Voices from Russia

Tuesday, 9 April 2013

Russia Won’t Send an Official Delegation to Margaret Thatcher’s Funeral

00 Margaret Thatcher caricature 01. 09.04.13

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On Tuesday, Presidential Press Secretary Dmitri Peskov stated that Russia wouldn’t send an official delegation to the funeral of former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who died at the age of 87.

9 April 2013

Voice of Russia World Service

http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_04_09/Russia-won-t-be-officially-presented-at-Margaret-Thatcher-s-funeral-official/

Editor’s Note:

Do you need proof that Russia’s turning leftward? Look at the above. VVP is 180 degrees removed from the antics of rightwing bozos such as Potapov, Paffhausen, Dreher, Mattingly, and Trenham. There are unsubstantiated rumours that VVP wants to institute a “Red Monarchy”… don’t laugh… that’s what the Scandinavian monarchies are. After all, Jens Stoltenberg is a leftist Socialist Prime Minister who knelt before his king to receive his office. This shows VVP’s wisdom… he’s the Great Restorer… of Tsarist Russia and the USSR… both at the same time! He’s taking the best of both and tossing out the bad… what’s not to like in that?

The New Russia rising will be both Red AND White… that’s why the extremists on the Far Right fringe of the ROCOR better get with the programme… or leave us. That would leave the decent ordinary folks… that can’t come too soon for me (and for many others, too)…

BMD

 

Thursday, 16 August 2012

Breivik Blasphemed Security Services, Society, and the Knights Templar

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Up until the cold-blooded-mass-killings by home-grown white supremacist terrorist Anders Breivik, most people thought Norway was one of the safest nations on earth. The double attack left not only Norway, but also the world, stunned and in search of answers as to how this could’ve happened. The Breivik case took a new twist yesterday when a statement, allegedly from the “Knights Templar”, demanded his release. Norway’s been forced to take a cold hard look at itself, and in a 482-page report submitted to Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg on the failures that allowed the madman to bomb government buildings and run rampant executing youth for hours, it’s come to rational and practical solutions, finding fault with key areas of security that failed to deter Breivik.

According to the Jerusalem Post, the report found that the authorities were aware of the activities of Breivik months before the attacks, when he purchased huge quantities of materials, including liquid fertiliser, that one could use to make bombs, but the security services never placed him on a watch list. The report noted, “We could’ve prevented the attack on the government complex on 22 July through effective implementation of already adopted security measures”. Apart from the aforementioned problem, another key finding was that the government buildings Breivik attacked weren’t sufficiently hardened against sabotage, they’d been identified as a security risk years earlier, but they were never properly brought up to standards.

As security services and police the world over know, if preventative measures fail, then, response time is of utmost importance in extreme situations. According to the report, key responses and measures failed miserably, and these failures, for the most part, were in the command structure. Norway has world-class highly-trained security personnel, but their deployment wasn’t effective; the military didn’t get timely information, and those involved didn’t follow set emergency procedures. First responders didn’t even have a description of Breivik until 20 minutes after the first attack, which they could’ve used to stop him before he reached Utøya Island. The most critical failure was when authorities were aware of the massacre taking place on Utøya Island, but they wasted critical time, which allowed Breivik to gun down his young victims on the island for 75 minutes. According to the Jerusalem Post, apparently, they couldn’t find a helicopter, and the boat they were supposed to use wasn’t able to carry all of the security forces responding to the attack.

Although part of the blame lies with the authorities, a large part has to lie with society, because of its inability to comprehend the viciousness and insanity of predators like this, so, they aren’t prepared to deal with them. Yes, sadly, part of the blame lies with peace-loving people, who can’t comprehend the monstrosities that some men are capable of. We saw this with Hitler, we saw this on 9/11, and we saw this with Breivik. For countries like Russia, the USA, Israel, and the UK, just to list a few, society and the authorities are ready, prepared, and experienced in dealing with these sorts of attacks; unfortunately, for Norway, it was a wakeup call from Breivik, who mercilessly took advantage of weaknesses in the security architecture of the country.

As the government of Norway and the world continue to debate on security, the inhumanity and unrepentant nature of Breivik and his brethren continues to make a mockery of the civilised world, with a statement allegedly from the supposed “Knights Templar”, an organisation that Breivik claimed to be a member of, but which has no connection to the real order of the Knights Templar. Furthermore,   forensic criminologists involved in the Breivik case doubt that the organisation actually exists. The e-mail demands that that the court find Breivik innocent and that his actions were necessary in waging the war that they are involved in. The writer calls Breivik, “their commander”, and vows to destroy the upper echelon of Norwegian society if the court doesn’t meet their demands to free Breivik. The e-mail was sent to recipients all over the country on Monday, after the release of the report mentioned above, prompting an investigation of the purported “Second in command of the Knights Templar Norway” by the Police Security Service of Norway (PST). In the e-mail, the writer claims to be the “deputy commander” of a cell of the organisation in Norway, and issued a warning to all advocates of multiculturalism.

I agree with what Jay Rubenstein, a blogger at the Huffington Post, wrote, “As a historian, I do recognize in him (Breivik) a peculiarly Western Christian transgression, one as old as Philip the Fair… projecting vile, sick, and paranoid dreams onto the Knights Templar… distorting what was originally, in fact, a warped vision of Christian virtue, and using it as justification for bringing dark fantasies to life”. Many believe that the Knights Templar were an honourable noble company, which even protected Jews; its name is used by hate groups to justify their sick abhorrence of others. Like the Ku Klux Klan, who claim to be “Christian Knights”, Breivik’s delusional belief system blasphemes the Christian Faith. The Knights Templar fought for the defenceless, I seriously doubt they would’ve supported a madman who cold-bloodedly gunned down children in a twisted insane quest to cleanse his country of “inferior” ethnics through bloodshed.

14 August 2012

John Robles

Voice of Russia World Service

http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_08_14/Security-Services-society-and-Templar-Knights-blasphemed-by-Breivik/

Thursday, 9 August 2012

23 July 2012. VOR Presents… Memorials Held in Norway for the Victims of Last Year’s Terrorist Attack

On 22 July 2012, Norway remembered the victims of a double attack that shook the world a year ago. On that day, in the city centre’s government quarter, an explosion shook Oslo, eight people died and another 98 received various injuries. Later, the terrorist attacked a Norwegian Labour Party Workers’ Youth League (AUF) camp on Utøya Island, killing 69 people and wounding 60. The suspect in both crimes, Anders Behring Breivik, voluntarily surrendered to police.

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Before the memorial in Oslo for the victims of a double attack began, police made a thorough inspection of the city centre, using specially-trained dogs.

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At 11.00, Norwegian royal family members (pictured, at right, King Harald V) and Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg (left), laid wreaths at the explosion site at the parliamentary centre in Oslo.

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Across Norway, memorial services marked the anniversary of the terrible events. In the image above, we see the Norwegian royal family taking part in a ceremony near a destroyed government building in Oslo. Left to right: Princess Mette-Marit, Crown Prince Haakon, Prime Minister’s wife, Ingrid, Queen Sonja, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, and King Harald.

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Members of the Norwegian royal family and Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg attended a memorial service at the Oslo Domkirke. After the service, Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit met with relatives of those killed and injured on 22 July 2011. From left to right: Princess Märtha Louise, Queen Sonja, and King Harald.

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On Utøya Island, on 22 July 2012, a memorial event organised by the AUF of the Norwegian Labour Party marked the first anniversary of the tragic events that took place a year ago. A ferry took relatives and friends of the teenagers killed and injured by Breivik to the island to lay flowers at the scene of the tragedy.

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On the evening of 22 July, Norwegians marched in the city streets holding flowers and candles; a concert by Norwegian and foreign artists at Town Hall Square in Oslo memorialised the tragic events of 2011. In the image above, we see relatives and friends of those killed and injured visiting Utøya Island on 22 July 2012.

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22 July 2012

Voice of Russia World Service

http://rus.ruvr.ru/photoalbum/82452664/82471194/

Wednesday, 27 July 2011

27 July 2011. A Red Tory’s Primer of Quotes… REAL Conservatives… REAL Socialists… Red and White Together!

Cooperation is Open to Everyone…

Early Soviet poster

1920s

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You can tell much about someone by what they find inspirational… the following inspired me… may it, at least, illuminate my thought for you; at best, may it inspire you as well…

BMD

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My objection to Liberalism (modern “conservatism”) is this… it’s the introduction into the practical business of life of the highest kind… namely, politics… of philosophical ideas instead of political principles.

British PM Benjamin Disraeli

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If we look at the problems that we need to resolve, one of the biggest is the huge income gap between the people at the top and the bottom of the scale. Combating poverty is obviously one of our top priorities in the immediate term, and we still have to do a lot to improve our pension system, too, because the correlation between pensions and the average wage is still lower here than in Europe. The gap between incomes at the top and bottom end of the scale is still high here… a 15.6 to 15.7-fold difference. This is less than in the United States today (they have a figure of 15.9) but more than in the UK or Italy (where they have 13.6 to 13.7). However, this remains a big gap for us, and fighting poverty is one of our biggest priorities.

Russian PM Vladimir Putin

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Freedom is the right to be wrong, not the right to do wrong.

Canadian PM John Diefenbaker

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Democracy is the wholesome and pure air without which a socialist public organisation can’t live a full-blooded life.

Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachyov

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We wish to control big business so as to secure, amongst other things, good wages for the wage-workers and reasonable prices for the consumers. Wherever in any business the prosperity of the businessman is obtained by lowering the wages of his workmen and charging an excessive price to the consumers we wish to interfere and stop such practises. We won’t submit to that kind of prosperity any more than we’ll submit to prosperity obtained by swindling investors or getting unfair advantages over business rivals.

US President Theodore Roosevelt

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We’ve never quarrelled with anyone, and we’ve never caused any problems to anyone. Our hearts are always open to those who come with good intent. This year made us more confident that we’ve chosen the right path. Sometimes, I think what an interesting thing history is! Those who once lectured us, now, speak with respect of the Byelorussian development model. Today, as the “infection” in the world economy sparks off a severe crisis, we see that what we’ve been doing all these years was right. Sometimes, we were groping our way forward, relying on intuition. However, the main thing for us has always been that we should live by our own intelligence, by our own labour, and in the interests of our people. Do you remember how harshly we were criticised for subsidising the rural areas? However, when the food crisis occurred, the countries that could provide food for themselves by their own means were the winners. Those included our Byelorussia, for we supported our farmers in every possible way. Many told us, with some urgency, to remodel our economy on the model of the private market. However, we decided not to trust in an often-volatile market. We’re didn’t provoke today’s crisis, which is sending shockwaves all around the world. On the contrary, the crisis came out of an ideology that we’ve always resolutely fought. The coming year will be difficult, but Byelorussians are accustomed to difficulties. We’ve faced harder times. We’ve not only managed not to fall into the abyss; we’ve managed to build a new Byelorussia with a reliable safety net.

Byelorussian President Aleksandr Lukashenko

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Reconquer the streets, the markets… the public spaces… with the same message of opposition… “We’re devastated, but we won’t give up”. With torches and roses, we deliver this message to the world… “We don’t let fear break us… and we don’t let the fear of fear silence us.

Norwegian PM Jens Stoltenberg

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You’re all idiots… you believe that you can learn from your own experience; I prefer to learn from the mistakes of others to avoid their mistakes.

German Reichskanzler Otto von Bismarck

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As I’ve said before, the ever-more sophisticated weapons piling up in the arsenals of the wealthiest and the mightiest can kill the illiterate, the ill, the poor, and the hungry, but they cannot kill ignorance, illnesses, poverty, or hunger.

Cuban President Fidel Castro Ruz

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Mark my word; if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] Party, and they’re sure trying to do so, it’s going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can’t and won’t compromise. I know; I’ve tried to deal with them.

US Senator Barry Goldwater (R-AZ)

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A lot of people give out the sob story, “Oh, US imperialism, imperialism, we’re poor because of imperialism …” People don’t realise that arrogant local élites contributed to the detrimental effects of American imperialism. If people were honest and decent, if our élite had stood up for our sovereignty, it wouldn’t have happened. Our élite contributed to it.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

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Power isn’t an end in itself. Power’s only a tool that we use to preserve life, peace, and order; therefore, even when we condemn tyranny and despotism in all its forms, we can’t help but conclude that a weak government is a dangerous thing. Don’t forget that a power vacuum leads to anarchy; ergo, the government shouldn’t ever even appear to be weak.

Russian PM Graf Pyotr Stolypin

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Every day I become more convinced, there’s no doubt in my mind, as many intellectuals have said, that it’s necessary to transcend capitalism. However, we can’t transcend capitalism through capitalism itself; we must do it through socialism, true socialism, with equality and justice. I’m also convinced that it’s possible to do it under democracy, but not under what Washington calls “democracy”. We have to re-invent socialism. It can’t be the kind of socialism that we saw in the Soviet Union, but it’ll emerge as we develop new systems built upon cooperation, not competition.

Venezuelan President Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías

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Whatever you do, adhere to the Union. We’re a great country, and shall become one of the greatest in the universe if we preserve it; we’ll sink into insignificance and adversity if we suffer it to be broken.

Canadian PM John A MacDonald

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The time is long overdue for the Federal Reserve, President Bush, and Congress to start making fundamental changes in their economic policies, so that government begins to represent the needs of all Americans, and not just the wealthy and their lobbyists. If we don’t, I fear very much that, for the first time in the modern history of our country, the next generation will have a lower standard of living than their parents, and that would be a real tragedy.

US Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT)

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A preventive war, to my mind, is an impossibility today. How could you have one if one of its features would be several cities lying in ruins, several cities where many, many thousands of people would be dead, and injured, and mangled, the transportation systems destroyed, sanitation implements and systems all gone? That isn’t preventive war; that’s war. I don’t believe there’s such a thing; and, frankly, I wouldn’t even listen to anyone seriously that came in and talked about such a thing. … It seems to me that when, by definition, a term is just ridiculous in itself, there’s no use in going any further. There are all sorts of reasons, moral, and political, and everything else, against this theory, but it’s so completely unthinkable in today’s conditions that I thought it’s no use to go any further.

US President Dwight D Eisenhower

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