Zelensky bans 11 political parties, although no evidence linking any to Russian government

Zelensky Announces Ban on 11 Political Parties–At the onset of the Feb. 24 invasion, Zelensky signed a measure that established martial law and general mobilization. | 20 March 2022 | Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky announced a measure that bans 11 opposition political parties, alleging they have ties to Russia, he announced in a Telegram video posted on March 20. Zelensky also said “wartime exposes quite well the paucity of personal ambitions of those who try to put their own ambitions” or “their own party or career above the interests of the state,” according to a translation. The National Security Council agreed to suspend the parties, Ukrinform reported, citing Zelensky’s video address. The Ukrainian Ministry of Justice has been told to immediately take measures to ban those political parties, he said. Zelensky didn’t provide evidence that linked the 11 opposition parties to the Russian government.

March 21, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

‘Let them kill as many as possible’ The Roots of US Militarism in Russia and Around the World

“This time, is the primary goal of the paramilitary program to help Ukrainians liberate their country or to weaken Russia over the course of a long insurgency that will undoubtedly cost as many Ukrainian lives as Russian lives, if not more?”

What the people of Ukraine are suffering from Russian aggression is suffered daily by millions around the world from U.S. aggression.

Common Dreams, BRIAN TERRELL, March 4, 2022   In April 1941, four  years before he was to become President and eight months before the United States entered World War II, Senator Harry Truman of Missouri reacted to the news that Germany had invaded the Soviet Union: “If we see that Germany is winning the war, we ought to help Russia; and if that Russia is winning, we ought to help Germany, and in that way let them kill as many as possible.” Truman was not called out as a cynic when he spoke these words from the floor of the Senate. On the contrary, when he died in 1972,  Truman’s obituary  in The New York Times cited this statement as establishing his “reputation for decisiveness and courage.”

“This basic attitude,” gushed The Times, “prepared him to adopt from the start of his Presidency, a firm policy,” an attitude that prepared him to order the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with “no qualms.” Truman’s same basic “let them kill as many as possible” attitude also informed the postwar doctrine that bears his name, along with the establishment of NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the CIA, the Central Intelligence Agency, both of which he is credited with founding.

A February 25 op-ed in The Los Angeles Times by Jeff Rogg, “The CIA has backed Ukrainian insurgents before- Let’s learn from those mistakes,” cites a CIA program to train Ukrainian nationalists as insurgents to fight the Russians that began in 2015 and compares it with a similar effort by Truman’s CIA in Ukraine that began in 1949. By 1950, one year in, “U.S. officers involved in the program knew they were fighting a losing battle…In the first U.S.-backed insurgency, according to top secret documents later declassified, American officials intended to use the Ukrainians as a proxy force to bleed the Soviet Union.” This op-ed cites John Ranelagh, a historian of the CIA, who argued that the program “demonstrated a cold ruthlessness” because the Ukrainian resistance had no hope of success, and so “America was in effect encouraging Ukrainians to go to their deaths.

The “Truman Doctrine” of arming and training insurgents as proxy forces to bleed Russia to the peril of the local populations that it was purporting to defend was used effectively in Afghanistan in the 1970s and ’80s, a program so effective, some of its authors have boasted, that it helped bring down the Soviet Union a decade later. In a 1998 interview, President Jimmy Carter’s National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski explained, “According to the official version of history, CIA aid to the Mujaheddin began during 1980, that is to say, after the Soviet army invaded Afghanistan on December 24, 1979. But the reality, closely guarded until now, is completely otherwise: Indeed, it was July 3, 1979 that President Carter signed the first directive for secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul. And that very day, I wrote a note to the president in which I explained to him that in my opinion this aid was going to induce a Soviet military intervention… We didn’t push the Russians to intervene, but we knowingly increased the probability that they would.”

“The day that the Soviets officially crossed the border,” Brzezinski recalled, “I wrote to President Carter, essentially: ‘We now have the opportunity of giving to the USSR its Vietnam war.’ Indeed, for almost 10 years, Moscow had to carry on a war that was unsustainable for the regime, a conflict that brought about the demoralization and finally the breakup of the Soviet empire.”

……………………..   In his LA Times op-ed, Rogg calls the 1949 CIA program in Ukraine a “mistake” and asks the question, “This time, is the primary goal of the paramilitary program to help Ukrainians liberate their country or to weaken Russia over the course of a long insurgency that will undoubtedly cost as many Ukrainian lives as Russian lives, if not more?” Viewed in light of United States foreign policy from Truman to Biden, the early cold war debacle in Ukraine might better be described as a crime than a mistake and Rogg’s question seems rhetorical. 

…………………   Globally, through its armed forces but even more through the CIA and the so-called National Endowment for Democracy, through NATO muscle masquerading as mutual “defense,” in Europe as in Asia, as in Africa, as in the Middle East, as in Latin America, the United States exploits and dishonors the very real aspirations of good people for peace and self-determination. At the same time, it feeds the swamp where violent extremisms like the Taliban in Afghanistan, ISIS in Syria and Iraq and neo-Nazi nationalism in Ukraine can only fester and flourish and spread.  …………………………………………… https://www.commondreams.org/views/2022/03/04/let-them-kill-many-possible-roots-us-militarism-russia-and-around-world

March 21, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Veterans warn against no-fly zone in UK -examine Western propaganda critically

……………………….   you should question everything that you are being told by anyone and from any source. But you should still seek out alternative sources and stories to consider before thinking upon them and deciding what to believe. Only by using your critical thinking skills can you arrive at some general semblance of the truth while humbly accepting that you can never be too certain of the truth. 

There are often more questions than answers. But corporate media in the United States and the West in general is not to be trusted. They generally deliver more propaganda than truth. So question what you are told. Think for yourself………………… 

The Peace Press — Saturday, March 19, 2022 edition Major kudos to the organization to which I belong, Veterans for Peace, for issuing a press release warning against a No-Fly Zone over Ukraine. A no-fly-zone would be an act of war and it would represent a major escalation of hostilities by pitting U.S.-NATO planes directly against Russian military planes. This would be a major escalation that could considerably broaden the war and possibly lead to even nuclear war. The Establishment of a No-Fly-Zone must be avoided at all costs.

“VETERANS WARN AGAINST “NO-FLY ZONE” IN UKRAINE

Veterans of several U.S. wars are urging President Biden to hold fast against growing political pressure to implement a “no-fly zone.”

A No Fly Zone is an area established by a military power over which opposing aircraft are not permitted. No Fly Zones are enforced by military interception of aircraft and missiles using deadly force, and sometimes include preemptive strikes to prevent potential violations. In other words, a country that declares a no-fly zone must then be ready to enforce the protected space, putting the U.S. in direct military conflict with Russia, escalating war between two nuclear powers.”

~Veterans for Peace

………………………… let there be no mistake that the Russians bear the responsibility for invading and that is condemnable but let us also remember that the U.S.-American Empire navigated and manipulated the situation in such a manner that convinced the Russians that they had no alternative but to invade. So pinning all the blame on one side of this conflict without blaming or recognizing the actions of the other side is but an exercise in blatant propaganda by either one side or the other side. Both are culpable and both must be held to account through equal condemnations in the same breath. Good versus evil dichotomies typically only exist in fairy- tales and religion. The real world is full of nuance, gray areas, complexity and multi-layered histories working in tandem with each other. So is this case with Ukraine where to pin all the blame on only one actor is an example of propaganda.

Contrary to what is being blasted from all corners of corporate media in their attempt to paint an easy to understand narrative of good-vs-evil where we, of course, are good as is implied, this war has surprisingly little to do with Vladimir Putin. In fact, this is a Russian Establishment reactive war for which Putin himself was under massive internal political pressure to initiate. Contrary to what we are told by corporate media, Putin is not a dictator, he is an elected politician who must respond to internal pressures because his political power resides in the consent and approval of those constituencies inside Russia. The pressure to militarily intervene in Ukraine was strongly emanating from powerful quarters of the Russian political system primarily from the nationalist and military wings and also as expressed in the legislative actions of the Duma which recognized the breakaway Republics in Ukraine just prior to the invasion. Putin acquiesced to this massive political pressure.

Contrary to the madman Adolf Hitler effigy that corporate media rolls out for every new war, the reality is far more complex, convoluted, multi-layered and primarily rooted in Russian internal politics as so many wars often are rooted in internal politics. Furthermore, a lot of what we see now and saw before is baseless propaganda. To this day, there is a long list of allegations against President Putin but a vastly shorter list of actual evidence to support these many allegations. He could be guilty of such allegations but the lack of evidence does not support that view. More likely, this is all just part of a wider smear campaign designed to get everyone onboard with hating Putin and Russia. And more to the point, even if some of these allegations are true, how Russia treats its citizens and who Russia’s citizens elect to be their president is not the business of anyone but Russian citizens. We should keep our damn noses out of it. To those who propose regime change in Russia, may I remind you that there is no guarantee that what will come next will be any better than the current leadership and in fact could be far worse. 

 As an example of this I cite Saddam Hussein and Iraq. While Americans may think Iraq is better off now, that feeling does not square with the hundreds-of-thousands of Iraqi’s who perished in civil wars that were caused by deposing Saddam Hussein. In reality, our toppling of Saddam Hussein destabilized the Middle East, caused unimaginable suffering and massive death and destruction, so be careful what you wish for because you might just get it. But again, who or what government rules in Russia is no business of the United States of America. I say these things because I think it is very important to dispel myths and discern reality by separating fact from fiction especially now that the media is whipping people up into a frenzy of war fever.

Vladimir Putin, to his credit, exhausted nearly every diplomatic channel for the last 14 years dating back to the Munich Conference of 2008 to warn the West that both Georgia and Ukraine were red lines for Russian national security interests. These warnings were meant to avoid war and avoid what would be seen by the Russian Establishment as absolutely critical and necessary Russian military involvement if such red lines were crossed. We have long known this to be true but the U.S. Empire continued to cross those red lines, almost seemingly wanting the Russians to invade. Think about that for a moment. Who benefits from a new Cold War with Russia? Perhaps, those who reap vast profits, like weapons-makers for example? Yes, the economics of vast profits is yet another driver of war. At every turn, the U.S. rebuffed and ignored these warnings preferring instead to bask in American Exceptionalism which basically boils down to an American Empire imposed rules-based-world-order but one in which the United States Empire is conveniently exempt from obeying. In short, do as we say, not as we do otherwise known as hypocrisy.

Furthermore, ever since the U.S. American Empire got into bed with neo-Nazi elements in Ukraine and helped them overthrow a democratically-elected government in 2014, both the Russian Establishment and the ethnic Russian Ukranian population of Eastern Ukraine were completely freaked out and felt directly threatened, This fear was for good reason, as later events would clearly demonstrate namely the neo-Nazi slaugther of ethnic-Russian Eastern Ukrainians. This prompted a separtist movement that formed in response to this threat, since the separtists feared the oversized influence of neo-Nazi elements inside the Ukrainian government along with a understandable revulsion against the installed puppet regime by the United States in Ukraine. This created a major civil conflict inside Ukraine that ultimately prompted diplomatic efforts to resolve. As a result, in 2015 after many negotiations, the Minsk Accords were signed by France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine and this signaled a significant diplomatic breakthrough to resolving internal strife in Ukraine by recognizing the human rights of the ethnic Russian population of Eastern Ukraine by promoting political autonomy for them and by establishing specific guarantees to allay Russian national security concerns. This is another example of how the Russians attempted to use diplomacy to avert a war. 

However, since 2015 the Ukrainian government, under heavy Imperialist pressure from the United States/American Empire, scuttled and ignored the Minsk Accords, thus essentially blocking their implementation. This action by the American Empire operating through its Ukrainian government puppet coupled with the NATO-ization of Ukraine (militarization of Ukraine) and by an array of other aggressive U.S. actions including aggressive military maneuvers and nuclear missile emplacements close to Russian borders virtually guaranteed a Russian military response. Remember that our military-industrial-complex benefits greatly reaping soaring profits from a new Cold War with Russia while the rest of us get financially screwed. That is also what this conflict is about, the wealthy want more money and war is how they intend to get it while the rest of us suffer greatly. Therefore, one cannot honestly criticize one side of this war without also laying equal blame upon the other side of this war. Meanwhile, Ukranians die at the hands of Russian guns but upon the altar of American Imperialist maneuverings that provoked this war. The American Empire is as much to blame as the Russians for this war. Every condemnation of this war should reflect that.

But how many Ukrainian civilians are actually dying in this war? One could say that even one death is too many and they would be right. But here again, civilian death totals are more prone to being twisted by propaganda from either one side or the other. While we are bombarded with an endless barrage of good-vs-evil reporting from mass media, where we are always good and the Russians are always evil, the truth is far more complex, difficult, unclear and unpleasant. While we are consistently fed the line that Russians are wantonly massacring civilians en masse, the numbers simply do not seem to support this allegation. So you should question this kind of reporting that is susceptible to propaganda. The relatively low numbers of civilian casualties 3 weeks into an invasion (less than 1000) along with the relatively slow advance of Russian forces along with the fact that Russian troops are mostly staying in areas of Eastern Ukraine along with the fact that Eastern Ukraine is primarily composed of an ethnic Russian and Russian speaking population, would all seem to suggest that the Russian military is taking great care to avoid civilian loss of life upon their ethnic Russian brethren in Eastern Ukraine, contrary to what we are being told on corporate media. 

This would logically make sense since the population of Eastern Ukraine is largely comprised of ethnic-Russians who primarily speak Russian — — — -why would they want to kill their own brethren? That just doesn’t make sense (which is how I know it is likely Western propaganda — — — you just have to think for yourself just a little). So far it seems, Russian military actions are predominantly focused upon Ukrainian military targets and neo-Nazi strongholds as in Mariupol and foreign fighter bases near the Polish border and an assortment of weapons depots. There are also reports that neo-Nazi elements, particularly near their stronghold at Mariupol are blocking refugee escape corridors thus driving up civilian casualty counts unneccessarily.

……………………….   you should question everything that you are being told by anyone and from any source. But you should still seek out alternative sources and stories to consider before thinking upon them and deciding what to believe. Only by using your critical thinking skills can you arrive at some general semblance of the truth while humbly accepting that you can never be too certain of the truth. 

…..  more https://www.veteransforpeace.org/pressroom/news/2022/03/17/release-veterans-warn-against-no-fly-zone-ukrai

March 21, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

European countries make an exception for uranium from Russia – no sanctions on importing that!

So far, the EU has not put uranium on any sanctions list. Because only Russia can supply suitable fuel rods for many Eastern European nuclear power plants. Without Russia, the technicians at the Bohunice nuclear power plant in western Slovakia have a problem.

Here it is easy to imagine what an immediate embargo on raw materials from Russia would mean. They need uranium to keep the electricity flowing. But there is only one supplier who can supply the reactors with fuel. And that is, of all things, a Russian state-owned company. Slovakia has put itself in an awkward position.

Now Putin is bombing Ukraine. And yet uranium imports must continue. Of course, even Germany has not yet been able to bring itself to impose an energy embargo – the fear of skyrocketing prices, unemployment and cold living rooms is too great. But other European states also have red lines.
It is no coincidence that uranium is not on any EU sanctions list so far.

 Sueddeutsche Zeitung 17th March 2022

https://www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/energie-atomkraft-uran-russland-1.5549686

March 21, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Hope, hard reality mix in Fukushima town wrecked by nuclear disaster

Hope, hard reality mix in Fukushima town wrecked by nuclear disaster, Japan Today Mar. 20 By Mari Yamaguchi,  Yasushi Hosozawa returned on the first day possible after a small section of his hometown, Futaba, reopened in January — 11 years after the nuclear meltdown at the nearby Fukushima Daiichi plant.

It has not been easy.

 Yasushi Hosozawa returned on the first day possible after a small section of his hometown, Futaba, reopened in January — 11 years after the nuclear meltdown at the nearby Fukushima Daiichi plant.

It has not been easy.

Futaba, which hosts part of the plant, saw the evacuation of all 7,000 residents because of radiation after the March 11, 2011, quake and subsequent tsunami that left more than 18,000 people dead or missing along Japan’s northeastern coast.

Only seven have permanently returned to live in the town.

“Futaba is my home … I’ve wanted to come back since the disaster happened. It was always in my mind,” Hosozawa, 77, said during an interview with The Associated Press at his house, which is built above a shed filled with handcrafted fishing equipment.

An abandoned ramen shop sits next door, and so many houses and buildings around him have been demolished, the neighborhood looks barren.

A retired plumber, Hosozawa had to relocate three times over the past decade. Returning to Futaba was his dream, and he patiently waited while other towns reopened earlier.

To his disappointment, the water supply was not reconnected the day he returned. He had to fill plastic containers with water from a friend’s house in a nearby town.

The town has no clinics, convenience stores or other commercial services for daily necessities. He has to leave Futaba to get groceries or to see his doctor for his diabetes medicine.

On a typical day, he makes a breakfast of rice, miso soup and natto. In the late morning, he drives about 10 minutes to Namie, a town just north of Futaba, to buy a packed lunch and to shop.

He takes a walk in the afternoon, but “I don’t see a soul except for patrolling police.” He drops by the train station once in a while to chat with town officials. After some evening sake at home, he goes to bed early while listening to old-fashioned Japanese “enka” songs.

He looks forward to the spring fishing season and likes to grow vegetables in his garden.

But Hosozawa wonders if this is the best way to spend his final years. “I won’t live much longer, and if I have three to four more years, I’d rather not be in a Futaba like this,” he says. “Coming back might have been a mistake.”

“Who would want to return to a town without a school or a doctor? I don’t think young people with children will want to come,” he said.

More than 160,000 residents evacuated

When massive amounts of radiation spewed from the plant, more than 160,000 residents evacuated from across Fukushima, including 33,000 who are still unable to return home.

Of the 12 nearby towns that are fully or partially designated as no-go zones, Futaba is the last one to allow some people to return to live. There are still no-go zones in seven towns where intensive decontamination is conducted only in areas set to reopen by 2023.

Many Futaba residents were forced to give up their land for the building of a storage area for radioactive waste, and Fukushima Daiichi’s uncertain outlook during its decades-long cleanup makes town planning difficult.

March 21, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Exceptional warmth at North Pole, 28 degrees Celsius above normal

 Record ‘bomb cyclone’ bringing exceptional warmth to North Pole. Arctic temperatures could approach the melting point as they surge nearly 50 degrees above normal. Temperature differences from normal predicted over the Arctic early Wednesday from the American (GFS) model. The difference is
around 50 degrees (28 Celsius) at the North Pole. (ClimateReanalyzer.org).

A record-breaking “bomb cyclone” that began its development over the U.S. East Coast on Friday is bringing an exceptional insurgence of mild air to the Arctic. Temperatures around 50 degrees (28 Celsius) above normal could visit the North Pole on Wednesday, climbing to near the freezing mark.

It’s a highly unusual and extreme bout of circumstances, particularly considering the North Pole is still in a nearly six-month period of darkness known as “polar night.” The sun doesn’t fully rise above the horizon between fall and spring equinoxes, contributing to the bone-chilling temperatures customary to the inhospitable region.

 Washington Post 15th March 2022

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2022/03/15/north-pole-melting-arctic-climate/

March 21, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Labor returned in South Australia landslide, but questions loom over hydrogen future — RenewEconomy

Labor’s landslide win in South Australia, which saw energy minister Dan van Holst Pellekaan lose his seat, has implications for the grid leading world’s transition to renewables, and national policy. The post Labor returned in South Australia landslide, but questions loom over hydrogen future appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Labor returned in South Australia landslide, but questions loom over hydrogen future — RenewEconomy

March 21, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Russian invasion a stark reminder we should have doubled-down on renewables years ago — RenewEconomy

Localised clean energy production is not just necessary to tackle climate change. It will prove vital as we navigate the turbulent decade we find ourselves in. The post Russian invasion a stark reminder we should have doubled-down on renewables years ago appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Russian invasion a stark reminder we should have doubled-down on renewables years ago — RenewEconomy

March 21, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Ruling pressures Japan to set proper damages for Fukushima nuclear disaster — Fukushima 311 Watchdogs

March 19, 2022 (Mainichi Japan) The amount of compensation has been finalized in a series of class-action lawsuits brought by people affected by the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station managed by Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings (TEPCO). The Supreme Court rejected appeals filed by TEPCO in six cases. It is a message […]

Ruling pressures Japan to set proper damages for Fukushima nuclear disaster — Fukushima 311 Watchdogs

March 21, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Radioactive iodine levels in primary cooling water at the Ikata Nuclear Power Plant Unit 3 increase threefold. — Fukushima 311 Watchdogs

(From left) Units 3, 2, and 1 of Shikoku Electric Power Co.’s Ikata Nuclear Power Plant in Ikata Town, Ehime Prefecture, Japan, December 14, 2021; photo by Takao Kitamura from a Honsha helicopter. 2022/3/18 Shikoku Electric Power Co. and Ehime Prefecture announced on April 18 that the concentration of radioactive iodine in the primary cooling […]

Radioactive iodine levels in primary cooling water at the Ikata Nuclear Power Plant Unit 3 increase threefold. — Fukushima 311 Watchdogs

March 21, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Containers toppled over, tanks shifted sideways Increasing radioactive waste poses risk due to earthquake at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant — Fukushima 311 Watchdogs

March 18, 2022The water level in the spent nuclear fuel pool in Unit 2 of TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (Okuma and Futaba, Fukushima Prefecture) dropped on March 17 after an earthquake measuring 6 on the Japanese seismic scale struck off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture, causing TEPCO to temporarily halt cooling of the […]

Containers toppled over, tanks shifted sideways Increasing radioactive waste poses risk due to earthquake at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant — Fukushima 311 Watchdogs

March 21, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Contaminated soil piles up in vast Fukushima cleanup project — Fukushima 311 Watchdogs

March 18, 2022 More than a decade of decontamination efforts around the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant has allowed thousands of evacuees to return home. But there are still some areas off limits due to the radiation levels. And as contaminated soil piles up, former residents are wondering when, or if, they will go […]

Contaminated soil piles up in vast Fukushima cleanup project — Fukushima 311 Watchdogs

March 21, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Tsunami advisory lifted for northeastern Japan — Fukushima 311 Watchdogs

March 16, 2022, Japan’s meteorological agency has lifted a tsunami advisory it issued for the northeastern parts of the country following an earthquake off the Pacific coast. The magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck at around 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday. It had a maximum intensity of 6-plus on Japan’s seismic scale of zero to 7. The depth […]

Tsunami advisory lifted for northeastern Japan — Fukushima 311 Watchdogs

March 21, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

AGL gets green light for 2GWh big battery at Liddell coal plant — RenewEconomy

AGL wins approval for Liddell big battery, at site of soon to be closed coal plant, which will have storage of up to 2 gigawatt hours. The post AGL gets green light for 2GWh big battery at Liddell coal plant appeared first on RenewEconomy.

AGL gets green light for 2GWh big battery at Liddell coal plant — RenewEconomy

March 21, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment