tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post9089332943154964305..comments2024-03-29T17:12:19.648+13:00Comments on Bowalley Road: Very Different Personages: Vladislav Surkov - Putin's Puppet-Master.Chris Trotterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09081613281183460899noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-62236562743012354982015-03-29T23:01:16.053+13:002015-03-29T23:01:16.053+13:00"One is totalitarian, fascist and disgusting...."One is totalitarian, fascist and disgusting. The other is normal politics in a democracy."<br /><br />Democracy is decaying in most of the developed world. Russia is an extreme of a corrupt system pretending to be a democracy but it is at the end of a spectrum other countries are slowly inching towards year by year. That we can note the same disingenuous tactics being used is symptomatic of that. Democracy relies on good human behaviour which is something on the decline. Corruption is now a serious and growing problem in New Zealand. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-71013594784356073062015-03-27T15:32:46.791+13:002015-03-27T15:32:46.791+13:00"Russians count themselves lucky if the train..."Russians count themselves lucky if the trains run at all"<br />Where do you get your information? I am told that Russia not only has one of the biggest rail services in the World, it operates efficiently though the toilets in cattle class are sometimes a bit smelly. <br /><br />Charles. Here is the link to Professor Stephen Cohen, Princeton Russia expert. <br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWzHhW_qNiM" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWzHhW_qNiM</a><br />I'd be interested in hearing your opinion as to why it differs so markedly from his, after you hear what he has to say.Brewerstroupehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13011600547966200031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-76874419700100565872015-03-27T09:57:49.835+13:002015-03-27T09:57:49.835+13:00'There are no Russian soldiers in Ukraine'...'There are no Russian soldiers in Ukraine' cf 'Crisis? What crisis'.<br />One is a direct and deathly lie to a population that mostly hears only a gagged, cowered or dead media, and the other is opinion or spin which anyone can say anything about, and do, daily..<br />One is totalitarian, fascist and disgusting. The other is normal politics in a democracy.<br />We who support and voted for the current lot, predominately backed them as the lesser of two evils. They were and still are.<br />The fact that you people don't accept that sound democratic choice is what is truly chilling.Charles Enoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-88539730460034800732015-03-26T17:47:16.675+13:002015-03-26T17:47:16.675+13:00Russians count themselves lucky if the trains run ...<br />Russians count themselves lucky if the trains run at all. So much is looted and stolen htat the rail and road systems are in serious decline which leaves more and more Russians who live outside of the cities in a subsistence horse and cart existence outside of the modern world. Russia is systemically corrupt.<br /><br />Putin and Key aren't much alike. But just as Putin says there are "no Russian soldiers in Ukraine", Key says there is "no housing crisis". Both are plainly wrong to almost anyone. The same layers of disingenuous and dissonance are used as political management: the true believers and ignorant believe it while the supporters put a mental cordon sanitaire around the concept to maintain their faith in the leader. <br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-79681084256864619532015-03-26T15:44:43.795+13:002015-03-26T15:44:43.795+13:00Hi Chris
I'm cultivating my own garden @ pres...Hi Chris<br /><br />I'm cultivating my own garden @ present.<br /><br />But, like both McArthur and dry rot, I will doubtless return.<br /><br />BTW appreciated your comments on Willy and Ali today.Victornoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-76577937410884292032015-03-26T13:37:07.271+13:002015-03-26T13:37:07.271+13:00The Putin way is not all bad. I'm sure the tra...The Putin way is not all bad. I'm sure the trains run more on time now in Russia.<br />Whereas here and in the UK they don't so your premise must plainly be wrong.Charles Enoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-28804607288283402212015-03-26T12:28:02.157+13:002015-03-26T12:28:02.157+13:00Curtis is probably more concerned with the sacking...Curtis is probably more concerned with the sacking of that arse Jeremy Clarkson than the Middle East just at the moment anyway :-).Guerilla Surgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03427876447124021423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-4629656294294509522015-03-26T10:33:26.214+13:002015-03-26T10:33:26.214+13:00I have recommended "Power of Nightmares"...I have recommended "Power of Nightmares" to folk who have difficulty understanding the West's Middle East atrocities countless times. It is a key to understanding despite the fact that Curtis doesn't go near the Israel question. <br />Downloaded and watched "Bitter Lake" last night which fills in a few more gaps. Harrowing to watch as it skewers the lack of understanding, the compounding of errors that have lead to an entire region in flames and chaos.<br />I suspect that, given the current governance of the BBC, Curtis has had to tread a fine line for the effect of Israel as a nuclear-armed, expansionist and disruptive entity in the region is almost entirely left out of his narrative. This is a notable omission given the existence of<a href="http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33220.htm" rel="nofollow"> policy documents</a> indicating Israel's desire to Balkanise the Muslim states that surround it.<br />His backgrounder on <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/adamcurtis/posts/the_baby_and_the_baath_water" rel="nofollow"> Syria</a> is a worthwhile read.<br />Here is the link to his <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/adamcurtis/authors/e9e9fbf6-476f-35e8-a191-9e3baf7a5e92" rel="nofollow">blog</a>.Brewerstroupehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13011600547966200031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-53683505472382317922015-03-25T21:00:07.355+13:002015-03-25T21:00:07.355+13:00I'd like to throw this into the mix. It is an ...I'd like to throw this into the mix. It is an address given by Putin to the Valdai Club. Rarely have I heard such a straight and principled speech from a World leader. Some of it is startlingly <a href="http://vineyardsaker.blogspot.co.nz/2014/10/putins-speech-at-valdai-club-full.html" rel="nofollow">frank and open</a>.<br /><br />I think it also worthwhile to consider the situation in Ukraine from all points of view. Here is <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWzHhW_qNiM" rel="nofollow">Professor Stephen Cohen</a>, professor of Russian studies at Princeton University and New York University.Brewerstroupehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13011600547966200031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-25612943647343813362015-03-25T18:04:03.072+13:002015-03-25T18:04:03.072+13:00So Wayne how do you respond to Hagars revelations,...So Wayne how do you respond to Hagars revelations, the clearly orchestrated msm counter attack and the Police raid on his house? How do you reconcile that to the oblivious response by our political class to the charges laid? Partisanship trumps democracy. The organs of state mop up and we can all pretend it's fine. Sounds very Russian or for that matter American.Nick Jnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-13276528468980115052015-03-25T13:23:01.880+13:002015-03-25T13:23:01.880+13:00Shapeshifter or just a day trader, same thing real...Shapeshifter or just a day trader, same thing really?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05442958271176327779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-2987516026844983382015-03-25T12:26:55.402+13:002015-03-25T12:26:55.402+13:00Hmm,
It really is a bit cynical to make the same ...Hmm,<br /><br />It really is a bit cynical to make the same conclusions about New Zealand, albeit that it is accepted to be a milder form of Putin's Russia. People here don't get shot or imprisoned, but are presumably ostracized.<br /><br />Two observations, or perhaps alternatives:<br /><br />Either I am essentially oblivious of this Putunisation process, an unwitting dupe if you will.<br /><br />Or I am an unwitting beneficiary of the regime, but don't realise that I am.Wayne Mapphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12906396523791648270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-80953500167775514302015-03-25T11:34:18.353+13:002015-03-25T11:34:18.353+13:00Joe Heath's "Enlightenment 2.0" is a...Joe Heath's "Enlightenment 2.0" is a much less apocalyptic look at this phenomenon. It's an easy read, too.Leenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-17377381638075010432015-03-25T09:09:12.400+13:002015-03-25T09:09:12.400+13:00I think you should continue with and expand on thi...I think you should continue with and expand on this theme Chris.<br /><br />I read the blogs and people pose comments that have an underlying assumption that we are a democracy. They complain and moan within a set of assumed parameters and wonder that the result is never favourable. Meanwhile our political class as you observe with Key have moved on. So long as the machinery of state operates for them the rules and conventions no longer matter. Right, wrong, morality forget it!<br /><br />Watching a very much in control GCSB colluding with a minister for private advantage confirms that<br /> the machinery in NZ is as we would expect in Russia. When the organs of state are so easily co-opted by an individual you have to ask when they will declare themselves independent fiefdoms? Nick Jnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-65629930815690785402015-03-24T21:14:20.826+13:002015-03-24T21:14:20.826+13:00Thanks, Victor.
Duly corrected.
Where have you b...Thanks, Victor.<br /><br />Duly corrected.<br /><br />Where have you been - we've missed you?Chris Trotterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09081613281183460899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-1961944998091480022015-03-24T20:34:41.584+13:002015-03-24T20:34:41.584+13:00Tom Englehardt is speculating along similar lines:...<a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175970/tomgram%3A_engelhardt%2C_is_a_new_political_system_emerging_in_this_country" rel="nofollow">Tom Englehardt</a> is speculating along similar lines:<br /><br />"Is a New Political System Emerging in This Country? <br />The New American Order <br />1% Elections, The Privatization of the State, a Fourth Branch of Government, and the Demobilization of "We the People""Brewerstroupehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13011600547966200031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-30280405440625593602015-03-24T20:33:36.044+13:002015-03-24T20:33:36.044+13:00I think you mean David Cameron.
James Cameron is ...I think you mean David Cameron.<br /><br />James Cameron is a movie director and another of the same ilk was a distinguished British journalist and friend of Ho Chi Mihn.Victornoreply@blogger.com