tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post2737136319523888268..comments2024-03-28T21:25:08.138+13:00Comments on Bowalley Road: The West Will Ignore Putin’s Weary Anger At Its Peril.Chris Trotterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09081613281183460899noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-40459336268016065242022-02-28T12:27:30.900+13:002022-02-28T12:27:30.900+13:00"Are any of the Western governments and their..."Are any of the Western governments and their Presidents/Prime Ministers/Chancellors and the oligarchs of the likes of the WEF any better than Putin when it comes to how they treat their citizens? "<br /><br />I don't think too many people in western countries are being jailed for expressing opposition to the government – quite yet. No one's been hauled off and jailed for demonstrating, although there is far more justification for it here than in the USSR. No one has been poisoned, or dismembered, or shot for expressing opposition to the governments of the West, by and large.And all the comparisons between mask mandates in Nazi Germany are so much hyperbolic fluff.So the answer to your perhaps rhetorical question is yes. They are.<br /><br />"Anyone local come to mind?"<br /><br />No. Arderne has been treating the various idiots in this country with kid gloves unfortunately.Guerilla Surgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03427876447124021423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-23796100544061695542022-02-28T03:16:18.448+13:002022-02-28T03:16:18.448+13:00Just to add to my contribution above.
By recogniz...Just to add to my contribution above.<br /><br />By recognizing the nationhood of Donetsk and Luhansk, and already stripping away Crimea, Putin has signaled that he has given up on democracy returning a pro-Russian Parliament. Without those regions density of Russian speakers voting in Ukraine, the Ukrainian speakers of west Ukraine will have a clear majority if a democratic vote is held. Even a pseudo-election such as Belorussia holds would be untenable.<br /><br />Moscow could force this Ukrainian parliament and president out, they could force a new Parliament into promises. But then you cannot have pretense of democracy while similarly siphoning areas of Russian support into break way states that will no longer vote in the Ukraine. <br /><br />If the consequences are that the rest of the Russian speakers will always be a national minority, leaving Putin looking to consolidate them as majorities in the other south and eastern areas as similar break away areas, These are the Ukrainian Black Sea ports. If they are drawn into Russian supporting states, Russia can link with Transnistria - a Russian breakaway state from Moldovia. The Ukrainian East and South become ethnic Russian states that are clients states of Mother Russia, This gives Russia absolute control of northern Black Seas and buffer zones to the European west and south of Russia.<br /><br />Even if Ukraine regroups as a democracy based on the Ukrainian speakers of western Ukraine, the economy is based on their Black Sea ports. This means Russian economic control of any further Ukrainian nation democratic or not. The Barronnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-75168649137366034292022-02-27T23:25:01.241+13:002022-02-27T23:25:01.241+13:00"The Ukraine and Russia are one."
Have ..."The Ukraine and Russia are one."<br /><br />Have you asked the Ukrainian people about that, Chris?Frankhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01692659460246506641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-31466614886651023922022-02-27T21:58:26.759+13:002022-02-27T21:58:26.759+13:00Greywarbler, integrity is the same everywhere, as ...Greywarbler, integrity is the same everywhere, as are ideals. Your view of Russians suggests they don't know virtue. They know it better than us, putting up with the opposite too many, well, centuries. There's this universal truth thing that can guide us more or less. Japan can deal with its own problems for better or worse, since she is no longer prepared to strike out to solve them. sumsuchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03133092096534660472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-26171154842946813002022-02-27T21:43:57.216+13:002022-02-27T21:43:57.216+13:00
C.S. Lewis.... Perhaps
“Of all tyrannies, a tyra...<br /><br />C.S. Lewis.... Perhaps<br />“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive..”<br /><br />While Putin may be everything the media portray him to be, is Trudeau any better? Are any of the Western governments and their Presidents/Prime Ministers/Chancellors and the oligarchs of the likes of the WEF any better than Putin when it comes to how they treat their citizens? Which leaders have been treating their citizens far more poorly for the last two years and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future?<br /><br />Anyone local come to mind?<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-55554857381378680072022-02-27T13:29:21.279+13:002022-02-27T13:29:21.279+13:00Rumours of Russian troops are mutinying in Belgoro...Rumours of Russian troops are mutinying in Belgorod. If true, maybe their fathers and older brothers have been telling them what it was like in Afghanistan – or Chechnya – it's certainly different to Hungary in the 1950s.Guerilla Surgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03427876447124021423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-12655272710623496712022-02-27T12:49:51.582+13:002022-02-27T12:49:51.582+13:00The USA is not a particularly good neighbour eithe...The USA is not a particularly good neighbour either, just ask the Mexicans. Ask the inhabitants of the Latin American countries that had US marines turn up in to protect the interests of US banana growers. Just ask the Hawaiians who lost their independence to white sugar plantation owners.<br /><br />Maybe we should ask the Native Americans.<br /><br />Even Canada got invaded during the War of 1812. Of course the British retaliated by burning down Washington DC.I suspect a lot of Americans would appreciate the British army doing it again.<br /><br />Normally I would say that Putin is being an arsehole - because he is - but I can see his position. How would the USA react to Russian troops being based in Mexico or Canada?<br /><br />Judging by their reaction to the USSR's attempt to base nuclear missiles in Cuba, I would suggest they would go bat shit.<br /><br />My heart goes out to the unfortunate people of the Ukraine.<br /><br />Anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles would be of more use to the Ukraine than the standard "thoughts and prayers".Shane McDowallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09354384369518580573noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-1120344587962107612022-02-27T11:24:14.749+13:002022-02-27T11:24:14.749+13:00Anonymous 20.17 A hope in hell is where religion ...Anonymous 20.17 A hope in hell is where religion has left us. The behaviour of the Catholic Church with young women in Ireland at the Magdalena prisons for fallen women, awful.* Then there were the boy-fiddling at religious school sunder a sympathetic and mendacious hierarchy which allowed it to tacitly continue. Other religions have obvious continuing faults too. The Hindus in India have murdered Christians, possibly provoked. A Catholic priest in Rwanda encouraged anger that led to slaughter between Hutus and Tutsis (I think I have the spelling right).<br /><br />The Church leaders are interested in land and finance and soaring spires, rather more than facilitating people to have lives of humanitarianism, goodness and enjoyment. Capitalism has wormed its way into religion. Here they pay little or no tax and that encourages church formation by ambitious, mendacious people who can draw people and mould them and their beliefs, following practices in other countries. There are agencies that can advise churches on how to build congregations so they become e business category. The Salvation Army here still interacts more with the people on a face to face basis, but can be officious and charge quite high prices in their second-hand op shops. Often the concerns seem to come from wanting to control people's sexuality to a strict moral code that crushes people and numbers of children are not a personal matter. <br /><br />Today in NZ being married or celibate, respectable and conventional, giving a bit to overseas charities and to maintain the church roof seems to encompass religion's adherents. (For a look at medieval thought and practice of religion the book Knowledge of Angels by Jill Paton Walsh, written about 1994.) We have to work at getting a better system that does not use amount of money and privilege as 'the' yardstick; Grandpa Duck diving into his bins of gold should be just comic, not near or far cosmic reality.<br /><br />*<i>The Magdalene Laundries in Ireland, also known as Magdalene asylums, were institutions usually run by Roman Catholic orders, which operated from the 18th to the late 20th centuries. They were run ostensibly to house "fallen women", an estimated 30,000 of whom were confined in these institutions in Ireland.<br />Magdalene Laundries in Ireland - Wikipedia</i>greywarblernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-18437029078387457782022-02-27T08:32:46.556+13:002022-02-27T08:32:46.556+13:00What can we expect to result from this invasion?
I...What can we expect to result from this invasion?<br />It can't help but increase the calls for strengthened defensive capability from the former Soviet satellites and states. Ideally, as should have been done from the fall of the Soviet empire, the development of a pan Eastern European defense pact. Outside of Nato and the EU, perhaps, even a new economic and trade union as well.<br /><br />Georgia, Ukraine, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Czech republics, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania and possibly Greece and Finland represent a formidable buffer in their own right between a belligerent imperialist Russia and a culturally and economic imperialist Western Europe. Recent, foolish and insulting "progressive" cultural dictates (enforced with economic blackmail) from the EU towards it's Eastern members is deeply resented and has helped cultivate a measure of affinity with their conservative Russian cousins. David Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04883628159193125307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-44862666579943489662022-02-27T07:27:55.455+13:002022-02-27T07:27:55.455+13:00Perhaps we should ask ourselves why all these coun...Perhaps we should ask ourselves why all these countries bordering on Russia are eager to get into NATO. Could be that Russia isn't a particularly good neighbour?Guerilla Surgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03427876447124021423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-12817917828689356092022-02-26T23:29:41.976+13:002022-02-26T23:29:41.976+13:00Professor John Mearsheimer (University of Chicago)...Professor John Mearsheimer (University of Chicago) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrMiSQAGOS4&t=3573s" rel="nofollow">gave an insightful lecture on what was likely to eventuate with Ukraine</a> six years ago. Well worth watching.<br /><br />Lecture starts at 2:07 minutes.Lozhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12064567381918975446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-17663616850665595512022-02-26T20:20:59.344+13:002022-02-26T20:20:59.344+13:00sumsuch
Why does Putin have integrity in your ...sumsuch<br /> <i>Why does Putin have integrity in your eyes when he's the richest man in his country, and shy about revealing it?<br /> When there is the guy in Uruguay who rides around in his volkswagon, for his country's best interest.</i><br /><br />Money can represent capability to citizens. If he lived simply it might seem Putin had no ambition, strength for advancing, even maintaining Russia. He goes out in the wild and does he-man things. There are always ambitious men in the background, and Putin has to watch them and ensure that they don't think he is losing his grip. greywarblernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-55060015484536411302022-02-26T20:17:01.902+13:002022-02-26T20:17:01.902+13:00And so, today, if the state can no longer appeal t...And so, today, if the state can no longer appeal to the old moral principles that belong to the Christian tradition, it will be forced to create a new official faith and new moral principles which will be binding on its citizens.<br />— Christopher Dawson<br /><br />So best of luck to all those who qualify to the left of center because in my 80 plus years of observation and what is presented now as being an alternative to bond to you don't stand a monkeys chance in hell.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-50196038153207583162022-02-26T16:28:01.442+13:002022-02-26T16:28:01.442+13:00
of course it is power, not territory that is the ...<br />of course it is power, not territory that is the force majeure in the Ukraine<br /><br />But Biden will be pissed.... it was the Ukraine that laundered his pensionDunxharfehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02776585674727374479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-1962315254731010062022-02-26T16:00:57.249+13:002022-02-26T16:00:57.249+13:00"Few people in the West now recall how many o..."Few people in the West now recall how many of these states allied themselves with Nazi Germany during World War II. But the Russians have not forgotten whose soldiers were positioned on the flanks of Stalingrad as von Paulus’s Sixth Army closed in for the kill. Nor have they forgotten how eagerly the Latvians, Lithuanians, Estonians and, yes, the Ukrainians, helped the Einsatzgruppen murder two million of their Jewish neighbours."<br /><br />Incredibly unfair and misleading. There were collaborators in all occupied countries, but few peoples sacrificed more to defeat Hitler than Ukrainians did. Compare the French, who history remembers as brave resistance fighters. Oliver Sheehannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-71293998313412285252022-02-26T14:19:05.766+13:002022-02-26T14:19:05.766+13:00How would you feel about this style of analysis be...How would you feel about this style of analysis being applied to Britain militarily seeking to recover its former empire?Rosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03848572423110240185noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-33603563361258242132022-02-26T09:53:08.717+13:002022-02-26T09:53:08.717+13:00Chris ... in your haste to defend Putin your overl...Chris ... in your haste to defend Putin your overlook the obvious. This has huge ramifications for this part of the world. Clearly China has Russia's back in this and the 'sanctions' so called will be actively circumvented by Beijing. But more to the point. Beijing will be emboldened by the success of the invasion despite any short term pain and will now move to forceably annex Taiwan long foreshadowed.The Veterannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-67004747405945985852022-02-26T08:46:17.595+13:002022-02-26T08:46:17.595+13:00So Russia invades Ukraine?
1. Set up a Human Right...So Russia invades Ukraine?<br />1. Set up a Human Right Commission: Identity is a social construct. <br />Catch cry: :"humanity".<br />Ban talk of "great replacement"<br />2. Use the media - stress the benefit of Russianness - marginalise opposing voices<br />Align capitalist interests with Russianness "confident outward looking nation/property development".<br />Buy them off.<br />Take over the schools<br />Promote activist academics (social justice over truth)<br /><br />2. Use Ukraine on Air to break the [insert perjorative term] narrative.<br />Control the algorithms - fluffy ducks and lost cats.<br />3.Distance popular leader from all the changes ("oh they are doing that? -- It's just the way the world is going).<br />4. "Ukrainian supremacy kills". <br /><br />You can see NZ has a lot to offer?John Hurleynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-10521417688198272192022-02-26T01:59:16.700+13:002022-02-26T01:59:16.700+13:00Good analysis Chris. I don't support Putin'...Good analysis Chris. I don't support Putin's invasion of Ukraine but you are right about NATO, Donnetsk and Lugansk. Another point is, how would the USA like Russia to have a military alliance with Cuba?Warwick Taylorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11017824849971424443noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-14126070319737589942022-02-25T23:30:43.531+13:002022-02-25T23:30:43.531+13:00Guiding light, always my eclectic family library a...Guiding light, always my eclectic family library as a child. In this instant the middle volume of the then Foundation trilogy. 'The Mule' whose mutancy the Han Seldon folk hadn't foreseen. I think of Putin there. After the empire an essential feebility lording it up big before being swotted away.<br /><br />Is the Russian economy really only as big as Australia's?sumsuchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03133092096534660472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-30725410962276257742022-02-25T23:10:10.260+13:002022-02-25T23:10:10.260+13:00Why does Putin have integrity in your eyes when he...Why does Putin have integrity in your eyes when he's the richest man in his country, and shy about revealing it?<br /><br />When there is the guy in Uruguay who rides around in his volkswagon, for his country's best interest.sumsuchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03133092096534660472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-3376683547558760272022-02-25T22:59:41.382+13:002022-02-25T22:59:41.382+13:00Tripe. Donetsk and Luhansk, and now Ukraine -- def...Tripe. Donetsk and Luhansk, and now Ukraine -- defend that. The Balts and Ukrainians don't want Russia. Let alone the Hungarians.<br /><br />In the 90s before the internet I loved Chekhov's description of ... my province. Since then I've believed Russia is up to democracy ( despite Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy and Solzhynitsyn). Would a democratic Russia give a crap about this? Russia is ready for democracy now. <br /><br />Are you a rationalist or a rationaliser, like those down in Wellington, Chris? <br /><br />I can never be favourable to totalitarian regimes, no matter the central truth of power politics.sumsuchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03133092096534660472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-32032277766265134292022-02-25T16:58:12.905+13:002022-02-25T16:58:12.905+13:00Once in the 1990's, before he became Russia...Once in the 1990's, before he became Russia's president, Putin was asked by a reporter if he planned to organize a coup d'état against the serving president, Boris Yeltsin. Putin replied, "And why do we need to organize a coup d'état? We are in power now." - Cullen Murphy, God's Jury [2012]<br /><br />To get an understanding of Putin, we need to look at power, not territory. Simply google for a map showing those in Ukraine that identify as Russian speakers. You will see the Russian recognized breakaway states to the east, you will see the Russian annexed Crimea, another less dense sprinkling in the south east circling the Black Sea towards Transnistria, another breakaway region. Control of these areas gives Putin greater control over the Black Sea, a series of buffer states, and possible future annexation. <br /><br />I would imagine, regime change in the Ukraine would be desired, but effective control of client states to the west and south is the end game. <br /> The Barronnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-85404654381558527362022-02-25T13:29:30.316+13:002022-02-25T13:29:30.316+13:00"...the cutthroat nations of Eastern Europe a..."...the cutthroat nations of Eastern Europe and the Baltic littoral."<br /><br />I guess there are different ways to characterise sentiments such as this. One might be to say: repugnant, essentialist claptrap.Peternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-82936566068583585552022-02-25T12:42:16.248+13:002022-02-25T12:42:16.248+13:00A voice from Kiev "They are our brothers........<br />A voice from Kiev "They are our brothers..............."<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3_HTGdLXL4Katnoreply@blogger.com