The Propaganda War

[JayH]

What a surprise-Russians cheating!Russian officials chasing bribes-well-that is cultural blindspot of normality on Putin's kleptocracy.
Along with Russia's anti social behaviour generally it extends to sport. Every international even should be taken off Russia-- they have chosen to be international pariah's -now also in sport.
It was obvious at the London Olympics that some Russian endurance athletes had remarkable performances .


German TV documentary alleges that ’99 percent’ of Russian Olympic athletes are doping

A German television documentary, broadcast Wednesday night, alleges that the Russian Olympic athletes — with assistance from the country’s anti-doping agency and the knowledge of a high-ranking IAAF official, also from Russia — have engaged in a massive doping operation, with one former Russian athlete saying that “99 percent” of the country’s Olympic athletes have used performance-enhancing drugs.

Another athlete claims she was extorted by Russia’s athletics federation, which demanded payment to cover up a positive doping test.

The documentary’s main allegations come from two Russian whistleblowers: Vitaly Stepanov, a former Russian Anti-Doping Agency official, and his wife, Yuliya Stepanova (formerly Yuliya Rusanova), a former 800-meter runner who has been banned because of abnormalities in her biological passport.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/wp/2014/12/04/german-tv-documentary-alleges-that-99-percent-of-russian-olympic-athletes-are-doping/

[JayH]

Paula Radcliffe tells film-maker to come clean over alleged list of 150 athletes that gave suspicious blood samples


Paula Radcliffe has hit out at a German documentary maker for not handing over documents he claims show a famous British athlete gave suspicious blood samples.

Investigative journalist Hajo Seppelt alleged an IAAF Medical Commission whistleblower had provided him with a list of 150 athletes who gave suspicious samples between 2006 and 2008 - including a famous British name - that were not followed up by drugs testers.

But despite several requests from the sport’s governing body the IAAF, Seppelt has not shared his list and Radcliffe, who has campaigned against drugs cheats throughout her long career, is angry.

[Изумруд]

For those who still maintain there is no Russian soldiers or military equipment in Ukraine:

Over the last 72 hours, increaring reports of regular “Russian army” deployments inside Ukraine emerged, not only from blogging insiders and investigative homepages, but also from the Ukrainian president and army command themselves (a very rare move, despite the widely dominating verbal calming down attempts). Nonetheless, footage to prove such “new” statements was lagging over the first days, a fact, understandable under the current circumstances of the Moscow regime, not willing to uncover its full-scale military invasion into Ukraine. However since yesterday, January 22, several undeniable video sequences from different front sectors across Donbas emerged, undeniably supporting the Ukrainian intelligence reports.

http://conflictreport.info/2015/01/23/hard-evidence-the-regular-russian-army-invades-ukraine/

[calmissile]

For those who still maintain there is no Russian soldiers or military equipment in Ukraine:

http://conflictreport.info/2015/01/23/hard-evidence-the-regular-russian-army-invades-ukraine/

Good article. Thanks for posting.

[BillyB]

For those who still maintain there is no Russian soldiers or military equipment in Ukraine:

http://conflictreport.info/2015/01/23/hard-evidence-the-regular-russian-army-invades-ukraine/

Изумруд, there is no need to prove Russian soldiers are in Ukraine. People have made up their mind and even if Putin is lying, many Pro Russians will not change their minds about Putin. After Putin took Crimea, he admitted the unidentified little green men there were his even though initially he said Russian troops weren't there. Did the Russian people get mad at Putin for lying? NO. Most were actually impressed Putin used whatever means necessary to get what he wants and Russians are proud Putin is taking steps to bring them back to the glory days.

[lordtiberius]

Hillary Clinton mocks Putin.  She seems more relaxed and less shrill.  She might win.

[AkMike]

Doll, read this and if it's possible for you to truthfully answer... 

 http://awoxx-2207.livejournal.com/45523.html


 Can you still say that you're proud of your country.. 

[sleepycat]

A country filled with descendants of rape victims of the Mongol horde.
Maybe that's where the Russkies get their warlike tendencies from...

[AkMike]

A country filled with descendants of rape victims of the Mongol horde.
Maybe that's where the Russkies get their warlike tendencies from...

 No! That's where they get the few good features that they have. 

[JayH]

Sign up--it can only help--

UN Security Council: To recognize the RF President Vladimir Putin war criminal

200000 141 282
141 282 signatories. Let's collect 200,000 signatures
Recognize the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin war criminal

[JayH]

We can only hope that they can't afford the other 50% !!

BREAKING: RT, TASS AND ROSSIYA SEGODNYA FORCED TO CUT BUDGETS FOR 2015 BY 50% - PROPAGANDA IS DYING

Ruble’s Fall Checks Global Expansion of Pro-Kremlin Media
By The Moscow Times @MoscowTimes
Pro-Kremlin broadcaster RT and news agency Rossiya Segodnya will have to slash spending by 50 percent or more and likely give up on expansion plans due to the ruble's steep devaluation.

Ruble’s Fall Checks Global Expansion of Pro-Kremlin Media

Pro-Kremlin broadcaster RT and news agency Rossiya Segodnya will have to slash spending by 50 percent or more and likely give up on expansion plans as the steep devaluation of the Russian ruble hits their margins, news reports said.

"The ruble's devaluation means that our budget is already cut almost in half," RT's editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan was quoted as saying by the Vedomosti newspaper this week.

State-controlled RT, whose mission statement is to "acquaint an international audience with the Russian viewpoint," will likely have to cease broadcasting in many countries and give up on plans to create French- and German-language channels, Simonyan said. About 80 percent of the network's expenditures are in dollars and euros, she added.

Russian officials have said the same. "This year, financing for [overseas media] will be cut in half, if you consider the hard currency equivalent," Yekaterina Larina, head of the Communications and Press Ministry's department on state media policy, told news agency RIA Novosti earlier this month.

While RT had a budget of $445 million in 2014, based on an exchange rate of 30.5 rubles to the dollar, this year it will have only $236 million, RIA quoted Larina as saying. A dollar currently costs about 65 rubles following a sharp weakening of the Russian currency last year.

[Larry1]

Russian Media Attack Belarus: A Warning For Minsk?

The past few weeks have seen an unusual increase of anti-Belarusian activity in pro-government Russian media and blogs.

The Kremlin has not yet used its strongest media tools. However, the manner of the attack is in some respects similar to the information warfare which preceded Russia's annexation of Crimea.

In the face of the unfolding economic crisis in Russia and Belarus and the Belarusian presidential elections scheduled for 2015, this could signal a new shift in the relations between Russia and the regime of Alexander Lukashenka.

First, the widely-read pro-Kremlin blogger Aleksandr Shumsky has published a detailed post saying that Belarus was a natural part of Russia and suggesting that Russia should actively prevent attempts of a pro-Western revolution in Belarus.

Then, the popular entertainment TV channel REN TV on December 20 aired a half-hour long film about Belarus claiming that the West is preparing a coup d’etat in Belarus, criticising both the Belarusian opposition and the regime of Lukashenka.

Failing to spell the names of some Belarusian politicians and media outlets correctly, REN TV told its viewers about Western-sponsored bloody revolt being prepared in Belarus. This film came out as part of a three hours long marathon of anti-Western propaganda, along with conspiracy theories and homophobia.

The influential nationalistic online publication Sputnik & Pogrom is regularly publishing articles denouncing the right of Belarusians to have an independent state, denouncing the existence of the Belarusian language and culture.

Some of the articles, in a typical manner, portray the Belarusian democratic opposition as Nazis and accuse Lukashenka of being weak and opportunistic. The fact that Lukashenka has maintained good relations with Ukraine in 2014 is also a topic for hysterically critical publications on different levels.

Although the media participating in this campaign do not always have a formal affiliation with the Kremlin, in today's Russia there can be no illusions as to the orchestration of such things or at least their approval by state ideologists...

http://belarusdigest.com/story/russian-media-attack-belarus-warning-minsk-21055

Mendy, what are your thoughts about this?

[BillyB]

Russian Media Attack Belarus: A Warning For Minsk?



If Russia wanted Belarus, Putin wouldn't give them a warning. This stuff in the news you're reading is to throw people off from what is really happening. Will Belarus be a victim or Trojan horse? I say Trojan horse if they want to keep their country.

[Faux Pas]

Why would Russia foment anything in Belarus? It doesn't make sense as Lukashenko would comply with anything Moscow/Putin wanted. Sounds like more Kremlin disinformation. Hoping to turn attention away from Ukraine?

[AkMike]

Belarus has gone against Putlers wishes in recent times. They can think for themselves! 

[Faux Pas]

Belarus has gone against Putlers wishes in recent times. They can think for themselves! 

Mike I know you're capable of an intellectual discussion on topic. Please keep the slants because of your personal feelings on Ukraine aside? Belarus isn't Ukraine and exhibits none of the factors of Ukraine. Belarus is under an iron fist of the puppet controlled by the Kremlin. Just as Ukraine was before he took off running like his ass was on fire. Lukashenko's stability and economy is directly tied to Putin. So please, offer something more than chants or slogans

[AC]

Mike I know you're capable of an intellectual discussion on topic. Please keep the slants because of your personal feelings on Ukraine aside? Belarus isn't Ukraine and exhibits none of the factors of Ukraine. Belarus is under an iron fist of the puppet controlled by the Kremlin. Just as Ukraine was before he took off running like his ass was on fire. Lukashenko's stability and economy is directly tied to Putin. So please, offer something more than chants or slogans

I'm afraid he's right about this Mike.  I figure if there are little green men in Belarus then they are getting ready to possibly swoop in on Kiev.

[mendeleyev]

Mendy, what are your thoughts about this?

Russia and Belarus exist in what is called a "union state" (since 1999) and although each is separate, they have a nominal union parliament. For example, when visitors enter either country, the migration card used for registration lists both the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus.

Russia and Belarus have never fully implemented that union for several reasons, one of which is that Lukashenko wants to someday be given Putin's spot. Putin, on the other hand, likes Luka about as much as he did his lackey Yanukovich--not all that much.

For his part, Lukashenko is an unreformed communist and runs Belarus according to those economic views. Russia may not be democratic any longer, but the Kremlin has tasted the fruits of capitalism and possesses no desire to go backwards.

The two men intimidate each other. Lukashenko is a giant next to Putin, but he is also fearful of Putin. In the past 12 months, Lukashenko has criticized Putin's annexation of Crimea, and does not support Russia's proxy war in Eastern Ukraine. To rub salt in the wound, Lukashenko has been very open and friendly to Ukrainian president Poroshenko (as has President Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan).

Putin has reciprocated by subtly calling the legitimacy of both nations into question, and sending little hints here and there that he might have to do something to fix that sometime in the future. He even went so far as hinting at a time line for Kazakhstan, subtly noting Nazarbayev's age and his travel for cancer treatments in Germany.

All three are tiptoeing around on this because they are the three founding nations of the Eurasian Union. (The union was Nazarbayev's idea in the first place.)

Do Lukashenko and Nazarbayev fear Russian expansion over their borders? Both have made statements about what might happen should Russia make such an advance. In fact, Lukashenko has voiced his concerns to Putin, and claims that he recently told the Russian president that,

“I say: Vladimir Vladimirovich, don’t worry, we don’t have any tension in this regard. You have to be alert, I tell him, because part of the Pskov, Smolensk and Bryansk lands once belonged to Belarus. So you’ll have to share.”

Both men were given a tour of the new Russian command centre after a CIS summit late last year. Nazarbayev looked impressed, but wary. Lukashenko, who had previously been treated to the tour last May, was visibly uncomfortable and sat several seats away from Putin and Nazarbayev. Part of the Eurasian agreements include giving Moscow the lead on military and policing matters across the union.

[mendeleyev]

I figure if there are little green men in Belarus then they are getting ready to possibly swoop in on Kiev.

Only if Lukashenko was pushed aside first. Luka is part Ukrainian and has been vocal from the start about opposing Russian aggression.

A Lukashenko quote to Western reporters:

“Let us not lie to each other: if not for Russia, ‘DNR’ and ‘LNR’ (rebel Eastern republics) would have been over a long time ago.”

[BillyB]

Luka is part Ukrainian and has been vocal from the start about opposing Russian aggression.

Belarusians support that statement and Luka's popularity ratings have risen since he has given words of support to Ukraine but when it comes to living or dying/removed from power, Luka is going to choose Putin, not Ukraine, especially after he sees how the West is taking care of Ukraine. 

[lordtiberius]

The European Union vs. Russia:
Talking Heads:



Soros explains his rationale for a Lend-Lease/Marshall plan for Ukraine.  He also tells us why Spanish and other foreign fighters have joined Russia.

[Brasscasing]

Igor's becoming an embarrassment to the Putin Regime. We may be reading of his 'retirement' soon...

Moscow agent Strelkov admits Russian army behind Crimean referendum

..."Iror Girkin tells Russian TV that Crimeans did not support Russian annexation

Ex-insurgent leader Igor Girkin ('Strelkov') has admitted in a recent Russian TV interview that the March 2014 Crimean referendum was forced through by Russian occupation forces and received almost no local support.

In an interview on the ‘Polit-Ring TV show on Russia's NeuroMirTV earlier this week, Girkin, who was present throughout the seizure of Crimea before playing a leading role in the Russian insurgency in east Ukraine, admitted that the whole referendum was only possible thanks to the presence of Russian troops.

During the interview, Girkin explained that Crimean MPs had been rounded up and forced to vote for a referendum on the separation of Crimea from Ukraine.

"I did not see any support from the (Crimean) state authorities in Simferopol where I was. It was militants who collected deputies and forced them to vote. Yes, I was one of commanders of those militants," Girkin told Russian TV.

The Russian annexation of Crimea in March 2014 has sparked the biggest European security crisis since the end of the Cold War, leading to a virtual freeze in ties between Russia and the EU. The Russian Federation has repeatedly defended the Crimean referendum as legitimate, and initially claimed that militant forces which seized strategic buildings and infrastructure throughout Crimea in the run-up to the vote were merely concerned local citizens.

However, Russian President Vladimir Putin later admitted that the Russian army had been deployed in Crimea prior to the referendum. Russia also denies sending regular Russian army forces into east Ukraine."...

http://uatoday.tv/news/moscow-agent-strelkov-admits-russian-army-behind-crimean-referendum-404995.html

Brass

[jone]

We watched Bill Maher on HBO last night.  I get a kick out hearing the spin from the other side, coupled with humor.  Maher belongs to the Eduard Bernstein school of thought.

In the routine, Maher was critiquing the Obama administration.  He mentioned that the economy is coming back and that more people are employed.  Then he said he should mention the one big failure of the Obama team.  Here it was, I thought.  He'd highlight the failures in foreign policy.  He'd skewer the team for not engaging on overseas fronts.  Instead, he said that the Obama team has not done enough to heal the environment.   

Once a lib, always a lib.  Its in his blood.

[lordtiberius]

Wow dude thanks for that

[AC]

Only if Lukashenko was pushed aside first. Luka is part Ukrainian and has been vocal from the start about opposing Russian aggression.

A Lukashenko quote to Western reporters:

I guess I am not so sure about that.  He likes being in power I'm sure so in the end would likely choose Moscow over Ukraine.  He may be giving lip service to Poroshenko and may have genuine feelings.  Hard to know how it might play out though if he was given an ultimatum to cooperate with Moscow on allowing them to advance an invasion of Kiev from his territory.  I don't think it will come to that though.