Ukraine (and Russia)
This is the best Western analysis of situation this far
http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/5h8y0 ... ive-a-s--t
Language, bleeped out.
http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/5h8y0 ... ive-a-s--t
Language, bleeped out.
If there was anything that depressed him more than his own cynicism, it was that quite often it still wasn't as cynical as real life.
Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!
Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!
- Voronwë the Faithful
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That is worrying. However, not all the "civilians" and "militiamen" in these videos are actually local. Many of them were brought over from Russia to pad out the pro-Russian landscape.River wrote:From VICE:
Dispatch 17
Dispatch 18
What's creeping me out, and has been all along, is that, while Russian troops are present, it's the civilians and local militiamen who are being aggressive. I've no doubt that they are feeling emboldened by the invasion and referendum. However, it's got some weird echoes of the break-up of Yugoslavia. Milosevic worked very hard to keep his hands clean, just as Putin is clearly working to keep his hands clean.
And not all are actually civilian.
My Russia-born friends are getting concerned for their friends at home. Now that independent sources of information got silenced, government propaganda is as blatant as anything Soviets ever put out. Talking on the phone, they heard of a person fired just for criticizing the annexation of Crimea in a water-cooler chat. Yeah, I know, friend-of-friend, but that's as good a source of information as any one can get from Russia these days.
Makes me realize how much better radio is than the Internet at getting around government blocks. For one thing, they can't tell who is listening.
Ukranian sources, meanwhile, are saying that refugees flee Crimea for the mainland Ukraine. Thousands of Crimean refugees flee to mainland to escape Russia This jives with the interviews NPR did with some of the Crimean Tatars.
Have I posted this link? https://twitter.com/KyivPost, generally a good source of up-to-date information in English.
My Russia-born friends are getting concerned for their friends at home. Now that independent sources of information got silenced, government propaganda is as blatant as anything Soviets ever put out. Talking on the phone, they heard of a person fired just for criticizing the annexation of Crimea in a water-cooler chat. Yeah, I know, friend-of-friend, but that's as good a source of information as any one can get from Russia these days.
Makes me realize how much better radio is than the Internet at getting around government blocks. For one thing, they can't tell who is listening.
Ukranian sources, meanwhile, are saying that refugees flee Crimea for the mainland Ukraine. Thousands of Crimean refugees flee to mainland to escape Russia This jives with the interviews NPR did with some of the Crimean Tatars.
Have I posted this link? https://twitter.com/KyivPost, generally a good source of up-to-date information in English.
If there was anything that depressed him more than his own cynicism, it was that quite often it still wasn't as cynical as real life.
Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!
Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!
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There's an incredibly wide-scale media crackdown happening in Russia right now. Something of this magnitude hasn't been seen since the Soviet era. Here's a very thorough analysis of the situation:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jill-doug ... 44092.html
Frelga - if any of your friends' friends in Russia are in the journalism or blogging world, I wish them luck!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jill-doug ... 44092.html
Frelga - if any of your friends' friends in Russia are in the journalism or blogging world, I wish them luck!
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http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/worl ... e/7816951/
A self-declared temporary government in east Ukraine has distributed leaflets to Jews requiring them to register their families and their properties or risk confiscation and deportation.
A self-declared temporary government in east Ukraine has distributed leaflets to Jews requiring them to register their families and their properties or risk confiscation and deportation.
Mornings wouldn't suck so badly if they came later in the day.
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http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/worl ... e/7816951/
A self-declared temporary government in east Ukraine has distributed leaflets to Jews requiring them to register their families and their properties or risk confiscation and deportation.
A self-declared temporary government in east Ukraine has distributed leaflets to Jews requiring them to register their families and their properties or risk confiscation and deportation.
Mornings wouldn't suck so badly if they came later in the day.
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Yes. (But certainly no more astounding than a former KKK leader shooting three people at two separate Jewish Community Centers in Kansas, and then having the mayor of the Missouri town that he came from come out in support of his anti-Semitic beliefs.)
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Not necessarily more astounding than that, no. That's horrid. But the case in Ukraine is certainly more dangerous.
In this case, we have militant pro-Russian forces that are threatening to take over the governance of an entire region of Ukraine, some of whom are forcing Jews to register or lose their citizenship.
Somehow I don't think the state of Kansas is under threat of takeover from militant anti-Semitic secessionists, but I could be wrong!
In this case, we have militant pro-Russian forces that are threatening to take over the governance of an entire region of Ukraine, some of whom are forcing Jews to register or lose their citizenship.
Somehow I don't think the state of Kansas is under threat of takeover from militant anti-Semitic secessionists, but I could be wrong!
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It wouldn't shock me. There are extreme right-wing secession movements that have gained traction in other so-called red states (Texas and Wisconsin, to be specific).
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Sure, but there's no credible prospect for success in Texas and Wisconsin. As seen with Crimea, extremists inside Ukraine, supported by an aggressive and powerful Russian neighbor, can do serious damage.Voronwë the Faithful wrote:It wouldn't shock me. There are extreme right-wing secession movements that have gained traction in other so-called red states (Texas and Wisconsin, to be specific).
Mexico isn't playing that role for our secessionists wannabes, I don't think.
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Of course. My only point is that extremism -- and in particular anti-Semitism -- is endemic throughout the world, including here in the land of the free and the brave. The case in Ukraine may well be more dangerous to the world, but the case in Kansas -- or something similar to it -- is far more likely to touch me or mine directly, as a Jew in America.Passdagas the Brown wrote:Sure, but there's no credible prospect for success in Texas and Wisconsin. As seen with Crimea, extremists inside Ukraine, supported by an aggressive and powerful Russian neighbor, can do serious damage.Voronwë the Faithful wrote:It wouldn't shock me. There are extreme right-wing secession movements that have gained traction in other so-called red states (Texas and Wisconsin, to be specific).
Mexico isn't playing that role for our secessionists wannabes, I don't think.
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
Whoops. The truth about the Crimean referendum results slipped out
When you can do nothing what can you do?
Those kind of numbers -- the slipped ones -- have lead to a few majority governments in Canadian elections. No joke.River wrote:Whoops. The truth about the Crimean referendum results slipped out
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The shock of the century!River wrote:Whoops. The truth about the Crimean referendum results slipped out