@Neretva’43
If you are lurking here about… Ignorant as I am of the juman scale course of WWII I had no idea what Neretva ’43 signified.
What is your connection Neretva ’43 … chetnik, judging by the tenor of your comments?

Posted by: jfl | Jul 12 2015 10:15 utc | 104

Excellent Scott Jay: Lessons from the Greek tragedy. One of his comments:

Only two members of SYRIZA’s Left Platform voted against Tsipras’s proposal. Many even voted for it because they did not want SYRIZA to lose its majority. Others, such as Left Platform leader Panagiotis Lafazanis, abstained. Rather than use every parliamentary tactic they had to sabotage the deal, split SYRIZA, bring down the government and do everything they possibly could to pull the emergency break on this disastrous plan, they chose to maintain SYRIZA’s hold on parliament and their position in it. This has been the story of the self-inflicted death of various left-wing movements for at least 100 years–they are too committed to their own position to risk losing their position by employing its full power. If this is the left wing of SYRIZA, it is no wonder Tsipras felt that he could pass the austerity plan.

Posted by: fairleft | Jul 12 2015 10:22 utc | 106

fairleft et al.
I think that critics of Tsipras/Syriza are not taking into account the significant changes that have occurred after the referendum. As Tsipras told the Greek parliament: “For the first time, debt restructuring is on the table”. This is largely because Greece now has the support of the US and France (and Italy and Luxembourg too, it seems) who recognize that the debt is unpayable and that a disaffected, chaotic Greece is against their interests.
Importantly, the Troika had promised debt relief and new investment but would never put any such promise in writing. And promises of debt write-downs had been made in the past but never materialized. It is only with the assurance and support of these other countries that Greece can rely on a debt restructuring to occur.
It seems clear now that Greece will get either a third bailout that includes debt restructuring and investment or a managed GRexit which means default, debt restructuring, and humanitarian & technical assistance to make the transition. Either of these is MUCH better than what Greece faced 5 months ago: unending austerity or the disaster of an abrupt, disorderly GRexit.
IMO that is why so many of the ‘Left Platform’ (the most lefty of Syriza MPs) didn’t vote against the proposal (they abstained). Even Varoufakis, who said before the referendum that he’d rather “cut off his arm” than vote for the Troika ‘take-it or leave-it’ proposal, voted FOR the new proposal. So Tsipras is NOT a sell-out. Syriza are NOT lame stooges/”intermediaries”/etc. Neither have failed Greece or the Greek people.
I think that the confusion lies in how the politics gets played out on the surface. Germany will not accept a climb-down and Europe as a whole doesn’t want to make a deal that will be a ‘template’ for other countries to seek debt relief. So, to remain in the Euro, Greece must accept some public humiliation (what looks like a bad deal and walk-back) while a side deal is done behind the scenes.

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Jul 12 2015 14:07 utc | 108

@107
‘ This is largely because Greece now has the support of the US and France (and Italy and Luxembourg too, it seems) who recognize that the debt is unpayable and that a disaffected, chaotic Greece is against their interests. ‘
A write-down of the debt in writing – 30%, 40%, 50% ? I don’t think so. I think it’s like George XLI’s verbal promise to Gorbachev that NATO would not expand into Eastern Europe … the only thing you can count on the US for is lies, double-dealing, and warfare – financial and terrorist-by-proxy.

Posted by: jfl | Jul 12 2015 14:31 utc | 110

Keynes’ [ideas] depended on unending growth/exploitation with wage and productivity gains to drive demand after the stimulus, none of which can or will exist in our End-Stage Capitalism …

A Keynesian economic approach is the best possible for any market-based economy to take, whether it is market socialist or market capitalist, and regardless of its ‘stage’. But Keynesianism does not deal with political phenomena, for example that Big Finance and inherited wealth seem perhaps inevitably to dominate the power and politics of mature capitalism, that ‘the investment community’ is frustrated by mature economies’ 2% profits/growth (though reliable 2% growth in a mature economy is in no way a problem for the ‘non-investment community’), and therefore it turns for extraordinary growth to ‘rent-forcing’, asset-stripping, labor ‘deforming’ and otherwise funneling the wealth of the bottom 80% of the population to the top 5%.
And the preceding political picture is exactly what we are now dealing with. I think that what’s left of democracy should be fighting for the common sense Keynesian approach of, for example, running deficits when most Western economies and their people are unemployed and their wages stagnating. (Do you have a better idea?) The past 7-8 years has been an ideal time for deficit-financed economic growth, since the only limit is inflation, which is virtually non-existent.
If you point out those ‘straw men’ I’m happy to respond to that accusation, but I won’t do your argumentative job for you.

Posted by: fairleft | Jul 12 2015 16:51 utc | 112

yemen“>https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/07/10/yemen-airstrike/”>yemen bombings and saudi-usa bullshite..

Posted by: james | Jul 13 2015 1:47 utc | 114

It also found that coalition aircraft attacked and seriously damaged at least five main markets in Saada.
….“As with the residential houses, multiple strikes on some of the markets suggest that they were the intended targets,” the report said. “Markets are normally civilian objects and should not be attacked. Human Rights Watch saw no evidence indicating that the markets had been used for military purposes, such as for the storage of significant munitions.”
Moreover, Human Rights Watch investigators found evidence at the scene of the strikes that U.S.-made bombs were used in the attacks.
At a government building in Saada, Human Rights Watch said, it photographed “the remnants of an MK-83 air-dropped 1,000-pound bomb made in the U.S.”
The United States is not a member of the Saudi-led coalition but has provided logistical support, including aerial refueling for attack aircraft.
Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/world/article25835662.html#storylink=cpy

Posted by: james | Jul 13 2015 2:06 utc | 116

@116
Why? I can only conclude that the US decided the Saudis had to learn how to use all that US military hardware they’ve bought and how to coordinate with the US Wehrmacht while doing so as well, so – not having an occupied population and occupied territories on which to practice like its evil Israeli twin – the US suggested the Saudis use Yemen.
  israelis:Judaeism::wahabists:Islam.
The Israelis have arranged for the US to pay for their Israeli Wehrmacht while the KSA fuels the US Wehrmacht in return for not being knocked off by the US/Israeli Axis. So far. And the KSA spends grillions for US weapons, and is now actually learning how to use them … against whom, I wonder?

Posted by: jfl | Jul 13 2015 2:22 utc | 118

… against whom, I wonder?
Posted by: jfl | Jul 12, 2015 10:22:16 PM | 118
Iran.
I can hardly wait.
There’s nothing quite as LOL as a good ol’ Saudi-Israelia suicide bombing twofer…

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jul 13 2015 2:52 utc | 120

New Cold War also has a report on Mukachevo.

Posted by: rufus magister | Jul 13 2015 12:04 utc | 122

@122 arbat.. wow.. rt really has legs!!! freaks a lot of financial oligarchs out or something..
don’t worry about the west trying to brainwash russian citizens.. they start with western citizens like yourself first!!!

Posted by: james | Jul 13 2015 19:56 utc | 124

* I believe [sic] their mistreatment of the Tibetans and Uighurs is worse. So I wonder still, despite your assertions and assurances, what’s up in Xinjiang.*
xinjiang is more militarised than ever…..i wonder why ?
even in beijing, the cops have started carrying sidearms for the first time, after spades of brutal attacks by xin militants.
thank you very much, murcunts.
many han taxi drivers refuse to take uighurs passengers these days, partly out of fear , partly due to rising resentment on the recurrent violence.
a han nanny who used to babysit for her uighur neighbor no longer does it, the warm relation bet the families has turned cold, they no longer speak to each other.
thank you very much,…..
meanwhile, to *stem* the tide of violence, the ccp has ordered more restrictions on religious rituals and mass gatherings, some critics think these are actually counter productive measures which would invoke more resentment.
to be sure, such policies provide more ammunitions to the likes of wsj, rfa, cnn, where talking heads solemny inform its readers *far from accomodating to the uighurs aspirations, [sic] the chinese are ramping up their repression in xinjiang*
hmm
the turks are attacking chinese,
thank you very much…

Posted by: denk | Jul 15 2015 7:07 utc | 126

arbat at 123 —
I don’t get it. The people that joked “There is no news in Pravda and no truth in Izvestiya” is now solely reliant on the monolithic state media? The culture that produced samizdat is now composed totally of couch potatoes, devoid of curiosity?
Congrats, it looks like post-Soviet Russia did Westernize, after all. Too bad about the old “thick” journals.

Posted by: rufus magister | Jul 16 2015 2:11 utc | 128

jfl 127
a *terminally cynical* ctitic would’ve wondered if all these talk about *evil ccp banning ramandan* is just more psyops to rile up the international jihadists agaisnt china?
even if the beleaguered chinese govn had really implemented such *shooting themselves in the foot* snafu , to call its desparate bid to stem the cia sponsored jihad as *suppressing dissent* or *hegemonic* is truely worthy of a wall street journal editorial ,no less. !
china has a shortage of arable land while russia has a woefully underultilised siberia land mass, moscow lease a minute dot out of this immense vastness to the chinese for farming.
the chinese find a way to alleviate their problem, the russians get extra income.
a win win deal by any standard.
so this is your *proof of* chinese aspiration to *world hegemony* ?
sounds a lot like those shills who peddle the *chinese gonna take over siberia* fear mongering in various forums,.
u’r definetly wsj editor material !

Posted by: denk | Jul 16 2015 15:33 utc | 130

@128 These people are still there, you can find them in Novaya Gazeta, TV Dozhd and on blogs. They are threatened, killed, beaten, arrested, but they still do think and write for themselves about the madness that surrounds us. However, the majority of the population takes all their news from TV and this is precisely why all TV stations were forcibly taken over by the government since 2000.

Posted by: Arbat | Jul 16 2015 22:08 utc | 132

@133 But they both have the same paymasters, so the effect is nearly the same – so what you see as a pathology in the West, is an advantage in Russia?
the most likely candidate might well be the then governor – this is precisely why I started my comment with the “further news from the lunatic asylum” phrase.
So any number of hats are in the ring – how do people in your circles explain the boasting by separatist in Russian media about downing an alleged An-26 precisely on July 17? As well as downing a number of military airplanes in the previous days, flying up to 6 km, as well as boasting about finally acquiring “Buk” launchers in late June?
Constant arrests, beatings, confiscations? I wonder, are the killings keeping pace with the 90’s?
Actually, yes. In 90’s there were 96 journalists murdered. Under Putin there were 134 murdered so far. What is even worse, the most respected figures were eliminated under Putin: Estemirova, Politkovskaya, Markelov, Baburova, Klebnikov, Nemtsov. And, if you ask about “keeping pace” I won’t probably need to remind you that Putin came to power precisely on the promises of ending the “wild 90’s”.

Posted by: Arbat | Jul 17 2015 8:43 utc | 134

Want some more links? Here we go: http://tass.ru/mezhdunarodnaya-panorama/1325017 Russian TASS agency, 17 July 2014, 19:04 Moscow time: “Self-defence of DNR downed Ukrainian army An-26”. The lead says: “Witnesses say the airplane was hit with a rocket near town of Torez, after which it started falling, crashed and burnt on the ground”.
The article also goes through the history of achievements of the newly acquired “self-defence” anti-aircraft rocket division. On 14 July they also downed a plane, and it was actually An-26 that time. The article also mentions that on 15 July the Ukrainian military HQ has stopped any military flights over the are as result of downing of that airplane.

Posted by: Arbat | Jul 17 2015 11:37 utc | 136

Arbat —
More links are always good, though these allegations are well-known. The vkontakte page that was the source of these reports was disavowed, I alluded in an earlier post.
This would fall under “there is no hard technical or intelligence related evidence supporting that judgment….” As the Unz Review item at 133 noted, the best evidence remains un-presented, with Uncle Sam strangely quiet on the matter. You could address that directly, if you wished.
I’m more interested in your source of data on journalists, which you fail to provide.
See the breakdown by year at Committee to Protect Journalists. They report 80 journalists killed since 1992. The largest single toll was in 1995, when 12 were killed. None were killed in 2014 and none yet in 2015.
No, it’s all pathology, and I would allow that in Russia it is worse. Our big moral failings now are drone strikes and illegal mass surveillance. Presently, we’re only charging journalists with espionage.
It was Yeltsin’s rush to plunder the collective property of the Soviet people that introduced mass criminality into economics and politics. That Putin has reduced this by restraining the oligarchs is part of his popularity.
I see the main problem with the neo-liberal opposition in Russia getting its message across is — it’s message. As Soviet history suggests, if folks are sufficiently motivated, they will find other sources.

Posted by: rufus magister | Jul 17 2015 12:21 utc | 138

Arbat at 140 —
As always, any sources are appreciated.
I cited journalists specifically as that seemed to be your topic. It think their murder a a good index of the overall level of violence.
You will need to take it up the numbers with the Committee to Protect Journalists, I understand them to be quite respected amongst their fellow scriveners.
Nemtsov’s murder does not seem attributable to the Russian state, we’ll see what comes of the trial of the suspects.
I think only the late Mozgovoy would have posed any real threat to the oligarchs (East and West) as a class. I think it undeniable that Putin is more in control of them; Yeltsin was basically a puppet of the oligarchs he served to create, especially after his re-election.
And in between all that suffering they defeated Hitler, thanks to an industrial state built from scratch, and started the space race. The semi-feudal autocracy and its noble service gentry had mostly produced oppression (too bad the Decemberists failed), and barely bothered with lies. Russia still has the most experience in manned space flight and orbital operations.
We ourselves here have plenty of lies, and we’re working on the oppression. At present, it is largely confined to the poor in general and minorities in particular. If murder by drone is our foreign poison, then the continued insistence in many areas (not just in the South) upon the Confederate “heritage” and related “Christian” doctrines is the domestic one.

Posted by: rufus magister | Jul 18 2015 0:26 utc | 140

denk at 142 — All pretty dastardly, but gassing animals for a base sounds particularly inhumane.

Posted by: rufus magister | Jul 18 2015 16:24 utc | 142

While they don’t seem to be strong enough to destroy the junta state, the fallout of Mukachevo would seem sufficient to keep the Ukraine unstable.
The Pravyi Sektor miitants involved are still on the move towards Poland.
The question of Hungarians and Rusyns further complicates matters. Hungary admits to having run intelligence operations in the region to secure its own interests in the recent past. The article also discussion the Rusyns, a Slavic group of contested origin.
Long-standing demands by the Rusyns for autonomy for the region is political issue, as Russian commentator Vladimir Druzhinin makes clear in finding Transcarpathia at a crossroads. But he does not see them as benefiting.

Probably in the near future Transcarpathia will come under heavy pressure from security forces. Those who will suffer the most, are not the Ukrainian nationalists (they will simply be removed from the feeder, but not declared illegal), but Rusyns. They will lose the opportunity to freely express their views and to demand Kiev to respect their cultural rights.

The underlying dispute — who controls the border and with it, skimming the smuggling — is big business, maybe as much as the legit Ukr. econ.
RIA Novosti reports that Pravyi Sektor officially says “we are not seeking to start a civil war, and God forbid, to continue armed resistance…. We want to alleviate the tension.”
I don’t know that I buy that. And certainly don’t be fooled by the bogus “autonomy” offered by the Rade (at the insistence of the Americans, with the ambassador present, apparently). Activists of the Ukrainian left group “Borotba” will bring you up to speed.
It seems the US continues to find Poroshenko useful, even as he tries to obtain, if not a monopoly on violence like a solid state, at least a preponderance of force. While control over its client is not tight, it is sufficient for Washington’s purposes, and can be invoked when needed.

Posted by: rufus magister | Jul 18 2015 17:06 utc | 144