Ukraine situation has taken a turn for the worst. What next? Read more here
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The Disaffected Lib: If the U.S. Was in Russia’s Position, How Would It React to Russian Meddling in Canada or Mexico that Threatened America’s Security?
The Ukraine sits right on Russia’s doorstep. It is the land route to Russia’s Black Sea naval base at Sevastopol by which the Russian navy can access the Mediterranean. Severing Russia’s naval access to the Med is thought to be why the U.S. has been meddling in Ukrainian affairs, funding
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: It’s Funny What You Can Pick Up from Watching TV
Last evening I stumbled across a documentary on America’s B-2 stealth bomber on the Smithsonian Channel. At one point there was an interview with an American engineering expert. She mentioned that at the heart of stealth technology, it’s all math. Angles that will reflect radar waves back to the transmitter
Continue readingMontreal Simon: The Putin Games and the Fascist Circus
Like millions of others I was dazzled by the closing of the Sochi Games, for it was a spectacular display of the best that Russia has to offer.And I was happy to see the smiles on the faces of our athletes after such a successful Olympics. But I have to admit I really
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Advice to Canadian politicians and media: Proceed with caution on your support for Ukraine’s rebels
Anti-Government Ukrainians prepare to fight police in Kiev. Below: Rioters throw gasoline bombs at police in Ukraine; Alberta Labour Minister Thomas Lukaszuk. (Wikimedia photos.) You can bet money that when trouble is brewing abroad things are always far more complicated than local enthusiasts for one side or the other make
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Hungary ’56, Czechoslovakia ’68, Ukraine ’14?
Ukraine’s pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych, has been sent packing. The parliament has turned on him and proclaimed him constitutionally unable to carry out his duties. It is being reported that jailed opposition leader and former president, Yulia Tymoshenko, has been sprung from prison and reunited with the anti-government faction. Yanukovych
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Ultra-nationalists and fascist thugs – tools of imperialist designs in Ukraine
The protests in the Ukraine that began last November in Kiev’s Independence Square – the Maidan – were staged to protest president Viktor Yanukovych’s decision to back out of a plan to join a trade agreement with the EU, in preference for joining the Eurasian Customs Union. As with most
Continue readingLeft Over: Canadian Athletes: Smart Like Tractor, eh, Putin?
Vladimir Putin and the Horror at Canada House http://montrealsimon.blogspot.ca/ Why are you even surprised, Simon? The fact that they are involved in the ‘owe-limp-icks’ tells you everything you need to know..they probably shop at MalWarts, and accept endorsement money from any PR hack from any company (can you say ‘Nike?)
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Pride flags over Alberta: for real, or a cynical commitment of convenience that’s a mile wide and an inch deep?
A rainbow banner flies alongside the city, Alberta and Canadian flags at the city hall of St. Albert, Alberta, last weekend. Below: A really great pride banner spotted during a recent Pride Week in Vancouver. Fourteen years ago, the Alberta provincial government led by Progressive Conservative premier Ralph Klein was
Continue readingMelissa Fong: Ignorance VS Hatefulness: How to talk about explain gay-bashing in Sochi
I’m kind of tired of people describing some racists, misogynists and homophobes as “ignorance”. ’Ignorance’ means that they just don’t know better, they are missing information and they just need […]
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Cheer for the athletes but don’t be naive: the Olympics are about politics
TweetNational leaders covet the opportunity to host the international event and multi-national corporations invest billions of dollars in advertising to its massive world-wide audience. Competing in glorious national stadiums and sports centres in between commercial breaks, the athletes appear to be little more than commodities. Make no mistake, the Olympic
Continue readingThe Political Road Map: Why Sochi 2014 is My Generations 1972 Summit Series
I was not around in 1972 to experience the dramatic and intense summit series between Canada and the Soviet Union, however I have read a lot about the event and heard many stories from hockey fanatics who had the pleasure of experiencing it live. The Summit Series was an immensely
Continue readingArt Threat: Pussy Riot to be released from jail, leaked amnesty bill suggests
Rumblings out of Russia point to a possible imminent release of jailed Pussy Riot members Maria Alekhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova. According to Russian media reports, the Kremlin is planning to release 1,300 people from prison as part of an amnesty dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Russian Constitution. A
Continue readingMolly'sBlog: Russia in Revolt
RUSSIA IN REVOLT: THE FIRST CRACK IN TSARIST POWER ‘Russia in Revolt: The First Crack in Tsarist Power’ by David Floyd. Macdonald Library of the 20th Century, Macdonald and Co., London 1969 Good old history light ! The Macdonald Library of the 20th Century is a series of brief books
Continue readingMolly'sBlog: Russia in Revolt
RUSSIA IN REVOLT: THE FIRST CRACK IN TSARIST POWER ‘Russia in Revolt: The First Crack in Tsarist Power’ by David Floyd. Macdonald Library of the 20th Century, Macdonald and Co., London 1969 Good old histo…
Continue readingMolly'sBlog: Russia in Revolt
RUSSIA IN REVOLT: THE FIRST CRACK IN TSARIST POWER ‘Russia in Revolt: The First Crack in Tsarist Power’ by David Floyd. Macdonald Library of the 20th Century, Macdonald and Co., London 1969 Good old history light ! The Macdonald Library of the 20th Century is a series of brief books
Continue readingArt Threat: Children 404: help fund a film exposing Russia’s crackdown on LGBTQ youth
In the Fall of 2013 a Russian documentary filmmaker contacted numerous LGBTQ activists and filmmakers in Canada and the United States with whom they had worked with in previous years to screen their films. The message they sent was a request to help fund a film that they believe desperately
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Lively Pushes “No Rainbow For Queer People” Strategy in Moscow
Scott Lively wants to take away LGBT Russians’ rainbow. Lively, the self-described “human rights consultant” who gladly takes credit for lobbying Russia, Uganda and others to ramp up their anti-LGBT laws, recently wrote an open letter to Vladimir Putin, in which he urged Putin to stand firm against international pressure to
Continue readingLeDaro: Russia: Sochi Olympics 2014 and corruption
Last evening I watched a program on CBC on Sochi Olympics 2014. The corruption in Russia is incredible. Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, listens to Jean-Claude Killy, Chairman of the IOC Coordination Commission for Sochi 2014, during a February summit. (Alexei Druzhinin/RIA-Novosti/Associated Press ) Russian officials and businessmen have stolen
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Because in Vlad Putin’s Russia, This is Piracy
A few inflatable boats delivering a handful of protesters to a massive Russian oil rig in the Arctic and, according to Vlad Putin, that’s piracy for which they could be slammed up in some dingy Russian prison for up to 15-years. In the non-totalitarian world, piracy has always had an
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