Russian Tensions

April 2024 Forums General discussion Russian Tensions

Viewing 15 posts - 1,966 through 1,980 (of 5,150 total)
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  • #230750
    Thomas_More
    Participant
    #230751
    Thomas_More
    Participant

    Mao banned Beethoven as bourgeois, and because Beethoven had condemned Mao’s hero Napoleon – the ultimate hero of the bourgeoisie!

    And I heard Winnie the Pooh is banned in China because the leader heard someone say he bears a resemblance to Pooh.

    #230753
    ALB
    Keymaster

    Shelley got the measure of rulers like him:

    https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46565/ozymandias

    #230754
    Thomas_More
    Participant

    Yes. May that day come soon!

    We’ll have to set up nurseries for ex-leaders of capitalist states, so they can harmlessly play at throwing playpen balls at one another.

    #230768
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    Refreshing report of anti-war protest in Spain

    https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/6/26/thousands-demonstrate-in-madrid-ahead-of-nato-summit

    Thousands of anti-NATO demonstrators rallied in Madrid on Sunday before a summit of the Western military alliance in the Spanish capital this week.

    Demonstrators called for US-led NATO to be dissolved and for military bases maintained by the United States in Spain to be closed. Banners with the words “No to NATO, No to War, For Peace” were held as they marched through the city.

    The Spanish government banned another rally planned for Wednesday, the first day of the NATO summit, on security grounds.

    “Tanks yes, but of beer with tapas,” sang demonstrators, who claimed an increase in defence spending in Europe urged by NATO was a threat to peace.

    “I am fed up [with] this business of arms and killing people. The solution they propose is more arms and wars and we always pay for it. So no NATO, no [army] bases, let the Americans go and leave us alone without wars and weapons,” said Concha Hoyos, a retired Madrid resident.

    Organisers claimed 5,000 people joined the march.

    #230776
    Thomas_More
    Participant

    There won’t be a word about it on TV here.

    #230798
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    NATO strengthened

    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61954516

    “We will enhance our battlegroups in the eastern part of the Alliance up to brigade levels. We will transform the Nato response force and increase the number of our high readiness forces to well over 300,000.”

    #230820
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster
    #230909
    ALB
    Keymaster

    I see that the warmongering Foreign Secretary is exerting her malign influence again. Now she is saying that the UK is supplying “lethal weapons” to the Ukrainian nationalists so that they can ethnically cleanse the Donbass and the Crimea of those who consider themselves Russians (that’s a few million). I am not sure other NATO leaders share her view or even take her seriously but here’s what she is saying;

    “The UK’s foreign secretary Liz Truss has said it is a “realistic” ambition to push Russian forces out of Ukraine entirely.
    She has told listeners to BBC radio in the UK “All of Ukraine that has been invaded by Russia is illegally occupied. And, ultimately, the Russians need to be pushed out of all of that territory.”
    PA Media report that asked whether the Government believes Russia can be pushed out of all of Ukraine within a foreseeable timeframe, she said: “It is realistic, and that is why we are supplying the extra lethal aid we’re supplying.”

    #230910
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    The UK will provide an additional £1bn in military aid for Ukraine, a near-doubling in its support for the fight against the Russian invasion.

    The new funding takes the military aid given to Kyiv to £2.3bn – and the UK has also spent £1.5bn in humanitarian and economic support for Ukraine.

    The new £1bn is set to come from departmental underspends, the UK government said, plus £95 million from the Welsh and Scottish governments’ budgets.

    Zelensky told Nato leaders the monthly cost of defence for Ukraine was around $5bn (£4.12bn).

    #230911
    ALB
    Keymaster

    Apparently the Welsh government is not so happy about £30 million being deducted from their allocation to pay to send lethal weapons to Ukraine. It also seems that the Scottish government was making a virtue out of necessity:

    ‘Not right’: UK Government dips into Welsh and Scottish budgets for £1bn Ukraine military aid

    #230932
    ALB
    Keymaster

    Now Boris wants to recreate the Roman Empire. Only one problem — most of what is now Ukraine wasn’t part of it. Actually, there’s another problem (though maybe not for him). It was based on slave labour.

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/boris-johnson-emmanuel-macron-prime-minister-turkey-roman-empire-b2111983.html?amp

    #230946
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    Upsetting allies

    https://www.dw.com/en/ukraines-envoy-to-germany-irks-israeli-polish-governments-with-wwii-comments/a-62335288

    Andriy Melnyk,Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, drew the ire of Poland, Israel, and Jewish groups on Friday when he defended Ukrainian nationalist leader Stepan Bandera, saying that “Bandera was not a mass murderer of Jews and Poles,” arguing that there was no evidence for such accusations.

    “The statement made by the Ukrainian ambassador is a distortion of the historical facts, belittles the Holocaust and is an insult to those who were murdered by Bandera and his people,” the Israeli embassy said.

    Polish deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz wrote that “such an opinion and such words are absolutely unacceptable.”

    #230957
    james19
    Participant

    Bit off topic..

    Putin owns a £1bn* palace!

    This on top of the usual £500m mega yacht(s?)

    Putin must work hard.

    This, not the article I read….close

    Putin’s £1bn palace built with illicit funds, says Navalny from prison cell

    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/4af0a57e-5a95-11eb-86f4-4fa0aa4e7fd3?shareToken=23e541acd20cd8bd8f4bdbe064272774

    • This reply was modified 1 year, 9 months ago by james19.
    • This reply was modified 1 year, 9 months ago by james19.
    #231008
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    Is it racism?

    Are white European lives valued more than black African?

    He [Zelenskyy]called for international humanitarian aid so Ukrainians could rebuild their lives once again.

    “It is necessary not only to repair everything the occupiers have destroyed but also to create a new foundation for our lives: safe, modern, comfortable, accessible.” For Ukraine, this meant “colossal investments — billions.”

    https://www.dw.com/en/ukraine-zelenskyy-calls-for-international-aid-to-rebuild-country-live-updates/a-62340445

    The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) said it had suspended rationing programmes in South Sudan due to a lack of funding. In June, the body said it needed $426m (£352m) to continue distributing food. But that aid has not been forthcoming. WFP officials confirmed that it had ceased distributing rations to the country last week, adding that more than 60% of the population of 11 million now faced starvation.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-62014750

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