Bottom right: Charles’ great uncle Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson fawning over Adolf Hitler During a recent 4-day visit to Canada, Prince Charles visited the Canadian Museum of Immigration in Halifax. In the course of speaking with a volunteer named Marienne Ferguson whose family fled Poland in advance of the
Continue readingTag: Ukraine
Dead Wild Roses: John Pilger – A World War is Beckoning
I’m frightened for the wrong reasons. If I listened and believed what I was supposed to believe I would be afraid that the Russians are provoking the West into military conflict in Ukraine. The problem is that I’m more of afraid of what We are doing to destabilize the
Continue readingIs Putin playing to the gallery?
That Vladimir Putin laments the loss of the Soviet empire is well known, so adding a few bits back in no doubt appeals to him. He also has a perfectly legitimate reason for playing tough on Russia’s western front—security. Russia has suffered a number of devastating invasions from the west
Continue readingFrom Ukraine—"Basically we’re screwed"
A young eastern Ukrainian philosophy student, commenting on the weekend referendum in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, summed up his country’s condition rather neatly: “I haven’t voted,” he said, “and nor have any of my friends. It’s a referendum for idiots, organized by idiots. Of course I don’t want to
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Pro-Kiev radicals linked to lethal attack on Trade Unions House in Odessa: MSM avoids placing blame
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 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 readingdrive-by planet: US corporate media propaganda: NYT’s misleading photo ‘evidence’ of Russian soldiers in east Ukraine
Back in 2003, when Colin Powell presented “evidence” at the UN to back up the White House claim that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, major US news outlets ran the story believing the Bush administration had the goods. During the UN presentation Russia’s ambassador at the time, Sergei
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Ukraine: One possible Russian-driven solution
Bill Clinton: Ukraine Saviour? Ukraine is in turmoil, with positions apparently hardening on all sides, since the Geneva Agreement outlining a method of resolution was agreed upon a short while ago. The level of support for the anti-Kiev position in eastern Ukraine is unclear at the moment: Armed men have
Continue readingCowichan Conversations: Exclusive: Putin Halts All Talks With White House
By Josh Rogin-The Daily Beast The Kremlin has ended high-level contact with the Obama administration, according to diplomatic officials and sources close to the Russian leadership. Read More
Continue readingThe Great Game—did Putin outplay the West in Crimea?
In the 19th century, the British and Russian empires’ strategic rivalry for supremacy in Central Asia was referred to as the Great Game. The game has never really ended as Russia has continued to vie with Western powers for influence and control in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. And in
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Leaflet targeting Jews in Donetsk ‘a political hoax’: anti-Semitism as a propaganda tool
Below left: Donetsk synagogue / Below right: Chief Rabbi Pinchas Vishedski holding anti-Semitic leaflet Anti-Semitism has a long and ugly history in Ukraine. During the current conflict between the interim Kiev government and regional pro-Russian movements in the east, anti-Semitic incidents have been used as a propaganda tool. An example
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 readingLeDaro: Vladimir Putin basically told Stephen Harper to go and take a hike
Stephen Harper thinks he is a world leader. He has been prominent in criticizing Russia over Ukraine and promised Ukraine some military help. Putin primarily told him to go and ‘screw yourself’. A toast to Stevie “The Conservative government’s tough rhetoric over Russia’s actions in Ukraine may play well to
Continue readingdrive-by planet: German TV program ‘Monitor’ on Kiev sniper attack: ham radio intercept of sharp shooter chat surfaces
A report that aired on the German public TV program “Monitor” includes audio recordings and interviews that strongly suggest opposition involvement in the Kiev sniper attack of mid-February. The program is available online in German – here. I believe the segment on the Kiev shootings is in the second part
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 readingDead Wild Roses: Ukraine – What the hell is going on?
The situation in the Ukraine has me puzzled. The violence and protests leading up to the deposing of the Ukrainian president were not given much coverage in the media that I follow/ or I just plain missed it. Whatever the case may be, I’m getting a couple of nearly diametrically
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
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