28 April 2018. A Serb Speaks Out on “Silent America”

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This post isn’t about my American friends, but for their silent countrymen.

Why do I have nothing but resentment for Americans? You destroyed my country. You… yes, you, not your government. You paid for those bombs and for the depleted uranium that gives us cancer 25 years after. You paid for it with your tax money. With your votes, you legitimised the crimes done by your warlords. Every single one of you is guilty by association, by embracing the American way of life. Stolen resources from other countries sustain that lifestyle. Your rape and pillage around the world allow you to consume 30-50 percent of all global resources, even though you account for only 3 percent of the world’s population. You’re despicable, obese, “exceptional” ignoramuses… disgusting scum.

28 April 2018

Neno Jovanović 

Facebook

Editor:

Americans delude themselves into thinking that the world envies them. It doesn’t. Before 1992, many people did admire them… American propaganda was very effective. Besides that, the ruling class allowed a modicum of prosperity to the working-class, a situation vastly eroded since the Clintons’ sorry misrule (NAFTA was the first salvo of the fatcats against common people, followed by more attacks on the economic standing of ordinary folk). In fact, world events since 1992 point up the feral, kleptocratic, and hubristical nature of the American ruling class. All too often, the American people remained silent. Silence IS complicity…

The very basis of the USA is indeed “exceptional”… exceptionally evil. Look at Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, and Zuckerberg… if you need an illustration of evil incarnate and what America truly worships, they do very well. Evil doesn’t wear red tights and carry a pitchfork… it looks and sounds distressingly ordinary. Have a care…

BMD

Lavrov Warned Orthodox Churches Not to Play to Around With Politics

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On Thursday, Minister of Foreign Affairs S V Lavrov expressed confidence that the Russian and Serbian Orthodox churches would manage to overcome the present “turbulent times” with dignity, whereas some in the Church in other countries play political games. Speaking at the solemn dedication of the new mosaic in the dome of St Sava Church in Belgrade, Lavrov said:

Today’s event symbolises the spiritual and cultural affinity of our peoples and our churches. It seems to me especially important to demonstrate this unity at a time when both the Russian Orthodox Church and the Serbian Orthodox Church are undergoing a test of their strength. We all see how churches are playing around with politics, whether in the Ukraine, or in Montenegro, or in Macedonia. Our Churches will overcome these turbulent times with dignity, as was always the case with Orthodoxy.

The new mosaic in the dome of St Sava depicts Christ. No other mosaic in the world is comparable to it. The total area of the mosaic is 1,248 square metres (13,434 square feet). It took nine months to create the work, done in a traditional early New Roman style. Seventy artists worked on the mosaic, the construction of which required 40 tonnes of glass. St Sava Church is one of the largest Orthodox churches in the world; it can accommodate 10,000 believers.

22 February 2018

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=69341

Editor:

Sadly, there are many in the OCA and ROCOR who are playing around with rightwing politics. It’s a sad day for the Church that Alexander Webster is now part of Holy Trinity Seminary… it means that the rightwing group around Potapov now controls the ROCOR. It means that the CIA is in the driver’s seat, just as it was in the Cold War. Did Langley dangle money in front of Jordanville? Probably… will Lebedeff defend this as he did the dalliance of Jordanville with the CIA during the Cold War (“We needed the money and we were grateful for it”)? Will this lead to the ROCOR repudiating its union with the Mother Church? Stay tuned… the hateful Vlasovtsy crowd around Potapov is in charge and nothing is set in stone anymore.

BMD

Moscow Condemned Murder of Serbian Politician in Kosovo

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Editor:

I’d bet that the Americans had a hand in this. They’re “making America great again”… please, do spare me…

BMD

On Tuesday, the MID RF said:

We resolutely condemn this cowardly act. Attempts to settle political scores using such methods are fraught with exacerbation of atmosphere of terror and recurrence of the interethnic conflict in the region. We call on all international missions in Kosovo to use their mandates to take exhaustive measures to prevent possible incidents in the region. We hope that corresponding structures will conduct a thorough investigation of what happened to expose those responsible and duly punish them.

On Tuesday, Oliver Ivanović, 64, the leader of the Kosovo Serb party Freedom, Democracy, and Justice, was shot dead as he entered his party’s headquarters in Kosovska Mitrovica. A fellow party member said no one heard any sounds of shooting and a neighbour who was returning from shopping found the wounded politician. Police later found a burnt car without an identification number, which the killers allegedly used. Ivanović was taken to hospital with five gunshot wounds to his chest. Doctors tried to save his life but to no avail.

Earlier, Ivanović served as the State Secretary of the Ministry for Kosovo and Metohija in the Serb government. In January 2016, he was sentenced to nine years in jail for alleged war crimes against Albanians in 1999. In February 2017, the first-instance court’s verdict was overturned and a new trial began. Ivanović was under house arrest and in April 2017, he was allowed to defend himself in court at liberty.

16 January 2018

TASS

http://tass.com/politics/985331

See also:

Serbian president calls murder of top Kosovo Serb politician “‘terrorist attack”

Leading Kosovo Serb politician killed in drive-by shooting, prosecutor says

Belgrade suspends dialogue with Kosovo in EU due to Serbian politician’s murder

Serbian party leader killed in Kosovo: reports

Guess Which Country is the Undisputed Champion in Election Meddling?

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With the entire “Russia interfered in US democracy” story collapsing, Jimmy Dore reminded us which country is the undisputed champion in election meddling. The Carnegie Mellon University study does NOT even include coups and attempts at régime change. The study just counts when the USA tried directly to influence an election for one of the sides. Imagine the results if we added coups, régime change operations, invasions, sanctions, and bombings to the final tally. Here’s a transcript of an NPR interview on the matter:

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

This is hardly the first time a country tried to influence the outcome of another country’s election. By one expert’s count, the USA did it, too, more than 80 times worldwide between 1946 and 2000. That expert is Dov Levin of Carnegie Mellon University. I asked him to tell me about one election where US intervention likely affected the outcome.

DOV LEVIN:

One example of that was our intervention in Serbia (then, Yugoslavia), in the 2000 election there. Slobodan Milošević was running for re-election, and we didn’t want him to stay in power due to his tendency to disrupt the Balkans and his human rights violations (sic). Therefore, we intervened in various ways for the opposition candidate, Vojislav Koštunica. Moreover, we gave funding to the opposition, and we gave them training and campaigning aide. In addition, according to my estimate, that assistance was crucial in enabling the opposition to win.

SHAPIRO:

How often are these interventions public versus covert?

LEVIN:

Basically, about one-third of them are public and two-thirds of them are covert. In other words, the voters in the target don’t know before the election.

SHAPIRO: 

Your count doesn’t include coups or attempts at régime change. Depending on the definitions, it sounds like the tally could actually be much higher.

LEVIN:

You’re right. I didn’t count and discounted covert coup d’états like the USA did in Iran in 1953 or in Guatemala in 1954. I only counted when the USA tried directly to influence an election for one of the sides. I didn’t discuss other types of interventions. However, if we include those, then, of course, the number could be larger.

SHAPIRO:

For example, how often do other countries like Russia try to alter the outcome of elections as compared to the USA?

LEVIN:

Well, for my dataset, the USA is the most common user of this technique. Since 1945, Russia or the USSR used it half as much. My estimate is 36 cases between 1946 to 2000. We know that the Chinese used this technique; the Venezuelans used it when the late Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías was in power, and other countries used it, too.

SHAPIRO:

Arguably, the USA is more vocal than any other country about promoting democracy and democratic values around the world. Does this strike you as conflicting with that message?

LEVIN:

It depends upon if we help the pro-democratic side (sic), as in the case of Milošević that I talked about earlier. I believe that’d be helpful for democracy. If it helps less-nicer candidates or parties, then, naturally, it can be less helpful.

SHAPIRO:

Obviously, your examination of 20th-century attempts to influence elections doesn’t involve hacking because computers weren’t widespread until recently.

LEVIN:

That’s true.

SHAPIRO:

In your view, is technology dramatically changing the game… as we saw in the November election? On the other hand, is this just the latest evolution of an effort that always used whatever tools are available?

LEVIN:

I’d say it’s more the latter. Before, without cyber-hacking tools, I’d say that the Russians or the Soviets infrequently did these types of intervention because one had to use old-style methods such as people meeting in the park in secret giving out and getting information and things like that.

23 April 2017

Alex Christoforou

The Duran

http://theduran.com/guess-which-country-is-the-undisputed-champion-in-election-meddling/