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psych@diasp.org
Michael

Today is the Centennial Celebration of Lenin's Death (Russian Tsar, not John)

 

Alexander Garden, Moscow
Photo by Fenichel - Alexander Garden, Red Square, Moscow

 

Inspired by hearing this from someone recently emigrated from Russia, noting this day being historical, and sharing a post applauding (Murdoch's) _Wall Street Journal_f or mentioning it, but adding that it missed a bit of history, and/or geography,

David Satter posted on January 19. So where did the irreparable happen? Everyone knows - in Gorky (Leninsky). But David Satter demonstrates false erudition - he clarifies: "The first leader of the Soviet Union died on Jan. 21, 1924, in Gorki, Russia (now called Nizhny Novgorod), after repeated strokes."

Lenin's Tomb
Photo by Fenichel - Lenin's Tomb / Mausoleum

 
So, in the spirit of the day, and a nod to #history... and to the one who made it possible for me to take a few relevant photos.

Спасибо / Thank you. I was lucky to have a chance to see Moscow in pleasant times, Sochi Olympics, good times. (2014!) 10 yrs.

The title link leads to my Lenin page of #photography .

But for anyone who "comes here for the music", OK, here goes, in sync with today, but from the other Lennon, John.

Back in the USSR 🎶

I do hope the good people I celebrated with then, but who are suffering now, do find sunshine again, soon.

#myphoto #Russia #Moscow #Lenin #historical #truth #Leninsky #Gorky #Centennial #tzar #Russian #Beatles #music #musica #musique #musik #USSR 21January2024

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libramoon@diaspora.glasswings.com
libramoon

https://www.cbc.ca/radiointeractives/thesundaymagazine/sasha-skochilenko-russia-prison

Sasha's message
Sasha Skochilenko is in prison for sharing information about the toll of the #war in #Ukraine. Her letters and #art offer a window into the world of a #Russian #dissident
By Julia Pagel
Jan. 19, 2024

..."The woman who incriminated Skochilenko told an investigator, “I was extremely outraged by the slander I read [in the grocery store stickers], because I am very worried about the Russian soldiers in Ukraine. I watch the news about it. And ultimately, our soldiers would not allow the bombing of peaceful civilian objects, such as a school. Thus, it is obvious that the information provided is false.”

Under Article 207.3, a law passed by the Russian Federation after the war began, Skochilenko was accused of “public dissemination of information known to be false about: the actions of Russian Armed Forces; the execution of duties by the government bodies of the Russian Federation; co-operation in carrying out the tasks of the Russian Armed Forces or the Russian Federation National Guard by volunteer organizations or private persons.”
...
Paul Goode, McMillan Chair in Russian studies and part of the Institute of European, Russian and Eurasian Studies at Carleton University in Ottawa, has been monitoring how Russia is reporting the war to its own people. He says the reason Skochilenko’s actions — and those of other antiwar activists — seem so outrageous to average Russians is because they are treated to a “firehose of propaganda” at all times.

Goode says that broadly speaking, President Vladimir Putin and his officials provide three narratives for why Russia is at war with Ukraine. First, the conflict is as much about fighting Western powers as Ukraine; for example, Russian media says there are biological laboratories “sponsored by the CIA” operating there that are creating weapons targeting “Russian DNA.” The second narrative is that Russia is fighting Nazis in Ukraine. The third is that Ukraine was never independent to begin with.

“The idea is not to give people ... reason to embrace a particular version of truth,” said Goode. “It’s rather to dilute the truth so thoroughly that people have no truth to latch onto.”

While people like Skochilenko find foreign sources of news — generally by using a VPN, as most Western media is restricted in Russia — Goode says the majority of Russians are disoriented by the propaganda and normalization of the war by state media.
The result, he said, is that they “simply withdraw from politics. And this is something that has been observed for a long time. The vast majority of Russians are not engaged in politics. They’re not active.”...

Sasha's message

Sasha Skochilenko is in prison for sharing information about the toll of the war in Ukraine. Her letters and art offer a window into the world of a Russian dissident

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libramoon@diaspora.glasswings.com
libramoon

https://www.newsweek.com/putin-ally-says-poland-next-ukraine-war-rant-russian-tv-1860470

#Putin Ally Says #Poland Is 'Next' in #Ukraine #War Rant on #Russian TV

..."First beginning on Putin's order in February 2022, the Russian invasion of Ukraine is nearing its second anniversary as the fighting continues, with seemingly no end in sight. While the Ukrainian "special military operation" has reportedly not gone to plan, Russian officials have nevertheless continued to hint at similar invasions in the near future, usually suggesting former Soviet Union territories as likely targets, such as Moldova or the Balkan States.
...
On Friday, Julia Davis, founder of the Russian Media Monitor watchdog group, shared a clip to X, formerly Twitter, from Russian state-run TV in which Aleksey Zhuravlyov made the suggestion about Poland. Zhuravlyov is a Russian lawmaker and member of the State Duma known for his nationalistic and militaristic tendencies.

"Another question is to you, guys in the West, what are you going to do about it?" Zhuravlyov asked. "They understand very well that Ukraine is finished. So what's next? Sweden is getting ready and so are the Balkans. The Poles have quieted down a bit, they probably started to realize that they are next. Of course, we have no illusions, but we understand that all of them are getting ready for the next stage of war."
...
Late last month, Poland mobilized troops after an "unidentified aerial object" crossed over its border from the direction of Ukraine. This incident came during what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described as a "massive" round of missile and drone strikes carried out by Russia. A Polish defense ministry spokesperson told Newsweek at the time that a "search for the object is currently underway," and added that the Polish Operational Command is "in constant contact with the Ukrainian side."

NATO officials have repeatedly warned of the danger posed by errant Russian and Ukrainian munitions amid the ongoing war. In November 2022, a stray Ukrainian air defense missile detonated in the southern Polish village of Przewodow."...

Putin ally says Poland is "next" in Ukraine war rant on Russian TV

Poland is a member nation of NATO and shares a border to the east with Ukraine.

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libramoon@diaspora.glasswings.com
libramoon

https://www.the-paladins.com/post/fragments-from-a-war-diary-part-261

Fragments from a War Diary, Part #261
The Paladins

I was talking with some crazy American guy tonight. He suggested to me in all these sinister and stupid ways that he was in the CIA. Well, I find that sort of talk very interesting but maybe I know a little bit more than him about all this ridiculous stuff. Yes he had a degree in #Russian and Slavonic Studies and in international relations and in this and that and I didn’t really care; I was yawning because I hadn’t seen this guy before in Lviv and he was talking straight out of some textbook I hadn’t read. This kind of guy should go back home because he doesn’t really get it. He was talking about Vladimir Putin’s notorious 2021 essay in which he says that #Ukraine is really a cultural and political outpost of Russia and he read this rubbish at face value and he thought it represents a principled position on the part of Vladimir Putin. GIve me a break.

Vladimir #Putin has no principled positions. He is an exceptional and excellent autocrat precisely because he has no principles. Russian leaders throughout history are notorious and exceptional in expounding nonsense on stilts, purporting to be principled positions, but in fact not giving a hoot about any of it. Russians don’t think on the basis of principles and rule of law and all the things that we in the West imagine give a veneer of decency to our civilisation. They just don’t care. They talk whatever they want but in fact they are motivated by raw power and by nothing else. They don’t harbour grudges; they don’t care for principles or law; they just want to see who has the stronger position and who exercises power and aggression more effectively. And some guy with a degree in Russian studies can have read all the textbooks he likes but he doesn’t see that Russia isn’t a country based on principles or rule of law at all; it is a jungle in which the beasts roam and the civilised people are devoured."...

Fragments from a War Diary, Part #261

It’s exiting times in frozen Saigon. We know the Ukrainian elections will be deferred, and we don’t give a damn. There’s martial law and Ukraine was never much of a democracy anyway, with this and that sort of crazy Oligarch pulling his weight...

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libramoon@diaspora.glasswings.com
libramoon

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/01/ukraine-war-russia-stalemate-us-aid-dire-consequences.html

What Happens if We Let #Ukraine Lose?
BY MARY HARRIS

..."The U.S. has always said that U.S. weapons will not be used for that purpose, which was one reason why, for quite a long time, President #Biden was reluctant to ship long-range #missiles to Ukraine. They didn’t want to give them a missile from which they could hit #Russian targets. Well, he let up on that idea, but he still said, “Don’t use this to attack targets in Russia.” Then it became, “Well, if you want to use your own weapons or other countries’ weapons to attack targets in Russia, that’s OK. Just don’t use ours.”

Does that mean really that if, say, they used one of our weapons to attack targets in Russia, that #Putin would start attacking targets inside NATO? I don’t think so. I think a lot of these red lines, which people feared at the beginning of the war, have dissolved or turned very pink anyway. And it could be that Putin is realizing that he can just hang on.

So if I’m hearing you right, what you’re saying is that this new phase of the war is this realization that Russia has a lot more people and maybe a little more coordination and maybe a few more missiles than we thought, which is alarming. But also that Ukraine is stepping up its guerrilla tactics a little bit, tactics inside Russia. And that’s interesting to me because those approaches, they don’t seem symmetrically matched. And I wonder what you think that means about what happens now.
...
But what really needs to happen—unless you just want to give up—is that the aid has to be restored, that there has to be a deal between the White House and Congress. Otherwise it could collapse. And here’s the thing: I’m usually not the kind of guy who talks in these sorts of terms. I don’t generally believe in domino theories and things like that. But if it is shown that after all this effort and trouble and time and money, the U.S. just kind of caves because it’s getting too hard, and Putin wins in a meaningful way, this sends a message to China about what they might be able to get away with in Taiwan.

It also sends the same message to our allies in Asia, especially Japan and South Korea, which might say, “Jesus, we can’t really rely on the United States. We’d better build our own nuclear arsenal as a deterrent,” which will then provoke a real nuclear arms race with China. And North Korea might also build more nuclear weapons. In the Middle East, it might tell foes and friends that the U.S. deterrent really isn’t as severe or as certain as some of the leaders of the U.S. say. It’s going to make the world, which is already a fairly anarchic place, much, much more freewheeling and anarchic and not in our favor at all."...

What Happens if We Let Ukraine Lose?

The global consequences could be dire.

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girlofthesea@diasporasocial.net
Girl Of The

#books #reading #tolstroy #russian

Leo Tolstroy
- Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, usually referred to in English as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian writer regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time. He received nominations for the Nobel Prize in Literature every year from 1902 to 1906 and for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901, 1902, and 1909.
Born: September 9, 1828, Yasnaya Polyana, Yasnaya Polyana, Russia
Died: November 20, 1910, Lev Tolstoi, Russia

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libramoon@diaspora.glasswings.com
libramoon

https://thehill.com/opinion/international/4250708-putins-fingerprints-are-on-hamas/#:~:text=There%20was%20only%20one%20real,his%20war%20against%20the%20West.

#Putin’s fingerprints are all over the #Hamas attack
By Jonathan Sweet and Mark Toth,

..."Now Israel, a historic and strategic ally in the Middle East, is under attack, facing its own 9/11, just as #Russian forces in #Ukraine are teetering on the edge of defeat in the Donbas and Crimea. Coincidence? Had the White House, while publicly supporting Ukraine, unwittingly painted itself into Putin’s corner?
...
After 20 months of the Biden administration providing Ukraine just enough military aid to survive, the Kremlin likely created conditions in #Israel to divide the U.S., allowing disinformation to seep within the American political fabric, designed to create dissension and paralysis while placing doubt in the minds of America’s allies.

The administration must now support two crises, Ukraine and Israel, while managing a Chinese threat to Taiwan and a North Korean threat to South Korea and Japan. It will not be able to pivot its way out of this.

The National Security team that got the U.S. into this predicament is not the team Washington needs to get us out of it. Bold and resolute solutions are required. The administration can continue to battle the hydra , or it can cut off its immortal head.

That requires a Russia-first strategy — a decision that helps Ukraine actually win, while setting conditions for Israel’s security.

Defending Israel is a top priority. The White House must strike a balance that meets Israel’s and Ukraine’s needs. The White House is trying to tie military aid to both together, and that is a step in the right direction.

But it must provide Ukraine with what it needs to win — namely, precision deep strike weapons and munitions, fighter jets, HIMARS-delivered cluster munitions, and engineering equipment to breach minefields and obstacles."...

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artsound2@diasp.eu
HU Art Sound

Elon Musk takes time out from running his X, Tesla, and SpaceX empire to livestream about illegal immigration from U.S. border

White Rich Asshole, Elon Musk “visited” the United States’ border with Mexico yesterday to get an “unfiltered” look at migration across the Southern border, barging into another heated political debate and promoting his platform X as an outlet for citizen journalism.

Musk, donning a black cowboy hat and aviator sunglasses, traveled to Eagle Pass, Texas, and did a Live “broadcast” during which he called for the U.S. to block entry to people who are “breaking the law” and claimed there would be a “collapse in social services” if the country didn’t act to curb illegal immigration, adding that New York City is already “buckling under the load.”

(paywall) https://fortune.com/2023/09/29/elon-musk-livestream-eagle-pass-border-illegal-immigration/
(open) https://news.yahoo.com/finance/news/elon-musk-takes-time-running-135610113.html
#elon #russian #asset

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psych@diasp.org
Michael

And part 3 of 3 in my daily sweep of X (nee Twitter) "so you don't have to" ... A busy news day!!

Lavrov complains to the UN that his invading Russians keep getting killed while murdering people in Ukraine.

#Russian #genocide #projection #Lavrov #UnitedNations #Ukraine #Russia #propaganda

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faab64@diasp.org
Farhad A

#Russian #journalists from Izvestia uncovered a ~prostitution~ Child Traficking ring which supplied underage Russian girls to clients in Bahrain.

The people requesting the services of the girls were mainly #Arabs from Bahrain and the surrounding countries but also American officers from the #US #Navy's 5th Fleet which is stationed in #Manama, the capital of Bahrain.

The girls, aged between 13 and 17 years old were lured to the country by a group of Russian citizens which would seize their passports and other IDs to prevent them from escaping the country and then handing them over to their #Bahraini partners.

The ring is active since at least 2013 and at least one girl died due to physical trauma at the hands of one of the abusers after trying to escape the hotel where she was housed in. They were sold to clients for between 7000 to 14.000 USD.

The journalists, which worked undercover, also found out that a lot of the girls got #pregnant and were forced to carry out #abortion late into the pregnancy with some giving birth to dead fetuses which would end up thrown into garbage bins.

Izvestia discovered that the Russian girls were significantly more expensive than the girls brought there from #Thailand, #Uzbekistan or #Vietnam.

#HumanTraficking #Cdime #Inhumanity
https://iz.ru/1558413/elena-balaian-ivan-litomin/intim-slugi-sk-rassleduet-delo-o-rossiiskikh-seks-rabyniakh-v-bakhreine

psych@diasp.org
Michael

Here it is, from tonight's MSNBC Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell
An interview with Russian-born best-selling novelist Gary Shteyngart

What watching five straight days of Russian TV reveals about Putin’s Russia

Soviet-born author Gary Shteyngart joins MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell to discuss Shteyngart article for The Atlantic titled, “I Watched Russian Television for Five Days Straight,” and why Donald Trump’s indictments worry the Kremlin.

A favorite author/mensch since seeing an interview with him about his new (soon to be bestseller) novel, Super Sad True Love Story.
It's a clever, Orwellian dystopia but now involving identity scanners ("f-ability" ratings) and all sorts of futuristic AI-ish things.

I read the book and have since greatly appreciated his "context and perspective" as a child emigrant to the US from Russia, with a keen eye for both human foible and political/social/media systems. And of course, he speaks & breathes Russia (and fine food/drink).

#GaryShteyngart #Russian #Media #propaganda #disinformation #Putin #Russia

What watching five straight days of Russian TV reveals about Putin’s Russia

Soviet-born author Gary Shteyngart joins MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell to discuss Shteyngart article for The Atlantic titled, “I Watched Russian Television for Five Days Straight,” and why Donald Trump’s indictments worry the Kremlin.

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