Even if our leaders wanted to, they can't, lest the other political party pounce and accuse them of weakness and also of being Russian agents. Instead, each party competes as to who can offer the most hysterical, foaming at the mouth rhetoric and escalation.
This strategy is known as "painting oneself into a corner".
And "our leaders" are so intrinsically part of the problem, so well-rewarded for being the problem that it would take a miracle for them to change. They don't represent anything more than themselves. But there is some hope there.
In America, we have a uni-party. Caitlin has acknowledged that the opposition to the uni-party can come from the populist right or the populist left. She has her preference--the left--but either way, we populists are the minority of leaders, and the majority of peace-loving people.
The US 'leadership' simply cannot accept that it cannot cow every country on the planet into submission. The four provinces that have voted to join Russia will be infinitely better off as part of Russia. Its residents will be treated like full-fledged citizens, not abused as an ethnic minority considered inferior. Its infrastructure will be rebuilt. They will know peace and normality for the first time in over 8 years. This is already happening in Mariupol. The US doesn't care. It's like a two year old throwing a temper tantrum because it can't get its way.
A prediction. All reasonable behaviour will go out the window. It will be escalated. When we the people have "learned OUR lesson" the global government solution that's been waiting in the wings will step in to 'fix' it all and we will beg for forgiveness and rush into their arms, be happy and own nothing.
The comic in Caitlin 's article asks people if they are willing to change since they want change. I was thinking along the lines of be the change. Be the peacemakers. Be kind. Point out the unreasonable behavior without judging the people. I think survival may depend on doing our best to listen and understand and not be compliant especially with the divide and conquer mentality.
Everything is waves of energy in constant motion vibrating at different frequencies. Lower frequencies want to resonate with higher ones. By raising our own vibrations we raise all vibration.
That situation seems to be the general objective: even greater concentration of money, more of the oligarchs that few seem to object to, and "take it or leave" attitude. But there is no place left: the same iron hand rules everywhere.
The media's failure to report on the actual voting to join Russia and the politicians' collective denunciation of it as "sham" were enabled by the failure to report the historical fact that the Ukranian government was engaged in a civil war and bombing and killing thousands of people since 2014. Which were enabled by the failure to report on Nazi militia's and the US backed Maidan coup. Which were angled by. failure to report on .......
Not to disagree with anything you say, but the results of the referenda are immaterial.
The USA has always used referendums to "prove" their covert actions in overthrowing elected governments. The purpose is to provide a "fig leaf" for other nations to support. Although China and India are still playing coy, they are not objecting to the referenda. Their silence then allows the "global South" to follow their lead.
IOW, let's not get too involved in a pointless argument about whether or not the votes were shams and just say, "Whatever, those Oblasts are now part of Russia, Ukraine needs to get out." This is especially important in the light of what Caitlin says about First Strike Nukes. Russia has always maintained that they can use Nukes to defend the homeland. (Although there is a lot of nuance in that claim. Certainly Russia is not saber-rattling with nukes but responding to the US rattled saber.)
The USA set the precedent. Russia is just following the playbook.
In the end, the only thing that will end this conflict is the overthrow of the American Oligarchy. I wish people would concentrate on that.
My point was not to engage in a "coy" discussion of the legitimacy of the vote.
It was to illustrate the continuing western media bias and the pattern and objectives of the bias. As Caitlin's subsequent piece illustrated, bias supports corrupt objectives and is therefore very dangerous.
There's a big difference between "accepting the results" and reporting the facts on how the vote was conducted, data on the vote itself (turnout, results, etc), and some exit polls or interviews with actual voters. Were there any international monitors?
All NPR reported was that "Russian soldiers kicked down doors and intimidated voters at gunpoint" - from a source not actually living or voting in the region..
Yes Bill, the NPR stories are crap. Worthless to argue about because it all gets lost in the debate. After all, how many MAGAnuts have been convinced that the 2020 election wasn't stolen. Zero. Guess what, it was stolen! It would not have mattered whether Trump or Biden won -- either way it was rigged and therefore stolen.
So, the only thing to argue about is whether or not to accept the results. IMHO, the only correct answer is "yes" and move on to the next skirmish.
Well, the percentage that voted against the proposal must have voted in a secret ballot or they'd be "pushing up daisys". Maybe this is the missleading reporting adern is commenting on.
Same thing's been ongoing with Crimea since '14. Obama, Biden, Clinton, Neuland, et al. in the driver's seat back then. Oops, seems most drivers are still in the proverbial hot, Imperial, seat.
Great time to end the war! Agreed. Go back to Clinton and the and Serbia, Latvia, and Estonia agreements of self determination. All these peoples wanted to be part of the west. They were allowed to choose that. What was right for them is right for these four areas now choosing to be part of russia. They suffered enough with the asov/Ukrainian forces battling them for eight years. The people of these areas and the normal citizens of Ukraine need to demand their governments settle this now. The MSM needs to stop the propaganda and voice the truth on the ground, regarding the election. Forty watchers from other nations were involved, along with on the ground journalists. Peace is needed, not more arms and money from us. To carry this further is an insane money ego trip.
The Ukrainian forces are not "battling with" them. They are ATTACKING them.
To use terms such as "battling" is like describing domestic violence as "a fight between husband and wife," when the actuality is that he is beating the stuffing out of her.
I meant battling in the sense of attacking. Agreed. That’s why these four areas needed a free vote to detach themselves from Ukraine, just like other countries and places in Europe detached from Russia.
Com'on the MSM is owned by the American Oligarchy. They are going to print what the Oligarchy tells them to. If you want truth, you have to expose "the man behind the curtain."
Our voices must be unified against the Oligarchy. We need more Richard Wolff, Michael Hudson and Pepe Escobar in our lives. And we need to preach their sermons to the people. I support Chris Smalls.
I just read in "Al Jazeera" two articles which say Ukraine will put in for an "Accelerated" bid to join NATO! And the US and Ukraine dismiss the Russian annexation as a poor war tactic from Putin. So more war is what they are going for!
I've seen little from "the west--empire--that indicates they EVER want peace. In my 68+ years I've never seen any, and will die well before any peace ever breaks out. Escalation seems, sadly, to be in the cards, and no one will fold either.
FWIW: some big wig in Germany has already sputtered that there's no way Ukraine will be allowed in NATO.
Kind of interesting isn't it that Germany hasn't invoked article 5 and united NATO against the USA for its attack on the EU. (That's kind of a joke, but you know the funniest jokes are the ones based on truth and lies)
That is a very good point and not funny at all: the US - if it is guilty of the pipeline sabotage and all the evidence and logic point to it - has condemned many citizens of the EU to a certain and horrible death. Every year hundreds die from the cold, with roofs over their heads: this should be a banner year in that respect. Russia would have supplied the needed gas: the US made that impossible.
There have been very long wars, but modern wars are self-limiting. Starvation and death from cold we have had little objection to, except for the pro forma crocodile tears and sprinkling of aid when it involves other nations, but it wouldn't go over so well locally - the western sphere of interest. There are cards yet to be played.
I think both the Russian and US leadership / ruling classes believe they can win the war in the sense of doing serious damage to the other party and thus improving their own position in the game (Realpolitik). It's hard to say who's ahead, but the US, by blowing up one of its most important satellites' major investments, seems to be leading in the weirdness department.
It seems irrational to do serious harm to an important ally. One might do something weird to achieve a limited, close-in goal, but in the long term the alliance as a whole is threatened, and in addition there is no back-out route. The US is going to be deep in unintended consequences country. And right now, millions of people, some of them very capable, are thinking, "What must I do to deal with this apparently insane entity?" Some of their thoughts -- and actions -- will not be to the advantage of the US.
Yes, indeed. In spades, one might say. Or "with a large pipe wrench."
Although considerable suspicion must fall upon the US government, there may be other parties that see a benefit. I'm thinking particularly of Poland. (Not my idea; it's been noised about by various unorthodox thinkists.)
Oh so true Caitlin! I fear they will not stop for one moment but just continue with destroying the world. We must remember these people are committing crimes out in the open and thus need to be treated as the filth they are in the open! Our very existence is at stake here. These criminals are in almost every government across the world. They are controlled by the same people in each country and anytime they are caught doing their dirty work they murder, detract or just outright imprison the person for their very own crime! I don't know of any way of stopping this train wreck as too many are completely brainwashed!
Let me point you towards a way to stop the train wreck: Watch How to Start a Revolution DVD documentary (it's not what you think) and read From Dictatorship to Democracy, the book by the late Dr Gene Sharp.
You can buy a copy on eBay or from the Einstein Institution in Boston, MA, USA.
Gene Sharp was a Harvard professor who spent his life studying nonviolent resistance. I'm sure that he didn't have any connection to George Soros at all.
Maybe you should take advantage of the resources that I gave you and read what he had to say for himself, rather than repeating some gossip that you heard about him. But that might take some effort, of course.
He founded the Einstein Institution in Boston MA. You can learn more about him there. And please don't insult Jamil Raqib with any nonsense.
So you have listened to GOSSIP about Dr Gene Sharp instead of actually READING what he had to say, and now you consider yourself to be an expert on his ideas?
Moreover, you need to brush up on your reading comprehension skills before you do, because WHAT I SAID was that you COULD find the correct information about his work from the Einstein Institution in Boston. Jamil Raqib was his assistant when he was alive, and she is now the head of the Einstein Institution. And I said not to insult her (future tense, if you know what that means) because she doesn't deserve it.
Many people have done praiseworthy work and have found that it was used for a purpose far different from the one they intended. The same thing has happened to Dr Sharp's work, and I believe that it was done with the intention to discredit what he was trying to do.
Gullible people, of course, easily fall for those tactics.
What will happen to public opinion in what's left of Ukraine when people in the EU are freezing to death this winter and starving next year? Meanwhile, their relatives in eastern/southern Ukraine will be prosperously rebuilding. Will people in rump Ukraine continue pushing to join the EU, or will they prefer being open to Russian food and gas?
And what of the people in the EU itself? They aren't stupid. They know who did this incredibly destructive, nihilistic thing. The world knows. The US will be isolated, with not a single genuine ally.
There will be no negotiated settlement. Russia has already destroyed the bulk of NATO military equipment on the ground in Ukraine, and has shown the capability of overwhelming NATO artillery 10:1. NATO has already lost this widened war, but is too stupid to see that and will continue until Novorossiya consists of everything east of the Dnieper as well as Kherson, Mikolaev and Odessa oblasts. Let us all hope the globalists give up on Ukraine without resorting to nuclear war.
BTW, Caitlin, your definition of "think tank" is priceless.
Hasn't it been obvious for a long time that good ol' Bernie is one of the boys when it comes to warmongering?
As for "Russia did it" the main argument against it that all the Russians had to do was turn off the gas at home. No need for an elaborate operation in the Baltic. The most probable guess is a continuation of the original quip about the purpose of NATO: keep America in, the Russians out, and Germany down. The last-named is still important because without German leadership, indeed, domination, in the military, political, and economic spheres, Europe will remain somebody's satellite / colony. Whose craw would that stick in? There's your perp.
Exactly. Can't imagine why Putin would blow up his pipeline when he can just turn off the taps. Unless he wants to implicate Biden after his tough guy threats to cut off gas supply.
This mess could end tomorrow if there were some adults in charge of NATO. Don't the globalist have a great reset green agenda to prosecute by 2030 or has the plan changed to blow up the northern hemisphere?
Text of Putin’s Speech Blasting ‘Neo-Colonial’ West
The Russian president on Friday slammed the West for a history of abuse against the rest of the world as he announced that four Ukrainian oblasts had joined the Russian Federation.
[English translation from the Kremlin website]:
In the Georgievsky Hall of the Kremlin, a ceremony was held on Friday to sign agreements on the admission of the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Luhansk People’s Republic, the Zaporizhia Region and the Kherson Region to Russia and the formation of new subjects of the Russian Federation.
September 30, 2022
16:00 (Moscow time)
Moscow Kremlin
Vladimir Putin: Dear citizens of Russia, citizens of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, residents of the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, deputies of the State Duma, and senators of the Russian Federation!
You know, referendums were held in the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions. Their results have been summed up, the results are known. People made their choice, a clear choice.
Today we are signing agreements on the admission of the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Luhansk People’s Republic, the Zaporizhia Region and the Kherson Region to Russia. I am sure that the Federal Assembly will support the constitutional laws on the adoption and formation in Russia of four new regions, four new subjects of the Russian Federation, because this is the will of millions of people.
Ukraine has been claiming it since 2014 - that Donbas shelled themselves all that time. It's continued doing so through this phase. So it became a meme so much so that two recent warning hits against infrastructure by Russia were being played in Russian blogosphere as Ukraine finally catching up and doing same to themselves.
The one source of a sanity in this entire war seems to be the aggressor, Putin and Russia have made clear concise statements about their plans, intentions and results. They sought enforcement of the Minsk peace accords for years before the war started. It is clear to me that Putin and Lavrov put in significant effort to avoid this war.
It is my belief that Russia will end the SMO with the closing of the annexations. They have already announced that conversion from the special operation into an anti-terrorist operation is their next step. This would fit with the narrative from the beginning, ensuring the peace and preventing Russians from being attacked. It is clear to me that Russia expects Ukraine and NATO to push terroristic attacks on the new territories and is intent on stopping them. With the pipeline terrorist attack as a turning point it seems that Russia was correct yet again, terrorism from the west is the new threat.
I expect that the Ukraine war is over from a Russian perspective.
"Putin and Russia have made clear concise statements about their plans, intentions and results" - and it's not just about this ongoing event.
That's been the case throughout Putin's terms and it explains his popularity. He doesn't mince words, says what he's going to do and then goes ahead to do it. If something fails he admits it, offers a different approach, and pushes on. Is he always right? No. But he doesn't run away from his failures. People appreciate that.
This kind of an attitude is so foreign to the Western elites it makes them writhe.
Regarding Ukraine. I agree, now would be an excellent time to stop. But I fear it won't happen. The transatlantic security elite cannot bear to fail. For them, to fail in their project to defeat and humiliate Russia is akin to death. (It may be death to the ego, but they mistake their egos for themselves).
I do believe I heard Scott Ritter say the Russians will be on the Polish border before next summer.
Whether or not the AFU advances in Kharkiv (including talking Lyman) are important or not remains to be seen.
I would rather that this war had never started. I wish John McCain had died in Vietnam (although he might have been replaced by some other war-monger who would have been just as bad).
But now that it is on, and the American Oligarchy has shown itself to be the criminals they are, I want this conflict to go on for as long as it takes for the rest of the world to turn on the American Bully. I want Americans to be free from the neo-feudalism being constructed around us. If Americans can be freed, then the rest of the world can be freed.
This Reddit Post leads to some more discussion and a few articles that might back up my desire to keep going -- or it might suggest that nuclear war truly is upon us and we should sue for peace now.
Well said on every level. I pray for an immediate peace, and--this is a long shot, but I believe God can do anything--that Joe Biden will become a 100% honest and humble man, and admit his hand in provoking this hideous war.
The Universe IS amazing! We stardust are evolving. I loved the two comic frames!
Is Rome burning and, if so, is it a good thing? Both parties are war mongering. Leadership is still pushing vaccines while acknowledging the pandemic is over and still blaming the unvaccinated. We are in danger of completely losing body autonomy. Science joins the ranks of propaganda tools. Inflation and hunger continue to rise all around the world. I live on social security retirement income and think about how to change my diet to eat more cheaply than I already do. Their chess game is the riskiest ever for all life.
Even if our leaders wanted to, they can't, lest the other political party pounce and accuse them of weakness and also of being Russian agents. Instead, each party competes as to who can offer the most hysterical, foaming at the mouth rhetoric and escalation.
This strategy is known as "painting oneself into a corner".
And "our leaders" are so intrinsically part of the problem, so well-rewarded for being the problem that it would take a miracle for them to change. They don't represent anything more than themselves. But there is some hope there.
In America, we have a uni-party. Caitlin has acknowledged that the opposition to the uni-party can come from the populist right or the populist left. She has her preference--the left--but either way, we populists are the minority of leaders, and the majority of peace-loving people.
The US 'leadership' simply cannot accept that it cannot cow every country on the planet into submission. The four provinces that have voted to join Russia will be infinitely better off as part of Russia. Its residents will be treated like full-fledged citizens, not abused as an ethnic minority considered inferior. Its infrastructure will be rebuilt. They will know peace and normality for the first time in over 8 years. This is already happening in Mariupol. The US doesn't care. It's like a two year old throwing a temper tantrum because it can't get its way.
A prediction. All reasonable behaviour will go out the window. It will be escalated. When we the people have "learned OUR lesson" the global government solution that's been waiting in the wings will step in to 'fix' it all and we will beg for forgiveness and rush into their arms, be happy and own nothing.
We must be the reasonable ones.
Besides repeating a platitude, how do you advise that we do that?
The comic in Caitlin 's article asks people if they are willing to change since they want change. I was thinking along the lines of be the change. Be the peacemakers. Be kind. Point out the unreasonable behavior without judging the people. I think survival may depend on doing our best to listen and understand and not be compliant especially with the divide and conquer mentality.
Everything is waves of energy in constant motion vibrating at different frequencies. Lower frequencies want to resonate with higher ones. By raising our own vibrations we raise all vibration.
Love is the way.
That situation seems to be the general objective: even greater concentration of money, more of the oligarchs that few seem to object to, and "take it or leave" attitude. But there is no place left: the same iron hand rules everywhere.
The media's failure to report on the actual voting to join Russia and the politicians' collective denunciation of it as "sham" were enabled by the failure to report the historical fact that the Ukranian government was engaged in a civil war and bombing and killing thousands of people since 2014. Which were enabled by the failure to report on Nazi militia's and the US backed Maidan coup. Which were angled by. failure to report on .......
On what a tangled web they weave!
Not to disagree with anything you say, but the results of the referenda are immaterial.
The USA has always used referendums to "prove" their covert actions in overthrowing elected governments. The purpose is to provide a "fig leaf" for other nations to support. Although China and India are still playing coy, they are not objecting to the referenda. Their silence then allows the "global South" to follow their lead.
IOW, let's not get too involved in a pointless argument about whether or not the votes were shams and just say, "Whatever, those Oblasts are now part of Russia, Ukraine needs to get out." This is especially important in the light of what Caitlin says about First Strike Nukes. Russia has always maintained that they can use Nukes to defend the homeland. (Although there is a lot of nuance in that claim. Certainly Russia is not saber-rattling with nukes but responding to the US rattled saber.)
The USA set the precedent. Russia is just following the playbook.
In the end, the only thing that will end this conflict is the overthrow of the American Oligarchy. I wish people would concentrate on that.
My point was not to engage in a "coy" discussion of the legitimacy of the vote.
It was to illustrate the continuing western media bias and the pattern and objectives of the bias. As Caitlin's subsequent piece illustrated, bias supports corrupt objectives and is therefore very dangerous.
What else did you expect Bill? They were never going to accept the result.
There's a big difference between "accepting the results" and reporting the facts on how the vote was conducted, data on the vote itself (turnout, results, etc), and some exit polls or interviews with actual voters. Were there any international monitors?
All NPR reported was that "Russian soldiers kicked down doors and intimidated voters at gunpoint" - from a source not actually living or voting in the region..
What crap.
Yes Bill, the NPR stories are crap. Worthless to argue about because it all gets lost in the debate. After all, how many MAGAnuts have been convinced that the 2020 election wasn't stolen. Zero. Guess what, it was stolen! It would not have mattered whether Trump or Biden won -- either way it was rigged and therefore stolen.
So, the only thing to argue about is whether or not to accept the results. IMHO, the only correct answer is "yes" and move on to the next skirmish.
Well, the percentage that voted against the proposal must have voted in a secret ballot or they'd be "pushing up daisys". Maybe this is the missleading reporting adern is commenting on.
Same thing's been ongoing with Crimea since '14. Obama, Biden, Clinton, Neuland, et al. in the driver's seat back then. Oops, seems most drivers are still in the proverbial hot, Imperial, seat.
Great time to end the war! Agreed. Go back to Clinton and the and Serbia, Latvia, and Estonia agreements of self determination. All these peoples wanted to be part of the west. They were allowed to choose that. What was right for them is right for these four areas now choosing to be part of russia. They suffered enough with the asov/Ukrainian forces battling them for eight years. The people of these areas and the normal citizens of Ukraine need to demand their governments settle this now. The MSM needs to stop the propaganda and voice the truth on the ground, regarding the election. Forty watchers from other nations were involved, along with on the ground journalists. Peace is needed, not more arms and money from us. To carry this further is an insane money ego trip.
The Ukrainian forces are not "battling with" them. They are ATTACKING them.
To use terms such as "battling" is like describing domestic violence as "a fight between husband and wife," when the actuality is that he is beating the stuffing out of her.
Don't use fatuous euphemisms.
I meant battling in the sense of attacking. Agreed. That’s why these four areas needed a free vote to detach themselves from Ukraine, just like other countries and places in Europe detached from Russia.
You mean "battling in the sense of attacking"? That's like saying "I mean sky in the sense of cheese." Don't try it on your pizza.
Are you on drugs?
Com'on the MSM is owned by the American Oligarchy. They are going to print what the Oligarchy tells them to. If you want truth, you have to expose "the man behind the curtain."
Our voices must be unified against the Oligarchy. We need more Richard Wolff, Michael Hudson and Pepe Escobar in our lives. And we need to preach their sermons to the people. I support Chris Smalls.
I would like Richard Wolff if he admitted that he understood MMT, but his ranting about "the taxpayers' dollar" makes him sound like a fool.
I just read in "Al Jazeera" two articles which say Ukraine will put in for an "Accelerated" bid to join NATO! And the US and Ukraine dismiss the Russian annexation as a poor war tactic from Putin. So more war is what they are going for!
I've seen little from "the west--empire--that indicates they EVER want peace. In my 68+ years I've never seen any, and will die well before any peace ever breaks out. Escalation seems, sadly, to be in the cards, and no one will fold either.
FWIW: some big wig in Germany has already sputtered that there's no way Ukraine will be allowed in NATO.
Kind of interesting isn't it that Germany hasn't invoked article 5 and united NATO against the USA for its attack on the EU. (That's kind of a joke, but you know the funniest jokes are the ones based on truth and lies)
That is a very good point and not funny at all: the US - if it is guilty of the pipeline sabotage and all the evidence and logic point to it - has condemned many citizens of the EU to a certain and horrible death. Every year hundreds die from the cold, with roofs over their heads: this should be a banner year in that respect. Russia would have supplied the needed gas: the US made that impossible.
Yet the Criminal Elite are fat, happy, making tons of money and warm and cozy in knowing how corrupt their cronies are!
There have been very long wars, but modern wars are self-limiting. Starvation and death from cold we have had little objection to, except for the pro forma crocodile tears and sprinkling of aid when it involves other nations, but it wouldn't go over so well locally - the western sphere of interest. There are cards yet to be played.
I think both the Russian and US leadership / ruling classes believe they can win the war in the sense of doing serious damage to the other party and thus improving their own position in the game (Realpolitik). It's hard to say who's ahead, but the US, by blowing up one of its most important satellites' major investments, seems to be leading in the weirdness department.
I wouldn't call it weirdness.
It seems irrational to do serious harm to an important ally. One might do something weird to achieve a limited, close-in goal, but in the long term the alliance as a whole is threatened, and in addition there is no back-out route. The US is going to be deep in unintended consequences country. And right now, millions of people, some of them very capable, are thinking, "What must I do to deal with this apparently insane entity?" Some of their thoughts -- and actions -- will not be to the advantage of the US.
Remember Nuland's "Fuck the EU" from 2014? Seems they just reiterated it.
Yes, indeed. In spades, one might say. Or "with a large pipe wrench."
Although considerable suspicion must fall upon the US government, there may be other parties that see a benefit. I'm thinking particularly of Poland. (Not my idea; it's been noised about by various unorthodox thinkists.)
yes, I agree.
they love war
You're surprised?
Not at all.
Oh so true Caitlin! I fear they will not stop for one moment but just continue with destroying the world. We must remember these people are committing crimes out in the open and thus need to be treated as the filth they are in the open! Our very existence is at stake here. These criminals are in almost every government across the world. They are controlled by the same people in each country and anytime they are caught doing their dirty work they murder, detract or just outright imprison the person for their very own crime! I don't know of any way of stopping this train wreck as too many are completely brainwashed!
Let me point you towards a way to stop the train wreck: Watch How to Start a Revolution DVD documentary (it's not what you think) and read From Dictatorship to Democracy, the book by the late Dr Gene Sharp.
You can buy a copy on eBay or from the Einstein Institution in Boston, MA, USA.
Gene Sharp of the "color revolution" fame. The right (or left) hand of George Soros', isn't he? De facto, that is.
I have no idea what you're talking about.
Gene Sharp was a Harvard professor who spent his life studying nonviolent resistance. I'm sure that he didn't have any connection to George Soros at all.
Maybe you should take advantage of the resources that I gave you and read what he had to say for himself, rather than repeating some gossip that you heard about him. But that might take some effort, of course.
He founded the Einstein Institution in Boston MA. You can learn more about him there. And please don't insult Jamil Raqib with any nonsense.
Who's Jamil Raqib and how did I manage to insult him/her?
Re Sharp - I'm not claiming he worked with Soros but Soros financed color revolutions that were set up using Sharp ideas. Since you're Sharp's fan maybe you'd be interested in different takes on his legacy: https://strategic-culture.org/news/2018/02/08/gene-sharp-the-passing-false-guru/
One more link - are these all lies? https://themillenniumreport.com/2015/05/the-cia-ngos-and-color-revolutions/
So you have listened to GOSSIP about Dr Gene Sharp instead of actually READING what he had to say, and now you consider yourself to be an expert on his ideas?
Moreover, you need to brush up on your reading comprehension skills before you do, because WHAT I SAID was that you COULD find the correct information about his work from the Einstein Institution in Boston. Jamil Raqib was his assistant when he was alive, and she is now the head of the Einstein Institution. And I said not to insult her (future tense, if you know what that means) because she doesn't deserve it.
Many people have done praiseworthy work and have found that it was used for a purpose far different from the one they intended. The same thing has happened to Dr Sharp's work, and I believe that it was done with the intention to discredit what he was trying to do.
Gullible people, of course, easily fall for those tactics.
What will happen to public opinion in what's left of Ukraine when people in the EU are freezing to death this winter and starving next year? Meanwhile, their relatives in eastern/southern Ukraine will be prosperously rebuilding. Will people in rump Ukraine continue pushing to join the EU, or will they prefer being open to Russian food and gas?
And what of the people in the EU itself? They aren't stupid. They know who did this incredibly destructive, nihilistic thing. The world knows. The US will be isolated, with not a single genuine ally.
There will be no negotiated settlement. Russia has already destroyed the bulk of NATO military equipment on the ground in Ukraine, and has shown the capability of overwhelming NATO artillery 10:1. NATO has already lost this widened war, but is too stupid to see that and will continue until Novorossiya consists of everything east of the Dnieper as well as Kherson, Mikolaev and Odessa oblasts. Let us all hope the globalists give up on Ukraine without resorting to nuclear war.
BTW, Caitlin, your definition of "think tank" is priceless.
Hasn't it been obvious for a long time that good ol' Bernie is one of the boys when it comes to warmongering?
As for "Russia did it" the main argument against it that all the Russians had to do was turn off the gas at home. No need for an elaborate operation in the Baltic. The most probable guess is a continuation of the original quip about the purpose of NATO: keep America in, the Russians out, and Germany down. The last-named is still important because without German leadership, indeed, domination, in the military, political, and economic spheres, Europe will remain somebody's satellite / colony. Whose craw would that stick in? There's your perp.
Exactly. Can't imagine why Putin would blow up his pipeline when he can just turn off the taps. Unless he wants to implicate Biden after his tough guy threats to cut off gas supply.
This mess could end tomorrow if there were some adults in charge of NATO. Don't the globalist have a great reset green agenda to prosecute by 2030 or has the plan changed to blow up the northern hemisphere?
Text of Putin’s Speech Blasting ‘Neo-Colonial’ West
The Russian president on Friday slammed the West for a history of abuse against the rest of the world as he announced that four Ukrainian oblasts had joined the Russian Federation.
[English translation from the Kremlin website]:
In the Georgievsky Hall of the Kremlin, a ceremony was held on Friday to sign agreements on the admission of the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Luhansk People’s Republic, the Zaporizhia Region and the Kherson Region to Russia and the formation of new subjects of the Russian Federation.
September 30, 2022
16:00 (Moscow time)
Moscow Kremlin
Vladimir Putin: Dear citizens of Russia, citizens of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, residents of the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, deputies of the State Duma, and senators of the Russian Federation!
You know, referendums were held in the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions. Their results have been summed up, the results are known. People made their choice, a clear choice.
Today we are signing agreements on the admission of the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Luhansk People’s Republic, the Zaporizhia Region and the Kherson Region to Russia. I am sure that the Federal Assembly will support the constitutional laws on the adoption and formation in Russia of four new regions, four new subjects of the Russian Federation, because this is the will of millions of people.
(Applause.)...
The rest is here:
https://consortiumnews.com/2022/09/30/text-of-putins-speech-blasting-neo-colonial-west/
It takes 20 minutes to read this 4,800 word speech. Read it now before it gets scrubbed from the internet.
"the strategy should logically be to simply stand back and let him bomb Russia back to the Stone Age."
God, this was a funny line to read.
Ukraine has been claiming it since 2014 - that Donbas shelled themselves all that time. It's continued doing so through this phase. So it became a meme so much so that two recent warning hits against infrastructure by Russia were being played in Russian blogosphere as Ukraine finally catching up and doing same to themselves.
The one source of a sanity in this entire war seems to be the aggressor, Putin and Russia have made clear concise statements about their plans, intentions and results. They sought enforcement of the Minsk peace accords for years before the war started. It is clear to me that Putin and Lavrov put in significant effort to avoid this war.
It is my belief that Russia will end the SMO with the closing of the annexations. They have already announced that conversion from the special operation into an anti-terrorist operation is their next step. This would fit with the narrative from the beginning, ensuring the peace and preventing Russians from being attacked. It is clear to me that Russia expects Ukraine and NATO to push terroristic attacks on the new territories and is intent on stopping them. With the pipeline terrorist attack as a turning point it seems that Russia was correct yet again, terrorism from the west is the new threat.
I expect that the Ukraine war is over from a Russian perspective.
"Putin and Russia have made clear concise statements about their plans, intentions and results" - and it's not just about this ongoing event.
That's been the case throughout Putin's terms and it explains his popularity. He doesn't mince words, says what he's going to do and then goes ahead to do it. If something fails he admits it, offers a different approach, and pushes on. Is he always right? No. But he doesn't run away from his failures. People appreciate that.
This kind of an attitude is so foreign to the Western elites it makes them writhe.
Regarding Ukraine. I agree, now would be an excellent time to stop. But I fear it won't happen. The transatlantic security elite cannot bear to fail. For them, to fail in their project to defeat and humiliate Russia is akin to death. (It may be death to the ego, but they mistake their egos for themselves).
I do believe I heard Scott Ritter say the Russians will be on the Polish border before next summer.
Whether or not the AFU advances in Kharkiv (including talking Lyman) are important or not remains to be seen.
I would rather that this war had never started. I wish John McCain had died in Vietnam (although he might have been replaced by some other war-monger who would have been just as bad).
But now that it is on, and the American Oligarchy has shown itself to be the criminals they are, I want this conflict to go on for as long as it takes for the rest of the world to turn on the American Bully. I want Americans to be free from the neo-feudalism being constructed around us. If Americans can be freed, then the rest of the world can be freed.
This Reddit Post leads to some more discussion and a few articles that might back up my desire to keep going -- or it might suggest that nuclear war truly is upon us and we should sue for peace now.
I am conflicted.
But the American Oligarchy has to go!
Yeah, here it is again, the play list of Aaron Good's interview on his book American Exception. If you haven't listened yet, why not? https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDAi0NdlN8hNArLl765PXe8tsTKmOciGL
Well said on every level. I pray for an immediate peace, and--this is a long shot, but I believe God can do anything--that Joe Biden will become a 100% honest and humble man, and admit his hand in provoking this hideous war.
The Universe IS amazing! We stardust are evolving. I loved the two comic frames!
Is Rome burning and, if so, is it a good thing? Both parties are war mongering. Leadership is still pushing vaccines while acknowledging the pandemic is over and still blaming the unvaccinated. We are in danger of completely losing body autonomy. Science joins the ranks of propaganda tools. Inflation and hunger continue to rise all around the world. I live on social security retirement income and think about how to change my diet to eat more cheaply than I already do. Their chess game is the riskiest ever for all life.
And yet... there is still hope ...