Kazak | Russia

KAZAK | казак Россия | Evropa Call of the Kazak Audio | #1  Charge of the Don Kazak         Don Kazak             Audio | #1 LINK | source The photos are so beautiful, I want to climb inside history and be there. I imagine that the exhilaration of battle cannot be surpassed. I love the horse hair standard; the shoulder decoration; the portrait of the two standard bearers; the horseback charge of the Don Kazak; the shine of the black leather boots; the masculinity; the music; the dance in the field; the dust of the field; the land, the soil, the blood, the blade in the dust, the horses and the trees. I wish I was there. Look at this and look at the destruction and the abomination that is the outcome US-Anglo capitalist false ideology, destruction of nations, destruction of peoples, destruction of cultures, greed, lies, propaganda, indoctrination and control. KAZAK | казак Россия | Evropa

CIA Controlled Ukraine Regime Shelling Ethnic Russians

WAR CRIMINALS CIA-Controlled Ukraine Regime Shelling Ethnic Russians Press TV http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/07/05/473722/Ukraine-east-fighting 3 Ukrainian soldiers killed in fresh clashes in east Tue Jul 5, 2016 12:59PM Renewed clashes between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russia forces in eastern Ukraine have left three soldiers dead.  [comment:  ie.  Novorossiya, which is historically Russian, in a land that is HISTORICALLY SLAVIC & ANCESTRAL HOMELAND OF THE SLAVIC PEOPLE — not the possession of mongrel American capitalists & their accomplices.   ] Officials in Kiev said Tuesday that the three were killed as government forces suffered losses across various parts of the frontline separating areas under the control of pro-Russians in the east from the rest of the country. Ukraine's military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said fierce clashes occurred in Donetsk, controlled by pro-Russians, while fighting raged in the southeastern government-held port city of Mariupol. “We observe an escalation in these areas,” Lysenko said, adding that pro-Russians shelled some areas for several hours. The pro-Russia forces rejected the statement as an accusation, saying Ukrainian troops shelled residential buildings in Donetsk. A news agency run by the pro-Russians said two civilians were injured in attacks by Ukrainian troops.  [comment:  the 'pro-Russians' are merely the eastern Ukraine ethnic-Russian pro-independence backing population that reject the CIA & IMF installed US Capitalist puppet regime.] On September 20, 2014, the government in Kiev and the pro-Russians signed a ceasefire agreement in Minsk, Belarus, in a bid to halt the clashes in Ukraine’s eastern regions. The deal required all sides to pull heavy weaponry back from the front lines of the conflict. On February 12 the next year, Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine agreed to another ceasefire deal in the same city under the name Minsk II. In addition to the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the front line, that agreement called for a ceasefire between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russians and constitutional reform to give eastern Ukraine more autonomy.  [comment:  I would reject the 'more autonomy' outright.  Complete independence is called for, not 'more autonomy'. ] Sporadic clashes have continued, however, with the two sides blaming each other for renewed hostilities. Kiev and its Western allies also accuse Russia of having a hand in the conflict. Moscow denies the allegation.  [comment:   CIA-Coup US Capitalist Empire & its corrupt, treasonous Kiev accomplices are pointing the finger at Russia, while plundering the ancestral homeland of the Slavic people.  ] More than 9,500 people have been killed since April 2014, when Kiev launched its formal military action against pro-Russians following a referendum in March that year in Crimea, where the ethnic Russian-speaking people voted for rejoining the Russian Federation. http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/07/05/473722/Ukraine-east-fighting COMMENT Russia's restraint is admirable.   I'd have nuked the Kiev rats and their US capitalist handlers by now.

Братина

Kazača Lezginka Казачья лезгинка Bratina Братина -------/\/\/ -------/\/\/ Foundation of Cossack culture. St. Petersburg. Official website: www.bratinafolk.com Translation: "In early October 2014, participants "Bratina" ensemble were in Novorossiya (ie historic:  'New Russia', Russian Empire). They speak in front of the militias and residents in Krasnodon, Luhansk, Stakhanov, Rovenki, Sverdlovsk and Alchevsk, Kirovsk." -------/\/\/ ОЙСЯ ТЫ ОЙСЯ ТЫ МЕНЯ НЕ БОЙСЯ ---------------------- ---------------------- I love the Slavic sounds and sights ... I wish I was there.  But I'm not brave enough. Cannot understand why the Slavs in Ukraine have given away their heritage to the CIA, the US State Department's Natalie Jaresko, the IMF predators and, ultimately, to greedy American oligarchs about to divest them of their country and more -- they will be destroyed as a people. Ukraine's entered into American bondage, based on betrayal of Slavic heritage and on lies about 'independence,' that will amount to nothing but destruction of the kind that is already evident in Western Europe. Europe is being destroyed by the Americans and their Continental friends.

Video - Novorossiya - Ойся ты ойся, ты меня не бойся

ꕤ Video SOURCE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKyKNhIbCvg ❤ ❤ Ойся ты ойся, ты меня не бойся  Oysya ty Oysya, ty menya ne boysya  Novorossiya September 7, 2014 Cossacks & Militia Perevalsk Cossack National Guard Great Don Army Image Source | here ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- ꕤ

I ❤ Twitter

ꕤ i ❤ twitter ❤ Carl Bildt former Prime Minister (1991-1994) former Foreign Minister (2006-2014) Sweden Moderate Party ꕤ COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- ❤ ❤ ꕤ COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. https://govwaste.co.uk/ ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- ❤  How the Carl Bildt government converted a proud nation into a subservient US-puppet & put Swedish national security at risk http://professorsblogg.com/2014/03/26/bildtssweaus-puppet/ ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- ❤ ꕤ

HRW - UKRAINE GOVT CONTRIBUTED TO SERIOUS DELAYS, DELIVERY OF HUMANITARIAN & MEDICAL AID

HRW - UKRAINE GOVT CONTRIBUTED TO SERIOUS DELAYS, DELIVERY OF HUMANITARIAN & MEDICAL AID Ukraine: Civilians Struggle to Get Medical Care All Sides Should Ensure Delivery of Aid to Civilians in Rebel-Held Areas March 13, 2015 A woman standing in front of a bomb shelter in Petrovsky district of Donetsk, area of Trudovskaya mine, where locals have been hiding from attacks since August. February 9, 2015. © 2015 Dmytry Belyakov     © 2015 Dmytry Belyakov (Berlin) – Travel restrictions imposed by the government of Ukraine have contributed to serious delays in the delivery of humanitarian aid, particularly medicines and medical equipment, to civilians in rebel-controlled areas of eastern Ukraine, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch released a video based on interviews with medical personnel and patients in eastern Ukraine. The restrictions also seriously impede access to health care for civilians from rebel-controlled areas who need to use state-funded medical services available only in government-controlled areas, Human Rights Watch said. Human Rights Watch also found that patients receiving treatment for HIV, tuberculosis (TB), and opioid substitution therapy (OST) are facing interruptions of life-saving treatment. “Delays in delivering medicines, combined with a pass system and military hostilities, have created massive shortages at medical facilities,” said Yulia Gorbunova, Europe and Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. “This is jeopardizing the lives of people with serious medical conditions and others who need medical assistance in rebel-controlled areas.” Human Rights Watch spent three days in Kiev and seven days in the Donetsk region interviewing, in person or by phone, doctors and other health workers, patients, local residents, volunteers, and members of independent humanitarian groups that provide humanitarian aid to conflict-affected areas. In a March 9, 2015 letter to Ukrainian officials, Human Rights Watch asked the Ukrainian government to ensure that its restrictions on movement in and out of areas not under government control do not adversely affect the health of the civilian population. Several local and international humanitarian organizations told Human Rights Watch that since January, they have experienced restrictions and delays when trying to move medicines and medical equipment that are essential for the health of the civilian population into rebel-controlled areas. In some cases these restrictions and delays did not appear to be justified on security grounds, Human Rights Watch said. In November 2014, the Ukrainian government stopped providing funding for government services and social benefit payments – including budgets for hospitals, pensions, and social security – in rebel-controlled areas. Civilians have to travel to government-controlled territories to get their social benefits. In January 2015, the government also began to enforce travel regulations that require civilians to obtain a special pass to move between rebel-controlled and government-controlled territories. Human Rights Watch found that rebel forces, who exercise effective control over areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, have failed to fill the gap left by the withdrawal of state funding for services and payments from rebel-held areas. People in rebel-controlled areas who need state-funded treatment now have to travel to government-controlled territory, but are often unable to, either because they do not have the financial and other resources to travel and register in government-controlled areas, they have to provide care for sick or elderly family members who are not able to travel, or they fear injury or worse due to the hostilities.  [Think it rather unrealistic to expect people defending a territory to suddenly begin administering an efficient welfare providing state, while under military fire from the Ukraine govt.] All parties to the conflict should uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law and their commitments under the February 13 Minsk ceasefire agreements to ensure access to humanitarian relief for civilians who need it, Human Rights Watch said. The Ukrainian government has the right to control movement in and out of rebel-controlled areas, but all parties to the conflict must allow and facilitate the rapid and unimpeded access for impartial humanitarian relief for civilians in need, Human Rights Watch said. Consent for access to humanitarian operations cannot be withheld for arbitrary reasons, and neither side should seek to impose intolerable conditions on the civilian population as a tactic of war.  [Obviously it can be, if you're sneaky & want to use harm to civilians as a tactic - and that would be the Ukraine govt tactic, as the civilians being referred to here are east Ukraine ethnic Russian civilians.] The government also maintains its obligations under international human rights law to respect the right to health and other economic and social rights, as well as rights such as freedom of movement for the civilian population. This includes, in particular, rights provided for in the treaties to which it is a party, such as the European Convention on Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. In areas under effective control of rebel forces, those forces have the primary responsibility to ensure that civilians have humanitarian essentials, including medical supplies, Human Rights Watch said. And, while the Ukrainian government has no obligation under international humanitarian law to provide direct financial assistance to authorities operating under the control of rebels, its human rights obligations to the civilian population do not cease due to the current conflict. In its letter, Human Rights Watch said the Ukrainian government and de facto authorities in rebel-controlled areas should not impede humanitarian assistance and should facilitate access to it for civilians in need. The government of Ukraine and rebel forces controlling those areas should issue instructions to troops and forces staffing checkpoints, and their commanders, to ensure that delivery of medication and medical assistance for civilians in rebel-controlled areas are not subject to arbitrary or unreasonable delays, in line with humanitarian law and the Minsk agreements. “Some of the most vulnerable civilians in rebel-controlled areas have no choice but to rely on humanitarian groups for certain medications and medical services,” Gorbunova said. “Impediments to delivering medications, such as arbitrary delays at checkpoints, can have a severe negative impact on their health with dire, and in some cases deadly, consequences.” Restrictions and Their Impact In November 2014 the Ukrainian government halted the provision of government services to rebel-controlled areas. Funds from the government budget for hospitals, including staff salaries, are no longer disbursed in rebel-controlled areas. On February 9, 2015, the Kiev District Court of Appeal partially annulled the decision, but it is not clear what steps the government has taken either to comply with the decision or to appeal. Travel regulations introduced by the Ukrainian government in January require a special pass, issued by a coordination group of the Security Service of Ukraine, to move between rebel and government-controlled territories. Civilians living in rebel-controlled areas need to apply for the pass at a government checkpoint in a bureaucratic process requiring a minimum of two visits. Many complained of long lines to hand in their documents. The regulations set out a maximum 10-day waiting period for a pass, but several people who live in or near Donetsk said they had been waiting for up to three weeks and some still had not received a pass. Independent humanitarian groups operating in the area, including Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and others, have said that they have been able to operate in rebel-held areas and successfully obtained these passes. But some spoke of difficulties they faced in delivering humanitarian aid and medical supplies. Volunteer groups in rebel-controlled areas that provide targeted assistance to the most vulnerable groups reported difficulties connected with delays or refusals to let humanitarian aid through at checkpoints. One of the organizers of the local group Responsible Citizens, Dmytro Shibalov, told Human Rights Watch of instances where both Ukrainian forces at government checkpoints and rebel forces at rebel checkpoints refused to let their cargo pass without a reasonable explanation. Treatment for Tuberculosis and HIV People receiving treatment for tuberculosis (TB) or HIV and those on opioid substitution therapy (OST) are among the most vulnerable in the rebel-held areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The travel restrictions and the protracted fighting have severely impacted their treatment and put some of them at great risk. Treatment of HIV, TB, and viral hepatitis in eastern Ukraine is under great strain, with hospitals lacking both medicine and diagnostic equipment. According to data provided to Human Rights Watch by the International HIV/AIDS Alliance in Ukraine, over 16,000 people are living with HIV/AIDS in rebel-held areas in eastern Ukraine, including over 7,000 people who receive antiretroviral therapy. At least 2,300 people there have active forms of TB, including about 500 people with multi-drug-resistant TB. Doctors who work with people receiving treatment for HIV and TB in rebel-controlled areas told Human Rights Watch in February that their staff had faced long delays in getting permission to move new supplies of these medications from government-controlled to rebel-controlled territories. The government has yet to approve a regulation drafted in January that would allow humanitarian groups to deliver methadone and buprenorphine, used in OST, to rebel-controlled areas. Medical centers in Donetsk and Luhansk regions may have to shut down these treatments when the supply runs out, which could have a devastating impact on patients receiving this therapy who would be at significant risk of relapsing into illicit drug use and of accidental overdoses. The Donetsk Regional Center for AIDS Prevention and Control is registered in Sloviansk, on Ukrainian government-controlled territory, and continues to operate its facility in Donetsk, in rebel-controlled territory. In early February, the center’s chief medical officer, Nikolai Grazhdanov, told Human Rights Watch that the travel pass system has significantly delayed the delivery of both diagnostic test kits and antiretroviral medicine to the region, including Donetsk and nearby towns such as Horlivka and Makeevka. The center’s deputy director, Valentina Pavlenko, MD, said in early February that her staff had been waiting three weeks for the travel passes to bring antiretroviral medicine and diagnostic kits from Sloviansk to rebel-held Donetsk. Although they eventually received the passes in early March, over 6,000 HIV-positive patents in the rebel-controlled territory of Donetsk were at risk of running out of medicine, Pavlenko said. A humanitarian aid convoy was eventually able to deliver treatment that is expected to last until April. Stopping the treatment may result in patients’ conditions deteriorating, with dire, and possibly deadly, consequences. [... EDIT ... ] Opioid Substitution Therapy Opioid substitution therapy (OST) is available in government-controlled territory but the government has not yet approved a regulation, drafted in January, to allow independent humanitarian groups to deliver the methadone and buprenorphine used in this therapy to rebel-controlled areas. In the meantime, the stock of buprenorphine in rebel-controlled parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions has been depleted completely and methadone supplies are running out. Igor Tsiba, the chief doctor of the regional drug treatment center in Donetsk treating patients in rebel-controlled areas, said in early February that while the center has been sporadically receiving necessary supplies and medicine with humanitarian convoys, delivery of OST therapy stopped in September 2014. The center had to discontinue treatment with buprenorphine in early January 2015 when the supplies ran out, and was in the process of drastically reducing methadone treatment. Tsiba said that some of the most vulnerable patients who receive opioid substitution treatment, including those who are living with HIV, also have TB or various forms of hepatitis. Discontinuing their opioid substitution treatment will result in significant deterioration of their condition and could possibly have fatal consequences for some of them. Yulia Drozd, MD, the head of the department for OST at the center, and head of Donbass Without Drugs, a nongovernmental group that provides medical treatment and social rehabilitation for patients in the Donetsk region, said in early February: “The most shocking thing is that these drugs are readily available but there is no way of getting them here because there is no procedure in place for delivering them.” Seventy percent of the patients who receive this therapy are also HIV-positive, and 25 percent have TB and are vulnerable to other infections, Drozd said. According to data provided to Human Rights Watch by the International HIV/AIDS Alliance in Ukraine, as of early March, at least 600 patients in rebel-held areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions had to discontinue their opioid substitution treatment due to shortages of medicines. Human Rights Watch interviewed three patients receiving OST. Elena, who had used heroin for over 30 years, said she turned her life around after she started OST a year ago and is terrified to think that she could lose it. Rita, 35, who has been receiving methadone therapy for six years and is living with HIV, said she could not leave Donetsk because she had no money and no relatives anywhere else. She looks after her 7-year-old son and her elderly mother, who recently had a stroke and cannot travel. “If I can’t receive treatment, I will not survive,” she said. http://www.hrw.org/news/2015/03/13/ukraine-civilians-struggle-get-medical-care COMMENT Well, this sketches out what the official obligations are.  But, obviously, they can be by-passed or stalled to inflict hardship on the other side.  In this case, by the govt of Ukraine against the civilians in independence-militia-held regions in east Ukraine. Shocked by the large number of people that have HIV (16,000 in east Ukraine independence militia held areas alone).  Seems like a huge number to me.

A Post About Nothing

A post about nothing Starting to zone out staring at a stream of mesmerising updates on the 'puter.  So I'm probably part-sleeping as I read.  It's oddly soothing to be between wakefulness and sleep, staring at this inanimate thing as it turns over information.  A ticking, prolific information-clock that is both time and clock -- sometimes throwing up the most surprising (or shocking) and random things. Moving on ... Politics -- even if confined in one region -- is tricky to watch well. For example, when looking at the Novorossiya conflict, I'd completely forgotten about the national big business interests in the region that also have a stake in what's going on. It's unclear to me who all the local business players are and what parts they play, or what connections (national & foreign) they may have. Right now, I'm like a juggler that's focused on this ball, or that ball, as the reason for whatever conclusion I happen to draw at the time of meeting some piece of information, rather than drawing conclusions that take into account the many elements simultaneously in operation. Perspective needs adjustment.  I'm near-sighted.  Putin & Poroshenko have already discussed steps towards negotiating a ceasefire between the independence supporters and Kiev.  The talks were to continue and presumably they're still on the agenda, but there's been no further word. What's happened in the meantime is that the fake ceasefire the Ukrainians sought (and broke) has given them an opportunity to regroup, resupply and so on.  Furthermore, the Novorossiya side released 1,000 captured personnel.  So that's 1,000 released men Novorossiya will have to overcome again, when these men join their own ranks to resume fighting. The NATO forces are doing the Black Sea thing.  Russia's hooking up with China and others for a summit, which is seen by some as a counter-balance to NATO. Talk of Russia intending to negotiate trading grain for oil from Iran.  Doesn't mean much to me.  It's just a snippet of information that came to mind. The French have been pressured into blocking the Mistral delivery due to Russia at the end of this year, and they're making out like they're deferring decision-making until October, I think it was.  So they're just stringing it out.  The guess is they're not delivering.  Hope Russians sue the culottes off them in due course, and I hope their arms trade drops because they're clearly dishonourable and unreliable if they do bow to pressure and dishonour the agreement.  French arms trade has been doing well this past year.  Particulars are:  sales up 43 % 2013 @$8.84 billion.  Economy's not doing so well.  Hollande is also reportedly in danger of losing office, in due course.  Popularity score is something like 13% and right wingers are gaining ground.   It stands to reason Hollande's government would be unpopular, when he's slashing and selling, and cutting back services, while giving companies tax breaks.   By the time I'm over sifting through information that catches my attention during the course of my online travels, I'm 'over' information and couldn't be bothered regurgitating.  So this won't grow into a riveting political blog.  Turning into more of a boring, personal comment about nothing -- the Seinfeld of political blogging (minus the laughs).

In Brief

Got the worst pain -- ever.  Out of nowhere.  Think it's my stomach, but it's quite high up under my rib cage.  Hope I'm not having a heart attack.  If there's no further posts, I'm dead.  LOL Novorossiya are steaming-rolling head, judging by the reports.  But we'll see. Can't sit still.  Sort of squirming in my seat, huffing & puffing to take the edge off whatever's wrong. Hoping couple of pain killers kick in and take the edge off this soon. Poland/Tusk is lobbying for the NATO-Ukraine incursion.  Guessing Tusk is either (a) ultra conservative or (b) from the US/NGO 'sausage factory'. Same old anti Russian articles around the traps.  Get ridiculously worked up about it, like I'm taking it personally or something.  Too bad I don't have a chilled, sarcastic take on it like some of the Twitter dudes do -- they're so funny.  Anyway, it's not like the Russians care.  Rogozin, Putin and Lavrov have all been going about their business -- and working the Russian crowds.  Lavrov seems to have a few fans.  Take it he's a popular figure.  Getting worked up about the bad press Russia gets is rather embarrassing:  nobody's worried and tomorrow's another news day.  That's just how it works -- there's a 'villain' who gets a daily beat-up and Russia is that 'villain'. Anyway, there's no holding back the tidal wave of nasty, underhand poison-pen persuasion pieces from assorted lobbyists. Someone pointed out that the propaganda's dished out in a stop-start fashion and it's true.  Every so often there's a crescendo of official 'condemning' statements, combined with an avalanche of press vilification ... followed by a lull. Not sure how it works.  I've only started to watch politics.  Never had an interest before.  Might have already mentioned, Italy's Federica Mogherini's been appointed the UN High Representative for Foreign Affairs & Policy of the Economic Union, which I'm quite pleased about.  Better than Bildt and Tusk.  And better looking. Unfortunately, Tusk's got himself the President of the European Council job, but in a toss up between creepy Carl Bildt or Tusk being appointed, Tusk suddenly shines. LOL Tusk/Poland and the Baltic states sound like they've joined forces to bitch about the Mogherini appointment.  It was reported that they weren't pleased with her appointment because she's too 'close' and too 'soft' on Russia, or something like that.  Everyone's whispering about the lack of experience, as well.  But it's probably not a real job, so who cares.  She's kinda hot in a milfy way, so what's the problem?  And it's not like Ashton's some Wonder Woman:  those nuclear talks are ongoing. The EU alliances and back-room lobbying probably matter far more than the actual positions.  But that's just a guess. Speaking of Ashton, she met with the Iranian foreign minister (I think it was) for another round of EU nuclear talks. Russia's up for another round of sanctions from the US puppets and Australia's Prime Minister also joined in bleating about sanctions to be taken against Russia. What is utterly appalling is that NO SANCTIONS are to be taken against the US puppet government in Ukraine and that all these representatives of 'truth', 'justice', 'peace', 'democracy' - and other fanciful crap we're supposed to believe - meekly adopt US policy and support the shelling of civilians by the Ukraine government.  Not a word of condemnation.  So what does that tell you? New Zealand has its own suppression order and spy scandal, under the John Key government.  Also, his Justice Minister resigned over some very unsavoury allegations.  But that's not all, folks ... NZ's law prohibits spying on citizens of NZ, but that hasn't stopped the government spying -- AND they've executed illegal warrants (re Kim Dotcom raid) AND they've refused to answer questions about funding from their US equivalent, so there's obviously some murky stuff going on in NZ government and intelligence -- and it has USA and NSA fingerprints all over it.  Hollywood's a player in this as well ... but I'm not entirely clear on the ins and outs of the Dotcom scandal, because I've been flitting from one thing to another that happens to take my interest. Facebook are censoring the Novorossiya supporters' posts by the look of things.  I've hooked them up with a Ukraine article that appears to indicate that the Ukraine government is having social media stuff censored.  Translation kind of garbled, but I think that's the gist of it -- and if that's the case, it's outrageous.  But I don't know who to complain to. "Facebook removed our post about the abominable declarations of neonazi Battalion Azov leader, Andriy Biletsky,..." >> Porkkky has done a deal w/ -- blocking social media for Ukraine government - http://www.president.gov.ua/news/31108.html  Anyway, that's some of the stuff that caught my attention.  Disappointed that I don't cover more ground.  No idea what's happening in France, apart from new cabinet having been formed after the economy minister bitched about not-so-socialist policy. The Labor government in Australia has sprung to mind, but they're not socialists, although they're supposed to be the 'left'.  Not sure what they are.  Sound like they're just another bunch of conservatives -- or they're happy to make the sift wherever necessary (if it means gaining power).   Worse, they appear to be US-Israel dominated.  Check out the WikiLeaks cable regarding Julia Gillard's determined climb to the top ... over Rudd's 'dead' body, so to speak.    ---------------------------------------------  PS Geez, it's annoying pressing 'publish' and finding typos. What's with the 'drafting blindness', I wonder?  As in, why are typos easier to see once you've published?  A rather boring post, as well.   Sounds like it's been written by a robot.  Don't see that improving any time soon.  Boring writing comes naturally.    :) If I've repeated any info, my apologies.  I've not been focused on the blog, so I'm just rambling.

UKRAINE & EASTERN EUROPE - SEE ECUADOR

Ecuador: WikiLeaks cables show US how used 'democracy promotion' to push corporate interests Monday, September 1, 2014 By Linda Pearson Graffiti opposing the US military base in Manta, which has been closed by the Rafael Correa government. WikiLeaks cables revealed the US Embassy was deeply concerned about the threat posed to the US base by Correa. Ecuador's pro-US neoliberal president Lucio Gutierrez was ousted in 2005. Since then, relations between Ecuador and the United States have deteriorated, with the Andean nation’s increasing rejection of US hegemony. The government of Rafael Correa, first elected in 2006, has broken from the neoliberal doctrines Washington has imposed on Latin America. It has embraced regional integration, moving closer to its neighbours and further away from the US. Diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks show how hard the US fought to control Ecuador's future post-Gutierrez. They show a key element of US efforts to control Ecuador’s political and economic direction in the post-Gutierrez years was the US Embassy’s “democracy promotion” activity. So-called “democracy promotion” came to prominence as a method for maintaining US hegemony in the 1980s. Professor William I Robinson says a shift occurred when Washington policy-makers realised the traditional method of supporting authoritarian client states tended to produce just the sort of movements for radical change the US wanted to avoid. An example was the rise to power of the left-wing Sandinistas in Nicaragua in the 1980s. As the Quito cables illustrate, the goal of this strategy is not the promotion of genuine democracy, in the sense of popular participation in the running of society. Rather, it is the creation and maintenance of what Robinson calls “polyarchy” in his 1996 book Promoting Polyarchy. This means “a system in which a small group actually rules and mass participation in decision-making is confined to leadership choice in elections carefully managed by competing elites”. The overarching aim of “democracy promotion” is preserving the global capitalist order. Under this order, countries in the global South play a subordinate role to those in the North and governments serve the needs of transnational business before their people. By targeting civil society groups in developing countries, such as political parties, trade unions and NGOs, “democracy promotion” programs are intended to foster a network of like-minded elites and promote consensus around key economic and political issues. This consensus translates into government policies that toe the US economic and political line, while radical ideas are filtered out. [... continued ...] FULL @ SOURCE - here.

This is a fantastic article and a great example of how US interests/transnational business interests creep in with an agenda to quietly 'colonise' other nations.

The fallen soviet satellites are developing nations and the US has been stirring the pot in that region for a couple of decades.

Academics, university graduates, leaders, political figures and so on, all come out of the same 'sausage factory' of US/US NGO/Corporate shaping and influence, which, as the article says, is designed to build consensus (which serves US interests).

The US has been playing with Eastern Europe for decades and has been cultivating Ukraine intensively for a couple of decades.

Novorossiya

Still largely following what's going on in Ukraine. Amazed by the courage of the Novorossiya guys who stand their ground and fight the government's army, the oligarch-hired militias and the fascist volunteers.  I don't have that kind of courage, so I'm in awe of how brave and chilled out the Novorossiya guys are, facing a barrage of bullets and shells aimed at destroying them -- as well as some really disgusting and dishonourable elements in the government camp.  Find myself identifying with the independence fighters in a big way.  Really upset the other day, when I saw notification that a couple of guys had been killed. The horrific photos of shelled civilians and photos of the destruction of towns are also very sobering. Even though I've followed this pretty closely this last month or so, it's only when I see particularly graphic photos that I realize I've not fully absorbed or integrated the reality of what's going on.   I'm reminded that the understanding I have is remote:  it's an intellectual level of awareness of what's going on, combined with a strong level of identification and emotional investment in the Novorossiya side winning.  But however much I feel a sense of solidarity, I'm not there:  it's not me exposed to being shelled; it's not me ducking bullets; it's not me picking up body parts and flesh of people who have been ripped apart; it's not me piling mangled, bleeding bodies of the dead into the back of a van -- and it's not me facing death or facing life in towns that have been completely devastated structurally and socially. Civilians go about their business in suburbs and towns while being shelled by that country's government and nobody cares. It is a disgrace that the puppet government of Ukraine has been  allowed to get away with what they're doing and that the west actually supports the murderous government they've invested in fleecing financially and strategically. No way known do I see a unified Ukraine coming out of this.   Imagine it would be impossible for those people to contemplate anything less than independence after the destruction and murder that's taken place.  And having see a video of the 'ultra-nationalist' marauding gangs of thugs in action destroying a Russian service station, knowing that these types are prevalent and even involved at government level, I'd say there's no way those people could ever forge a peaceful integration of the South-East region with the destroyers and the haters.