West's duplicitous double standards: Russia War

[Tobeornot]

I am not for war, and I am not taking sides. From where I stand though, the US is the only country that used an Atomic/Nuclear weapon on another nation and the only country that has forcefully tried to impose its will on other nations. The chaos in the Middle East is an excellent example. And despite all the atrocities the US has committed no sanctions were imposed on it. In Iraq alone, the US army was responsible for the deaths of 10's thousands of kids and yet for one incursion Russia is treated worse than the US. Other nations must surely have noticed this discrepancy and I think in the long run Sol is right. We are probably at the peak of our power right now, for we are just abusing the power we have.

I am going to post some articles below and images in follow-up posts to start this discussion. I want to repeat I am not in favor of war nor do I support Russia's incursion into Ukraine but it seems that both Ukraine and the US had plenty of opportunities to prevent this from ever taking place

I am starting this thread with the intent to open a forum where critical thinkers can share their opinion


US, Western media’s outlook on Russia isn’t about Ukraine. The conflict lies somewhere else


On 21 January 2022, Vice Admiral Kay-Achim Schönbach attended a talk in New Delhi, India, organised by the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses. Schönbach was speaking as the chief of Germany’s navy during his visit to the institute. “What he really wants is respect,” Schönbach said, referring to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. “And my god, giving someone respect is low cost, even no cost.” Furthermore, Schönbach said that in his opinion, “It is easy to even give him the respect he really demands and probably also deserves.”

The next day, on 22 January, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba summoned Germany’s ambassador to Ukraine, Anka Feldhusen, to Kyiv and “expressed deep disappointment” regarding the lack of German weapons provided to Ukraine and also about Schönbach’s comments in New Delhi. Vice Admiral Schönbach released a statement soon after, saying, “I have just asked the Federal Minister of Defense [Christine Lambrecht] to release me from my duties and responsibilities as inspector of the navy with immediate effect.” Lambrecht did not wait long to accept the resignation.

Why was Vice Admiral Schönbach sacked? Because he said two things that are unacceptable in the West: first, that “the Crimean Peninsula is gone and never [coming] back” to Ukraine and, second, that Putin should be treated with respect. The Schönbach affair is a vivid illustration of the problem that confronts the West currently, where Russian behaviour is routinely described as “aggression” and where the idea of giving “respect” to Russia is disparaged.


https://theprint.in/opinion/us-western- ... se/836532/

‘Double standards’: Western coverage of Ukraine war criticised


Media pundits, journalists, and political figures have been accused of double standards for using their outlets to not only commend Ukraine’s armed resistance to Russian troops, but also to underlying their horror at how such a conflict could happen to a “civilised” nation.

CBS News senior correspondent in Kyiv Charlie D’Agata said on Friday: “This isn’t a place, with all due respect, like Iraq or Afghanistan that has seen conflict raging for decades. This is a relatively civilised, relatively European – I have to choose those words carefully, too – city where you wouldn’t expect that, or hope that it’s going to happen.”

His comments were met with derision and anger on social media, with many pointing out how his statements contributed to the further dehumanisation of non-white, non-European people suffering under a conflict within mainstream media.

On Saturday, the BBC hosted Ukraine’s former deputy general prosecutor, David Sakvarelidze.

“It’s very emotional for me because I see European people with blonde hair and blue eyes being killed every day with Putin’s missiles and his helicopters and his rockets,” Sakvarelidze said.

The BBC presenter responded: “I understand and of course respect the emotion.”

On Sunday, Al Jazeera English presenter Peter Dobbie described Ukrainians fleeing the war as “prosperous, middle class people” who “are not obviously refugees trying to get away from areas in the Middle East that are still in a big state of war; these are not people trying to get away from areas in North Africa, they look like any European family that you would live next door to.”

The media network later issued an apology, saying the comments “were inappropriate, insensitive, and irresponsible”.

“Al Jazeera English is committed to impartiality, diversity and professionalism in all its work. This breach of that professionalism will be dealt with through disciplinary measures,” it said in a statement.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1497895651887271938
Listen to the end of this video

https://twitter.com/i/status/1497708855190429697

“Amazing mainstream Western media gives glowing coverage of people resisting invasion by making molotov cocktails,” one social media user remarked. “If they were brown people in Yemen or Palestine doing the same they would be labeled terrorists deserving US-Israeli or US-Saudi drone bombing.”

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/2 ... -criticism

[Tobeornot]

See anything weird in these pictures. Unfortunately, I lost the link to the site I found these images on. I will try to summarize the site posted and what I noticed



All images were taken by Lynsey Addario who was a Pulitzer winner in 2009

Image 1 was from Iraq 2003. These bodies were dug up from a mass grave. Why are the sheets clean and not dirty. h? Why would the bodies be dug up and brought indoors, the stench would be overwhelming?

Image 2 Afghanistan
This is a conservative country. Why is a simple Afghan woman with a Burka wearing a pearl necklace and a blouse with a low neckline? The low neckline is a big no-no amongst conservative Muslims.




Image 1 Julia, a teacher and Ukrainian volunteer fighter. Her pose looks unnatrual and she appears to be dry-eyed
However image 2 is more telling, its from one of the battles in Kiev, but notice the rust on the vehicle. If it was fresh from a battle there should be no rust. There also appears to no real video footage of these street fights.

I might be totally wrong and I can accept that, but the pictures don't seem to match the storyline. What do the rest of you think




burnt-out vehicle in Kiev. Where is the film of these street battles, Lynsey? And why is there rust on this truck?

[Yodean]

See anything weird in these pictures. Unfortunately, I lost the link to the site I found these images on. I will try to summarize the site posted and what I noticed

Image 1 was from Iraq 2003. These bodies were dug up from a mass grave. Why are the sheets clean and not dirty. h? Why would the bodies be dug up and brought indoors, the stench would be overwhelming?

Image 2 Afghanistan
This is a conservative country. Why is a simple Afghan woman with a Burka wearing a pearl necklace and a blouse with a low neckline? The low neckline is a big no-no amongst conservative Muslims.

Image 1 Julia, a teacher and Ukrainian volunteer fighter. Her pose looks unnatrual and she appears to be dry-eyed
However image 2 is more telling, its from one of the battles in Kiev, but notice the rust on the vehicle. If it was fresh from a battle there should be no rust. There also appears to no real video footage of these street fights.

I might be totally wrong and I can accept that, but the pictures don't seem to match the storyline. What do the rest of you think

burnt-out vehicle in Kiev. Where is the film of these street battles, Lynsey? And why is there rust on this truck?

Yeh, you're a pretty good detective. Those images are definitely very suspicious, bogus. I generally try to avoid most mainstream Western media outlets, because even if you know they're showing b.s. stories and photos, they can still mess with your mind a bit.

However, I do make the occasional exception for an amazing story like this:

https://nypost.com/2022/02/28/ukrainian ... st-russia/

*****

She is welcome in my Metaverse anytime, with or without the gun - happy to take my chances.

[nicolas]

I was thinking this morning how ironic it is that in our "Age of Information", most of what you can find online is actually disinformation. Imagine how bad it will get when deepfakes are so good you can't possibly tell the difference with real footage, and the software becomes accessible to anyone. More like the "Age of Trolls".

I have no idea what's really going on in Ukraine right now. I don't know any objective observers there so there's no source of information I can trust.

On one hand, it's the sixth day of "precision strikes". I know Ukraine is a large country, but how many military installations can they have? And how many damn Nazis could there possibly have been that it's taking so long?

On the other hand, the propaganda on social media and in the MSM has worked in overdrive. Pictures of explosions in Gaza, footage of the explosion in Lebanon, the "Ghost of Kiev" from a video game, the picture of the children in front of a tank from years ago, a scene from a war movie, the picture of a woman who has survived a gas leak now survives Russian rockets (she's bad luck...) Real sloppy work. And the footage of Ukrainians with cardboard guns on Fox News... I mean, come on! But hey, it works. A strong pendulum indeed.

Also, according to people who had never heard of Zelensky a week ago, he's a hero.

[AstuteShift]

It’s easy to just turn off the noise.

The fake news is extremely rampant, I’m better off reading Aesop Fables for geopolitical advice lolol

[Budge]

The leaders of West with US at the head are evil personified. In the last few decades, they have left death and destruction everywhere they set foot.

The US broke Ukraine but Putin's actions are timely:

Masks US's role in the Ukraine mess
Distracts from the ventriloquist's dummy Brandon's complete and utter "balls up" of everything
Provides a black hole to pivot from the Covid debacle

"Imperial Washington’s over-arching narratives and the instances of its specific interventions alike rest on a threadbare and implausible foundation; and more often than not, they consist of arrogant fabrications and claims that are an insult to the intelligence of anyone paying even loose attention to the facts.

Then again, Imperial Washington no longer cares about facts, logic, truth and most especially history. At the time of the Bush War on Saddam’s WMD’s, Karl Rove explained the Empire’s New Creed without pulling any punches.

“That’s not the way the world really works anymore. We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that reality—judiciously, as you will—we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors … and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.”

There you have it. And Rove is no out-of-the-way academic scribbler inventing some high-fluting rationalization for American global hegemony. To the contrary, he’s a lifetime Swamp creature, leading beltway racketeer and the strategic brain trust of the GOP establishment.

Needless to say, Washington continues to create its “own reality” almost weekly, and this one’s a doozy. There manifestly would be no war in the Ukraine today save for Washington’s machinations back in February 2014, but that bit of crucial history is now deader than a doornail." (David Stockman)

This is from a Stockman article that lays out in excruciating detail how the western elites interfered and got us into this mess:

https://www.unz.com/article/the-land-wh ... ed-part-1/

[Yodean]

On one hand, it's the sixth day of "precision strikes". I know Ukraine is a large country, but how many military installations can they have? And how many damn Nazis could there possibly have been that it's taking so long?

On the other hand, the propaganda on social media and in the MSM has worked in overdrive. Real sloppy work. And the footage of Ukrainians with cardboard guns on Fox News... I mean, come on! But hey, it works. A strong pendulum indeed.

Also, according to people who had never heard of Zelensky a week ago, he's a hero.

The Age of Information is also the Age of Disinformation, and as I am sure you are aware, this trend may be used to gauge Herd sentiment quite well.

If everyone were as smart as you, nicolas, I wouldn't have a significant edge in and out of the markets.

Pure speculation on my part, subject to change as more "facts" come in:

-Vlad's winning, doing well - if he's losing, we'll know because he'll become a lot more aggressive in his military tactics, but calmer "onscreen." He's doing the opposite now - i.e. aggressive "onscreen," but restrained in his military deployment (most of the best Russian units are still at the borders).

-the Impaler doesn't want to hold all of Ukraine; it'll open him up to years of insurgency attacks, likely funded by the CIA; he's surrounded Kyiv (heart and soul of Old Russia, let's not forget) to apply pressure in diplomatic negotiations, but doesn't want to destroy Kyiv - the Western media is just waiting to capture REAL pictures of children and women being blown up, etc.

-rumours are that the U.S.S.A. left many biochemical weapons in underground labs in and around Kyiv; don't know if this is true, of course, but I think Vlad knows, and is careful about the missle strikes, because if one of these labs blows up like the C.I.A. would like, it would be a huge PR disaster, even more than now;

-as long as Vlad can survive the sanctions, he should win fairly easily, but it will take longer than most think; you may recall that shortly before the Russian Peacekeeping Mission began, there was a pretty public dispute between Vlad and the Russian central bank, over many things, including cryptos; I suspect they were gameplanning the different sanction scenarios, and the Kremlin and the Impaler had some differences of opinion;

-Vlad would not have bothered to officially declare the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics as independent regions, and sought official letters requesting assistance from Moscow, from the leaders of the DPR and LPR, if Moscow had intended to take and hold all of Ukraine;

-ultimately, Moscow wants to stop NATO (North Atlantic Terror Organization) expansion, and East Ukraine, along with the DPR and LPR, will turn into an uneasy buffer zone of sorts.

-notice what a coincidence in terms of the timing of the Russian Peacekeeping Mission? The Fed is meeting tomorrow and later this week ... this conflict gives Powell an excuse to go to a 25 basis point hike instead of a 50 basis point one, or perhaps even delay the hikes a bit, and reduce QE tapering.

-the West is begging for Putin to be more aggressive militarily; it will serve to give NATO more relevance, as well as a distraction from the fading cv19 propaganda, and a whole host of other domestic social problems;

-as for Zelensky, he's a puppet of the West, and a pretty terrible stand-up comedian before his current stint as a Head of State;

[SOL]

Retired Col. Doug MacGregor makes a good case here.

TREY GOWDY: Why do you think Putin is doing this? What is his end game?

COL. DOUG MACGREGOR: Well, Vladimir Putin is carrying through on something that he has been warning us about at least for the last 15 years, which is he will not tolerate U.S. forces or missiles on his borders. Much as we would not tolerate Russian missiles or troops in Cuba.

And we ignored him and he finally acted. He was not going to allow Ukraine, under any circumstances, to join NATO.

What is happening now is the battle in Eastern Ukraine is really almost over, all the Ukrainian troops there have been largely surrounded and cut off, you have a concentration down in the Southeast of 30 to 40,000 of them, and if they don't surrender in next 24 hours, I suspect the Russians will ultimately annihilate them.

That's why Zelensy is meeting with Putin's representatives right now. The game is over. And he's going to have to negotiate the best deal he can get. And we've already told him, the president of the United .states has, said that if he opts for neutrality for Ukraine, we will back him. And I think Vladimir Putin will do that for Western Ukraine.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/ ... wsource=cl

If what he says its almost game over?

[Budge]

This is someone else who knows what is what.

"Zelensky should be removed from office NOW or he will destroy Ukraine. He is either a complete fool, or he is taking orders externally to turn this into World War III. When history is written, his name will be remembered and not favorably. I have been involved in negotiations on behalf of governments in my career. I see nobody who is competent at this stage and I cannot imagine this is by chance. They are pissed-off that Putin is not storming in killing thousands of civilians so they get their photo ops. Unlike many spewing out their opinions, I have actually known many of the players face to face who have brought us to this crossroads in world history."

This is a long blog piece from Martin Armstrong that gives a "deep dive" into the current mess starting with how the New York Wankers in concert with the Clintons tried to blackmail Yeltsin who turned to Putin and put him in power.

"Putin is in power BECAUSE of the antics of the New York Bankers with the support of the Clintons. Are we in a grudge match against one man that the West has blamed for even putting Trump in office and now that justifies World War III? This is the backdrop that everyone should know before they send their boys off to die."

"Ever since the United States under the Clintons authorized the NY bankers to try to take over Russia with their own puppet, Boris Berezovsky, there has been a direct unspoken World War III that began in the financial markets. I was personally asked to invest $10 billion into Safra & Browder’s joint venture Hermitage Capital Management in 1999."

https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/inte ... l-discuss/

[harryg]

If what he says its almost game over?

I sincerely hope so. Not to minimise the losses so far, but the longer it lasts the worse it will be.

[SOL]

I was thinking this morning how ironic it is that in our "Age of Information", most of what you can find online is actually disinformation. Imagine how bad it will get when deepfakes are so good you can't possibly tell the difference with real footage, and the software becomes accessible to anyone. More like the "Age of Trolls".

I have no idea what's really going on in Ukraine right now. I don't know any objective observers there so there's no source of information I can trust.

On one hand, it's the sixth day of "precision strikes". I know Ukraine is a large country, but how many military installations can they have? And how many damn Nazis could there possibly have been that it's taking so long?

On the other hand, the propaganda on social media and in the MSM has worked in overdrive. Pictures of explosions in Gaza, footage of the explosion in Lebanon, the "Ghost of Kiev" from a video game, the picture of the children in front of a tank from years ago, a scene from a war movie, the picture of a woman who has survived a gas leak now survives Russian rockets (she's bad luck...) Real sloppy work. And the footage of Ukrainians with cardboard guns on Fox News... I mean, come on! But hey, it works. A strong pendulum indeed.

Also, according to people who had never heard of Zelensky a week ago, he's a hero.

The internet is the perfect place to turn gossip into fact and turn crap into Gold. At least when you read things on paper you had time to think but now people just look at images or want sound bites and that is the easiest thing in the world to create. The amount of disinformation is going to skyrocket, In fact, it will soon be impossible to separate fact from fiction.

[SOL]

More than $500 billion of Russian securities at risk as banks and clearinghouses react to sanctions

The dramatic moves to isolate Russia from the global financial system have effectively frozen securities worth more than $500 billion.

At the end of last year, foreign investors held $62 billion in sovereign debt, two thirds of which was denominated in rubles, according to Central Bank of Russia data. The nominal foreign debt of Russian banks and corporations totaled $381 billion, the central bank data show.

Foreigners held Russian equities valued at $86 billion, the Financial Times reported, citing Moscow Exchange data.

The U.S. and its western allies have cut some Russian banks from the SWIFT messaging system, as the U.S. barred any transactions with Russia’s central bank. On Tuesday, the U.K. said it’s adding Sberbank to its list of sanctioned entities.

The clearing houses Euroclear and Clearstream are moving to stop clearing ruble-denominated securities, and MSCI said it may reclassify Russia as a “standalone” market, from its current emerging-market status. JPMorgan froze two funds that invest in Russia, The Wall Street Journal reported.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/more- ... eid=yhoof2

Create a mini Lehman crisis and then come to the rescue. Solve the crises you created so that you can pump even more market into the economy. Almost every economic crisis was based on selling the masses crap

[Budge]

More than $500 billion of Russian securities at risk as banks and clearinghouses react to sanctions

The dramatic moves to isolate Russia from the global financial system have effectively frozen securities worth more than $500 billion.

At the end of last year, foreign investors held $62 billion in sovereign debt, two thirds of which was denominated in rubles, according to Central Bank of Russia data. The nominal foreign debt of Russian banks and corporations totaled $381 billion, the central bank data show.

Foreigners held Russian equities valued at $86 billion, the Financial Times reported, citing Moscow Exchange data.

The U.S. and its western allies have cut some Russian banks from the SWIFT messaging system, as the U.S. barred any transactions with Russia’s central bank. On Tuesday, the U.K. said it’s adding Sberbank to its list of sanctioned entities.

The clearing houses Euroclear and Clearstream are moving to stop clearing ruble-denominated securities, and MSCI said it may reclassify Russia as a “standalone” market, from its current emerging-market status. JPMorgan froze two funds that invest in Russia, The Wall Street Journal reported.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/more- ... eid=yhoof2

Create a mini Lehman crisis and then come to the rescue. Solve the crises you created so that you can pump even more market into the economy. Almost every economic crisis was based on selling the masses crap

"Ha ha! You fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders - The most famous of which is 'never get involved in a land war in Asia' - but only slightly less well-known is this: 'Never go against a Sicilian when death is on the line!' Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

Thus, Vizzini from the Princess Bride, kicks the bucket (for you folks not up on British colloquialisms - he pops his clogs, assumes room temperature, takes a dirt nap - he dies). All these people who want to go up against an ex-KGB agent (is there such a thing - kind like you're never an ex-Marine?) who has shown a proficiency in reaching out to all parts of the globe to touch (dispatch) opponents.

Is there an etf that covers food tasters, perhaps triple-leveraged? Or one to go long on polonium? Just asking for a friend.

[chippermon]

"Ha ha! You fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders - The most famous of which is 'never get involved in a land war in Asia' - but only slightly less well-known is this: 'Never go against a Sicilian when death is on the line!' Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

Thus, Vizzini from the Princess Bride, kicks the bucket (for you folks not up on British colloquialisms - he pops his clogs, assumes room temperature, takes a dirt nap - he dies). All these people who want to go up against an ex-KGB agent (is there such a thing - kind like you're never an ex-Marine?) who has shown a proficiency in reaching out to all parts of the globe to touch (dispatch) opponents.

Is there an etf that covers food tasters, perhaps triple-leveraged? Or one to go long on polonium? Just asking for a friend.

"As you wish"

https://etfdb.com/etf/PBJ/#etf-ticker-profile

[Budge]

"Ha ha! You fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders - The most famous of which is 'never get involved in a land war in Asia' - but only slightly less well-known is this: 'Never go against a Sicilian when death is on the line!' Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

Thus, Vizzini from the Princess Bride, kicks the bucket (for you folks not up on British colloquialisms - he pops his clogs, assumes room temperature, takes a dirt nap - he dies). All these people who want to go up against an ex-KGB agent (is there such a thing - kind like you're never an ex-Marine?) who has shown a proficiency in reaching out to all parts of the globe to touch (dispatch) opponents.

Is there an etf that covers food tasters, perhaps triple-leveraged? Or one to go long on polonium? Just asking for a friend.

"As you wish"

https://etfdb.com/etf/PBJ/#etf-ticker-profile

Excellent service dear chippermon. One concern, are you sure PBJ isn't code for "Putin Blow Job"? In which case I'd be very concerned about the "Blow" element!