility.
3) Merkel (and side-kick Hollande) have become truly alarmed, all this is getting out of hand, it is necessary to downscale, treat with Putin, drag the parties, Kiev and the Donbass, to the negotiating table. Seen in this way, there is a small rift between the EU and the US, with the EU undertaking more initiatives.
4) The US plot (to provoke Russia thru Ukraine) has failed and it has lost interest, the mess created is now other’s responsibility.
Posted by: Noirette | Feb 27 2015 11:53 utc | 43
6
Isreal’s domain is IL, as in the correct spelling for The Caliph: i$.IL
Posted by: ChipNikh | Feb 27 2015 12:00 utc | 44
43
They are two fronts of the Great US/UK Oil Crusade: the Donbas Front and the Aleppo Front.
To put any more time, thought or strategic analysis into is, is conforming to their trope.
Meanwhile, Israel has opened a Special Discount Free Trade Zone with Russia, because Israel has no sanctions against Russia, and is also busy supplying black market items to Tehran, because the West is so incrediblyfuckingstupid that you can get them to be the bitch of a tiny sandbox hellhole nation ruled over by ‘white’ Zionist supremacist imagineers, and even convince them that it is a H8-speech felony to speak or even read this paragraph, at the same time as you are paying for all of this with your last life savings, gone forever!!
Unglaublich absolut!! Toto por nada totalmente!! Théâtre de l’absurde la vie moderne!!
Posted by: ChipNikh | Feb 27 2015 12:11 utc | 45
The assassination of Greece, by James Petras
http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Article_69441.shtml
Misrule of the few, How the oligarchs ruined Greece, by Pavlos Eleftheriadis
http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/142196/pavlos-eleftheriadis/misrule-of-the-few
For Greece and many others, economic reform is bad for your health, by Steve Keen. (Appeared in Forbes. Link to his blog.)
http://tinyurl.com/njdpkzw
In Greece, focus on Justice (NYT, but OK-ish)
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/21/opinion/in-greece-focus-on-justice.html?_r=1
The Greek debt confidence trick, by George Pappas
http://criticallegalthinking.com/2015/02/23/greek-debt-confidence-trick/
Posted by: Noirette | Feb 27 2015 12:25 utc | 46
@okie
PIAS == play it again sam
a belgian record label that had a great roster of artists back in the day – e.g., the legendary pink dots
Posted by: b real | Feb 27 2015 12:32 utc | 47
In Midst of War, Ukraine Becomes Gateway for Jihad
When he first became a fighter, there wasn’t any Internet or cell phones, or cameras on the street, or drones. Rizvan joined the brothers when the Soviet Union collapsed, and he went to fight for a better world, first against the Russians in Chechnya and Dagestan during the first Chechen war in the mid-1990s. He then moved to Azerbaijan, where he was eventually arrested in 2004 on suspicion of maintaining contact with al Qaeda.
This guy sounds like one of Graham Fuller’s CIA Chechens …
Ostensibly state-sanctioned, but not necessarily state-controlled, some have been supported by Ukrainian oligarchs, and others by private citizens. Less talked about, however, is the Dudayev battalion, named after the first president of Chechnya, Dzhokhar Dudayev, and founded by Isa Munayev, a Chechen commander who fought in two wars against Russia.
… less talked about … like the Tsarnaevs … supported by the CIA?
This article is by a Pole … not one of the Intercept’s staff … a (CIA) stringer? … who then wouldn’t be talking about the USA’s involvement in the Ukrainian civil war, would he?
Posted by: jfl | Feb 27 2015 12:33 utc | 48
We are losing”–Maidan die-hard toys with the idea of military dictatorship. Signs of discontent on the far right.
We are losing. We are losing because we are fighting an enemy which we do not want to defeat. The enemy is not the homegrown separatists, not Russian occupiers, and not even the entire “Russian world” of Putin. We are our own enemy number one: our cowardly short-sighted leaders and clumsy commanders; our new/old Rada, incapable of accepting the responsibility for the country; the mindless corruption which had become a part of our lives; our serf worldview which expects favors from a good master….
We need to influence the government. We need to insist. We need to argue. Through authoritative national representatives. Through the media. By meetings and demonstrations. Lawfully, but forcefully.
Speculative, but noteworthy, from Eric Zuesse, Ukraine Prepares for an Attack Against Russia notes the deployment of ABM’s.
The likeliest explanation of this would be that the new (ever since the February 2014 coup) anti-Russian Ukrainian Government intends to bring NATO in to invade Russia and to do this by provoking a limited attack from Russia that will then be repelled by these S-300s. After surviving Russia’s response, NATO would then claim Ukraine must be defended from Russia’s aggression; and, then, NATO would take over the task of eliminating Russia — which the present leaders of Ukraine (and their followers) have been very clear that they want to happen.
Posted by: rufus magister | Feb 27 2015 13:02 utc | 49
@46
Thanks for the links! The first and the last … the last two … were the only ones that worked for me … but the first and last seem to me to agree with Michael Hudson. I didn’t really read the NYTimes. I hope it works out …
Germans cry ‘follow the rules and we will loan you money’. ‘Play by the rules’ ergo be honest and you will be rewarded.
That sounds a lot like like Arbeit macht frei, doesn’t it? Didn’t work out so well last time. It seems that if the Greeks can hang in there they can make this work, and I sure hope they do.
“Europe is always geared to compromise… and Germany is ready for that”
As the reality of the alternative becomes more and more starkly delimited compromise will more and more seem to be the right gear? As in Ukraine?
Posted by: jfl | Feb 27 2015 13:33 utc | 50
Petri K. at 17. Good to see a round-up of the industrial decomposition in Ukraine, via the Saker. Posted about it a bit in the past.
From other news (fort russ etc.) one can gather that the trickle-down of lost jobs, pay cuts, etc. has suddenly speeded up because of the fall of the currency and rampant inflation. Btw, the previous currency was called the Kupon and it failed iirc in 1996. I read, supermarkets in Kiev limiting what each customer can buy – shops that are practically empty – hoarding has commenced – etc.
The food biz is collapsing: exports to Russia are very compromised (though not stopped entirely? idk) while imports obviously can’t be paid for now, though they are not vital (tea, cocoa, poultry from Poland, seeds, etc.) Ukr. can feed itself, but not when the country is in civil war, customers fly away and the needed support for agri (machines, fuel, fertilizer, transport, bank loans..) become moot or impossible, and part of the country is a dangerous, wrecked, wasteland. (Just cutting the Donbass off doesn’t solve any problems.) Iraq after the US invasion was in a similar sort of situation.
Imho small biz will now go under in a few weeks because family budgets have no spare cash at all. (I’m even leaving out paying for electricity, gas, etc.!) Imho the Kiev Gvmt. tried its utmost to preserve Kiev itself as a ‘normal’ place – see, we have a lovely, enchanting city, there are just some nasty terrorists in the East… and that effort has now failed, riots have already begun, many consequences will follow in cascades.
Unsurprisingly, it appears that Ukr’s food reserves have vanished. Like their gold 😉 fort russ:
http://tinyurl.com/ma353du
For reference, Ukr. exports 2012. Imports can be seen there too.
http://atlas.cid.harvard.edu/explore/tree_map/export/ukr/all/show/2012/
Posted by: Noirette | Feb 27 2015 16:11 utc | 51
BritishBushitCunt Bill Hayton
“These countries (in Southeast Asia) are petrified of what you are doing. Stop doing it and make some friends,”
lets start with….
japan
**************
china, japan are on collision course…just u wait when that facist abe get to dump *artical nine* in the constitution which constraint japanese remilitarisation.
but it neednt be that way.
there were numerous occassions when the two countries were well on the path to reconciliation.
it didnt happen, thanks to the mofo fukus [fuck uk + us ]
*in September, 2009, a year and a half later, Hatoyama Yukio proposed that it be transformed into a “Sea of Fraternity” (Yuai no umi),5 to which Hu is said to have responded positively. Three months later, in the heyday of the newly elected Democratic Party government in Japan, Ozawa Ichiro led a, 600-strong, semi-official friendship mission to Beijing. That moment was the high point of a mood of empathetic cooperation. [0]
It pointed to a possible way forward, one in which sovereignty issues would be shelved and the development of resources resolved cooperatively (as indeed foreshadowed by several agreements reached and to some extent implemented during the early 21st century years), evolving gradually into some kind of regional community. The mood did not last long, however, and by 2013 it seemed an age away* [1]
no prize for guessing who’r the spoilers,
*the unitedsnakes has been manipulating Japan since the second world war in order to “eliminate” prime ministers who sought to develop better relations with Beijing.
To achieve its control of Japan’s political processes, Washington has interfered with media coverage, encouraged opposition parties, twisted public opinion and even brought down governments by “eliminating” key cabinet members, Magosaki claims.
Two of the Japanese politicians who he claims have been hounded for their independent thoughts have been Yukio Hatoyama, who lasted
less then nine months as prime minister until June 2010, and Ichiro Ozawa, whose reputation has been tarnished by a financial scandal and a legal case*
[2]
with all japanese doves shot down, facists like abe have the field all to themselves. the asshole doesnt need much convincing to join the anti chinese bandwagon.
Japan’s Abe Kowtows to U.S. Imperial Elite
*Last October a delegation of the U.S. imperial elite slithered into Japan, led by Richard Armitage, former Undersecretary of State and Joseph Nye, Dean Emeritus of the Kennedy School of Empire – er, Government- at Dear Old Harvard. They came armed with a diatribe which they had co-authored for the Center For Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) the previous August wherein they belittled Japan for its pacifist stance, which put it in the humiliating status of “second-tier” nation. But the Armitage/Nye screed made it clear that Japan could rise from this degrading condition by taking up the cudgels against China. Not mentioned was that such a move could
prove costly for the Land of the Rising Sun. But not to worry, Japanese brothers, Armitage and Nye implied, the U.S. Empire would back its Asian puppet from the other side of the Pacific, something that might one day come to be known as “leading from afar.” The Armitage/Nye paper was a transparent attempt to goad Japan into belligerence against China.* [3]
in 1939, japan was baited into attacking the unitedsnakes by murcunts imposed sanction and oil embargo.
now the facist abe is enthusiastically abetting fukus to do a japan on china !
with neighbours like these…..
to add insult to injury, the perpetrators of this nefarious divide and conquer scheme , that mofo fukus are blaming china for all the troubles.
this is even worse than *robber crying robbery*, a standard fukus m.o.
im lost for words ,
how about, * a rapist blaming the victim for seduction *
what about india, nepal, sri lanka, myanmar, malaysia, thailand, philippines, vn, oz, sk, nk…….
are u saying the chinese have suddenly gone mad, going all out to pick fights with all its neighbours…just when the murcunts are coming in a big way looking for trouble , asshole ?
p.s.
i’d like to ask such question on BritishBushitCunt except the assholes aint game for a fair debate.
hehehe
[0]
trouble is, such fraternity amongst asians are *unacceptable * to the thugs in fukus, dont forget these assholes thrive on conflicts. if there arnt no fires, how are these professional arsonists gonna make a buck ?
[1]
http://www.japanfocus.org/-Gavan-McCormack/3947
[2]
http://www.4thmedia.org/2012/10/a-japanese-ex-diplomat-accues-the-sino-japanese-rift-part-of-us-agenda-the-truth-behind-post-war-history/
[3]
http://dissidentvoice.org/2013/02/japans-abe-kowtows-to-u-s-imperial-elite/
Posted by: denk | Feb 27 2015 17:18 utc | 52
Poland Plans to Send Military Instructors to Ukraine
About how many Polish military do you need to train one Ukinazi Banderite on how to turn tail on horse?
Posted by: Lone Wolf | Feb 27 2015 18:35 utc | 53
Here’s another fanatic lunatic who we just happen to find wearing US sports gear. Jihadi John in his Pittsburgh Pirates hat. Reminds me of that fascist fat dead bastard Muzychko in his Raiders gear.
I’m not saying this shows some physical connection to the United States, but clearly, I think, it shows a psychic one. The symbols of US culture around the globe are a stand in for zero-sum competition, domination and violence. And this is why, I believe, it appeals to these far-right fanatics.
The way a human chooses to adorn themselves is key to showing their psychological make up. It is silly to consider it otherwise. Consider the following from the NYTimes Science section:
“I love the idea of trying to figure out why, when we put on certain clothes, we might more readily take on a role and how that might affect our basic abilities,” … There is a huge body of work on embodied cognition … It has long been known that “clothing affects how other people perceive us as well as how we think about ourselves,” … But the deeper question, the researchers said, is whether the clothing you wear affects your psychological processes. Does your outfit alter how you approach and interact with the world?
Clothes invade the body and brain, putting the wearer into a different psychological state, he said. link
There is certainly deep meaning in that we find these guys wearing trappings of US culture. The worst of these characters tend to show some affinity to the USA. Do they feel as though they are standing in for the United States as a dominating power? What is clear is the US culture resonates deeply with their extremely violent personalities.
Because dress is used to make inferences about others, dress can be consciously selected to manage the inferences drawn about one individual by other individuals or put another way, to manage social perceptions of self….
They found that participants described themselves in a way that was consistent with how they were dressed. Thus, the clothing worn by these individuals influenced their thoughts about themselves.
The Social Psychology of Dress
Posted by: guest77 | Feb 27 2015 18:45 utc | 54
@43 noirette – thanks! it is a multi-answer which is a good one in that there are no clear answers with one being left to surmise.
@45 chipnikh.. that is a more direct viewpoint that i also share. good info too.
ukraine currency to us$ for the week..
USD/UAH close:27.24000 low:27.22936 high:33.73333
Posted by: james | Feb 27 2015 20:25 utc | 55
Just read those 2 intercept pieces and I am just going to declare that I’ll never go to the intercept again. Greenwald can ride his NSA scooped millions for the next decade for all I care
Posted by: PeteCaroll | Feb 27 2015 21:01 utc | 56
Boris Nemtsov was just murdered in Moscow, 3 hours after he gave an interview calling to attend anti-Putins march. And 2 weeks after he said he is afraid of his life. Ladies and gentlemen, the oprychnina long awaited by the Russian fascist circles is officially back!
Posted by: Ulster | Feb 27 2015 22:02 utc | 57
@57 And the trolls are already running around to proclaim it to the mountains! Funny, like everything else that happens these days, the only people who benefit from such moves are the US and their puppets.
Fuck off Ulster.
Here’s the cv of the party the guy started. Neoliberal, privatisation, Russia back to the dark agees of the 1990s etc etc etc. I, frankly, couldn’t care less. He was clearly a pawn, maybe the West decided to cash in his final chip. I certainly don’t think Putin, with his huge popularity, gives a quick fart about such scumbags.
The Union of Right Forces political party, or SPS (Russian: Сою́з Пра́вых Сил, СПС/Soyuz Pravykh Sil), is a Russian neoliberal political public organization and formerly party initially founded as an electoral bloc in 1999 and associated with free market reforms, privatization, and the legacy of the “young reformers” of the 1990s: Anatoly Chubais, Boris Nemtsov, and Yegor Gaidar. The party was officially self-dissolved in 2008. Nikita Belykh was the party’s last leader in 2005-2008.
Posted by: guest77 | Feb 27 2015 22:08 utc | 58
@58 An opposition politician, member of parliament murdered in the capital. But guest77 doesn’t care because he was neoliberal. If you didn’t get it, this is exactly “back to the dark agees of the 1990s”, dumbass…
Posted by: Ulster | Feb 27 2015 22:35 utc | 59
@51
The US/EU broke it, they own it. Fat chance. The US hasn’t fixed anything it’s destroyed since the Marshall Plan. And the EU states have always managed to ‘hang in there’ until they, too, become part of the rubble.
The US is still promoting more war in Ukraine … its the US’ ‘solution’ worldwide, after all. The EU … Germany … is devoted to guarding the banksters’ sacred money bin at home … I imagine they haven’t even considered what they’re going to do after the “impossible” Grexit.
Posted by: jfl | Feb 27 2015 22:53 utc | 60
@59 ulster.. he wasn’t a member of parliament at the time of his death. he was a long time ago. “In September 2014, Nemtsov wrote in the Kyiv Post: “…current events indicate that the most nightmarish, the most bloody scenario of fratricidal war is already developing. This is not our war, this is not your war, this is not the war of 20-year old paratroopers sent out there. This is Vladimir Putin’s war.”
btw – back to the dark ages sounds more like what nemtsov might have been supporting. “Nemtsov, Milov and Ryzhkov “dragged a lot of billions along with Berezovsky and those who are now in prison… They have been pulled away from the manger, they had been spending heavily, and now they want to go back and fill their pockets”.
quotes from wikipedia..
Posted by: james | Feb 27 2015 22:55 utc | 61
quote from rt ” Russian President Vladimir Putin was “immediately informed” about Nemtsov’s assassination, presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said.
“Putin has stressed that this brutal murder has all [the] signs of a contract murder and is extremely provocative,” Peskov said.
“The president has expressed his deep condolences to the family of tragically deceased Nemtsov,” he added.”
Posted by: james | Feb 27 2015 22:57 utc | 62
@62 Surely he was informed even before it actually happened.
Posted by: Ulster | Feb 27 2015 23:06 utc | 63
50
As my ex-wife used to complain, “Why can’t you compromise and just do everything my way?”
Posted by: ChipNikh | Feb 27 2015 23:09 utc | 64
The breakdown of Ukraine proceeds apace.
Fort Russ: Partial Food Rationing Introduced in Kiev
This is one reason why the freedom fighters have suspended their advance.
263 surely it was a contract hit put out by the same folks bringing down mh17 and similar such actions.
Posted by: james | Feb 27 2015 23:32 utc | 66
51
We will soon see a humanitarian catastrophe occur, both the Donbass Front and the Aleppo Front, perhaps even the Athens Front, in, for lack of a better acronym, Deep Government’s Final Putzch (DGFP) for control of global economy. They are opening death Fronts around the world at an accelerating rate. This is the QEn Stage of the Collapsing of Civilization.
It won’t occur all at once, but in stages, like a girdled oak tree, branches dying, bark splitting. ‘Civilization’ can be many things, just as can be ‘Climate’. You could hardly say the 20th Century was ‘civilized’, except perhaps in context to previous European centuries. But if you read the journals: Memoirs of Zehir Ed Din Muhammed Baber, his Mongol armies swept from steppe city-state to city-state defeating their resisting armies, then they replenished their food, armor and horses, took their agreed upon tribute in gold and silver, and left the citizens inside the walls and peons outside in the fields in peace! For all we know, the Mayans entertained their captured refuseniks, and merely killed one a day for civic pride as the ruling elite, as if to say, ‘The sun never sets on the Mayan Empire without a refusenik being put to the sword.’
That was what passed for ‘civilization’ and civilizing influence of ‘war’ before the Nordic Christians invented Odin, an invisible spirit in the sky that ate (non-white) souls, then began putting non-believers either under their yokes, or under their swords, en masse. Today Christianity is replaced, or supplanted, or woven deeply within Neo Mammonism and even Luciferianism, the deliberate, planned eugenic genocide of entire populations.
“They are all just useless mouths to feed.” Wow, how succinct can you get?!
“You are either with US, or you are with the Walking Dead.” Pretty clear dogma!
“We won, you lost. It’s just business, get over it. NOW GO DIE SOMEWHERE ELSE.” Got it?
As the ‘Civilized’ then, while civilization still remains, we have to prepare to help the millions and millions of refugees, because Mammon’s Maw has no use for them in their war factories, just as it has no use for 120,000,000 jobless and/or homeless USA-ians, just as many millions of Chinese factory workers won’t be returning to the coast after New Years.
Instead of watching this Slow Motion Apocalypse like the nightly news or some massively multiplayer online RPG, what’s our plan for Kiev? What’s our plan for Damascus? What’s our plan for Athens? How are we going to work together to prevent this looming DGFP Holocaust?
Or are we just going to watch, and forget, like goldfish, hoping for a few fish flakes?
Posted by: ChipNikh | Feb 27 2015 23:45 utc | 68
@james #66:
A false flag in Moscow now. This shows that the White House/CIA are getting really desperate. And we have no way of knowing whether Obama approved this hit, since the US government is now less transparent than the Russian government.
All in all a positive delevopment, since it shows that the Empire is at its whit’s end.
https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/02/26/midst-war-ukraine-becomes-gateway-europe-jihad/
Interesting article.
Posted by: Thirdeye | Feb 28 2015 0:16 utc | 70
It’s simply too early for anyone to theorize about the Nemtsov murder. Could have been a rival from any quarter, business or political.
Posted by: Thirdeye | Feb 28 2015 0:26 utc | 71
P.S. to #69
By the way, these Russian “liberals” are as crazy as Ukrainian nationalists. Take this remark by Anatoly Chubais:
Небезызвестный всем нам Эрнесто Че Гевара на самом деле был в постоянной переписке со Степаном Бандерой, лидером украинских националистов, украинской повстанческой армии. Че Гевара изучал опыт партизанского движения. … И отряды НКВД, чекистов не могли ничего сделать. И Степан Бандера очень был уважаем Че Геварой, они вступили в переписку.
(The not unknown to us Ernesto Che Guevara in fact was in a continuous correspondence with Steven Bandera, the leader of Ukrainian nationalists, the Ukrainian rebel army. Che Guevara studied the experience of this partisan movement. … And the corps of the NKVD, the Chekists could not do anything. And Steven Bandera was very admired by Che Guevara, they entered into a correspondence.)
Care to comment, guest77? How plausible does that sound to you?
@Ulster@63
@62 Surely he was informed even before it actually happened.
By your posts I assume you have already added another atrocity to Putin’s pile, but your logic is faulty. I have no doubt Putin can command the killing of anyone, anywhere in the world, in his struggle for Russia’s existence, but for his performance facing the Empire of Chaos at Russia’s helm, anyone can surely attest Putin is not an idiot. At this juncture, no one benefits more from the killing of any oppposition member in Russia than the NED-supported Russian NGOs the CIA is breeding for regime change. For Putin, it would have been the utmost imbecility to kill Nemtsov of anyone else in the opposition, while enjoying vast pupular support. Without this killing, the Russian opposition would have remained as irrelevant and marginal as usual. Now they have been provided with a rallying banner, one they will try to get all the mileage possible, including the possibility of escalating the methods of the opposition to a more “active” level (they are killing us, have to resist, clandestine training, hit-and-run, CIA favorite game, coming soon to a (war) theater near you.) CIA needs to divert Russia’s attention from the Ukraine, no better time to create internal unrest.
Posted by: Lone Wolf | Feb 28 2015 0:55 utc | 73
The murder of Nemtsov, to me, is two things. First, it’s a transparent false flag. It’s a pathetic attempt to create a martyr. Who benefits? Scare the Europeans and “blame Putin”. Who would want that? I find the timing interesting. This will be played up in the upcoming rally in March. Second, it’s smacks of desperation. Someone is in a panic. Things aren’t going according to plan for the Fourth Reich…and frankly, I couldn’t be happier. I expect more false flags shortly. Perhaps they will go for broke and pull one in the “Homeland”. Justify DHS and “blame Putin”. They are liable to try anything. And I mean anything.
Posted by: Scott | Feb 28 2015 1:00 utc | 74
In memory of the late Leonard Nimoy, best known as Spock. My favorite Beastie Boys song, Intergalactic. “Your knees’ll start shaking and your fingers pop/Like a pinch on the neck of Mr. Spock.” The visuals owe a little more to Japanese sci-fi.
Live long and prosper.
Posted by: rufus magister | Feb 28 2015 1:05 utc | 75
And to be a total cynic — doesn’t attribution of Nemstov’s demise to Putin give the machinations alleged in the “Malofeyev memo” an air of “truthiness?”
Posted by: rufus magister | Feb 28 2015 1:13 utc | 76
I can guarantee that posters here would not be as blase about the killing of an opposition figure in the US, Europe, or another Western client state. If an outspoken critic of Obama had been gunned down a few blocks from the White House, we would have no problem naming a guilty party.
It’s amazing to me that some people believe that a person like Nemtsov, who made plenty of enemies in Russia, HAD to have been killed by the Satanic, omniscient USA to make Putin look bad. Nope, he didn’t make a career of antagonizing anybody in Russia who might have wanted him dead. We solved the case, guys, good job.
Posted by: Almand | Feb 28 2015 1:22 utc | 77
In addition, I’m sure this guy had plenty of dealings with the Mafia and other unsavory characters. All reports call it a professional hit, which we all know is the great specialty of private sector organized crime
Posted by: Almand | Feb 28 2015 1:24 utc | 78
@76 rufus
I’m cynical too. rufus. So let’s make a deal. I’ll believe the “Malofeyev memo” if you believe the “Nigerian yellowcake” memo. I suspect we are in agreement as to the source of both. I read in Zerohedge he was shot multiple times in the chest while strolling near the Kremlin accompanied by a Ukrainian “model”. Shot from a passing car. That’s a tight grouping from a moving vehicle. The shooter was a pro. I suspect he’s either in an Embassy or on his way home by now. Did she suggest the stroll? This death is convenient to many agendas. On another topic, I see China has used unusually strong language in backing Russia in Ukraine. A warning?
Posted by: Scott | Feb 28 2015 1:28 utc | 79
I’ve also read his Wiki page mentioning his death was updated at 12:13AM but he was killed at 2:00AM. That seems too obvious. Can anyone confirm?
Posted by: Scott | Feb 28 2015 1:46 utc | 80
Since I brought up Warsaw Ghetto by Nitzer Ebb before, I also listened to Hearts and Minds. That sounds just like Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft. In English, the name of that band is “German American friendship”. The German who turned me on to this band said that the name of the band is funny, because there is no such thing as German-American friendship.
Here is a DAF hit, topical today:
Der Mussolline
And here is my favorite DAF track:
Ich und die Wirklichkeit(I and reality>)
Ich und ich im wirklichen Leben
Ich und ich in der Wirklichkeit
Ich und ich in der echten Welt
Ich und ich
Ich fühle mich so seltsam
Die Wirklichkeit kommt
Die Wirklichkeit kommt
(Me and me in the real life
Me and me in the real world
I and I
I feel so strange
Reality comes
Reality comes)
Up there with Van der Graaf Generator, I would say.
Scott at 79 — I can’t take a bad deal. Malofeyev might have written it — it’s long odds, of course. No way is the yellowcake story true. Maybe the same source, could be an independent sub-contractor, “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?” I’ll be alert for details on the China story.
Almand at 77 — While not quite as common as in the years of privatization, violence by and amongst the oligarchs remains a problem. Payback is a possibility. I would agree with Thirdeye (at 71), large no. of possibilities, little info., to early to single out any.
Whether true or not, however, some will blame it on Putin or his associates. And they’ll be pushing the “memo” too.
Posted by: rufus magister | Feb 28 2015 2:57 utc | 82
@82 rufus
I read about the China statement on Ukraine in Zerohedge. As for the memo? It’s appearance and the death of Nemtsov seem an odd coincidence. Now, considering all the shady people Nemtsov cavorted with…it could have been any one of them. But I look at where it occurred. The symbolism of location and timing. That smells to me as more design than mere revenge or personal. I wait with interest to see what the FSB turns up. The next few days should be interesting.
Posted by: Scott | Feb 28 2015 3:11 utc | 83
@Scott #83:
This was a fail by the FSB for not being able to thwart this. I doubt that we will ever learn more about who was behind this than we already know.
But let’s be honest here, we’re not going to hear the end of this for a while, and we’re going to be getting two very different accounts of what happened. No matter what conclusion the investigation turns up, we all know what is going to be presented in the Western media.
Posted by: Almand | Feb 28 2015 3:19 utc | 85
@Almand # 85:
we’re not going to hear the end of this for a while
I doubt it. This is a pitiful false flag. One person from the “political opposition” shot. No way that is going to get traction in the West, with everything else that’s going on. As I suggested before, that the CIA felt that it needed to pull this flag indicates that the Empire feels that it is backed into a corner. Ordering an obvious and pitiful false flag like this is an indication of weakness. (My guess is that the CIA hired a Russian hit man to kill Nemtsov. USG contracts out lots of things nowadays.)
@ several above, re: Nemtsov:
Investigators are considering multiple scenarios of Nemtsov’s murder
… from the personal to the political. But as Almand observes @ 85, false flag or not the Western corporate media will milk it in thoroughly predictable fashion.
Posted by: Vintage Red | Feb 28 2015 3:42 utc | 87
Scott at 83 — Thanks. Russia Insider has reposted a few bits from them, Zerohedge has some good stuff.
Demian at 84 — Could be a fail by intelligence or police. But if it’s too early to say who and why, still too early to call foul. Of course, it would be a serious matter if the security services could have prevented it, or elements were complicit in (overlooking) it.
Fort Russ has Izvestiya’s latest on the murder, along with comments by translator J. Hawk.
Posted by: rufus magister | Feb 28 2015 3:47 utc | 88
Confirmation that Turkey is aligning with Eurasia:
http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/land/weapons/2015/02/19/turkey-missile-defense-nato-integrate-china-cpmiec-aster-patriot/23667183/
“Turkey Won’t Link Air Defense System to NATO”
Stars & Stripes using the Novaya Gazeta’s Russian version of “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” which shows Russia’s evil plan for world domination…
After year of conflict, Ukrainians believe they’re fighting for survival
The war is the ultimate source of problems. It’s a war for which, according to an article published this week by the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, Russian officials began planning when it became clear that the corrupt and Russia-friendly regime of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was crumbling. The article noted that the Russian plans for destabilizing Ukraine were drafted between Feb. 4 and Feb. 15, 2014, with an ultimate aim of splitting Ukraine into various autonomous parts. Yanukovych fled Feb. 22.
Posted by: Lone Wolf | Feb 28 2015 3:50 utc | 90
@79 Scott
Shot from a passing car. That’s a tight grouping from a moving vehicle.
I read that the vehicle stopped and several people got out and shot…7x.
Posted by: Benu | Feb 28 2015 3:56 utc | 91
@75 rufus magister
Love the Boys…and Another Green World from your previous post…anything Eno. (If I had to do the desert island thing and only choose one artist, it would be Eno.) I especially like Taking Tiger Mountain and Fripp/Eno Equatorial Stars.
And I am a Trekkie (original series, please) who is sad to see Nimoy go, but man…what a life! “Fascinating.”
I think that in his honor Mr. Benu and I will watch “The Balcony” tonight. Nimoy played the revolutionary named Roger the Dwarf. From a play by Jean Genet. I daresay many if not most of you MoAers would like this film, it is revolutionary in many ways.
Posted by: Benu | Feb 28 2015 4:12 utc | 92
@91 Benu
Yes I’ve read the stop and shoot as well. I’ve read both. Considering CCTV has plate numbers off vehicular traffic…why exit a vehicle? Why expose yourself? If you stopped, why wasn’t the brass policed? Multiple shooters? Outside the vehicle? They’re on video. More details will be forthcoming. Right now I think info is still swirling.
@84 Demian
I’m not sure it’s a fail by the FSB. Nemtov was a minor troublemaker. He didn’t have any personal bodyguards. So why should FSB take protecting him upon themselves? Surely we can’t expect them to be responsible for the protection of every western-backed anti-Putin puppet. And just thinking, if they took it upon themselves to protect him and he still got shot…wouldn’t that perhaps implicate them? Bearing in mind the propaganda will fly regardless. And as an aside, If you can read Russian (I can’t) is there anything out there besides what I can get from the Saker, RI or Fort Russ? Yes Damien…I’m linguistically challenged.
Posted by: Scott | Feb 28 2015 4:25 utc | 93
Demian. Sorry Demian. I miss-spelled your named. I’m eating cupcakes and trying to think and type. That’s two things too many for me. I apologize for the slipup.
Posted by: Scott | Feb 28 2015 4:30 utc | 94
02/27/2015
Any review of the military campaign today was a rarity. It Seems, the Ukrainian forces came to removing some weaponry off the front line. However, combatant “Dikiy” (“Untamed”) told of punitive troops consolidating the hardware under Dokuchayevsk and Volnovakha (Donetsk Republic’s south-west) and that that is the place to become hot soon.
“Dikiy” assumed that the punitive troops do not even consider to pull the hardware off hamlets Tonen`koye and Vodino (north, the airport – Avdeevka), and that it is too early for Donetsk to be complacent.
Posted by: Fete | Feb 28 2015 4:51 utc | 95
@Scott #93:
Nemtov was a minor troublemaker. He didn’t have any personal bodyguards. So why should FSB take protecting him upon themselves?
I was reflecting a comment that the Saker made. I am trying to reconnect with Russian Orthodoxy. And as far as I can tell, what it is natural for a Russian Orthodox to do in this case is first to regret the loss of human life, and then to feel responsible for it. Analysis comes after.
@93 Scott
I know pretty much everything is bound to be caught on video here in the States, but is that also true of Moscow?
Posted by: Benu | Feb 28 2015 5:12 utc | 97
Fifth Columnist shot dead in Russia.
Russia opposition politician Boris Nemtsov shot dead
A leading Russian opposition politician, former Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov, has been shot dead in Moscow, Russian officials say.
An unidentified attacker in a car shot Mr Nemtsov four times in the back as he crossed a bridge in view of the Kremlin, police say.
He died hours after appealing for support for a march on Sunday in Moscow against the war in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has condemned the murder, the Kremlin says.
President Putin has assumed “personal control” of the investigation into the killing, said his spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
It “bears the hallmarks of a contract killing,” said Mr Peskov.
In a recent interview, Mr Nemtsov had said he feared Mr Putin would have him killed because of his opposition to the war in Ukraine.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31669061
Posted by: okie farmer | Feb 28 2015 5:21 utc | 98
Benu at 92 —
I saw the American Repertory Theatre’s production of “The Balcony” back in the 80’s. The production moved the scene to Central America, had music by Ruben Blades. Nothing beats live theater. Did not know about the movie.
First series definitely the best, but the Borg are the creepiest villians. A preview, maybe? Spock was always my favorite character.
It’s a tough call, but I gotta go with “Before and After Science” as my favorite. There are a number of really good tracks on “Tiger Mountain,” esp. the title track. “No Pussyfooting” is my favorite Fripp/Eno record — that glass room is so bloody cool. “AGW” has some of Fripp’s best work, IMHO.
Eno’s recent album with John Cale, “Wrong Way Up,” found favor w/ Mrs. M. And he did a good turn on Bryan Ferry’s “Frantic.”
Most of his ambient work doesn’t appeal to me. But I’ve always liked this track from “Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks,” Silver Morning.
Posted by: rufus magister | Feb 28 2015 5:29 utc | 99
Fifth Columnist case dismissed it Argentina.
A federal judge in Argentina has dismissed a controversial case against President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and her foreign minister.
They had been accused of covering up alleged Iranian involvement in a bomb attack against a Jewish centre in 1994.
Judge Daniel Rafecas has concluded that there was not enough evidence to pursue the charges.
The accusation came from special prosecutor Alberto Nisman, who was found dead last month in his flat.
Judge Rafecas said he was throwing out the case after carefully examining Mr Nisman’s 350-page report.
There was no proof that an agreement signed by the Argentine government with Iran in January 2013 was an attempt to shield the involvement of senior Iranian officials in the attack, the judge said.
‘No legal basis’
The agreement was rejected by the Iranian government two months later and was never approved by Iran’s parliament.
Defence Minister Agustin Rossi welcomed Judge Rafecas’ ruling saying: “We have always said that Nisman’s claims had no legal basis.”
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-31650434
Posted by: okie farmer | Feb 28 2015 5:49 utc | 100