13 August 2012. Reports of Events Unfolding… Why was JP at Potapov’s Parish on Saturday?

______________________________

One of the Cabinet wrote in:

JP was at St John the Baptist Cathedral in the District on Saturday. Do you think that ROCOR would be crazy enough to receive him?

Firstly, I’ve nothing more to go on than this. However, Potapov and Fathausen are political soulmates, and they frequent the same Far Right venues in the District. To speak frankly, Potapov’s always been a bit of a loose cannon, as he’s married into the Rodzianko clan (he has an independent income as a government apparatchik, to boot, which makes it difficult to bridle him). It’s why he went off on one of the Rodzianko clan members on the official ROCOR website. Remember, Potapov arranged for the squiffy Greek nuns to go over to the ROCOR, but Vladyki Hilarion wouldn’t put up with their mulish disobedience, so, he kicked them out.

I wouldn’t think that ROCOR would take in Fathausen. It’d be a mess, and Hilarion’s too much of a “nice guy” to want a fight on his hands. As one of my faithful contacts put it, “He doesn’t know how to say ‘no’. He wants to be known as a nice guy”. I don’t believe that Potapov would want to get involved with a risky scenario such as suing the OCA. However, JP’s not wrapped overly-tightly, so, it’s impossible to predict what he’d do, or how he’d react to this-or-that move by Hilarion or Potapov. If I were the ROCOR, I’d stay out of this, and that’s what I believe will happen.

Kids… it’s going to get MURKIER in the near term. Don’t jump to conclusions. Remember Treebeard’s advice… “Don’t be hasty!”

Barbara-Marie Drezhlo

Monday 13 August 2012         

Albany NY 

Greece’s GDP Plummets

______________________________

Greece‘s GDP shrunk 6.2 percent in the second quarter of the year, according to ELSTAT statistics reports. The Greek economy is in recession and experts predict that the GDP will slump 7 percent this year. Greece badly needs 3 billion Euros to (118 billion Roubles. 3.7 billion USD. 2.36 billion UK Pounds) fulfil its bailout obligations; otherwise, it won’t receive another 11.5 billion Euros (452 billion Roubles. 14.2 billion USD. 9.04 billion UK Pounds) in aid from the EU, the IMF, and the ECB.

13 August 2012

Voice of Russia World Service

http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_08_13/Greeces-GDP-plummets/

Editor’s Note:

The ND/PASOK coalition is dragging Greece into the cesspit. It’s taxing the unemployed, and allowing the affluent effluent to get off relatively scot-free. That’s EVIL… and it’s precisely what the Grand Olde Phonies want to do here in the USA. However, SYRIZA waits in the wings as Greece staggers towards the collapse of its Free Market economy… and it’s not the only economy to be in such shape due to Neoliberal (“conservative”) excess. It’s now time to pay for the crackbrained “tax cuts” of the right. The only question is, “Shall the rich, who benefitted, pay, or, shall the ordinary folks, who were screwed, receive the bill for the party?” Yes, indeed…

BMD

Romney’s “Sikhs vs Sheikhs”: A “Mistake”… or Playing to His “Base”

______________________________

It is almost impossible for any thinking and rational person to believe that a man with an accumulated wealth of over 200 million dollars would be able, out of ignorance, or simple tiredness, to make so many gaffes and blunders, and insult so many people as Mitt Romney has done lately. When we look further, are we to believe that the rich, powerful, and supposedly educated Romney can be so incredibly stupid to mistake “Sheiks” and “Sikhs?” Okay, things happen, but right on the heels of the event, it’s hard to imagine, even from a man who once forgot his dog on the roof of his car and took off down the highway. Romney committed such a slip-of-the-tongue when apparently expressing his condolences to those affected by the recent killing of members of the Sikh faithful in Oak Creek WI. I say “apparently” expressing condolences because he wasn’t addressing any member of the Sikh community at the time, and if you think I am coming down too hard on him because I’m not an apologist for Mr Romney, then, think again. Yes, “apparently”, because he was speaking to his supporters in Iowa, his “base”.

During his speech, he made the “mistake” several times; he called their place of worship a “Temple of the Sheik’s” and even added, “The Sheik people, as well as their religion, are one of the most peaceful”. This man knows exactly what he’s doing, and I believe he carefully plans and orchestrates all of his “mistakes” and “gaffes” to play to his “base”, which I’ll get to in a minute. Such a callous and insulting “error” has no real place in the public debate, and were it not in the context of a presidential election, many would in no way so easily brush it aside, at least.

As for the “Sheik” gaffe, a spokesman for the Republican, Rick Hill, explained that the politician was just tired and incorrectly used words that are similar in pronunciation. “Incorrectly used similar words”, nice, if you’re a redneck driving a pickup. In all likelihood, this is exactly the type of person who Romney’s playing to, because, you see, in American politics, and, in particular, Republican politics, the uneducated, racist, and xenophobic poor white voter is one of their most important assets. Call them NASCAR folks, the working class, those down-home-folks, “real” Americans, “good” Christians, the good-ole-boys, or what have you, the fact of the matter is that these kind of people are so numerous in the USA that their votes put people like George W Bush into the White House, not once, but twice, and, for Romney, these are the people who matter.

I’m not an apologist for these people, but I’m sure a few of them do know the difference between a “Sheikh” and a “Sikh”, and a “Muslim” and a “Sikh”, and an “Iranian” and a “Puerto Rican”, the last one I added because my father had to defend our family from attack from American racists in 1979, who wanted to kill us because they thought we were Iranian, and, after 9/11, many members of my family were harassed by police and beaten in the USA because they were brown and could’ve been Muslims. These people would kill or attack even Russians and other whites, just for being different. I should emphasise that the American government classifies Arabs (and even Iranians) as white. The same people who sympathise with the Wisconsin shooter, who hate anything foreign, believe that insulting heads of state and members of the international community is a virtue, they believe it shows guts and strength, and they view ignorance as a virtue, meaning he’s a “regular” guy and “one of us”. That’s truly frightening, when a man in the position they are going to put Romney into can start World War III.

After Romney’s recent “gaffe filled foreign trip” where he and his entourage managed to insult almost everyone they came in contact with, Romney strategist Stuart Stevens said that the trip was “a great success, generally”. I’m sure it was, if we’re talking about scoring points and pleasing ignorant xenophobic members of the American electorate. Going back to the “Sheikh” blunder, coming on the heels of the event, it was either a completely and unbelievably stupid error (and I’ve already said that this isn’t something I believe) or it was something much darker and sinister indeed.

When we look at the fact that many of these white supremacists and neo-Nazis are so ignorant that they’d confuse a Sikh with a Muslim, and even the shooter in Wisconsin was so filled with xenophobic hate that he ended his own life in what may have been a complete failure to his own twisted ends, and we see a candidate for the position of what many call “The Leader of the Free World” making the exact same error, it makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Yet, he may well become the next president of the USA, and, sadly, for the world, this will lead to more death and destruction, and, quite possibly, World War III, unless Romney is just pretending.

On his recent visit to Poland, Israel, and London he managed to offend almost everyone. Romney called Jerusalem the capital of Israel, he insulted the Palestinians, who many of his aforementioned base see as just Muslim “rag-heads”, he insulted the British, who many in his base see as “elitist” and “tea-drinkers”, and he insulted the Polish, who many of the ignorant see as “stupid” and are called “Polacks” (an American epithet for Polish people) {actually, “Polack” is an English garbling of the Poles own name for themselves: editor}. Therefore, if Romney’s gaffes shocked the world, don’t worry, or worry, as the case may be; he was just playing to his “base”.

The opinions and views expressed here are my own.

10 August 2012

John Robles

Voice of Russia World Service

http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_08_10/Romney-s-Sikhs-vs-Sheikhs-a-mistake-or-playing-to-his-base/

Fourth Anniversary of Georgian Invasion: Special Measures Ensured Proper Training of South Ossetian Militia

______________________________

Today, 8 August 2012, is the fourth anniversary of the invasion of South Ossetia by Georgian Army forces; memorial events are being held throughout the country and in the capital of Tskhinvali. Whilst Mikhail Saakashvili continues to make warlike statements towards Russia, our country remembers its dead. Today, President Putin made some revelations about the conflict and Russia’s relations with South Ossetia. According to the Interfax, one of the events to mark the occasion was an exhibition of paintings that were damaged by Georgian shells and bullets and were placed on display in Tskhinvali on Theatre Square in the centre of the city. The exhibition was called titled “War Through Paintings’ Eyes” and features canvasses painted by prominent South Ossetian artists. The tragically-damaged paintings symbolise the tragedy and sadness of those days.

Even before Georgia invaded the South Ossetia, the Russian Federation and the government of South Ossetia were working together in an attempt to prepare the South Ossetian militia in case Georgia decided to make an incursion into the country. The plan was developed by the Army between 2006 and 2007, with the direct participation of President Putin, who, when asked about the plan after holding talks with his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan on Wednesday, told Interfax: “It isn’t a secret. There was a plan in place and we were guided by it. The General Staff developed it in late 2006 to early 2007, and it was negotiated with me. We trained South Ossetian militia under this plan”. President Putin also stated, “Although our experts argued that training South Ossetian militia was a hopeless thing, as militia would be weaker than a regular army, even Georgian, it proved more than effective”.

Therefore, despite the fact that the forces of South Ossetia were far weaker and far smaller, they were trained well-enough to mount a noticeable and effective resistance, alongside Russian peacekeepers, against the Georgian aggressors until the Russian Army was able to arrive and drive the Georgian aggressors out of the republic that they had invaded, almost three days later. President Putin said that the experts had been mistaken, saying, “These people (self-defence) proved more than necessary and they courageously defended their motherland, and jointly with the Russian peacekeepers offered resistance to the onslaught from Georgian military formations for three days until the Russian army came”. When asked about his involvement during the invasion when he had been in Beijing {for the Olympics: editor}, President Putin said that he had called Dmitri Medvedev and the defence minister twice, on 7/8 August.

The tragic events were as follows… before midnight on 7 August, the Georgian Army attacked Tskhinvali and nearby villages, using rocket and artillery fire and air strikes on the innocent civilians in the villages. This included the villages of Khetagurovo, Dmenis, Pris, Sarabuk, Satikar, Mugut, Didmukha, Galuanta, and others. On the morning of 8 August, Georgian tanks attacked the southern outskirts of Tskhinvali, including the Russian peacekeepers’ barracks. The city’s defenders and Russian peacekeepers started fighting back, with fierce street fighting continuing throughout the day. Russia’s leaders decided to force the Georgian aggressors to peace and units of the Russian Army entered the republic. Tskhinvali was freed in two days and the Georgian troops were forced far back into their territory.

ITAR-TASS reported that the Russian Ambassador to South Ossetia, Elbrus Kargiyev, pledged that such aggression wouldn’t recur, and that the Russian Federation will guarantee the security of the republic’s population, saying, “Today, we mourn, remember, and grieve over the untimely deaths of women, children, old people, the wonderful young men of Tskhinvali, patriots of their country and, certainly, the Russian peacekeepers. However, there’s also a reason for joy… South Ossetia has the opportunity to live in peace and develop. As Russia’s representative, I guarantee that that the children of South Ossetia will never see the horrors of war. The guarantors of this are the Russian Federation and its political leadership, the leaders of our country and the structures, diplomatic and military, that, at the invitation of the republic’s leadership, and with the will of the Ossetian people, have settled in South Ossetia”.

Meanwhile, Tbilisi continues to terrorise the citizenry of the Republic of Abkhazia and stoke the fires of anti-Russian hysteria. In an interview with RIA-Novosti, Deputy Foreign Minister Grigori Karasin said that the current situation along the border between Georgia and the Republic of Abkhazia is alarming. Mr Karasin stated that Georgian Special Forces regularly penetrate into the Gali District and “persistently terrorize the local population”. He stated that this shows that Georgia is still planning revenge scenarios in the region and that hysteria about Russia’s planned Caucasus 2012 military exercises has been going on for approximately a year. He said there is widespread hysteria about supposed unspecified plans by Russia to destroy Georgian statehood, and he called such talk part on Georgia’s part “propagandistic delirium”.

On Tuesday, General Postnikov told ITAR-TASS, “Our exercise has nothing to do with events in other countries, including Georgia. However, in order to rule out any possibility of speculations on that issue, our military bases in Abkhazia, South Ossetia and even in Armenia will not participate in the Kavkaz-2012 exercise”. According to Mr Karasin, when he spoke about Georgia’s unhinged leader, he said that the international community is used to President Mikhail Saakashvili’s lack of restraint, the Georgian leader makes warlike statements all the time. We should view such accusations appropriately, and take into consideration the “emotionality and provocative nature of the Georgian leadership’s intentions”. We’ll watch the situation closely.

8 August 2012

John Robles

Voice of Russia World Service

http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_08_08/Fourth-anniversary-of-Georgian-invasion-South-Ossetian-militia-was-trained-under-a-special-plan/