Dear friends,
I want to try something a little new: record a podcast while driving :-)
I got myself a pretty decent mobile microphone (a Zoom H1) and I hope that the sounds of the engine, tires and wind will not be heard too much on the final recording (I will be using a low-cut filter and a windscreen). Of course, this will not be as convenient as recording in my room, and I might sound somewhat more distracted (I will have to keep my eyes on the road). But since I will be driving for over 2 hours across the empty and huge Ocala National Forest (most of it on small roads) on a Sunday evening, I figure that traffic will be minimal and that should be quite doable.
Anyway – let’s consider this not an “official” podcast but a test, okay? And if you guys hate it – then I will not repeat it.
Until then please send me your questions on any topic you want, serious or not, related to current events, or not. Please make sure to post your questions in the comments section below and please do NOT email them to me. The deadline will be Sunday 00:00 UTC/GMT.
That’s it, I hope that this works out okay.
Cheers and thanks,
The Saker
Pavshini, the Ukrainian Guantanamo of the East. Ukraine has been abusing and torturing people trying to migrate to the Eu for many years, on behalf of the EU that it aspires to join.
The rot in the Ukraine started long ago…
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/ukraine-receives-eu-funds-to-block-asylum-seekers-from-reaching-europe-a-1018907.html
Saker, for the next podcast:
Define American Exceptionalism
1. as the US government uses it as a weapon
2. as the people think of America as its citizens
3. as perceived by the World, particularly enunciated by Putin/Russian spokespersons.
Russian civilization as an alternative (if you have time or disposition to include it)
will do. in the meantime, have you see these:
http://thesaker.is/a-most-interesting-series-of-lectures-and-a-real-treat-for-all/
also here:
http://vineyardsaker.blogspot.com/2010/04/seminal-series-of-lectures-on-us-empire.html
cheers and hugs!
sounds dangerous to me. not so bad if you’re just talking about stuff coming into your head, but to read and respond to questions requires concentration which takes away from your ability to drive.
I was planning to pull over to read the questions and then drive while replying.
I am stupid, but not crazy or reckless :-)
cheers!
Maybe have your better half read them out to you – so that she doesn’t get bored…:)
I don’t think your crazy or stupid, just very dedicated. ;-)
Be careful out there. The USA is full of crazies.
But then you’ll have to pull over and stop every 2 minutes!
I keep hearing it repeated that Russia is at risk of being dismembered into smaller states the way Yugoslavia was. How vulnerable is Russia to this, I mean we all know of Chechnya but what about elsewhere? Dmitry Orlov has also mentioned this as a goal of the neo –cons, after instigating an economic collapse, I also hear it in western media & even Putin alluded to it in one of his speeches.
Yeah, annon! I’d also like the USA be subdivided into six or seven decent sized countries!
To what degree are Putin’s stances related to his relationship to God and the church? Is this a factor in his denunciation of gay marriage and western relativism, and his willingness to confront “tolerance” and accusations of anti-semitism due to standing up to western banksters?
To ask it another way, do you think another Russian leader would take similar stances because the impetus of such positions actually comes from the Russian people as a whole? Or is Putin particularly influenced by the Church and a particularly bold leader for such positions?
very good one – will do!
Hi Saker,
I would like to ask you a question that me knowingly we haven’t discussed on this blog (i am not sure i might be wrong?) but never the less i think it is very important for the future of Ukraine. I would be very glad if you could write an analyses on the topic or mention it in your podcast. I would like to know what is the position and the opinion of the Ukrainian intelligentsia about, all this mess in Ukraine, are they afraid to speak out their opinion because of the consequences it might have on their lifes their position in the academic circles, their families etc. My question is are there any open and organized criticism in these circles about the “official governments” responsibility of the current political chaos in Ukraine, or are the people to afraid to speak out? Another question, that i’am interested in what is the situation in the rest of the East Ukraine and when i say east i mean everything east of the Dniepr river. Do the people there support the junta or Novo-Russia or are they just indifferent to the war in Luhansk and Donetsk Republics? Are there any organized resistance to Kiev in these parts, and lastly are there any conditions for a general uprising against the Kiev junta and joining the Novo Russian forces in their struggle?
Thanks in advance/Daniel Martin
Did Russia try to counter the EU propaganda campaign and the rise of fascism in Ukraine before the coup? If yes, then how and why did it fail?
I think an information campaign on how EU and IMF looted Ukraine and other Eastern European countries in the past would have prevented many Ukrainians from being fooled by EU propaganda. Especially with informations on the content and the disastrous consequences of the so-called “Association Agreement”. The German think tank DGAP didn’t even keep that a secret.
Already last autumn, the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) exposed in a paper that Ukraine’s EU association would require “serious and extremely painful social adjustments.”
http://german-foreign-policy.com/en/fulltext/58724
Those who control NATO and the western financial system will not stop until they get what they want. They want to own the world and keep mankind as their Slaves. Those who stand in their way are not only defeated, they must be utterly destroyed. The only hope for mankind is that Russia thrusts a stake into the heart of the beast. Do you agree that a “Hot War” between Russia and the NATO-West is inevitable? If so, when will it start?
Hey Saker,
Could you speak a little bit about how the views of Mykhailo Hrushevskiy and the other Ukrainophiles contrasted with those of Western Ukrainian Russophile Ruthenians in World War I and the immediately preceding era?
Furthermore, how about how much the construction of the Ukrainian standard language contrasted with the actual vernacular of Ukrainians who lived outside of Galicia? I’ve read that the Cossack Hetmanate and the Tsardom of Russia needed translators while negotiating the Treaty of Pereyaslav because their speech had diverged that much–however, the Valuev Circular states that Malorossiyans were opposed to the literary Ukrainian language and were mutually intelligible with Velikorossiyans (http://translate.google.com/translate?depth=1&hl=en&prev=search&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=ru&u=http://galiciantales.narod.ru/ValuevCirc.htm). After all, how can a huge population of mostly illiterate peasants be Russified in schools? How much of this is because of subversion from the Poles?
I’ve also read from some sources that what Ukrainians call “surzhyk” is actually essentially the old Malorossiyan dialect. Is this true?
Hope this isn’t too much. At least it might give you a few ideas.
Please Saker, be discreet about the time and place of your travels…No need to know. You may think me foolish but in the 1970’s my brother who was an anthropologist working in Colombia doing research among migrants and how their thinking and family organization changed as they moved from rural areas to cities was approached by the CIA. They wanted him give them information on leaders or potential leaders of Soccer drinking clubs, shoemakers associations, etc. so if there began to be rebellious activity in a particular rural area they could do selective, intimidating assassination of future cadres. He declined and left Latin America as a place to live or study.
Please Saker, be discreet about the time and place of your travels…
Well, I don’t hide form the authorities, as for the freaks or crazies, Ocala is a HUGE forest and I am armed (and a rather good shot, at least with handguns). I have dealt with the CIA (and the KGB) in my past, and I don’t think that they have much interest in me. For them I am a benign, if “wrong thinking” but very legal alien. Ditto for the FBI. To be honest, I am a pathetically law-abiding citizen, opposed to violence, with rather weird but not really anti-American views. Sure, I loathe Obama and the 1%ers he works for, but so do 99% of Americans. To be honest, I don’t think that Uncle Sam gives a damn about me, and he is right: he has bigger fish to fry that some crimethinking blogger :-) Finally, if anybody for a 3-letter agency wants to talk to me, they can come to my home, they don’t need to search for me in a forest. No, the biggest danger I will face are the moronic drivers (except for New Yorkers, most Americans can’t drive – sorry!).
news (& humor) for your dismal dreary day:
Bellow Wildly now not considered a name source of real reporting & truth!
Y, next thing u know, they’ll be going after the few fearless exposers of truth remaining who can’t be silenced, like alex cojones & katie kricket!
oh, the humanity.
bellow couldn’t be contacted for a rebuttal on this—remember, he’s still in the falklands reporting on the war there, & can’t get to a payphone in working order.
O’Reilly, now in the spotlight, has previously bragged himself up, claiming “to have been in a combat zone, in a war zone, during the Falklands conflict.”, according to Shulman. But “the only place combat took place during that war was the remote Falkland Islands which were 1200 miles from Buenos Aires where Bill O’Reilly and the rest of the press corps.” were covering local protests.
https://www.intellihub.com/foxs-bill-oreilly-finally-bites-the-dust-more-newsroom-liars-exposed/
Thought you’d be interested on Edgar Cayce’s prophecy regarding Russia. Edgar Cayce was probably the foremost psychic in the US during the early part of the 20th century. His ‘readings’ had a strong spiritual bent to them, even if couched in a King-James-Bible-ese lingo. See http://www.rense.com/general82/hope.htm
I’m friendly with a Serbian-American physicist, who apparently is a devout Orthodox. I doubt he even knew about Cayce, but one would not expect him to be appreciative even if he did know. Nevertheless, as I recall, he seemed accepting of Russia as “beacons of hope for the world”.
He also told me that he thought the US was using Tesla technology against his native Serbia, as their catastrophic flooding of recent years seemed to defy normal weather variation.
I was wondering if you had an update on the deployment of a “battalion minus” of the 173rd Airborne to the Ukraine for training of their “national guard”. I read in an article that U.S. Army Europe commander Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges has stated 3/3/2015 in Berlin that the mission is on hold, here’s a link:
http://your-duty.blogspot.com/2015/03/fate-of-us-training-mission-to-ukraine.html
Second related question regarding permanent stationing of US troops in the area, what is the status of the 1997 Founding Act signed between Russia and NATO, which includes such principles as “NATO and Russia do not consider each other as adversaries.?” Apparently Poland and the Baltic states want permanent US/NATO bases and that would clearly violate this agreement.
link to agreement is here:
http://www.nato.int/nrc-website/media/59451/1997_nato_russia_founding_act.pdf
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/polish-and-baltic-hopes-for-permanent-nato-bases-frustrated-by-1997-agreement-with-russia/article20343316/
Thanks for all your great work.
In view of the likely Greek default on EU debt will Russia – maybe with help from other BRICs and the New Development Bank – step in and bail Greece out financially?
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-03-12/germans-furious-after-varoufakistsipras-admit-greece-will-never-repay-its-debts
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Development_Bank
What is Putin -and by extension Russia- doing in a tangible way to shore up the governments in Cuba, Venezuela, Argentina and Brazil who are allies from the South but are the subjects of huge destabilization efforts by the US?
Secondly, why is Putin afraid to ensure that Iran and Syria have access to defensive weapons like the S-300 and S-400? Saudi Arabia which is hostile to Iran, Syria and Russia just edged out India as the world’s biggest arms importer. These purveyors of terror get to buy all the weapons that they want but Iranians who are told daily that all options are on the table have to make do with what they produce locally, in the hope of staving off regime change. If Syria or Iran falls, the implications for Russia are not good, do the Russians understand this?????
One question about Putin:let’s imagine he would die tomorrow (unfortunately of course),who are the most likely to follow him as president?In constitutionnal terms,do they need to be elected asap with Medvedev being the interim one?Sorry but I don’t know the political system of RF very well,I guess I’m not te only one?
Do you think the US would have some kind of influence,for exemple by lifting some sanctions on some people as a signal for them to incentive the atlanticists in some way?
I have enjoyed your podcasts and find them very well done. I only wish you had time to do them weekly! They are excellent in every respect. Looking forward to your Kerouac experiment.
If you have a chance, I would be interested to learn if there truly is an indissoluble rift between Catholics and Orthodox. I would like to think that they could unite to better achieve greater Christian aims, An online meme persists that Catholics, to this day, persecute the Orthodox. I reject that notion, but would be interested to hear your insights on this hoary problem.
Saker… very much appreciate the time and effort you devote to the Podcasts.
My 2 cents worth — Is there any way to create an index of the topics you discuss?
I find the podcast length too long, especially when I don’t know what topics are going to be discussed.
There are perceptions that the largely engineered oil price drop has reached bottom. Also the sanctions against Russia might expire in June as various EU members are already making noises against extension. I don’t know if The Hegemon can exert muscle to change their minds but what is the next move for The Hegemon likely to be?
False flag close to home? False flag in Ukraine -although that risk is not strictly necessary as they just have to say that Putin and the separatists violated the ceasefire. They need do no more to restart major Ukraine hostilities. False flag elsewhere on Russia’s borders? There are plenty of places to fund extreme factions and cause mischief. Could Russia find some USA weaks spots and play the same game?
The end goal is to neuter Russia then China but, is the medium goal to keep Ukraine on a low boil semi-permamently or are the barking mad ZioNeocons and their vassals going to go for broke there?
Any word on how the monasteries in Ukraine are doing? Especially the Monastery of the Caves in Kiev and that monastery in south Ukraine that houses hundreds of orphans.
I worry about them.
I guess your driving won’t suffer ??? What a mom eh ? How do you read the questions and drive at the same time ?
Saker, I worry about what is coming. What I call the US, zionist, whatever, the powers that be in the west have continuity. Similar to a club only like minds are allowed in. What the US is doing now can be continued for generations.
Russia and China at the moment have very good leaders but can they withstand this onslaught for several generations without their countries falling apart?
I have the feeling that China feel they can back Russia and ride this out until the US collapses or pulls its horns in.
I do not think that will happen. Never under estimate the enemy.
US has been expanding ever since its war of independence.
China an Russia together in an attack on the dollar could defeat the US, but I feel China would not go that way because it thinks ? that is the hard part. I think, they feel that in the long term, by China simply doing the right thing, in the end good will prevail.
My view is, China is going to a gunfight with a knife. Hope I’m wrong but I really feel China underestimates its enemy.
Saker [and Saker community]
Can You !!!Please!!! have someone translate the Syrian videos [or all if possible] on
http://anna-news.info/
Thank u kINDLY!!!
@ The Saker,
I would advise against recording whilst on the move. Yes, arguably, it saves time.
However, the only thing fully developed when we’re born are our ears. Perhaps its part of a survival mechanism, perhaps not, but that’s besides the point.
Iit is proven that we can trick our eyes into seeing what’s not there. Not so with our ears. If your message is an important one and one you would like to convey to a wider audience, make sure people will focus on your words, your message and are not distracted by all sorts of sounds in the background.
I’m not advocating a super slick podcast here, I am、 however, concerned about a good audio quality.
My 2 ￥
Enjoy your trip.
What do you think about the Kursk Katastrophe (12.08.2000)? Accident? Enemy action?
Der Untergang der Kursk, reloaded!
http://alles-schallundrauch.blogspot.de/2008/11/der-untergang-der-kursk-reloaded.html
Hi Saker:
I just want you to comment on Russian Liberals reactions on China and Russian Rapprochement and cooperations in your next podcast. I also like to know their reactions to China’s political economic model, since we Chinese didn’t follow the west’s intuitions like Russia did in the 90’s.
Thanks a lot!!
Dear Saker,
Have you read or do you know the book series of Vladimir Megre “The ringing cedars of Russia”? An entrepreneur who met a woman named Anastasia, living in the woods of Siberia. Although she’s living far from the civil world she has a strong connection with God and a sharp view on history of mankind and the future of mankind beginning in Russia. Like Edgar Casey she predicts that enlightment starts in Russia. People will be connected to God and the Earth again by living on family domains of a 100 square meters (in future given by the Russian government) where they grow their own food and live in love with their families and ones with nature. This process has already started and is growing. She talks about how to plant seeds in a special way, how a life long loving relationship can be build with ones partner, how to raise children in quite a different way we know. By nurturing the earth through hundreds and thousands of family domains like a loving quilt expanding over the earth we will recover peace and love on earth. She gives insights in the real nature of what people are and how to connect with the ancient abilities to co-create.
All these matters the writer Vladimir Megre- the partner of Anastasia (they have two children now also growing up like Anastasia in the forests) is discussed and researched by specialists in various sciences. Putin, Fedorov, Medvedev have been interviewed and are positive about these ideas. Putin wrote in (only) the Russian version even a fore word. These books, a series of 10, have been translated in over 20 languages and more than 11 million copies have been sold. Worldwide movements, especially in Russia, have been started to materialize these ideas.
There are also schools were the children educate them selves and each other. See this very very interesting interview with various pupils between 8 and 22 yaers old of the Russian Kin School in Tetos founded in 1994, who also build, and decorated this school and develop their own learning materials, grow their own food and totally run the whole school.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ratyoUnzHb8&t=1753
What I see happening is that all the developments taking place, the economic sanctions, the war, the purging of hostile entities etc., in other words the necessity of Russia to grow strong from within is rather a very positive journey towards a better God loving world community.
So my question to you Saker is, do you know about this and what are your views on how this might be the solution coming from quite an unexpected corner as is normally discussed here.
The Russian Anastasia website: http://www.anastasia.ru
Ingrid,
You won’t be living and growing your own food on one sot (100 sq m). Small gardens close to town might be two to three sot. They’ll generally be used for growing fruit, berries, flowers and some ready use vegetables.
A larger dacha will be located much further away. Around large cities like Yekaterinburg, they’ll be around 10 sot (1,000 sq m) and have a small summertime cabin. In my family’s area, they are located in the disintegrating villages left behind after the collapse of the communal farms. Generally they’re an izba with a masonry pech in the middle (log cabin and a Russian stove) on 20 sot (2,000 sq m).
This YouTube clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfZmCAZwhyY shows what I’m talking about and should also put a smile on your face ;-)
Hi Stephen,
I knew the clip already, but it was nice to see it once more and I think it is beautiful and funny. I made a mistake in the messurement I mentioned. Of course 100 square meters is to small to build a house, dig a pond and also grow fruit trees, berries and vegetables. I meant 1 hectare which is 10.000 square meters for a kins domain. They are indeed located in the rural areas. Here is a nice little movie about a kin’s domain in Rodnoe.
You are very lucky to live in Russia where there is so much land, unlike here in the Netherlands were land is very expensive.
Kin’s domain Rodnoe
In the 1990’s many household plots in Ukraine used to be 0.47 hectare and were enough to grow food for family of 4 or 5. This would be usable land area, over and beyond the part5 the house was on. Plots 0.65 and bigger could grow enough to sell a small amount, which is how the nearby towns got their fresh vegetables. This excludes grains and sunflower which they’d get from the collective or co-operative farms they worked on. They nearly all kept some animal as well — chickens or pigs, or a cow for milk (today I heard they keep goats, I expect with smaller families less milk is needed).
Nobody wants to be a dirt-poor dirt-eating peasant. But today it is wealth to have fresh-grown food, and social security that doesn’t depend on money. Villages today have roads, gas, electricity, heating, running water, TV, internet, mobile phones. The same mod cons in other words as towns and cities. So people are not cut off from the rest of society from living in a village. Regular buses can take the children to schools, people to their town jobs or shopping. Part time work would be enough for some people, so there’d be work for everyone.
Do you dare to write publicly what type of smartphone you are using? Is not there a safety concern?
For your own health, you already answered…
I hope you are enjoying your (short) leave!
HTC One S :-P
Good day Saker:
Hope you enjoy your time communing with nature.
My question:
Russia is so vast, so rich in many of the things (material and spiritual, but also business opportunities) that many long for and feel trapped in the prevailing madness. How can one go about emigrating to Russia, to help build or participate in a new and better world? Real emigration, but also cultural, spiritual, or business tours/pilgrimages/immersion. You must have connections, or people over there who can inform, organize. Why not create a section on your blog where folks can be informed of processes and procedures, what is possible. Even learning the language, enrolling in universities, making friends…
Thank you.
Apparently you all in US south are in danger of being invaded by Venuezuala. The Moon of Alabama has a witty post on topic. Seems to be all about “formality” — and a pathological misuse of power by those in office in the US wishing to use state power for criminal aims. Can you comment on trends and dynamics in US Latin America relations post-Chavez, please.
If a nuclear war broke out between the US and Russia, what would happen? If the US attacked Russia in this way, how could Russia respond, seeing as it does not have any bases near US territory? Would nukes be fired from the ground, from planes, from ships or in some other way? How difficult is it to intercept an incoming nuclear weapon? How potent are today’s nuclear weapons?
Many thanks
I don’t know if you get my questions but they don’t feature in your podcasts.
1) what do you make of the Russian aircraft flying close to UK airspace?
2) will any NATO country crack and split from the U.S. – Turkey? Germany?
3) the UK is surely a basket case ref question 2) no?
4) ref question 3) what about UK joint the Chinese infrastructure bank? What do u make of that?
Hi Saker:
As an historian, I am interested in the “historical background” of the Ukrainian conflict. I have found your posts on Ukrainian nationalism and its roots very interesting, but I lacked a bit of information on the XIX-XX centuries. Particularly I am interested in two Ukrainian personalities, which I see them very interesting from an historic point of view, precissely because of their “offshot” character from a nowadays point of view, but “key” character from a historic point of view. I am talking about Taras Shevchenko and Mikahilo Hrushevski.
Both are today trated as idols by the contemporary (post-1991) Ukrainian nationalism. Contemporary Ukrainian nationalism that is forged by banderism, Russophobia, ultra-Westernism, in short words, it is very right-wing-leaning and Russophobic/Slavophobic. But at the same time lionizes these two characters: one, Shevchenko, as the “founding father” of Ukrainian modern literature and even Ukrainian nation, and the other, Hrushevski, as the “founding father” of Ukrainian historiography (the myth of Kievan Rus being the forefather of “Ukraine” is a Hrushevski myth).
But if we look more closely, we will find some things that are in contradiction with the ideology that contemporary Ukrainian nationalists show. If Ukrainian banderism treats the USSR and Russia as ultimate evil; then it was this “Russo-Soviet evil” which recognized both first. One of them, Shevchenko, was lionized and honoured by Soviet regime (not only in Soviet Ukraine, but also in Soviet Russia), in a basis of “socialist writer, defender of the poors” and “brotherhood of nations”. As for Hrushevski, he first was member of a (moderate) socialist and Ukr nationalist party, and was the “symbolic” head of Ukrainian National Republic; so at first (1917-1919) he fought against Bolsheviks, but in some years (1924) he returned to Soviet Ukraine, make a deal with Bolsheviks, and they let him to publish his “Nationalistic” books. Also Hrushevski stated “This Ukrainian Soviet Republic is very similar to the Ukrainian National Republic which I helped to create”.
So my questions are: a) Were this two characters Russophobic, or they were people that could be suited in a Russo-Ukrainian understanding? (In other ways, was sincere the Soviet attitude towards them, or was a fake?) Was their nationalism based in ethnic antagonism or was it based in a kind of “social reform” and hatred of Tsarist regime?
b) Were this two characters similar to nowadays Ukrainian nationalists, or there is a rupture in that ideological tradition? If the rupture exists, from whom borrows banderism (apart from Shukhvych/Bandera) its ideological tradition? Is Shevchenko’s and Hrushevski’s real thought comprehended or manipulated by contemporaty nationalists? (Or was the Soviet regime who manipulated their thought?) If this two (which act to be more leaning to left than to right whn lived) were alive today: they would been proud or embarrassed being hailed by fascistic movements?
Sorry for my poor English.
Oxandabaratz, from Basque Country
Dear Saker,
Here is video proposing how to twart Russian air defence by mock planes.
Raytheon – Anti-Advanced SAM Missile Combo : MALD…: http://youtu.be/0acJ3xyhaJo
Do you have an idea how to counter this?
For example I could imagine creating mock radar stations so the arriving planes hit mostly not the real air defence radars. Still there is the risk of exhausting the SAMs on the mocks.
Mock tanks were used with some success in WW2 — but they only looked like tanks, to misdirect attention from where the real one were.
You can’t make mock radars They will fool local spies for a while. But when planes come over, they won’t RADIATE, so they’ll know they’re fake and not waste ammunition on them.
Quality modern radar picks the size, shape and speed of the plane, so a mock one would have to do exactly what a real one does. This won’t work much., They DO have defenses on the planes against missiles fired with that radar aiming. If it’s a heat seeker missile, the plane dumps batches of fireworks, to make more heat that its own engine exhaust. For proximity fuse missiles they dump chaff , which is a big batch of aluminum strips, hoping the missile will “see” that more easily than the dull painted plane.
Mocks are only as good as what will be looking at them. Human eyes are easy to fool.
In one of your posts, I think in Januari, you briefly voiced your opinion that Yats and some other junta or neocon figures were not just plain evil, but probably posessed. I think you did not just use a figure of speech.
If you feel like, and think it is relevant, perhaps you can elaborate a little from your orthodox background (criteria).
Saker,
this whole thing started in Syria. Ukraine was an American revenge (unsuccessful) . But what will happen with Iran? Can you predict? Is the bully subdued for good?
1) What do you make out of the recent string of ‘suicides’ of politicians from the previous Ukrainian government?
2) How long do you think till the truth of the anti-russian propaganda (ARP) become obvious to the people in the west.? Would it reduce or would it become more and more effective? How effective is the influence of the this ARP on the public opinion in other continents towards Russia?
Dear Saker,
Last year after reading an article of Pepe Escobar in Asia Times, I linked to your website. I was relieved about your analyses about Russia, because there might be hope for those who understand what is really going on a global scale: a neo-con warmachine and Russia as resisting power (when it overcomes its fifth column).
However, I noticed that in some analyses you seem to have a grudge against the Soviet Union. Perhaps because part of my roots are in the “global south” and far away from Europe, that I totally don’t understand this Sovietphobe attitude.
After 20 years of searching and following the events in world politics I formulated for myself a thesis from a historical geo-political perspective.
Let me present it to you as an alternative point of view.
A tsarist Russia would have never resisted the nazi-german operation barbarossa. Earlier it lost a sea battle against Japan. Russia would have ceased to exist in WWII.
But a social- economic construct of the Soviet Union: state, people, collectivity, scholing – education – healthservice – science in the benefit for all its habitants, and using the talents from all its social strata: that power could with its Red Army finally defeat the terrible nazi warmachine on the continent and the Japanese empire in Manchuria.
It was the Soviet Union, especially after WWII that blocked the Zion-Anglo-Saxon financial empire. And it is modern Russia with the inheritance of the Soviet Union (e.g Pres. Putin and his Kremlin team) that is able to continue that resistance.
In sum. Without the Soviet Union there would be no modern Russia to further stop the most devastating, plunder and killing machine that ever existed in human history in its crusade for full spectrum global dominance pushing billions of people into economic serfdom.
And yes, the west is hating communism/soviets: not only because it blocked their crusade but it could have developed as an alternative society in which prosperity is shared like later e.g. the destroyed Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.
Even I, not being Russian, am proud of the achievement in that respect of the Soviet Union and its successor Russia under president Vladimir Putin; the only statesman in the last two decennia. Every year on 9th of may I commemorate the sacrifices of the Soviet people and celebrate the victory of the Great Patriottic War. In my town Amersfoort in the Netherlands, we have the greatest Soviet field of honor in Western Europe with about 900 graves of Red Army soldiers. The commemoration is lead by two mayors of our two adjacent towns and the Russian ambassador.
Perhaps also to consider is why exactly in Tsarist Russia a bolschewik revolution could happen and not in Germany. Ik think that exactly the character and soul of all the Russian peoples made that possible: a collective engagement.
It is regulary considered as an exogene implementation. But then how was it possible that the Russian people als Bolsheviks defended it against the Whites and a multi-national warforce from abroad. Why did they not simply support these groups?
Besides, the Soviet Union also generated very admirable achievement in for instance the architecture. I see magnificent architectonic constructions accessable for all Soviet peoples and not just the tsarist nobility. For example in: CCCP Cosmic Communistic Contructions (Frédéric Chaubin, 2011, Taschen GmbH, ISBN 978-3-8365-2519-0).
All evenings I visit your website and others like Fort Russ, Colonel Cassad, Novorossia News, Zero Hedge, to find hope in the analyses concerning the developments in Ukraina, Russia, China, BRICS.
However, I needed to share my point of view about the value of the Soviet Union with you.
Greetings, Bert
War or Peace?
Imagine the worst, Minsk 2 completely breaks down, Merkel can’t save it. Ukraine goes all out and with secret help in large numbers of special operators from the NATO countries breaks through to Donetsk city. Militia is taking great losses, in full retreat, may be in a cauldron themselves as airborne Ukies have blocked the militia getting to the Russian border.
It is day 2 and things look very bad.
What does Putin do?
Col Cassad thinks Putin’s absence is about the Ukraine.
“n the topic of persistent questions in the comments on the topic of “Putin’s disappearance” from the media.
In my subjective opinion, in the next few days he will appear in public, and this appearance will be associated with the development of the situation in Ukraine, which is now on the verge of a major war. Actually, it seems to me, the actual breakdown of the Minsk Agreement junta is in itself sufficient reason to think and prepare for certain decisions.
Officially, today is the last date when the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine may adopt a resolution on the implementation of the special status of the former Donetsk and Lugansk regions – if the decision will not be accepted today, it directly violates the “package of measures to implement the Minsk Agreement.” Tomorrow begins the same way, and noted earlier time period from 15 to 20 March, in connection with which the various sources indicate that these days possible to resume large-scale hostilities on the initiative of the Kiev junta. Russia somehow be a possible failure to respond agreements, and very likely, we now come to the point of bifurcation, when the situation in Ukraine will start to change dramatically. So I think in the coming days the Kremlin anyway publicly define its future strategy (guess based on the military situation in the NPT, non-public with her already decided) and Putin publicly announce part of this strategy.
Hello Saker,
In case Putin did not appear in public at the moment of recording the podcast: what is your take on him being not seen and not heard during 10 full days?
( Did sent this question one minute ago, separately. But I suppose it canbe answered in combination with LJ’s question)
Saker –
Two short questions,
1. What is it about the Russian language, or its syntax that seems to make it so difficult to translate on the fly? Is it something about maybe the subject coming at the end of the sentence (i read that, once)? When I listen to someone translating from Russian to English it’s very difficult to follow – it seems very hurried, as if the translator is trying to catch up.
2. Can you speculate as to whether Mr. Putin is aware that, in addition to 80+% of the Russian people supporting him, that there are many Americans who loathe the predations of the American govt. around the world and who respect V. Putin as a statesman and who wish him to prevail? I would like to think he is aware of that.
Thank you in advance for your reply.
Anon, just from my investigations, and not the full story
There are no prepositions. To, from, with, of (belongs to), about, …. all those are expressed by adding a suffix to the noun. Nouns have gender (as in Latin languages) and the male nouns have different endings than the female ones. Past and future tenses on verbs are also done with changing the endings. I/you/they is also indicated by the verb form, not said separately. Because of this the verb sometimes ends up at the end of the sentence, (but not as often or as badly as in German). You’ll often see what looks like double negatives “to the city they never went not” but that’s from using a negative ending on the verb, so counts as a single. They also seem to use “and” where English would use “but” as in “they did not go on Tuesday, but on Friday” would be translated as “…on Tuesday, and on Friday”.
Poor human translator has to put 3 or 4 words for every Russian word.
So you can see a machine translator would have serious problems.
Generally Yandex is better, works well for formal language
translate.yandex.com
but for more casual, use Google.— if you copy in only 3 or 4 lines, you can hover and get a blue highlight over the translated (English) version. Clicking that will give 1 to 5 more possible choices. Take the one makes sense in the context.
When discussing the Ukraine issue with main stream people in Western Europe, they often cling to two clusters of arguments:
1) That the Russian overtake of Crimea was a gross a violation of international law, and that that crime overshadows everything else in the Ukraine conflict.
2) That the Western European states are much more democratically developed than Russia. The Swedish Foreign Minister, for example, recently described Russia as a horror regime.
Could you, please, comment a little on these questions.
I get the feeling the west thinks it Russia’s military is old and weak and hasn’t changed much since the collapse of the USSR. Could you elaborate on what charges have been made since then.
Also, it often gets thrown out there that the US has a massive defence budget that dwarfs Russa’s significantly. And, that the US navy alone makes it a force to be reckoned with. I always throw it back that Russa’s not running an empire and todays carrier groups would be sitting ducks like the Yamato was in WW2. Am I correct?
Thanks Saker
A simple question.
Will the war start again?
Hello Saker,
In case Putin did not appear in public at the moment of recording the podcast: what is your take on him being not seen and not heard during 10 full days?
European swing states – how easy can countries break out of the transatlantic system?
Lately in Minsk Germany and France made the cease fire aggrements with Russia and Ukraine, not just without the participation of the US, but to the dissastifaction for the US. The German east orientation was initiated already in 1969/1970 the German government lead by Willy Brandt with the trade aggrements with the Sovjet Union under the motto: “Change through Convergence” (Wandel durch Annäherung). This also happened to the dissastifaction for the US, but it did not break up the transatlantic systems.
Now the events seams to become more serios with the US supported war in Ukraine, and the US seeking closer allies among the states in the belt between Russia and Germany. Is this a wedge that is driven down through a rising Eurasian convergence lead by Russa and Germany?
In addition the european dept crises adds to the European instability, as countries as Greece have gotten their democratic primeminister Giorgos Andrea Papandreou overthrown by the EU – that was under pressure from the US to hold the status qou in the EU – and replaced by a tecnocrat, but since the latest election the Greeks do not follow the dictates anyway.
A Greek breakout could even lead a Greek swich towards BRICS and lead to a break up of the south flank of NATO and this weekend a German official said, that they would save Greece what ever it takes.
So how easy is it for countries to break out of of the transatlantic system and who are the resisting forces? The US, UK or European politicians them selves?
Kind Regards
Bjørn Rasmussen
Juniper Springs of hwy 40–some of the cleanest and purist waters in Florida.
Alexander Springs off hwy 19–sublime.
Making the time to visit these sacred places helps me remember the context through which all life unfolds.
If you haven’t visited these places yet, then I would recommend that you search for information and photos.
The podcasts are most welcome on my part–because I engage in strenuous physical activities during the day.
Sadly, there is a dearth of intelligent and indepth audio content available and timely.
Thouroughly enjoyed all your podcasts so far.
Thanks for your efforts.
1. Would you perhaps have an author to recommend to serve as an eye opener for someone in coming of age phase? Something with a philosophical/theological/historical perspective specially relevant to modern evils in their modern garment?
2. A repeat of an unanswered question while back, sorry for the repetition if you ignored it on purpose.You said legitimacy of Moscow Patriarchate is non existent, what about the Holy Sacraments in ROC, people baptized in the meantime in Russia? What do you think of the so called Eastern Orthodox Churches (the 14 in communion), are they not the Orthodox Church (one, holy, catholic and apostolic)? If not, what Church do you think than stands in Orthodoxy?
Thanks for all your work and have a safe drive!
Do you think that those of a Ukrainian nationalist or anti-Russian bent are waking up or otherwise changing their views regarding Russia? Many have argued that a bad economy and social problems will lead to the majority of Ukrainians opposing the current anti-Russian policies. Others argue that they will simply become more anti-Russian as they need a scapegoat.
How does this important struggle look to you from afar? Have you modified your opinions on this issue over time?