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Crimea Parliament "Accelerates Crisis", Votes To Join Russia
While the world is convinced that Putin's Tuesday press conference was an admission of blinking to the west, the reality is anything but that, and hours ago Crimea's parliament voted to join Russia on Thursday and its Moscow-backed government set a referendum within 10 days on the decision in what Reuters said is a "a dramatic escalation of the crisis over the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula." To be sure, the Crimea - which has an ethnic Russian majority - affiliation to Moscow as opposed to Kiev is well-known, yet still the sudden acceleration of moves to bring Crimea formally under Moscow's rule came as European Union leaders gathered for an emergency summit to seek ways to pressure Russia to back down and accept mediation. And now all Putin has to do is sit back and say the people have spoken and without spilling a drop of blood has effectively split the country in two parts, with the entire east of Ukraine, where pro-Russian sentiment also runs high - sure to follow Crimea. Just as we said from the very beginning.
From Reuters:
The Crimean parliament voted unanimously "to enter into the Russian Federation with the rights of a subject of the Russian Federation". The vice premier of Crimea, home to Russia's Black Sea military base in Sevastopol, said a referendum on the status would take place on March 16. The announcement, which diplomats said could not have been made without Russian President Vladimir Putin's approval, raised the stakes in the most serious east-west confrontation since the end of the Cold War.
Far from seeking a diplomatic way out, Putin appears to have chosen to create facts on the ground before the West can agree on more than token action against him.
EU leaders had been set to warn but not sanction Russia over its military intervention after Moscow rebuffed Western diplomatic efforts to persuade it to pull forces in Crimea, with a population of about 2 million, back to their bases. It was not immediately clear what impact the Crimean moves would have.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in a Twitter message: "We stand by a united and inclusive #Ukraine."
French President Francois Hollande told reporters on arrival at the summit: "There will be the strongest possible pressure on Russia to begin lowering the tension and in the pressure there is, of course, eventual recourse to sanctions."
To be sure, the new Kiev government - which may or may not have killed its own citizens in order to rise to power while blaming the atrocities on Yanukovich as described yesterday - has responded in kind to how Putin views them, and declared the referendum illegal and opened a criminal investigation against Crimean Prime Minister Sergei Askyonov, who was appointed by the region's parliament last week. The Ukrainian government does not recognise his authority or that of the parliament. Still, it is by now far too late for Kiev to enforce its will in Crimea.
In the meantime, and confirming that Putin has all the cards, EU leaders had been set to warn but not sanction Russia over its military intervention in Ukraine after Moscow rebuffed Western diplomatic efforts to persuade it to pull forces in Crimea back to their bases. According to EU sources the leaders gathered in Brussels delayed the discussion on sanctions to Russia to a new meeting in two weeks. As we stated yesterday, due to stern German industrial lobby objection, Europe will never implement full blown sanctions and at best will stick to some optical wristslap which has no real adverse impact on Russia.
But back to the Crimea, where a parliament official said voters will be asked two questions: should Crimea be part of the Russian Federation and should Crimea return to an earlier constitution (1992) that gave the region more autonomy?
"If there weren't constant threats from the current illegal Ukrainian authorities, maybe we would have taken a different path," deputy parliament speaker Sergei Tsekov told reporters outside the parliament building in Crimea's main city of Simferopol.
"I think there was an annexation of Crimea by Ukraine, if we are going to call things by their name. Because of this mood and feeling we took the decision to join Russia. I think we will feel much more comfortable there."
All the while, Europe is engaged in idiotic meetings and summits, spearheaded by John Kerry, who was quick to point out how constructive the meeting has been. Perhaps it would have been more so if Russia had participated:
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov refused to meet his new Ukrainian counterpart or to launch a "contact group" to seek a solution to the crisis at talks in Paris on Wednesday despite arm-twisting by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and European colleagues. The two men will meet again in Rome on Thursday.
Tension was high in Crimea after a senior United Nations envoy was surrounded by a pro-Russian crowd, threatened and forced to get back on his plane and leave the country on Wednesday.
The EU summit in Brussels seemed unlikely to adopt more than symbolic measures against Europe's biggest gas supplier, because neither industrial powerhouse Germany nor financial centre Britain is keen to start down that road.
The short, informal EU summit will mostly be dedicated to displaying support for Ukraine's new pro-Western government, represented by Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk, who will attend even though Kiev is neither an EU member nor a recognised candidate for membership.
After meeting European Parliament President Martin Schulz, Yatseniuk appealed to Russia to respond to mediation efforts.
After a day of high-stakes diplomacy in Paris on Wednesday, Lavrov refused to talk to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchitsya, whose new government is not recognised by Moscow.
As he left the French Foreign Ministry, Lavrov was asked if he had met his Ukrainian counterpart. "Who is that?" the Russian minister asked.
He stuck to Putin's line - ridiculed by the West - that Moscow does not command the troops without national insignia which have taken control of Crimea, besieging Ukrainian forces, and hence cannot order them back to bases.
Kerry said afterwards he had never expected to get Lavrov and Deshchitsya into the same room right away, but diplomats said France and Germany had tried to achieve that.
Western diplomats said there was still hope that once Lavrov had reported back to Putin, Russia would accept the idea of a "contact group" involving both Moscow and Kiev as well as the United States and European powers to seek a solution.
Keep hoping. In the meantime, with each passing day, Putin consolidates his new territory even as the west dithers, Europe is unable to obtain the bailout loans it has promised Ukraine, and Kerry keeps talking.
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i am out of town, so i go down for breakfast. 4 fucking flat screens on two walls all flashing complete bullshit. i take note of the weather, hmm somewhat useful info. then my attention is drawn to cnn and a dialog comparing hitler to putin by none other than hilterly herself. now i have confirmation as to why i don't watch tv, but sat there thinking(shit i could live without), how many people believe this to be true? all i could think is fuckn-eh...
She gave that quote under heavy fire. Attribute it to the fog of war.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHVEDq6RVXc
She's pretty good at fainting in public, maybe we can get her to barf on some shiek's or diplomats pants to indoctrinator, or get her certifiable and liable.
Daddy Bush "ralphing" onto the Japanese Prime minister was pretty awesome...
"the question is who is next?" Anything Putin did was in response to provocation from the West, America in particular.
And the checkers players didn't see this coming?
I doubt they've mastered noughts and crosses yet.
Just as a note: Crimea has tried 3 times over the past 18 years to do this. The previous governments in Kiev either crushed the movement or the Russians rejected them to make headway with the West.
US talking heads will claim that there needs to be political self-determination AND Ukraine is not to be broken up. It's the constant cognitive dissonance people in DC have. "Yes, we'll let you vote. But you have to only vote on my options and when I say and you can't leave. EVER."
Pindostan does not get to make the rules anymore. It's about time the idiots in DC realized that.
The biggest laugh is that we may see that after all the CIA/EU destabilisation efforts at the expense of Russia (for an ever-expanding EU empire its own citizens don't want), Putin and Co come out of this strategically better off than they were before. Talk about shooting yourselves in the foot with both barrels.
US/EU foreign policy is the best comedy in town.
Not so funny if you are on the end of a Nobel Peace Prize-winning drone strike, of course.
"everexpanding EU empire it's own citizens don't want"
hello? it's not about EU membership, it's about NATO membership. two clubs to which Ukraine does not belong
the only country I know of where a majority is against the EU membership it's the UK, btw. but interestingly, their elected parliament has different ideas
and don't get me started on how the UK (together with the US) pushed hard to expand both clubs further east, particularly to countries that were keen on EU membership but less so on NATO membership
EU sucks the serfs dry. NATO keeps them on the manor. Next question.
Welcome to the new democracy of the century, because we're gonna see less of it here.
what we are seing over there is what is happening here - porfoundly obvious - talk about some cog dis going on.
our destiny has been predetermined, now we just go through the motions, unless you refuse to be a victum of
their plans. all these tiny steps in the wrong direction, really starting to scare me. i really enjoy life without needless violence.
how can we stop all this relentless madness?????
This development was somewhat predictable. The tricky part is what sourthern Ukraine (Odessa, Mykolaiv, etc.) would do.
And the EU talking heads running around like headless chickens.
Like a charge of a Lightweight Brigade.
LOL. Christine LaGarde is zooming around on her bicycle from one French Govt. office to the other; screaming and pulling her hair; "it was out turn to rip them off, I tell you"; LOL.
US intelligence is terrible, it is well known the crimea has wanted a chance to join with russia for years
Problem when intelligence gets dominated by ideologues--those who report non conforming facts are treated with suspicion and marginalized.
.
I just read an outstanding commentary yesterday addressing this phenomenon and how reporting non-conforming facts, even if corroborated, can end careers:
http://vineyardsaker.blogspot.com/2014/03/maidan-snipers-who-did-or-did-...
Also note that Michael Scheuer, ex-CIA, also wrote of this in his book Imperial Hubris.
"Us intelligence"-- an oxymoron
Putin or Kerry: Who’s Delusional?
March 5, 2014
..
"..Yet, look what happens when Russia’s President Vladimir Putin does what the U.S. news media should do, i.e. point out that “It’s necessary to recall the actions of the United States in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in Libya, where they acted either without any sanction from the U.N. Security Council or distorted the content of these resolutions, as it happened in Libya. There, as you know, only the right to create a no-fly zone for government aircraft was authorized, and it all ended in the bombing and participation of special forces in group operations.”
Secretary of State John Kerry speaking to the AIPAC conference on March 3, 2014.
Secretary of State John Kerry speaking to the AIPAC conference on March 3, 2014.
Despite the undeniable accuracy of Putin’s observation, he was promptly deemed to have “lost touch with reality,” according to a Washington Post’s editorial, which called his press conference “rambling” and a “bizarre performance” in which his words have “become indistinguishable from the propaganda of his state television network.”
You get the point. If someone notes the disturbing U.S. history of military interventions or describes the troubling narrative behind the “democratic” coup in Ukraine – spearheaded by neo-Nazi militias who overthrew a duly elected president – you are dismissed as crazy." ..
http://consortiumnews.com/2014/03/05/putin-or-kerry-whos-delusional/
Triple Speak on triple sec.
Newspeak for old borders.
Troubled times are mites, nein, bm?
ori, maybe more like ticks with Lyme?
if so, time to dig up the knotweed root.
Brother Tip, I too am a herbailist, but with a twist.
I say the herbal life is the good life.
ori
the ultimate will be if there are referendums held like this one in the east of ukraine too, US and EU have to accept democrate votes, don't they.
And perhaps this new gov in kiev will lose the election in May, now that they are seen to have been behind the shooting of police and protestors, if they are still alive by time May rolls around. I can imagine there are some very angry people now when they heard the news the shooters may have been involved with the opposition.
I suspect Klischko will have to flee after they burn his multi million dollar shopping mall on Krashaktic Street.
to add to that - new Kyiv parliament has assigned top oligarchs (this time the right ones) to rule eastern regions of ukrain
A-a-a-a-a-and, they are Jews! Who'da thunk it?
Guess they are trying to do the same thing that is going on here in the USA, talk about exporting your government structure to somewhere else.
If this is the ”top intellectual and political/diplomatic/strategic brains” in the developed world (incl Russia) we see/hear in everydays media, it might be a good idea to book a space flight to the Moon or Mars.
Too many actually seems to do everything they can to get a war started.
Bubble Chronicles. Mystery Solved: Meet Satoshi Nakamoto - The Face Behind Bitcoin
One mystery is solved, Satoshi Nakamoto is found and another one: when this bubble will be finally over will be found soon. Warren Buffet has discussed it recently and dismissed Bitcoin as a currency, as a store of value it is not working very well for the latest buyers. It will be more and more difficult to find another fool to buy it at a higher price after all recent news about Mt. Gox bankruptcy, millions of lost Bitcoins and crucial technical fault in its architecture allowing it to happen. Constant attacks from the Central Banks around the world will only add to the pressure on FIAT alternative. There is no "Gold 2.0" - there is only one real Gold and not so much of it left now.
http://sufiy.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/bubble-chronicles-satoshi-nakamoto-f...
keyser soze
not to pimp NewSpeakWeak, but everyone should read the comments there.
http://mag.newsweek.com/2014/03/14/bitcoin-satoshi-nakamoto.html#
sample:
Incredibly irresponsible journalism. Not only did you out someone who just wanted to be left alone, you published photos of him and his house, as well as the location of it. Shameful and despicable, I guess all you were really thinking about adding 'Found Satoshi Nakamoto' to your resume right?
Is Newsweek going to provide 24/7 protection for this man, after you've just outed the name and address of a man potentially worth 1000 million dollars, who likely holds the private keys to his BTC in his home?
The extent to which you compromise your ethics for some prints/pageviews is really saddening.
Why would you leak all the details about this man and his family? This whole article is kind of a d*ck move.
+1
It sounds the the bitcoin crowd is a little upset with the author.
She better get some armed security.
Kyiv was accelerating process to join NATO (Julia Tymoshenko told Ukrain will join NATO soon)
Could it be Crimea accelerated the separation process because of that in order to prevent Ukrain joining NATO (Ukrain becomes a country with unclear borders with its neighbours)
Isn't it interesting the supposedly bad Crimean leaders are following the proper path of asking people's opinions via a referendum, while the "good guys" Kiev government is pushing the country toward the EU and the NATO without any election or referendum? The Kiev government is at best a caretaker government, and Yulia Tymoshenko is not even a part of the government.
LOL just wait till Odess and East Ukraine become South and West Russia, lets see how those neo nazi scums will feel, it will be just like WW2, they lose out on lebensraum
Come free Canada next.
Quebec is next!
"Free Montreal" too. Liberate it from the rest of Quebec and their socialist taxes, and see how long 'Quebec' survives.
what do the banksters want here?
think infrastructure, loans, securitisation
and infinite growth at the expense of everyone
and everything else. it worked in the past and
they "trust" it will work again.
that is what they want, nothing new, original
or intelligent; just the same old gravy served
everyday, forever. so get busy making their gravy.
.
they will tell you it is the best and only way
as it is god's work they do as a service to you.
.
are they correct?
Fascism. Nothing but your life dead, or dripping with promoting fraud for Fascism.
...hear that? It's coming like a freight train.
Even more control over you. Nothing new.
Meanwhile, the EU think it's quite OK for us Brits to hang on to Gibraltar in spite of much bitching from Spain. I guess the referendum in Gibraltar made it all OK and legal, yes? Not at all like Crimea then, because Gibraltar is a strategic naval base for NATO.
it's not the EU, it's Spain thinking that you can keep Gibraltar. and it's your British Government that agrees with the Spanish Government about not making a fuss about it. and this is not the only part of your comment that makes little sense
Sorry? I didn't understand that, are you from Barcelona?
if I was from Barcelona, then I'd be from Catalunya (Catalonia). Which, seen from Gibraltar, is on the opposite side of Spain, bordering to France. which leads me to ask if you have any idea of what you are writing about
That is a mystery. Based on his English I might guess he's from Denmark (not that there's anything wrong with that, or rotten there). Europe is really a rather small continent, and with the decreasing frequency of wars here- people are freer to move about, and old the lines are becoming blurred. Exactly as some had intended...
it's not a mistery at all, it's just that I belong to a very tiny european demographic that is not understood or very popular here on ZH
it starts with the fact that I can name and place my great-great-grandparents, and in the case of a few of them I can trace them back to the 9th Century. in short, I have a pedigree. and a couple of citizenships, with the possibility of claiming a few more
btw, because I'm somewhat conscious of my roots from what nowadays are lots of nations, and the history of my forebears, I can tell you that freedom of movement in Europe was historically the norm, not the exception
for everyone, not just us arrogant few. and this is not counting the migratory populations of old, which made up to one quarter of the total pop
the (old) lines are still there. they are cultural and linguistic (and sometimes religious). therefore Bavaria, for example, is still different from Brandenburg
and you live as a guest in the Confederation of the Gnomes, which is an inspiration to us all about how to cope with all that
so don't give me this "exactly as some had intended". I don't want to go back to the full-monty-hyper-nationalistic interlude we had, thank you very much
oh, and I'm a fairly small entrepreneur operating in several countries of the eurozone. I started with a ledger divided in 6 currencies. now it's 1 (not counting the CHF, but you did notice the "floor", I'd bet)
a man who left Seville in 1492 and voyaged to every nation of europe.
Thats worth writing a novel about.
There are two types of tiny demographics who are multieuropean.
One of them is the Habsburgs; I assure you they STILL exist and I have met them !
So...are you Charles Vth progeny, G ?
Lol, that would indeed be a royal pedigree.
the demographics are not that tiny. France alone, after all, had roughly 100'000 families of which 10'000 old. I'm in the middle of the range of the top 1'000 european. just enough to be able to pick a distant relative every 100km, which gives me a completely different view of this continent, I have to admit. and of dogs, tribes and people...
it would be an excellent thread for a novel
And here, who knew the barbaric juxtaposition of Marcellus and George Costanza, could pierce the armor of Ghordius?
I don't think anyone, infield of the fascists, really desires a return to hyper-faux-nationalism of the good old days. The relatively minor and recent redrawing of lines between the first and second World Wars in central Europe, made for some interesting family reunions before nature took its inevitable course, and obviously absent was any sense of tension when those perceived as adversaries sat down to break bread together. But freedom of movement, while perhaps more historically prevalent than the propagandists profess, was a gradual or generational phenomenon. There has been a paradigm shift since the end of the second World War, facilitated by the growth of air travel, the containerization of shipping, and the growth of multinational corporations beyond their traditional colonial frontiers. I've lived in seven countries on four continents and I haven't hit 50 yet, historically that would be an aberration.
On the matter of nature taking its inevitable course and the propagandists' tales of progress- I think digging through the the family archives provides a wonderful insight into the level of pure bullshit we're being fed by the establishment. While I see significant progress (measured in natural longevity) in the 15th century and with the industrial revolution, if the current life expectancy ranges from 75-85, and one then backs out infant mortality, epidemics, and war- we haven't made terribly much progress in terms of living longer and healthier lives (I could dig up the corpses of centenarians from the 13th and 14th centuries, but that would be a bit barbaric, even for me). So while the investment in obstetrics and pediatrics has paid great dividends, the investment in geriatrics is a relative shovel-ready monument to the vanity of old men. The brief EU experiment, so far, has managed to stave off war internally, but whether this is the specific result of intelligent design or a byproduct of the prioritization against the threats of the Cold War is unclear, as the EU simultaneously fans the flames of war at its own borders. It didn't take long after the wall came tumbling down for the tanks to roll in the Balkans, and the current clusterflock circling the Ukraine seems to be largely comprised of EU as opposed to Black swans.
The one social class where I do see true historical migratory freedom of movement is among the aristocracy. A relative of mine one once explained the disparate post-colonial development as well as internal downfall of what was once the Court of Castille (and is now the Spanish kleptocracy class) in such a context. But perhaps the theory is more practical when applied to the rise of the United States, for half a millennium a ticket to the land of opportunity was a one-way ticket, sink-or-swim. Today, one can use an H1B to get a US job and "get while the gettings are good", and when the plunder runs out- simply return to their self-identified homeland. The other (more current) lands of opportunity are even more fleeting, what cohesive social infrastructure has been built in the Trucial States or China. What was once, "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden door." seems to have perversely evolved into "Give me your young, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to earn a quick buck. The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Lend these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me..."
UR... touché. yes. your comment here is so broad and would warrant so many responses that would blow off the lid of any blog, so I'll try only with bullet points
- imho our American Cousins misdjudge the sheer depth and roots of conservativism and potential ultra-nationalism & fascism of continental europeans
- is your past experience one were you felt at home wherever you were? yet I agree on the recent changes of travel & migration
- at what point does the EU stop being an "experiment"? note that the US has been founded within a generation. we are "on the road" since 1948
- of course the Cold War had and still has an immense impact on our thinking. note how deeper it goes on our eastern peers. don't forget them
- note how casually denigratory your and other's comments can be towards my demographic. note how fast as a group it get's labeled as "kleptocrat". from our point of view, "we built it" (yes, I know). and then - of course under immense pressure - shared it. just as an example, General Washington and most of his peers were self-identified gentlemen. modeling themselves on a daily basis according to our values. with all this entails. note that this is not the same basis of values of the modern "global executive/professional" that can just move on to greener pastures, roaming the whole globe. To put it very snarkily and with no intention of getting personal, neither a gentlemen nor a citizen, a stranger to honour and sacrifice, and fundamentally rootless
- in my understanding of this continent, some 80% of the pop is with me with Peace in Europe and the Four Freedoms (which are to be seen as policies towards the goal of peace itself). on a strict continental basis, which is not the same as globalization - which again is the basis of the discord we have with the UK (and the US)
- is the EU truly "fanning the flames of war"? the last economic package to Ukraine was stupid, imho. and perhaps only a gesture. yet what are our options? remember who were the three sitting together at Yalta. if Uncle Sam would not have an important voice, too, our dealings with Russia would be quite different. If our eastern peers would not have an important voice, too, the same. Historically, Europe has either Wars or a Concerts. the difference is in bringing discordant notes together, a plurality which imho our American Cousins don't appreciate fully
I'll parry with bullet points, but it's been a couple decades since I've handled an épée in competition.
- Perhaps it is because of the European approach of combating ultra-nationalism & fascism with legislation that Americans might tend to misjudge the depths of its roots in Europe. America is a shining (albeit younger) example of the failure of such an approach, despite self-delusion of a contrary outcome.
- Personally, I tend to be welcome everywhere, but be at home nowhere. Switzerland does come the closest to home, other than the State of Virginia that I was born into. (I can't unzip my fly in Louisiana without bumping into a cousin, but that is not really feeling "at home"... although the same problem exists with certain groups on this side of the pond, on a slightly longer timeline...)
- The EU stopped being an experiment when it launched the Euro, but unfortunately they haven't taken the FRBNY training wheels off yet.
- Kleptocrat is an interesting rhetorical device, but lacks precise or consistent definition. The irony to the insiders being that those who already have, have less inherent motivation to steal than those who do not. I'll return to it in my closing.
- The four freedoms - the UK is an EU member so I have little sympathy for their whining. Whereas the Switzerland is a member of the EFTA, the EU and the EFTA are not the same thing, although TPTB in Brussels would like the two terms to be synonymous.
- Fanning the flames of war... IMHO, Yes. What Sikorsky said was troubling, what Baroness Ashton said and did was criminal, both in the context noblesse oblige, (or Luke 12:48 for the Godless communists- For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more). It wouldn't be criminal if the solution to every European problem wasn't MOAR legislation, but it is what it is (and it's not uniquely European). She had an obligation to demand investigation, and chose to countenance the murder of political dissidents to serve her own interests, and no one further up the food chain has expressed outrage which implies the trees (both bureaucratic and aristocratic) are rotten to the core.
I'm both a black sheep and an iconoclast. When I was three I wanted to ski with the adults in Gstaad instead of remaining in my proper place and learning German, a choice that haunts me to this day. However, as I aged and my transgressions took me farther afield from the acceptable norms, my (hopefully coincidental) returns to the fold, seem to have rather perversely opened doors to options that would not have been available had I simply towed the line, and waited my turn. At this point returning to the nexus of the bankster-MIC-spook-aristocrat circle of hell is a journey only undertaken to achieve specific objectives which serve a broader good, but it is an acceptable risk, since the absence of the products and services they offer would be at least as harmful as the sickening terms and conditions of their use.
None of the social paradigms are sustainable for modern society, or seem to serve it well over time. First born is a roll of the dice that always eventually comes up snake eyes, and usually at the worst time (per Murphy). Aristocracy hasn't proven much better, both GWB and BHO got into Harvard on that other brand of quota-monkey ticket (Daddy's legacy). Meritocracy holds the most hope, but it always seems to wind up mired in Technocracy, a captained by clowns who couldn't counter the logical and mathematical proof that Industrial Engineering on a societal level has serious consequences, and unless the engine is overhauled routinely- it becomes far too complex to maintain in short order. Jefferson has the right approach.
The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it to be always kept alive. It will often be exercised when wrong, but better so than not to be exercised at all. I like a little rebellion now and then. It is like a storm in the atmosphere.
UR, imho you are perfectly right on several points. anti-fascist legislation is not... smart. historically understandable, but not smart at all. and your kleptocracy/insider point is quite good
a point: aristocracy is a different thing from nobility, which is, after all, a (sometimes arrogant) aspiration to a higher level of human experience and life. lots of people achieve nobility of spirit, mind and action, with or without external recognition. yet it is - in our eyes - bound by virtues like duty, compassion, sacrifice and honour. and generally speaking primogeniture is a British fixation, in our little dwindling thing of the past which I seriously don't like having discussed
as I wrote elsewhere, Roman Plebeians fought to have written laws. eventually, we'll have to fight to have readable laws
which brings me back to the social paradigms. which are sustainable, imho. by a reversal to the citizen's values. and there I see this untapped potential of the global executive/professionals of our "executive classes"
eh, Sikorsky and Ashton... are part of that plurality I was writing about. as are our darling fascists. please remember that the one is the Polish foreign minister and the other's role is... still an anachronism. generally speaking we still see the EU as an org, as I wrote here. It's a point of view, not gospel, yet a very european one
yet one point: do you know how imperialistic your demand for justice can sound to some ears? we are talking about a heinous, bloody crime. yet it was committed by yet-unknown people in the sovereign nation of Ukraine, which isn't even in the EU. what kind of investigations should that stupid Ashton Lady to call? based on what authority? do we have such a different concept of sovereignty? you see a crime where I see just two people talking rubbish. yet coming down with our laws on a territory and people that are not ours... has imho elements of great arrogance. perhaps I misunderstood parts of what you mean, or parts of the situation
meanwhile, we probably disagree on other points, including the EUR. perhaps we should cross eventually our sabers on that. I do feel vindicated, by now. without the EUR, our currencies would neither be backed by gold nor safe from purely destructive speculative inroads, fuelled by the Great Monetary Hegemon and executed by a class of credit creators that has become parasitic and self-serving. please note how Barclays is proud to have "found a way around EU banker bonus regulations". and one purpose of the EUR is to give stability... even in the case the FRBNY wheels come off
may you always find green pastures and places you can call home
I think we have more than enough material to pave a piste (for a bout at a more mutually convenient hour). It's a shame you have acquired a distaste for dissection of primogeniture, since that was the crux of my relative's thesis in regards to the practical difference in outcomes among the Spanish speaking colonies for the lower and middle classes as a result of removing the yoke of the Habsburg-Burgundian crown in Iberia.
I apologize if my demand for "justice" comes across as imperialistic, but I it believe to be actually more rooted in egalitarianism, and part of the underlying problem is rooted in the complexity of the poorly engineered systems (and laws) which govern official interaction (an attempt to square the circle and close the loop in one step). Criminal law is outside my area of expertise (except to the extent that I strive to avoid running afoul of it), as are some of the nuances as to how complicity is treated differently between Common Law in the UK and Civil Law on the Continent. However, the threshold for being deemed an accomplice (after the fact) is relatively straight forward, and one cannot provide either aid or support without first making a reasonable effort to determine whether the parties to which one is providing either aid or support are responsible for a known crime.
When I go to build a dam, pipeline, road, mine or any big thingamajig in a poor country, people are inevitably displaced. Sometimes lives are lost as a result of that displacement, it just happens (and sometimes even more heinous shit). There is a very certain legal obligation upon myself, my company, and any other members of a development consortium to establish by the best of our efforts that we are not accomplices after the fact to an atrocity (never mind the moral or ethical reasons for doing so). There seem to be certain regular imperialistic exceptions to this liability that are granted, such as Rio Tinto/Freeport at Grasberg, I'd cite Total too but their CEO's are perennially on trial for other crimes. However, I can find no actual law on which this exception might be based. So why should the same laws which govern my escapades in "nation building" not also govern the functionaries of the leviathan's escapades in "nation building"? At least the Poles have a (legitimate?) blood feud in this...
In the meantime, may your pastures remain peaceful, as the rednecks in mine have made an incomprehensible investment of capital into surviving whatever the idiots that rule reign down on us all.
I have acquired a distaste for dissection of my "caste" (because it's often unserious or prejudiced), not for discussion on social effect of primogeniture. did your relative publish? I vaguely remember something about that. but I'm not an expert at all on former colonies of any kind or shape
rooting justice in egalitarianism is not in our traditions, but I see your point. and I see the point of taking your standards and values with you when operating in a poor, underdeveloped country. and of course any company is legally bound to respect the laws of it's denomination country
yet we are talking about continental Europe. where we have the tradition of taking sovereigns seriously. as peers, if possible. I am fully aware that it might come over as a double standard, yet my assumption is that Ukraine's state minions will eventually investigate and hopefully prosecute and punish the murderers of 70 Ukrainians. though there is - if the snipers are Ukrainians - the chance that they will get a medal as Fathers of the Nation or that it will be forgotten. happened before
the point is: what is our right in seeking justice outside our jurisdictions in this case? or does this justify war in order to get this justice? we are not talking about genocide, or other reasons which would include a casus belli if necessary. As such, it's still an Ukrainian Affair, and we are still recognizing Ukraine as a sovereign nation
though your point is more on the alleged criminal complicity of Baroness Ashton. I was unaware of this difference in law systems. I still have the impression from the phone call that those two shared a rumour. the Polish minister said that it might have been from parts of the coalition. If I remember correctly, he talked about a consensus. which I find likely, knowing what darling tribal supremacists are among them. this coalition is broad, it is basically all that was against the former government. and they are strongly occupied with other matters, including "gunmen raising the Russian flag"
further, Ashton is British. if this complicity principle is rooted in British Law... then the prosecution should start there, shouldn't it?
I believe "jurisdiction" is an excuse of convenience (or just another piece of paper), jurisdiction doesn't stop the major powers when they desire to intervene, impose sanctions, or use the ICC to punish those that fall out of favor. Coups, counter-coups, political protesters, dead bodies, EU (French) paramilitary training and weapons, even a (belated) appearance by Mr. Soros himself. Rinse, Repeat. Bindar Dundat (and while juggling ZH reading & relocating across the pond, on top of my day job). While I have a more nuanced conclusion than the NGOs (I'll PM you a link), the facts (and likely NSA recordings) speak for themselves. What I do not see in Europe now, and find very alarming, is anyone (outside of one Foreign Minister) even suggesting that there is anything to investigate, much less sanctions to be considered or aid to be withheld, as opposed to increased. Damn the torpedoes, and anyone demanding objectivity or consideration of moral hazard. If I was that cavalier (or that big a hypocrite) there might be serious consequences, yet not one of the hundreds who hold higher office in Europe dare to even speak out now. Perhaps its more than training wheels the FRBNY is providing... Regardless, if one seeks a rational and acceptable compromise, perhaps it makes strategic sense to stake out a defensible position on the periphery and scream like mad...
I disagree. Jurisdiction is at the core of sovereignty. And sovereignty is at the core of the concept of Nation. And our nations have tribal & cultural roots that are very, very strong. And way older than others. Some are classic Nation-States, for example Portugal, Denmark, Greece. All three with an own culture, "genos" and language
I do not wish them to lose the right to declare anytime they wish their territories as to be freed from non-agreed external influences
and this means that it's Ukraine's prerogative, right and duty to go after this crime that left 70 Ukrainians dead on the territory of the Ukrainian nation
as it is Britain's prerogative, right and duty to prosecute Lady Ashton if she does commit a still-at-the-moment-alleged crime
and to a sovereign's prerogatives you'll find the right to go to war and, on the way to it, to engage in black ops. though... the legality of the said black ops is again a a question of territorial jurisdiction and jurisdiction on the actions of nationals. in short, a black op can be a double crime
do you realize that while you make me feel very oldfashioned, your egalitarian and individualistic position is what could be construed as globalist? You don't agree with me about the rights of sovereigns, don't you? You expect justice to be possible in a different, egalitarian way
yet justice has a sword. it's backed by power. and what would wield power in a world of toothless sovereigns? power abhors vacuum
The sovereignty sounds nice on paper, but in practice it is not respected, or there is a double standard between the sovereignty of EU member States and the sovereignty of non-member States so vast as to render the word meaningless. There is a substantial amount of publicly available evidence that in 2004 Ana Palacio and Jack Straw and others conspired to facilitate the overthrow of a sovereign government (the Wonga Coup). There is another example from 2009 that is even more troubling in regards to the apparent paradigm in Ukraine (Oligarchs, Multinationals, Extremists, coups, and backing out of "deals" et al.). In terms of European policy- the UK has a long disclosed doctrinal interest in opposing greater integration between the Continent and Russia, but the Continent has numerous serious reasons to seek greater integration between the Eurozone (or EU ex UK) and Russia. So why the reenact the Charge of the Light Brigade? And who is behind the lunacy- the UK or the US? (Hence my annoying training wheels reference I respectfully retract below) Or are there large well connected financial interests on the Continent (Globalists) that have a quantifiable financial interest in seeing the EU-Ukraine agreement consummated? (As history often rhymes, influence can be bought, and sovereignty can paid "lip service"...)
UR, thx. finally, I understood something: you write about sovereignty as if it was... something like human rights
it is far from a "right". it's a tradition. first you claim it, then you have to defend it. then perhaps you get invaded or lose it... and then you might claim it again
it's a claim. like what Franklin said "...a Republic, if you can keep it". you have to grasp and hold, otherwise it won't function
"yet not one of the hundreds who hold higher office in Europe dare to even speak out now" - I'm still not sure what exact indictment you are doing, here. sure, hypocrisy abounds, yes
Hypocrisy abounds, but not with the unanimity (and hence legitimacy) of a Kim Jong-un proclamation.
Even with only 535 congress critters in the US, there is always a voice of dissension (and they are not as well educated as their European counterparts).
So I come back to the words of Marcellus, while you maintain Horatio's faith, and Hamlet is leading us all to madness and tragedy.
I went along the first time for the sake of keeping focused on the main thread, yet I also disagree on the "...training wheels the FRBNY is providing.." concept. Yes, the FED and the ECB found it opportune to engage into a one trillion USD/EUR swap. Yet this swap was reversed, and the real effect and reason of it as far as I can see was to provide liquidity to the banking systems that operate in those two currencies
generally speaking, the big banks' grip on the FED is way bigger than on the ECB, which is more in the grip of politics. particularly here on the continent
piece of evidence: the EU parliament made a banker bonus cap law. Britain might become complicit in non-applying it on it's territory
Both Central Banks are hostage to the same large commercial banks, the printing responsibility currently falls on the FED, while they share off-balance-shitting responsibility for bad bank assets that cannot be marked to myth under lax accounting rules. The imperative being to keep official interest rates in balance at all costs (up to and including sovereignty) to prevent financial M.A.D. On reflection, you're right that "training wheels" is an improper analogy (and probably a bit insulting as well). Perhaps a motorcycle and sidecar would be a better analogy (and Mario and Janet can argue over who plays Thelma and who plays Louise, as they speed towards the cliff).
Mr G,
Why do you always have facts on your side?
:)
wallowamountainman returns.
I'm sorry. it's a passion. for ZH. and for facts. I just wish they would meet more often, the results of when they do are often spectacular
\hattip....
Putin is playing chess and looking 10 moves ahead while Obama and the EU poodles are still trying to figure out how to put their checkers on the board.
Here we are
http://www.jsmineset.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/clip_image0023.jpg
The US and EU are sawing off the branch they are standing on....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tyvhq7uhTM
Totally agree with this whole self determination thing, I mean what could be more democratic and western. Right? I mean, it's not like the west has had any wars where brother fought against brother to prevent such a thing happening. We always let a people in especially remote and far-flung parts of the empire self-determine if they want to be independent. Nobody in the west would ever go to war to stop that type of thing.
So you leave the eastern section called Ukraine, name the western section Kievland, and tell Russia what money? Ukraine owes you...not us.
The Zionist Hound-dogs are barking up the wrong tree again, .. that dog don't hunt Bear! .. as they say in Crimea
I hope Barry doesnt have to take out student loans from all of the schooling he's getting from Putin. Paying for that much education would be a bitch.
The last sudent loans / grants he got because he was foreign born. Can he pull it off again?
MyRA got it covered baby!
Should be good for 20 S&P Points and gold getting smashed a couple percent....
Now wait a minute...........here in the US when I loaded up the finance page a few minutes ago it says "Diplomacy in Ukraine prevails" and futures are green.
The only headline I didn't like was 'highs for the year could be near'. Ugh.........I can't imagine a big war and as long as the quants don't get knocked out a new high every single day. Oh wait....yes I can.
Ukrniane are totally broke, they might even make a deal with the devil (EU) to fix it over the short run. And Russia will not let Ukraine be in NATO... it´s like US would let Florida, or Detroit be in Russian hands, it will never happen, at any price....
Fun of the day... Sweden has moved airforce to Gotland (importand island in the ouster sea), "we have several tanks in a garage...but we have no personal who can drive them".
"We are ready for ya Putin, just bring some drivers"
22 Billion Dollars found: Photos of a Mexican drug lord's home after being raided
The money and valuables found in this one house alone, would be enough to pay for health insurance for every man woman and child in the USA for 12 years!
All photos here:
http://homment.com/drug-lord-home
350 million people for 12 years ??????...sounds great .....I'm not even going yo ask you the math you used to figure that one out
It's Common Core math......it doesn't have to be right.
Its called new math. When numbers don't add up print the difference. When truth doesn't add up, print the difference. When fraud is discovered, print the difference. When justice and the rule of law is replaced with new math, print the difference!
Wasn't 42 the answer ?
Got to carry weapons when you always carry cash.
All I see is private fraud fiat from the US federal Reserve.
I am SHOCKED!
That should make the Wolf of wall street green with envy.
Those Mexican drug lords are richer than Warren B.
Love how the 222 million turned into 22billion and than into infinite money with the health insurnce reference....
http://www.shockmansion.com/2014/02/17/222-million-found-in-mexican-drug...
Here you can find how would 1 billion and 100 million dollars look like: http://demonocracy.info/infographics/usa/us_debt/us_debt.html
LOL and they said he was worth only one billion dollars, well I hope he had a fire sprinkler system in that house with all that flammable material. Kind of dumb though he shoud of put it in gold, it would of been safer in case of a fire. Also at the rate the US govt is printing that stash of money would be equivalent to the number of digits on one single piece of currency paper in few years, i guess easier to carry but it would only buy you a loaf of bread in the future. Scary thing is I feel sorry for the guys that crossed him, those pussy cats me thinks were fed a primate diet.
Packed that tightly in bundless stuffed into cabinets the paper would not have burned. Not enough air and surface area.
Go back to school and do a remedial Maths course.
22 billion for 12 years is 2 billion a year for 335 million people or about $6 per person per year.
Only off by a factor of 1,000 there, buddy...
Obama could make some interesting points by invading tiny pieces of Mexico and bringing all this back. 27 more houses just like this one? Fire up the Apaches and A-10's!!
the opportunist will always exploit or create the situation/
abomination/tragedy
to advance their agenda and avoid investigation
and discovery of the facts unless they can control
the process. think 9/11 ..etc ...
.
".. Revised Narrative
Yet, it has been the Post, Times and other U.S. news outlets which have led the way in developing a propaganda narrative at odds with the known reality. For instance, the violent February clashes in Kiev are now typically described as the Ukrainian police having killed some 80 protesters, though the original reporting had that death toll including 13 policemen and the fact that neo-Nazi militias were responsible for much of the violence, from hurling firebombs to shooting firearms.
That history is already fast disappearing as we saw in a typical New York Times report on Wednesday, which reported: “More than 80 protesters were shot to death by the police as an uprising spiraled out of control in mid-February.”
Those revised “facts” better fit the preferred narrative of innocent and peaceful demonstrators being set upon by thuggish police without provocation. But that isn’t what the original reporting revealed. Either the New York Times should explain how the earlier reporting was wrong or it should respect the more nuanced reality.
To do so, however, would undercut the desired narrative. So, it’s better to simply accuse anyone with a functioning memory of being “delusional.” The same with anyone who mentions the stunning hypocrisy of the U.S. government suddenly finding international law inviolable."
.
comment: somewhere in this ukraine story is a big pile of steamy, lying opportunism.
(hint: never trust the psychopathic, worm riddled nazi brain.) you would think
the new york times, the post and washington d.c. would know that, but no, the neocons
and zionists love those guys for their work ethic.
.
Colored Revolutions: A New Form of Regime Change, Made in the USA
By Eva Golinger
Global Research, March 05, 2014
http://www.globalresearch.ca/colored-revolutions-a-new-form-of-regime-ch...
.
"In 1983, the strategy of overthrowing inconvenient governments and calling it “democracy promotion” was born." ..e.g.
the rest is unfolding history
You don't have to vote to join the U.S., just stroll across the border.
TO A MOUSE ( LURCHALOT )
We , sleekit, cow'rin, tim'rous beastie,
O, what a panic's in thy breastie
Thou need na start awa sae hasty
Wi bickering brattle
I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee
Wi' murdering pattle.
I'm truly sorry man's dominion
Has broken nature's social union
An' justifies that ill opinion
Which makes thee startle
At me, thy poor , earth born companion
An' fellow mortal. . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .
The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men
GANG AFT AGLEY. . . . . . . . . . .
A must read/ digest in full for my fellow CONNOISSEURS @ Z/H from Robert Burns @ Ode ' To A Mouse ' and summing up nicely the folly of the UNDEAD.
He also wrote "To a louse". I suspect he saw Obama coming.
Your move, western central banksters!
.... Our Banksters will sell Oil and Gas Futures to signal that, well, they can. BTFD.
The west is to blame for all of this, they set the president in Kosovo and other countries. Clinton just shit on Obamer lol
This whole thing looks very VERY preorchestrated to me. I wouldn't be surprised if the deal was cut with Putin on the last red line ordeal. He gets Crimea and Obama, Kerry and Hillary get a distraction from the trainwreck that is the economy and Obamawhocares.
Obama "They did not have the right lawyers for that vote"
we can see Russia from our backyard bitchez
FREE EAST COLORADO!
and the Western area
The people of Northern California support you.
Mars Attacks. Russian style....
And as Crimea votes to be Russian.......somehow in Saudi Arabia the Shiite minority find themeselves with more potent arms.
Especially in Saudi Arabia’s Shiite-dominated Eastern province which is center of the kingdom’s oil industry, the monarchy will shit their pants, and knowing it was Russia arming these guys, begin to reverse their tune on the Ukraine.
It is all very well to play their games in Syria and Ukraine but when it comes to their own doorstep.....
Russia can do the west much more damage playing the same game than the West can do to Russia. When you don't own the energy the game is dangerous.
It's even more dagerous when you hold all the debt.
Tremble City of london, as the first collateral victims of this threatened sanctions route will be the Ruski Oligarchs who live and work out of London.
I am sure David Cameron and Boris of London are not pleased at this :
The Russian oligarchs who could be in John Kerry's sights | World | theguardian.com
Putin's realpolitik -- (as long as he AVOIDS a nuclear face off, which apparently he has as the French press now says, "only sanctions are being discussed at Brussels by EU/US top knobs", not Nato retaliation in Ukraine.)-- seems to be winning and Us diplomacy seems to be vacuously jawing to save face; no real hard heartaches are at stake for Balaclava sweepstakes of the Crimean Derby race programmed for March 16.
When the Ukraine crisis comes to its fizzled out conclusion (in terms of Megapower stand off), --like a coca cola bottle with no fizzy zip left-- our world attention will move back to ME Syrian/Iranian stand off and to monitoring the harvesting of the sour grapes of world financial dystopia.
That is a story that is not going to disappear fast; just like Sarkozy's incredible embarrassment at having his privy conversations being taped by arch far right consultant Patrick Buisson; the Karl Rove of French right wing politics.
Buisson's tapes could be as explosive for french politics as Snowden's leaks for the NSA/Obammy crony conglomerate.
Ah, "When thieves fall out" is going to make the top of the charts one of these coming years!
So, FP - what the fuck is going on? First Syria, now Ukraine. The US incessantly bloviating and demonizing and crowing - then slinking away. WTF? I really don't get this, it's like the US is setting itself up.
What part of "Fundimentally transform America" is not understood?
If seen as a series of blundering mis-steps it makes no sense, If part of an overall plan to wreck the standing of the U.S. it is brilliant.
There may be some difference of opinion on what end result is desired.
I have a hard time getting my head around this, not that I deny it.
I remember when Kerry ran for president. It seemed like a complete farce to me, like a stage production. And here he still is.
The key issue in this escalation race was the murder of Q-daffy in Libya.
If you remember the Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings were popular knee jerks against corrupt regimes.
The West used that as a Machiavellian PRETEXT to knock out an arrogant despot ---whom the Russian axis considered as a valuable ally in that he was against Saudi influence in Africa and more "secular"...just like Assad in Syria---both despots being residual dictators from a past cold war "arms bazar" era, where USSR and USA competed to sell the third world "crony obsolote arms for alliance deals"; typical third world corruption from Indonesia/Vietnam to Iran/Pakistan to Africa and S America played out cynically by both MICs--- which has been the bain of the militarist third world influence game until Berlin wall fell and CIA/KGB should have become history (but didn't as the USA recreated the "rogue state" NWO conundrum of Ben Laden type plays).
What the West had underestimated in the Oil spike era age; that has resurrected the Russian energy potential; was Putin's ambition to resuscitate a Russian Empire --Eurasian Monroe Doctrine type sphere of influence-- that his current Oligarchy cum Gazprom pre-eminence has allowed him to create; along with the Chindia and Brazil behemoths, now ready to challenge unilateral Pax Americana in the current financial cum currency war crisis running rampage post 2008 collapse of capitalism.
Whereas the Libyan apparent success fanned the desire of Qatari ambitions to link its gas pipeline to Saud's ambitions of dismembering Assad's Syria and thus snubbing Iran/Hezbollah counter ambitions-- allied to secular Assad-- and mentor Putin's ME ambitions, we had the incredible escalation of a new massacre cum proxy war since 9 months of Syrian populations. A proxy war, rampage and rape by all these crazy power hungry predatory plays out of control of major puppet masters.
Enter Putin with Chinese support who calls US/Qatar/Saud bluff --- and by ricochet the Israel backing for anything that touches Iran; their bitter mortal enemy.
When Obammy plus Hollande said they would take out Syria militarily Putin called their bluff by saying "I'm all in, even if it means WW3" and Obammy blinked and Hollande looked silly. as the US walked away from both Syria and Iran nuclear standoff as geopolitical consequence.
Now its rinse and repeat in Ukraine.
So this has been a major psychological blunder in ME and East Europe which will have enormous consequences for Pax Americana prestige; as it makes clear that if Putin is not a communist ideologue he is very much a son of the ROMANOVs !
We have a problem Houston...!
And, its not over as the political red/blue US system is very divided and not consensual either on "whither Pax AMericana foreign policy" or on domestic and financial issues. Big pile of shit.
You are normally more insightful than this....
Khadfi folded like a cheap suit when 1500 rebels revealed how weak he really was. And he was allegedly backed by Chinese and the Russians. That should tell you their lack of judgement and ability to project power....
The west only acted after it was clear Khadafi was toast....
Did the US fool the "Chess Player" and the "Dragon" in signing off on the UN resolutions?
For shits and giggles, can you name the alledged stooge of the West running things in Libya now?
-----
As fucked as the US is, it is stll a leg up or two on the Russia and China...
This is the 21st century of RealPolitik...
the facts of Q-daffy's demise have nothing to do with 1500 rebels. It has to do with a concerted military strategy enacted by USA/UK/France with Qatari money backing.
As for the rebel faction that was used to give credibility to this enactment you only have to see how its imploded since Q's demise --note the blowback on US coercive plays in Benghazi to recruit by force "jihadists" and arms for Syria that led to demise of US ambassador, note also how uncontrollable the OlL situation is today in "US friendly Libya".
If the indigenous revolt in Libya was as sincere as you make it out to be would this be the situation today...?
Nope, IMO, Q-daffy was a bloody despot, like Assad. But regime change to serve Oligarchy plays; in this case undoubtedly OIL; which have no popular support or political basis in the local country are a recipe for opening Pandora's box!
Like in Syria now.
re shits n giggles : Mustafa Abdul Jalil - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
And in the news - Libya, Gaddafi, and Niger.
Also known as washing your hands....
Libya and Syria are two very different situations as you are aware...
For one, there is no Sunni-Shia schism in Libya and that is a big plus...
You know better than to claim that Khadafi enjoyed full support. Even now, the same Eastern faction that was key to toppling Khadafi is the one meddling in the oil infrastructure demanding deevolution of power from Tripoli...
Khadafi went because it was clear that he was unable to hold it together, and in this day and age it is all about being able to hold things together...
I'll give you credit for at least providing a plausible stooge but he strikes me as being more of intermediary than one that wields significant influence...
And I fully agree that the situation is very fluid and will likely get a lot worse. And that applies to a lot of places...
...
don't misunderstand what I write.
Q-daffy who ruled like a bloody despot a land of feudal tribes was the antithesis of a true patriotic leader. But he was not worse than these shia or sunni theocrats who are the biggest betrayal of a religion that pretended to bring peace, harmony and social progress to the world.
That the Iran of Mossadegh has morphed into Ayatollah land, that the land of Abassids of old and their legacy has morphed into this extreme extraction of Wahhabism, is the biggest insult to a fourteen hundred year legacy, sometimes imperial and culturally exemplary.
So the ME world under Pax Americana and British Empire plays, as well its own regressionary momentum since demise of House of Wisdom, has gone from bad to worse. I just try to contextualise bad from worse.
In this context, by liquidating a leader for divide and rule reasons, the West brings no enlightenment/democracy to the headless tribes of Libya. Easy pickings now and misery for the sheeple.
Thats my point.
That is a very fair point...
I agree, the real life Game of Thrones is repugnant. And we are clearly at the point where it has become a Zero-sum-game...
And similar to a doctor, I am not repulsed by the sight of blood, nor do I celebrate its shedding...
Not taking sides, but objectively how can Pax Americana be worse than the alternatives? Russia, China?
you are still looking at the situation in binary terms; why not syncretically?
oh, wait...
A good clip from the past...
However. we are still a ways from the point where both sides are the same, even if their methods are very similar...
Admittedly, the EU did reach that conclusion though, the tipping point is when you realize that winning a war is just as costly as losing a war...
Syria was a diplomatic sucess by any measure...
It was never about regime change, despite what the Gulf Sunnis and Neo-Con Hawks would want you to believe...
Give the US credit for recognizing there is no viable candidate to replace the Assad regime. Let the Iranians and Saudis fight their proxy war with their treasure and blood...
And when the sabre rattling stopped, Putin and Obama got Assad to give up his chemical arsenal. Thereby limiting the possibility of further escalation...
Do you recall the days of the UAR and Iraq being armed by the Soviets? Syria is the last client state of the former USSR left in the ME. And it is slowly destroying itself...
----------
As for the Ukraine/Crimea, simply look that the board before and after...
Putin did not gain anything he did not already effectively have before squandering it...
Thanks - I appreciate the responses from both you and FP.
My brain is too small for this stuff.
but not your sense of humour for the absurd.
Agreed....
Now that Bibi, the Likud and Israeli Neocons can no longer use Syria and Iran as pretexts for their own expansionist ambitions, these sociopaths need another major global distraction and pretext for their Puppet/Enforcer and its Neocons (the US). Enter Ukraine. It provides the 'perfect' (best) means for the US, by using 'NATO' as pretext and cover.
Ukraine provides not only perfect cover to distract the world from looming International Sanctions (which I am certain will quietly go away), but also for the inflated King Fiat (USD) and its owners. An artificial "Demand" must be created for the sagging demand for new US debt via financial WMDs, aka QE, US Debt-Bonds, USTs and Derivatives. They have NO mathematical choice: If they stop inflating the Debt Balloon, the fiat party is over.
If King Fiat shrinks or gets dethroned, all bets are off: the Fed folds, the MIC folds, and Tel Aviv (and its Neocons) folds.
Eddie And The Hot Rods - Get Out Of Denver
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxgQjQ4eRQ4
I think when Putin looks at Obama he sees a scared furry little bunny with his heart all a pitter-patter. How completely and totally embarrassing on the world stage to made to look like such a fool.
So when is the New Ukrainian Government going to send in their Protesters and snipers to Crimea?
it's too late to do it to Crimea, but Odessa is a different matter, unfortunately.
Grab Russian assets overseas, Russia grabs the equivalent foreign assets in Russia to off set.
The fact of the matter is the USA, Israel, Saudi Arabia were totally stupid to pick on Russia.
And China will be watching and thinking that if they tried it on Russia they will try it on China...so in best interests of China to come in with strong support to Russia at some stage if the US tries to push it too far.
Can we get our $5B back please?
Did you see all those shiny new ak's? Those boys don't look to me like they would take any shit at all. Sending ukrainian government snipers to crimea now would be a suicide mission. Face it, Putin owns it now and ain't nobody gonna take it away from him without a lot of blood being lost cause we have nobody to stand eyeball to eyeball with him and tell him I'm fixing to fuck you up boy!
This is looking more and more like a well managed partitiion of Ukraine, pre arranged by East and West... bigest loser.. the Ukrainian people whom all parties claim to love and in fact don't give a shit about. The Us has sucessfully managed to acquire another welfare state managed by some of the most corrupt politicians in the region... with friends like these who needs enemies.
Tyler's MSNBC said this crisis waas over and Obama won so this story can't be true.
"I can be more flexible after the election" is beginning to have HUGE connotations!
Perhaps John "War Hero" Kerry can arrainge a marrige between Mutty and Putin to bring the crisis to and end. Or maybe we should threaten a marrige to make him behave...
It's a story until the embarressment factor goes through the fricking roof, then it's "move along nothing to see here"
Yes, this was indeed an International Bitch Slap.
What is the relationship between Putin and the Russian mob? Is it good/bad/indifferent?
Who controls and influences Putin in Russia?
The same group that controls the Queen in America?
Ways to Peace is a bad foreign policy. It's totally insincere. It's a prelude to a genocide.
Hope and Change.
Dear leader was HOPING to put some missiles at Russia's door steps only to see Ukrain CHANGED into Russia. LOL !!
These DC facebookers and tweeters started to believe in their own Hollywood movie crap. Everyone else was an easy pushover until they ran into someone with a heck of lot more nuclear weapons than North Korea. Putin doesn't need to read from a telepromter what his oligarchs tell him like Obama does with AIPAC. So he is always one step ahead.
YOSSI, what do I do next? The mashuganas in Russia don't want to pay tribute. Oy vey!
I think it's time for Skull & Bones for a good sacrifice but instead of sacrificing innocent children, like they normally do, maybe it's time for something bigger like Skull & Bones Kerry because he has been a complete and utter failure. Satanist Skull & Bones Mad Dog Kerry http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbvzWh5r6PU
We live the law of the jungle with too much fraud creating too much debt by too many banksters who have access to too much money with too much leverage …
… and little by little they went insane …
And as a reminder
From radio free europe of all places.
http://www.rferl.org/content/was-yanukovychs-ouster-constitutional/25274...
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Dueling Constitutions
But a legal gap remains. According to the terms of an EU-brokered peace deal finalized on February 21, Yanukovych was due to sign a measure returning Ukraine to its 2004 constitution. (In 2010, Yanukovych restored the country's 1996 constitution, which hands greater power to the presidency.)
Yanukovych, however, failed to sign the measure. The omission appears to leave Kyiv in the kind of legal limbo that may prove fodder for future arguments against the current government transition.
The 1996 and the 2004 constitutions are uniform when it comes to the reasons for removing a president, with Article 111 stating the parliament has the right to initiate a procedure of impeachment "if he commits treason or other crime."
However, it is not clear that the hasty February 22 vote upholds constitutional guidelines, which call for a review of the case by Ukraine's Constitutional Court and a three-fourths majority vote by the Verkhovna Rada -- i.e., 338 lawmakers.
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Forget about whether it was a protest or coup and counter move of Russia going into Crimea the government itself is most likely unconstitutional and illegal under international law.
Whether you like Yanokuvych or not you can make the case he was chased out by a mob recogonized as the legal government by the 'international' community aka the US/EU/NATO. The case can be made that the Ukrainian Constitution was violated and in turn international law because the US/EU/NATO recognize the current government. Therefore Russia by giving Yanokuvych who is still technically the legal President refuge is acting as the guarantor of international law here and holding up their end of agreement of the memorandum of understanding.
Who threw the first punch in the school yard fight?
Now to Crimea. Crimea is an autonomous Republic (was before the Russians rolled in, while there and still now) with a government independent to Ukraine even though under the umbrella of the Ukraine kind of like Puerto Rico in the US. If regional government approved of all the moves (which they did) weasel moves or not, it is not an invasion and not undermining the sovereignty of Ukraine. The Ukraine may not like it but the regional government gets the final say if the rule of law applies same as Puerto Rico if they wanted to leave the protection of the US....