Merged Ukraine erupts in riots and general strike.

[Childlike Empress]

In more bizarre news, the users of Japanese social media site 2channel are apparently utterly enamored of Ukraine's new Attorney General, Natalia Polonskaya.

She's the Prosecutor of the Republic of Crimea, so someone tell those people to give their drawings a bit more of a Cyborg touch with a discreet "made by Putin" tag somewhere - must be one of HIS super-sekret weapons.

 

[A'isha]

She's the Prosecutor of the Republic of Crimea

Whoops, let me correct that in my post, then.

 

[jimbob]

That's the opposite of what I told you to do. Maybe someone else feels tempted to go through this, I certainly don't. Think for yourself.

I'll do ad 1) for you as it is as easily shown for what it is as that guy claims it is to "disprove" Putins claim.

He claims that the Crimea always has been a part of Russia, which is trivially easy to disprove if you have any grasp on history.

Quote: In people’s hearts and minds, ...

uke2se gave some bullet points that to me covered key features of the speech.

You obviously have a different slant, so what are your key points about the speech?

 

[Childlike Empress]

Whoops, let me correct that in my post, then.

Apropos, do you remember how you fell for those boneheaded bloggers who searched for Abby Martin's show on the wrong channel and claimed she got censored by RT? And a day or so later how some of our over-excited forum friends were incapable of doing basic 0+1=1 math seeing RT employees everywhere "like flies" when "another" host, Liz Wahl, quit on air? And I said people shouldn't be worried about her not getting another job or having financial problems after she managed to read her farewell script almost convincing? Turns out I had the correct instinct again. Here's a fascinating story leading directly into the stinking heart of the neo-con swamp:

How Cold War-Hungry Neocons Stage Managed RT Anchor Liz Wahl’s Resignation

 

[uke2se]

uke2se gave some bullet points that to me covered key features of the speech.

You obviously have a different slant, so what are your key points about the speech?

Not responding to CE for obvious reasons, but just to make it absolutely clear: Putin's message was that the Crimea has always been a part of Russia. The reason for why the "In people’s hearts and minds" comment is irrelevant is that Putin goes on to describe those feelings as being based on "truth and justice".

 

[Childlike Empress]

Oh, and I don't know if it made your news, but the video of the "freedom of speech" thug assaulting the TV director made my news today, and even Amnesty International felt the need to make a press release about it. Wasn't lost on them what it means that they uploaded the video of their act, obviously not fearing consequences. What if they start chopping off people's heads on youtube, like our allies in Syria?

Well, let's see if Yats will "send a signal" like AI demands. And runs fast enough to dodge the counter-signal.

 

[Childlike Empress]

uke2se gave some bullet points that to me covered key features of the speech.

You obviously have a different slant, so what are your key points about the speech?

It is really full of important points but the real key passages are certainly in the later part when he comes to the international situation. The official translation is complete by now. If you want me to choose one key part, it would be the ten paragraphs between and including the following (too long to quote in full, search it in the text):

Like a mirror, the situation in Ukraine reflects what is going on and what has been happening in the world over the past several decades. [...] If you compress the spring all the way to its limit, it will snap back hard. You must always remember this.

edit: Was about to close the tab with the speech and saw a little marker offered to me under what I had selected. Clicked on it and it created a special link for me. Neat feature. So here, you don't have to search it in the text.

 

[shuize]

Today I watched Ukrainian soldiers just walk away from a military base they had previously vowed to defend to the last. I don't want to see a war, but if the Ukrainians don't have the courage to stand up for their territory, I don't see what the rest of the world is supposed to do in the short term.

 

[LSSBB]

Today I watched Ukrainian soldiers just walk away from a military base they had previously vowed to defend to the last. I don't want to see a war, but if the Ukrainians don't have the courage to stand up for their territory, I don't see what the rest of the world is supposed to do in the short term.

Yeah, the same thing happened in the Philippines and China and France in WW II. Maybe the US should have just let the Axis powers have them.

 

[A'isha]

How Cold War-Hungry Neocons Stage Managed RT Anchor Liz Wahl’s Resignation

Oh those wascally neocons, able to use their nefarious tentacles to make the mouthpiece of an imperialist autocrat who is currently in the process of dismembering and annexing a sovereign nation look bad!

Funny, for such a self-proclaimed staunch anti-imperialist, you seem to keep avoiding any discussion of said imperialist autocrat currently dismembering and annexing a sovereign nation.

 

[shuize]

Yeah, the same thing happened in the Philippines and China and France in WW II. Maybe the US should have just let the Axis powers have them.

All three of those countries offered more resistance against the Germans and Japanese than Ukraine has shown the Russians thus far. I want to support Ukraine on this, but when they shrug their shoulders and walk away from their own military bases because some Russian speaking thugs told them to leave, I have to ask whether they really believe in their own claims to the territory.

 

[Rat]

All three of those countries offered more resistance against the Germans and Japanese than Ukraine has shown the Russians thus far. I want to support Ukraine on this, but when they shrug their shoulders and walk away from their own military bases because some Russian speaking thugs told them to leave, I have to ask whether they really believe in their own claims to the territory.

I have to ask what you think would be achieved by putting up armed resistance.

 

[LSSBB]

All three of those countries offered more resistance against the Germans and Japanese than Ukraine has shown the Russians thus far. I want to support Ukraine on this, but when they shrug their shoulders and walk away from their own military bases because some Russian speaking thugs told them to leave, I have to ask whether they really believe in their own claims to the territory.

Ok, so there's a threshold somewhere. Where is that threshold? One life, two, a dozen, a thousand?

 

[shuize]

I have to ask what you think would be achieved by putting up armed resistance.

Right. Better to give away your country.

Not putting up resistance will only encourage the Russians to grab more. At some point the Ukrainians are going to have to ask themselves if they really believe it's their territory after all. Based on the way they're acting, the answer seems to be no.

 

[Childlike Empress]

Oh those wascally neocons, able to use their nefarious tentacles to make the mouthpiece of an imperialist autocrat who is currently in the process of dismembering and annexing a sovereign nation look bad!

Funny, for such a self-proclaimed staunch anti-imperialist, you seem to keep avoiding any discussion of said imperialist autocrat currently dismembering and annexing a sovereign nation.

A'isha, didn't I tell you now more than once that you don't qualify for "discussion" if you don't do your homework? What's that sullen first paragraph again? Don't the neo-cons exist, are they "conspiracy theory"? Doesn't the article deal with facts? What do you think you achieve by using laughable stereotypes you know I don't accept and therefore aren't a ground for any "discussion"? I mean, you wouldn't seriously discuss Islam with Pamela Geller, would you?

Here's a very lucid article Robert Parry just published. I link to a mirror because I suspect that it is no coincidence that the original publishing site consortiumnews.com is almost dead right now (DDoS).

If you manage to extract and formulate the huge question that arises between the lines of that to-the-point article, that would go a long way of showing me that you did your homework, and I would take my best shot at answering it, instead of thinking about putting you in the category of those who aren't even able to get an arrogant response from me.

Neocons’ Ukraine-Syria-Iran Gambit

@shuize: The putschists in Kiev have no army that's loyal to them, that much is obvious by now. That's why they hectically form a "National Guard" out of their neo-nazi gangs.

 

[Ziggurat]

A'isha, didn't I tell you now more than once that you don't qualify for "discussion" if you don't do your homework? What's that sullen first paragraph again? Don't the neo-cons exist, are they "conspiracy theory"?

Jews exist. That doesn't validate the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

Doesn't the article deal with facts?

Not really.

Neocons’ Ukraine-Syria-Iran Gambit

McCain isn't really a neocon, he's just a hawk. And the subtext of Jewish conspiracy within your link is not exactly subtle.

 

[jimbob]

I have to ask what you think would be achieved by putting up armed resistance.

Right. Better to give away your country.

Not putting up resistance will only encourage the Russians to grab more. At some point the Ukrainians are going to have to ask themselves if they really believe it's their territory after all. Based on the way they're acting, the answer seems to be no.

The Ukrainian troops were completely outnumbered and surrounded. All they'd have done would been to ensure that they eventually got killed.

The Royal Marines defending the Falkland Islands surrendered without any losses. They did put up a fight, but their situation was different.

 

[jimbob]

And Childlike Empress, I agree with you that there unsavoury elements within the interim government - however there are going to be elections there in May. These will have *independent* observers, and the timescale is reasonable to get the systems in place.

Crimea had neither of those.

 

[angrysoba]

Ha ha ha! My wife just told me that a Japanese news announcer was apologizing for having accidentally captioned Putin's speech with the word "Stalin".

I wonder if this was some practical joke being played on some hapless ignoramus.

 

[Arcade22]

All three of those countries offered more resistance against the Germans and Japanese than Ukraine has shown the Russians thus far. I want to support Ukraine on this, but when they shrug their shoulders and walk away from their own military bases because some Russian speaking thugs told them to leave, I have to ask whether they really believe in their own claims to the territory.

You expect them to senselessly die for a couple of useless buildings?