Top: Molotov cocktail being thrown at Trade Unions building Odessa Bottom left: A ‘jumper’ tries to escape the inferno The forty-six people who died in the fire that engulfed the Trade Unions House in Odessa on Friday were victims of an assault on the building by pro-Kiev radicals, a number
Continue readingTag: Russia
Art Threat: A visceral, jarring work: A review of Children 404
“Children like me simply don’t exist for them.” With these ominous words, spoken over a crackling telephone connection, Children 404 draws to a close; its unsettling conclusion signaled by an image of the Russian landscape fading into obscurity, scrubbed out by a layer of broken cloud seen from above, through
Continue readingdrive-by planet: In-depth interview with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov [video - English]: ‘If we’re attacked, we’ll certainly respond’
Given the American MSM angle on Ukraine that paints more or less the same picture with minor variations, I thought it would be interesting to get the Russian perspective courtesy of foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in this recent interview on RT’s Sophie and Co. Lavrov comes across as a no-nonsense
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Edward Snowden’s every move still strikes controversy
With Edward Snowden’s major contribution to history – the leaking of the NSA documents that shed significant light on what our governments are doing – now well over and done with, you might think we would be focusing on the revelations themselves, and that little if any attention would need
Continue readingCuriosityCat: The Ukraine Tipping Point
Ukranian Divide Events in Ukraine are at a tipping point, and can go in one of two directions: towards a resolution that keeps Ukraine as one state, but with substantial powers devolved on regions, or a Russian influenced and assisted breakup of the state. The tipping point was reached at
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Ukraine: Russia advances its creeping-federalization agenda
Ukraine: Doors open for Putin Today, much to the surprise of some, a public agreement was announced by the US, Russia, EU and current Ukraine government, dealing with concrete steps to move the matter forward. The following is the full text of that agreement, with the most important part (in
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Democracy Blooming at the Margins: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ukraine and Taiwan
From OpenDemocracy.net, yesterday. Jasmin Mujanović 14 April 2014 The terrifying spectre in these countries is not of ravenous foreign capital, though there is plenty of experience with this too, but of the persistent suffering of being an oft bloodied geopolitical borderland. Blockade and occupation of Taiwan’s legislature enters day seven.
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Comments by communist leader Symonenko spark mayhem and fistfights in Ukrainian parliament: video
A free-for-all push-and-punch fest broke out in the Ukrainian parliament this week when a communist leader, Pyotr Symonenko, blamed the nationalists for dividing the nation and aggravating tensions in the south-east. He said the seizure of buildings in Donetsk, Kharkov and Lugansk follows a precedent set when government buildings were
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Kiev probe into sniper attack short on evidence, credibility
Top from left: Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov, acting Prosecutor General Oleh Makhnitskyi and Head of the Security Service Valentyn Nalyvaichenko Below: Maidan shooters The investigation by Ukrainian security services into the mid-February sniper attack is rather like the cops investigating the cops – not exactly objective. Given the
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Ukraine: Some Commensense on Dealing with Russia
Putin’s Push: Reality versus Rhetoric Congratulations to Thomas Graham, a senior fellow at the Jackson Institute, who was the senior director for Russia on the US National Security Council staff 2004-2007. He has shrewdly analyzed the Russian push under Putin, in its historical context, and outlined the steps that the
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Ukraine: The Solution is at hand
Foreign Minister Lavrov – the man with the answer Within a week or so the outlines of a solution to the Ukraine predicament will become clear to all. As I expected (and hoped), wiser heads have come up with a workable formula. The Russians are leading the way, with Obama
Continue readingTrashy's World: Russia invades Ukraine? Yup, going to happen…
.. it’s now not “if” but when. As reported here, Russian troops are massing at key points along Ukraine’s border. There will be a swift attack, territory will be secured and lives will be lost. Another human tragedy caused by greed. Then Putin will turn to the West and say:
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Why Russia’s Crimea is different from America’s Iraq
Today President Obama said America’s invasion of Iraq is nothing compared to Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Coffin makers agree. In 2003 the United States invaded Iraq, a stable country, claiming Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. The UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said the US invasion was illegal and
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Why Russia’s Crimea is different from America’s Iraq
Today President Obama said America’s invasion of Iraq is nothing compared to Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Coffin makers agree. In 2003 the United States invaded Iraq, a stable country, claiming Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. The UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said the US invasion was illegal and
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Why Russia’s Crimea is different from America’s Iraq
Today President Obama said America’s invasion of Iraq is nothing compared to Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Coffin makers agree.In 2003 the United States invaded Iraq, a stable country, claiming Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. The UN Se…
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Yulia Tymoshenko leaks vitriol in taped call: ‘kill Russians’ and reduce Russia to a ‘scorched field’
Yulia Tymoshenko, the ex-Ukraine PM and one-time billionaire “Gas Princess” has been accused of everything from murder to forgery. More recently she has been outed in a leaked phone call. She is heard chatting with former government official Nestor Shufrych and venting about the situation in Crimea. In the course
Continue readingThe Wandering Joe: Crimea and Misdemeanours
Bad puns aside, the recent intrigue in Crimea has been responsible for more nonsensical political blustering than any single international incident in the past decade. It has been a curious exercise to sit back and watch everyone work themselves up and deliver half-baked analyses based on laughably outdated assumptions. Please
Continue readingThe Wandering Joe: Crimea and Misdemeanours
Bad puns aside, the recent intrigue in Crimea has been responsible for more nonsensical political blustering than any single international incident in the past decade. It has been a curious exercise to sit back and watch everyone work themselves up and deliver half-baked analyses based on laughably outdated assumptions. Please
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Israel, Harper back unelected Kiev government: anti-Semitism and far-right nationalism downplayed
Top: Svoboda leader Oleh Tyahnybok in group shot with Canada’s John Baird / Lower left: Tyahnybok in action / Lower right: Svoboda parade Stephen Harper’s visit to Ukraine this week is the first by any G7 leader since the coup that saw the overthrow of Yanukovych. Harper is a
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Wall Divesting From Russian Liquor #skpoli
We've contacted the fed gov't & Ukrn-Cdn groups to determine best way to support freedom & democracy in Ukraine. We will act on that advice.— Brad Wall (@PremierBradWall) February 24, 2014 Premier Brad Wall says gov't is looking at options to pull Russian liquor products from provincial stores in response
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