There was a bit of Putin bashing in the Guardian today and a reader replied criticizing Russia's invasion of Crimea. He also mentioned Putin's 'oligarchs'. I wrote this below.
Where are the pictures of Russian tanks and soldiers marching into Crimea? Not even the US can produce any with its amazing satellites of mass surveillance which can track our every move. Spooky or what?
The Russians get free health care unlike in the US where the oligarchs scam the public.
From Forbes magazine 2015;
One Year After Russia Annexed Crimea, Locals Prefer Moscow To Kiev, by Kenneth Rapoza
Excerpt:
The U.S and European Union may want to save Crimeans from themselves. But the Crimeans are happy right where they are.
One year after the annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula in the Black Sea, poll after poll shows that the locals there -- be they Ukrainians, ethnic Russians or Tatars are mostly all in agreement: life with Russia is better than life with Ukraine.
Little has changed over the last 12 months. Despite huge efforts on the part of Kiev, Brussels, Washington and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the bulk of humanity living on the Black Sea peninsula believe the referendum to secede from Ukraine was legit. At some point, the West will have to recognize Crimea's right to self rule. Unless we are all to believe that the locals polled by Gallup and GfK were done so with FSB bogey men standing by with guns in their hands.
In June 2014, a Gallup poll with the Broadcasting Board of Governors asked Crimeans if the results in the March 16, 2014 referendum to secede reflected the views of the people. A total of 82.8% of Crimeans said yes. When broken down by ethnicity, 93.6% of ethnic Russians said they believed the vote to secede was legitimate, while 68.4% of Ukrainians felt so. Moreover, when asked if joining Russia will ultimately make life better for them and their family, 73.9% said yes while 5.5% said no.
EXCUSE ME, EVERYBODY!
ReplyDeleteFor the fucking historically ignorant—and jeezuss, am I getting tired of repeating this—the 1992 Ukrainian—not the fucking Russian—Constitution gave Crimea the CONSTITUTIONAL right to vote via referendum to either stay in the Ukraine or return to Russia! Constitutional RIGHT.
For those who fucking bothered to investigate this beyond five minutes in March 2014, they would have read in the ORIGINAL REPORTS that this was the right of a constitutional right granted the Crimean people in 1992.
It was in Reuters. It was in USA Today, fercrissake. I read the the fucking reports as they were coming over the wires the day of. And I am not an editorial poobah. I’m not an investigator although I was trained as one at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, I’m just an ordinary person who fucking reads.
That's interesting, MRW, because the establishment and the media are trying to say the referendum is void. They even try to say that the Russians forced the Crimeans to vote to rejoin Russia at gunpoint.
DeleteWhat are we to do if the media can make up any lies it wants? I've got a good article coming up soon on how the media can easily manipulate the masses.
@Kaivey - have you read George Seldes? Try Witness to a Century.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing that's changed in over 100 years is the tech. The actions and behaviors are identical.
I'll have a look. Thanks Noah.
Delete"the establishment and the media are trying to say the referendum is void. They even try to say that the Russians forced the Crimeans to vote to rejoin Russia at gunpoint."
ReplyDeleteBullshit.
They even try to say that the Russians forced the Crimeans to vote to rejoin Russia at gunpoint.
ReplyDeleteOther way around. The Crimeans begged the Russians to accept their vote, cited their constitutional right, etc. The Duma (Russian Parliament) was up all night deciding to accept the Crimean decision.
People forget that Putin’s Master’s degree is in International Law and he takes that seriously, even today. (His PhD is another matter; it’s in Energy Resources for a “totalitarian government in the 21st C,” or so the abstract of his PhD sez. The man is 12 miles smarter, in my view, than any leader he has to deal with.)
Fuckinaye.
All you had to do at the time was read the wire services. I know no one who did, other than me.
Below is the article I was thinking about when i wrote the above, MRW. As the ruling elite own the media they can put out propaganda/ false news and largely get away with it.
ReplyDeleteWhy the Crimean referendum is illegal, by Lea Brilmayer .
At first, Russia’s argument about Crimea sounds a bit convincing: the best way to decide whether Crimea should remain part of Ukraine or instead secede and become part of Russia is by holding a referendum to let the people of Crimea decide.
On second thought, though, that creates major problems ahead of Sunday’s scheduled vote: what if the presence of Russian troops intimidates voters, so the process is not “free and fair”? What about the possibility that Russia is bussing in large numbers of native Russians to stack the deck?
Then there’s the bigger problem: the referendum seems inconsistent with the Ukrainian constitution, which says all Ukrainians would have to vote on Crimea’s secession – not just those living in Crimea.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/14/crimean-referendum-illegal-international-law
Why the Crimean referendum is illegal, by Lea Brilmayer. Oh, c'cmon. Get a grip, Kaivey.
ReplyDeleteIt's not illegal, as pointed out in the original post I put out. I'm on the side of Putin and Crimea's becoming part of Russia. I think you are misinterpreting me.
ReplyDeleteI think you are misinterpreting me. Then why publish it? Just indicate that this is the opposing view with a link.
ReplyDeleteMRW which post did you misinterpret? Was it the original article or one of the replies? This is not the first time you have misinterpreted me.
ReplyDeleteDid you misinterpret this-
'the establishment and the media are trying to say the referendum is void. They even try to say that the Russians forced the Crimeans to vote to rejoin Russia at gunpoint'
I'm not saying I agree with this, I'm just saying this is what I have read, that this is what some people are saying. It's not a quote, I was paraphrasing. I then found the Guardian article that I got it from. I severely disagree with the article.
Anyway, how do I put things in italics in the replies? Other people put live links in and bold. I don't think I can do it on my phone. But I can't do it on my PC either.
I severely disagree with the article.
ReplyDeleteThen say so, Kaivey. Don’t just publish something and hope we intuit your meaning.
As for your phone and PC doing html, yes they can. It even says so under the comment box: “You can use some HTML tags, such as …” Don’t want to print the rest because will screw this post up.
Do a google search for how to use simple html. Italics. Bold. Links.
Easy peasy.