Welcome to European Tribune. It's gone a bit quiet around here these days, but it's still going.

Biden's Blitzkrieg Across Europe Shames Peace

by Oui Mon Apr 4th, 2022 at 10:28:41 AM EST

... United States Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The pact was concluded outside the League of Nations and remains in effect.
h/t fjallstrom

Love that statement ☹

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.

WHEREAS a Treaty between the President of the United States Of America, the President of the German Reich, His Majesty the King of the Belgians, the President of the French Republic, His Majesty the King of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India, His Majesty the King of Italy, His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, the President of the Republic of Poland, and the President of the Czechoslovak Republic, providing for the renunciation of war as an instrument of national policy, was concluded and signed by their respective Plenipotontiaries at Paris on the twenty-seventh day of August, one thousand nine hundred and twenty-eight, the original of which Treaty, being in the English and

the French languages, is word for word as follows:

THE PRESIDENT OF THE GERMAN REICH, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF THE BELGIANS, THE PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC, HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF GREAT BRITAIN IRELAND AND THE BRITISH DOMINIONS BEYOND THE SEAS, EMPEROR OF INDIA, HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF ITALY, HIS MAJESTY THE EMPEROR OF JAPAN, THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND THE PRESIDENT OF THE CZECHOSLOVAK REPUBLIC,

Deeply sensible of their solemn duty to promote the welfare of mankind;


Persuaded that the time has, come when a frank renunciation of war as an instrument of national policy should be made to the end that the peaceful and friendly relations now existing between their peoples may be perpetuated;

Convinced that all changes in their relations with one another should be sought only by pacific means and be the result of a peaceful and orderly process, and that any signatory Power which shall hereafter seek to promote its national interests by resort to war a should be denied the benefits furnished by this Treaty;

Hopeful that, encouraged by their example, all the other nations of the world will join in this humane endeavor and by adhering to the present Treaty as soon as it comes into force bring their peoples within the scope of its beneficent provisions, thus uniting the civilized nations of the world in a common renunciation of war as an instrument of their national policy;

Have decided to conclude a Treaty and for that purpose have appointed as their respective

Plenipotentiaries:
...

The true earlier efforts for peace came from women organizations sick and tired of their husbands going off to war, even before the outbreak of World War I. Women's suffragettes was a beneficial result just as during World War II in America women entered the workplace and never could be banished to return to the kitchen and a strict role of housewife. The revolutions wars made happen ...

Social Justice Feminists in the United States and Germany: A Dialogue in Documents, 1885-1933

Women's Suffrage Archive Film Clip May 1915

Meet Miss Jane Addams from Chicago in Berlin with Von Hindenburg's army at the front.

Addams, along with Aletta Jacobs and Alice Hamilton, walk in Berlin with the Brandenburg Gate in the background. Addams briefly shakes hands with filmmaker Wilbur H. Durborough and continues towards the camera. The silent film is a 12-second excerpt from Durborough's documentary On the Firing Line with the Germans, released in 1916.

Many documents are available in the archive of the Carnegie Peace Palace in The Hague ... or National Archives in Washington DC.

The Breakthrough that never was: German Plans for an Offensive on the Western Front - 1915

Publications League of Nations

Russia: Expect No Showdowns At G8 Summit | RFERL – July 14, 2006 |

Not long ago it looked like the G8 summit might become a Cold War-style showdown, with Washington accusing Moscow of bullying its neighbors, backsliding on democracy, and using energy as a weapon. But as the St. Petersburg summit approaches, a confrontation looks less likely.

Not long ago prominent U.S. politicians were calling on President George W. Bush to confront Russia on these issues at the G8, or to boycott the summit altogether.

Cheney Goes On The Offensive

Speaking at a conference in Vilnius in May, U.S. President Dick Cheney was uncompromising in his criticism of President Vladimir Putin's Russia.

"In Russia today, opponents of reform are seeking to reverse the gains of the last decade," Cheney said. "In many areas of civil society, from religion and the news media, to advocacy groups and political parties, the government has unfairly and improperly restricted the rights of her people. Other actions by the Russian government have been counterproductive and could begin to affect relations with other countries."

It looked like a harbinger of a new era of confrontation between the United States and Russia. U.S. legislators, including Arizona Senator and one-time presidential hopeful John McCain, called on Bush to at the very least get tough with Putin at the St. Petersburg summit -- or to boycott the event altogether.

But in the weeks since, such tough talk seems to have receded.

Carlos Pascual, a scholar with the Brookings Institution [panel discussion preview G8 in Russia – C-Span] and a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, says that Cheney's speech was designed to send a message to Russia that Washington was concerned about Moscow's backsliding on democracy and its manipulation of separatist conflicts in Abkhazia, North Ossetia, and Transdnistri.

But at the same time the United States needs Russia's help on a series of other major issues like the escalating nuclear crises in Iran and North Korea -- and this limits Washington's ability to pressure Moscow.

What's Important And What's On The Back Burner

"A higher level of priority is nuclear non-proliferation, energy security, the energy agenda with Europe and Ukraine, how Russia uses its energy policy toward its neighbors, what kind of agreement we might be able to get on Iran and if Russia is going to play a constructive role on that," Pascual said. "Those are the No. 1 issues. The frozen conflicts are important, but they are not at the top of anyone's agenda within the administration."

At the same time, Pascual said soaring energy prices have given Russia flexibility and confidence that it has not had since the breakup of the Soviet Union. This has limited the United States' ability to influence Russia's behavior.

"The real issue becomes once you have had experience working with Russia on these kinds of issues and have been trying to achieve a positive agenda, what are the most effective tools to be able to get there," he said. "In the real environment we live in today, Russia has a tremendous tool at its disposal: oil and gas with oil at $70 a barrel."

Today's confident Russia bears little resemblance to the pliant and financially strapped counterpart the United States grew accustomed to dealing with in the 1990s.

Return of the Bear? The Extent of Russian Revisionism as Applied to Oil and Gas Machinations | May 2009 |

See my post The Meteoric Rise of Servant of the People

New diary: Zelensky A Leader Failed to Rise from the Ashes

A follow-up diary from the presidential election of 2019 …

Ukraine MP election: Removing Oligarchs ... Some | Jul 21st, 2019 |

Inside Macron’s Russia Initiative | Project Syndicate – Oct. 2019 |

French President Emmanuel Macron is one of those leaders who wants to bend the arc of history. Having upended French politics, he has secured positions for his preferred candidates at the head of the European Commission and the European Central Bank, and is now trying to improve Europe’s relationship with Russia.

French officials are comparing Macron’s Russia strategy to US President Richard Nixon’s opening of China in 1972. But Macron’s diplomatic overture is more like Nixon in reverse. Rather than wooing China in order to contain the Soviets, Macron wants to “ease and clarify [Europe’s] relations with Russia” in order to prevent Russia from cozying up to China. In so doing, he hopes to secure Europe’s control over its own future.

Macron launched his bid for a new security architecture in a typically grandiose fashion, mirroring the urban planner Georges-Eugène Haussmann’s project to redesign Paris in the nineteenth century. His first move was to hold talks with Putin in France’s Fort de Brégançon before the August G7 summit in Biarritz. But the French ministers charged with implementing the plan have since turned it on its head.

Now, rather than starting with a top-down agenda, they are trying to build European security from the bottom up, while pursuing improved relations with Russia one brick at a time. The French roadmap focuses on five key areas: disarmament, security dialogue, crisis management, values, and common projects.

Dialogue was torpedoed by war hawks in Washington DC with their allies of Eastern Europe. The alliance preferred confrontation … they got there war and the common man is paying the price. Not for our “freedom” BS, but for a new round or armaments.

French intelligence was faulty, yet Macron was the single leader in the Western Atlantic alliance to pursue talks and a diplomatic route to prevent war.

Something just doesn’t add up …

What Went Wrong with Macron’s Diplomacy vis à vis Russia?

Will Russia Be Driven From the West? | The Nation - Sep 18, 2019

American opponents of readmitting Moscow to the former G8 fail to understand the consequences. By Stephen F. Cohen

Two years ago, I asked, “Will Russia Leave the West?

The world’s largest territorial country—sprawling from its major European city St. Petersburg to its vast Far Eastern territories and long border with China—Russia cannot, of course, depart the West geographically. But it can do so politically, economically, and strategically. Indeed, where Russia belongs, where it should seek its identity, security, and future—in the East or in the West—has divided the nation’s policy-makers and intellectual elites for centuries.

In our times, as I also pointed out two years ago, a Russia departed, or driven, from the West would likely mean “a Russia—with its vast territories, immense natural resources, world-class sciences, formidable military and nuclear power, and UN Security Council veto—allied solidly with all the other emerging powers that are not part the US-NATO Western ‘world order’ and even opposed to it. And, of course, it would drive Russia increasingly afar from the West’s liberalizing influences, back toward its more authoritarian traditions.”

That’s why the controversy provoked by President Trump (and French President Emmanuel Macron) in seeking that Russia be readmitted to the G7/8, from which it was in effect expelled in 2014 for its annexation of Crimea, is so important—and so uninformed. Purportedly, the (now) G7 is the elite club of prosperous functioning democracies. In reality, Russia under President Boris Yeltsin was neither when it was admitted in 1997. The decision was political—to assure Moscow that Russia was welcome in the West and indeed part of it, potentially including its security arrangements.

Expelling Russia sent the opposite message, as did moving the metaphorical “Iron Curtain” from Berlin to Russia’s border through a myriad of other exclusions and sanctions. And as did, above all, expanding NATO to Russia’s borders, the exceedingly unwise policy begun by President Bill Clinton and continued under President Obama. The result has already been two wars, in Georgia in 2008 and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, and a Russian-Chinese relationship so close and expansive that its current leaders refer to each other as “best friends.” (Having come to power in 2000 as a pro-Western modernizer, Putin’s own evolution in response to these developments should be clear to any fair-minded observer.)

Underpinning these Washington follies was the notion, also promoted by President Obama and apparently still widespread in the sanction-happy US Congress, that Russia could and should be “isolated” in world affairs. Suffice it to point out that today it is said that the United States is being isolated in international relations. Meanwhile, Russia’s seemingly tireless foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, may be busier diplomatically than any of his counterparts around the world, certainly among the major powers.

Little if any of this seems to be understood by the US political-media establishment. Astonishingly, though perhaps not, US-Russian relations, still Washington’s single most important bilateral relationship, not only because of their nuclear arsenals, was not an issue in the recent Democratic presidential debates.

Slavic Studies Scholars Condemn Putin’s Ukraine Invasion | Feb. 26, 2022 |

Lastly, I cannot help but mention here the work of the late Stephen F. Cohen, whose controversial views on US policy toward Ukraine led him to be unfairly targeted as “Putin’s lackey” and provoked a disturbing controversy in the Association for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies that long-time readers of this blog may recall (see here, here, here, here, here, here, and here).  When it came out I found Cohen’s final book, War with Russia? From Putin & Ukraine to Trump & Russiagate, a collection of his political commentary over the preceding decade, eye-opening, but surely unduly alarmist.  Maybe I should read it again.

Display:
Fact check: The deepfakes in the disinformation war between Russia and Ukraine | DW News - Mar 18, 2022 |

Videos of Russia's Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy have been used to create deepfakes with a message that favors their adversary. They are not true, but they still quickly spread online.

Ukraine war: How a 'fact-checking' website is spreading Russian propaganda

"The unprecedented stream of fake news about what is happening in Ukraine is intended to stir up emotions and eliminate rational thinking," the Russian Defense Ministry writes on Twitter, referring to the website war on fakes, where "a group of experts" and "journalists" are allegedly exposing the "most outrageous" false claims. But what is this alleged fact-checking site all about? DW's fact-checking team took a closer look.

No, this father is not saying goodbye to his daughter to "fight against Russia": it was recorded in Donetsk, that population was evacuated to Russia and the video is prior to the Russian aggression against Ukraine | Maldita.es Spanish |

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by Oui (Oui) on Mon Apr 4th, 2022 at 04:56:16 PM EST


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by Oui (Oui) on Mon Apr 4th, 2022 at 07:01:56 PM EST


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by Oui (Oui) on Mon Apr 4th, 2022 at 07:02:40 PM EST

Can't be more blunt than all the warnings in past decades ...

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by Oui (Oui) on Mon Apr 4th, 2022 at 07:03:53 PM EST


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by Oui (Oui) on Mon Apr 4th, 2022 at 07:05:02 PM EST
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by Oui (Oui) on Mon Apr 4th, 2022 at 07:05:33 PM EST
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by Oui (Oui) on Mon Apr 4th, 2022 at 07:06:09 PM EST
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by Oui (Oui) on Mon Apr 4th, 2022 at 07:06:47 PM EST
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by Oui (Oui) on Wed Apr 6th, 2022 at 04:29:10 PM EST
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by Oui (Oui) on Wed Apr 6th, 2022 at 04:30:40 PM EST
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by Oui (Oui) on Sun Apr 10th, 2022 at 10:36:06 PM EST
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Biden calls for Putin war crimes trial over civilian killings | BBC News |

Currently, the city employs fighters of the established special purpose regiment of the SAFARI National Police, which includes representatives of special police units, fighters of KORD and Thor, as well as specialists of the explosives service.

Today, April 2, in the liberated city of Bucha, Kyiv region, special units of the National Police of Ukraine began clearing the area of ​​saboteurs and accomplices of Russian troops. Specialists of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Service inspect the war crimes sites of the Russian Federation and seize explosives and unexploded ordnance.

Law enforcement officers inspect every yard and shelter, communicate with people and provide assistance to local residents.

Citizens who had to endure the horrors of the occupation are helping the police as much as possible.

The police are doing everything possible to restore law and order in the liberated territories so that local residents can return to their hometown as soon as possible.

h/t MofA no bodies contrary to news headlines two days later.



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by Oui (Oui) on Mon Apr 4th, 2022 at 10:03:52 PM EST

Footage in Ukrainian city of Bucha 'fake news attack' on Russia, 'provocation': Lavrov | TRT World |

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by Oui (Oui) on Mon Apr 4th, 2022 at 10:33:45 PM EST


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by Oui (Oui) on Mon Apr 4th, 2022 at 10:35:39 PM EST
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by Oui (Oui) on Mon Apr 4th, 2022 at 10:58:43 PM EST
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Do you just enjoy carrying water for these psychos?

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.
by Drew J Jones (pedobear@pennstatefootball.com) on Wed Apr 6th, 2022 at 10:44:00 PM EST
REUTERS | Pentagon can't independently confirm atrocities in Ukraine's Bucha, official says, 4 Apr paywall
The U.S. military is not in a position to independently confirm Ukrainian accounts of atrocities by Russian forces against civilians in the town of Bucha, but has no reason to dispute the accounts either, a senior U.S. defense official said on Monday.

POTUS "Accountability"
FOX | Biden calls for Ukraine war crimes trial, denies 'genocide' in Bucha, 4 Apr
ABC News (NH affiliate) | Biden Calls Russia's Killing Of Ukrainian Civilians A War Crime But Not Genocide, 4 Apr

CSPAN User Clip: Biden Looks For Someone To Talk To, 5 Apr "viral" A/V 00:00:38
User Clip: Obama gives Biden the cold shoulder, 5 Apr "viral" A/V 00:00:45
User Clip: President Obama at the White House, 5 Apr A/V 00:16:03
ad hoc Al Smith Dinner comedy

WaPoo Company Newslitter | Biden after Bucha atrocities: Steady as she goes on Ukraine, 6 Apr

Other than President Biden suddenly calling for President Vladimir Putin to be put on trial for war crimes, don't expect newly uncovered Russian atrocities in Ukraine to force a significant change in the U.S. strategy there, senior U.S. officials are signaling.
[...]
Biden's response to Bucha is of a piece with his broader approach to the horrors of the war in Ukraine: He gets emotional on a personal level, in one memorable instance giving free rein to what he called his "moral outrage" toward Putin. But that emotion doesn't guide U.S. policy. ...
by Cat on Thu Apr 7th, 2022 at 03:07:13 PM EST
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by Oui (Oui) on Thu Apr 7th, 2022 at 07:17:31 PM EST
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The National Gallery In London Renames Degas's "Russian Dancers" As "Ukrainian Dancers"

During the height of La Belle Époque in the late 1890s, dance troupes from Eastern Europe visited Paris and performed in its famous cabaret clubs: the Folies-Bergère, the Moulin Rouge and the Casino. of Paris among them. One of these exhibits probably inspired a pastel drawing by Edgar Degas, formerly known as "Russian Dancers" (circa 1899) and housed in the National Gallery in London. But the performers depicted are "almost certainly Ukrainian rather than Russian", according to the museum, which has renamed the work to recognize its true protagonists.
"Ukrainian Dancers", as it will henceforth be titled, depicts a dynamic mass of dancers in traditional folk costume, wearing hair ribbons and garlands, dotted with blue and yellow, in an apparent reference to the colors of the Ukrainian flag.

Russian language, culture, beliefs, and traditions were enforced throughout the Empire



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by Oui (Oui) on Thu Apr 7th, 2022 at 07:03:45 PM EST
by Oui (Oui) on Thu Apr 7th, 2022 at 07:07:59 PM EST
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#WeAreNato

Anniversary of the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize for the EU: A prize for everyone in Europe

    "The prize was awarded primarily in recognition of over 60 years of peace on the European continent, the reconciliation between France and Germany, and also I think because of the Union's work as a beacon of democracy that has inspired other European and non-European nations to embark on the path to democracy."


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by Oui (Oui) on Mon Apr 11th, 2022 at 08:11:29 AM EST
EU turns into NATO economic arm, Russian diplomat bashes Borrell's statement | TASS |

During his visit to Kiev, Borrell said for the first time in the history of the European Union that the conflict "will be won on the battlefield," but not through diplomatic efforts.

EU leaders never made any statements about the priority of the military victory over the political solution during the wars in Yugoslavia, or in Libya, or in Afghanistan, where most of the EU nations were involved as NATO members. Nor were any such statements voiced during the US-led invasion of Iraq, which the leading EU countries condemned as based on disinformation and lies about Baghdad's possession of weapons of mass destruction.



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by Oui (Oui) on Mon Apr 11th, 2022 at 08:12:44 AM EST
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by Oui (Oui) on Mon Apr 11th, 2022 at 08:13:18 AM EST
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Peace and diplomacy are not on the table ...

Sacrifice for what? International "order" has created chaos in the 21st Century.

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by Oui (Oui) on Mon Apr 11th, 2022 at 08:32:00 PM EST


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by Oui (Oui) on Mon Apr 11th, 2022 at 08:32:55 PM EST
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by Oui (Oui) on Mon Apr 11th, 2022 at 08:36:20 PM EST
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Russia sees no reason to end talks with Ukraine, says Russia's FM Lavrov | Anadolu Agency |

Russia sees no reason to end peace talks with Ukraine despite Kyiv's constant changes in position, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday.

"I don't see any reason why we can't continue (the talks), although the Ukrainian side turns around every time, sometimes by 180 degrees, rejecting what it offered," Lavrov said in an interview with Russia's Rossiya 24 TV channel.

The aim of Russia's war in Ukraine, which Moscow calls a "special operation," is to put an end to the Western dominance in the world, he added.

"Our special military operation is designed to put an end to the reckless expansion and reckless course towards the complete dominance of the United States and other Western countries in the international arena," he said.

Lavrov noted that such dominance was based on the "grossest violations of international law."

Commenting on recent remarks by EU foreign policy head Josep Borrel that the Ukraine war "must be won on the battlefield," Lavrov said such comments from a top diplomat could only be the result of a "personal grudge" or a "slip of the tongue."

He said Borrel's statement represents "a very serious U-turn" in Western policy towards Russia, the essence of which is "to make of Ukraine a springboard for the final suppression and subordination of Russia" to Western dominance.



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Tue Apr 12th, 2022 at 07:59:11 AM EST
The aim of Russia's war in Ukraine, which Moscow calls a "special operation," is to put an end to the Western dominance in the world, he added.

That's a pleasingly modest aim. And I suppose Ukranians can consider themselves honoured to find themselves hosting such a decisive struggle.

Though I haven't yet worked out how the annexion of the Donbass to Russia could constitute (or trigger?) this momentous realignment.

As for Putin's other announced aims : I suppose having made an example of thousands of Ukrainian civilians will have to count as successful de-nazification; however concerning the aim of rolling back NATO from Russia's borders, it'll be hard to spin a success out of Sweden and Finland clamouring to join...

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II

by eurogreen on Tue Apr 12th, 2022 at 03:58:11 PM EST
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Putin says Ukraine changed its stance from Istanbul peace talks | Anadolu Agency |

Russia's 'special military operation' in Ukraine to continue as planned, says President Vladimir Putin



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by Oui (Oui) on Tue Apr 12th, 2022 at 05:19:38 PM EST
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Putin visits Soyuz launch complex construction site in Far East

Roscosmos head Vladimir Popovkin was a guide for the president on the excursion. Popovkin told the president that the construction work was suspended for two months in the winter due to the weather conditions, but there are no problems with the schedule at present, he said.

"There are no problems by and large. All the contracts are concluded," the Roscosmos head added. At present, 3,000 people work at the site, and 10,000-15,000 are expected to be employed there later.

The infrastructure for a whole new city is being developed around the spaceport.



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by Oui (Oui) on Tue Apr 12th, 2022 at 05:21:27 PM EST
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by Oui (Oui) on Tue Apr 12th, 2022 at 11:09:07 PM EST
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The poison disseminator: How US spread biological 'poison', ethnic division and ideological antagonism around the world

Vietnam War and chemical warfare defoliants Agent Orange and toxic substances.

CIA supported Saddam Hussein in chemical warfare against Iran.

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by Oui (Oui) on Tue Apr 12th, 2022 at 11:17:57 PM EST
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Few realize that the reason why 80 percent of the planet is watching the US and EU next move without any empathy for their failures is that this is a civilizational war touching several aspects of our lives. One field that should not be neglected is education: when the EU decided to be entirely vassalized to the US (TTIP) it had already adapted its university systems, making it a copy of the US one (Bologna Process). This resulted in the fact that linguistic resources were outsourced because they were considered as too costly. The next wave came with an increase in 'summer schools' whose actual goal is to offer the students who can afford them some of the basics they need to actually follow their cursus at the university when the year starts. The result is of course that increasingly, only wealthy students are able to register in arts and humanities (cf. Nato's Cognitive warfare for the emphasis on grooming humanities).
In libraries, the attack was stronger and twofold: computer catalogues (allowing for some purge presented as the result of the poor understanding by programs of anything but English characters) and very expensive online resources (representing nowadays the main share of a library budget).
In the latest decade, all these beacons of modernization were adopted by the Western lackeys, be they the US or the EU ones. This resulted in an extreme gap between the very rich and the (studying) middle class in developing countries, which has now evolved into a cultural/intellectual gap. As a matter of fact, the only way to study properly for the very rich is to study abroad, because no local structures can afford the costs (adding to that the issue of academic publishing, with companies selling books for 200 dollars a piece). The widespread idea that everything is now digitized is mere propaganda (and even digitized material can be sold at high prices) and the part that is is only in hard sciences, conveniently making it impossible for students of developing countries to access the arts and humanities.
by Tom2 on Wed Apr 13th, 2022 at 06:50:36 AM EST
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Addition: I don't think it was a civilizational war on 2/2/2022. A rational politician would have admitted that Eastern Ukraine is culturally Russian and that Western Ukraine has its own identity and should remain what it was. But the underground of Eastern Ukraine is too rich and our greedy politicians fell for it.
by Tom2 on Wed Apr 13th, 2022 at 07:13:21 AM EST
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This, too... would be an interesting diary, but would require supporting material.

Possible subjects :

  • was the decisive Russian intervention in the Donbass war, starting in August 2014, an opportunistic resource grab? Or do similar resources exist on both sides of the border?
  • are these resources important enough for the Ukrainian republic to risk a frontal war with Russia over?
  • or did our greedy politicians (which ones?) skilfully manoeuvre both the Ukrainians AND the Russians into going to war, with the expectation that Ukraine would win, and that they would reap the benefits?

I don't have a good enough understanding of the natural resources of the area to contribute much, but I can learn.

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II
by eurogreen on Wed Apr 13th, 2022 at 01:39:10 PM EST
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Wow, two developed and interesting posts in one day!

This would probably be worth a diary too, as long as you decide whether you want to address:
1 the vassalisation of the EU
2 TTIP, which unless I'm missing something, died in 2019
3 the Bologna Process, which I suspect is where your expertise lies.

I had never thought about Bologna as being part of a vassalisation process; the main problem I see with it is that it coincided with Peak (I hope) Ordoliberalism, and was used by participating national governments to apply all sorts of "reforms" which had little to do with the dynamic of harmonisation.

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II

by eurogreen on Wed Apr 13th, 2022 at 01:23:27 PM EST
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The People vs Agent Orange documentary Al Jazeera

After decades of devastation caused by the poisonous herbicide Agent Orange, two heroic women are holding those responsible to account. Tran To Nga from Vietnam and Carol Van Strum from Oregon both seek justice after great personal loss. But their battle is a long, hard one, and not without danger.

Van Strum 1978 kids killed in house fire

Oregon Woman Wages War Against 'Bitter Fog' | Seattle Times - July 7, 1991 |

Tran To Nga's lawsuit against Agent Orange manufacturers rejected by French courts

Chester, VT (May 12, 2021) - The High Court in Evry, France ruled that French-Vietnamese Tran To Nga's human injury litigation against 14 multinational chemical manufacturers of Agent Orange was inadmissible. The court determined they have no jurisdiction over the case as the chemical companies were U.S. government contractors.

Nga's landmark case, which named Monsanto (having since been acquired by Bayer) and Dow Chemical, among others, sought damages for the harmful health e�ects of Agent Orange, that was contaminated with Dioxin during the manufacturing process, on three generations of her family as the result of her exposure during the war.



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by Oui (Oui) on Thu Apr 28th, 2022 at 09:10:26 PM EST
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by Oui (Oui) on Tue Apr 12th, 2022 at 11:19:44 PM EST
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It would seem that being quoted by a Russian official is enough to be "cancelled" (the linked page is now 404, which I guess the lemmies will tell me means the person quoting it 'made it up')

From Russian MoFA Telegram channel...
#Opinion by Maria Zakharova:

We have been saying for the past eight years that the West is training Ukrainian nationalists. The "exceptional" and "civilised" countries refused to listen, but we continued to make our point with facts in hand. That was easy: you only had to go to Ukraine to see the regular events involving SS Waffen veterans, torchlight marches and the huge portraits of Nazi accomplices on buildings in Ivano-Frankovsk, Lvov and Ternopol.
This week, Canadian correspondent Simon Coutu published the results of a simple investigation (https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1873461/canada-regiment-ukrainien-lie-extreme-droite-azov) on his page at Radio Canada. He studied the pictures posted to social media by the National Guard of Ukraine and compared them to the training programmes conducted for the Ukrainian military by the Canadian Department of National Defence. What did he see?

He writes that many photographs made at the Canada-sponsored training centre in Zolochyov show men in fatigues with the symbols of SS divisions Das Reich and Galizien on their sleeve patches. The experts Coutu contacted have confirmed that these men are neo-Nazis, most probably from the Azov regiment. Moreover, Coutu writes that the Azov Regiment has been incorporated into the Ukrainian National Guard as "a special detachment of Military Unit 3057." He also found out that Canada has spent nearly a $1 billion on training the Ukrainian military since 2014. How much of these funds went to train neo-Nazis? It's anybody's guess.

by Tom2 on Wed Apr 13th, 2022 at 07:31:49 AM EST
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ok, my mistake, this link is the functioning one (for how long?)
https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1873461/canada-regiment-ukrainien-lie-extreme-droite-azov
by Tom2 on Wed Apr 13th, 2022 at 07:32:39 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Joe Biden's public approval rating rose this week to 45%, boosted by stronger support from within his Democratic Party, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll completed last week. The two-day national poll found that 50% of Americans disapprove of Biden's job performance as the country struggles with high inflation and Russia's invasion of Ukraine has pushed geopolitical concerns to the fore.

Interesting to observe the range of issues that divides America. The Republicans have the economy, immigration and morality as the most important issues. 😂 WTF
Sure wonder what their definition of "morality" is. Unsuspected close ties to Saudi Arabia, Iran and Pakistan where the morality police guards society. Most likely bigotry falls under morality by the white supremacist Grand Old Party. Hopeless.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Wed Apr 13th, 2022 at 07:11:52 AM EST

Partisan politics in Washington DC play large role in discontent inside America. Times are a changing.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Wed Apr 13th, 2022 at 07:12:43 AM EST
[ Parent ]
BULLETIN: whatever a rational self-interested actor sez it is.
by Cat on Wed Apr 13th, 2022 at 07:25:20 AM EST
[ Parent ]

The cycle of terror attacks by Palestinians against Israeli Jews has set everyone's teeth on edge. The Jews are baying for blood and the Palestinians are enraged by the thousands of Israeli troops invading their villages and arresting hundreds of their brothers, sons and husbands.


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Wed Apr 13th, 2022 at 09:24:05 AM EST

Yesterday, two Palestinian women were executed in cold blood at West Bank checkpoints. Ghada Sabateen, 47 a partially-blind, widow and mother of six was crossing the road at a checkpoint. Soldiers grew suspicious and shouted at her to stop.  When she continued moving toward them they shot her.  She was unarmed.  They let her bleed to death.

Palestinian MK Calls on Palestinians to Abandon Israeli Security Forces

END THE OCCUPATION - FREE PALESTINE

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Wed Apr 13th, 2022 at 09:25:11 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Legacy of Der Trumpf

How Saudi Gave Trump's Son-in-law, Jared Kushner $2billion Investment Fund After Alleged Killing Of Journalist, Khashoggi, By Crown Prince

Free reign American corrupt oligarchs ... just move along, nothing here to see.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Wed Apr 13th, 2022 at 09:27:22 AM EST


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Wed Apr 13th, 2022 at 09:27:48 AM EST
[ Parent ]


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Wed Apr 13th, 2022 at 09:28:20 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Rule by impunity, the United States of America is well invested in the Jewish State of Israel ...



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Wed Apr 13th, 2022 at 09:56:41 AM EST

When your option is war, there will never be peace.



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Wed Apr 13th, 2022 at 09:58:13 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Sign of the times in Israel when a member of a terrorist designated group enters the Knesset to join forces with a corrupt Bibi Netanyahu to keep him out of prison.



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Wed Apr 13th, 2022 at 09:58:46 AM EST
[ Parent ]
by Oui (Oui) on Wed Apr 13th, 2022 at 09:59:49 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Bashkir Horseman Statue at Veessen near IJssel River

Napoleon was defeated at the Battle of Leipzig. As a result, the Sixth Coalition decided to liberate The Netherlands which were already occupied for almost 20 years. Their king, Willem I, was located in exile in England and returned to Holland in November 1813. He received military assist from Prussian and Russian armies.

Cossacks of the Napoleonic Wars 1805 - 1815

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sun Apr 17th, 2022 at 09:50:46 AM EST
NATO Membership Should Not Have Been Dangled for Ukraine and Georgia | by Martin Longman - Apr 11, 2022 |

Robert Draper of The New York Times recounts part of an interview he conducted recently with Fiona Hill, a Russia expert who served in the Bush, Obama, and Trump administrations. The following section pertains to briefing a Hill provided to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney before the NATO summit in Bucharest, Romania in February 2008. It's of historical interest because the subject was the advisability of offering NATO membership to former Soviet Socialist Republicans Georgia and Ukraine. Hill thought it was far from a good idea. Bush and Cheney did not heed her advice, although sensible European resistance to the idea forced an unfortunate compromise that the world is still paying for.

Cheney took umbrage at Hill's assessment. "So, you're telling me you're opposed to freedom and democracy," she says he snapped. According to Hill, he abruptly gathered his materials and walked out of the Oval Office.

"He's just yanking your chain," she remembers Bush telling her. "Go on with what you were saying." But the president seemed confident that he could win over the other NATO leaders, saying, "I like it when diplomacy is tough." Ignoring the advice of Hill and the U.S. intelligence community, Bush announced in Bucharest that "NATO should welcome Georgia and Ukraine into the Membership Action Plan."

Hill's prediction came true: Several other leaders at the summit objected to Bush's recommendation. NATO ultimately issued a compromise declaration that would prove unsatisfying to nearly everyone, stating that the two countries "will become members" without specifying how and when they would do so -- and still in defiance of Putin's wishes. (They still have not become members.)

This mainly is water under the bridge at this point, but it shows how one lazy decision made against the advice of an in-house expert can reverberate for decades and cost countless lives.

Last sentence is complete nonsense as the expansion of NATO was set policy by the White House under Bill Clinton as far back as 1995. Imperialism with a deadly outcome ...

Assistent to VP Cheney on Eastern Europe was Victoria Nuland.

US seeks to cement military foothold in Balkans  ... or is it an attempt to further destabilise Europe? | by vladimir on May 17th, 2009 |

CIA Is Back: East-West Tensions In Europe

Russia Is Connected to Western Europe

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Mon Apr 18th, 2022 at 06:38:39 PM EST
War Dims Global Economic Outlook as Inflation Accelerates | IMF |

      The effects of the war will propagate
      far and wide, adding to price
      pressures and exacerbating significant
      policy challenges.

War slows recovery

The war in Ukraine has triggered a costly humanitarian crisis that demands a peaceful resolution. At the same time, economic damage from the conflict will contribute to a significant slowdown in global growth in 2022 and add to inflation. Fuel and food prices have increased rapidly, hitting vulnerable populations in low-income countries hardest.

Global growth is projected to slow from an estimated 6.1 percent in 2021 to 3.6 percent in 2022 and 2023. This is 0.8 and 0.2 percentage points lower for 2022 and 2023 than projected in January. 

Beyond 2023, global growth is forecast to decline to about 3.3 percent over the medium term. War-induced commodity price increases and broadening price pressures have led to 2022 inflation projections of 5.7 percent in advanced economies and 8.7 percent in emerging market and developing economies--1.8 and 2.8 percentage points higher than projected last January. Multilateral efforts to respond to the humanitarian crisis, prevent further economic fragmentation, maintain global liquidity, manage debt distress, tackle climate change, and end the pandemic are essential.



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Wed Apr 20th, 2022 at 07:46:00 AM EST


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Wed Apr 20th, 2022 at 07:46:47 AM EST
[ Parent ]
IMF head warns rising food and fuel prices strain family budgets 'to breaking point' | The Guardian |

IMF fiscal affairs director Vitor Gaspar said governments must target support measures at vulnerable people who are hit hardest by rising energy and food prices in the wake of the war in Ukraine.

He said the Washington-based fund was open to emergency financing for nations facing food insecurity, especially those struggling under high debts.

The IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva said "rising food and fuel prices are straining the budgets of ordinary families to the breaking point". She warned of a "double crisis" from the Ukraine war and the Covid pandemic, which she said is a "massive setback for the global recovery," a day after the IMF slashed its global growth forecast.



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Wed Apr 20th, 2022 at 05:29:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]
What a joke ...

Where did the weapons and ammunition come from?

A NATO alliance which included most European allies! Germany provided a naval vessel for intelligence for the rebels. NATO Ramstein base coordinated the campaign to overthrow Bashar Assad. Turkey was a key ally to send jihadists into Northern Syria. Major problems when the Sunni rebels affiliated with AQI and bred in the USA torture camps during the Iraq war, came up the Euphrates valley, took Raqqa and joined the rebels in Northern Syria. NATO got into a major quagmire of its own making. HRC-Rice-Powers were the supporters for R2P policy to overthrow Gaddafi and Assad.

Russia's Medvedev Warns for New World War Sparked In Syria | Feb 11, 2016 |

Related reading ...

Blair On Downfall Saddam, Iraq Compared Favorable to Quagmire In Libya and Syria | Oct 25, 2015 |

Democrats and wars in Yemen-Libya-Syria and decision in 2009 for a troops surge in Afghanistan.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Tue Apr 26th, 2022 at 06:43:56 PM EST


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