#Speaking out against war is now called political hatred

[coochiequeens]

Russia gave her a harsher sentence for placing stickers in a grocery store then they do men who kill women.

17 Nov 2023

Russian artist Alexandra Skochilenko has been sentenced to jail for seven years after being found guilty of spreading “false information” about the Russian military by replacing a handful of supermarket price tags with messages criticising the war in Ukraine.

The 33-year-old, known as Sasha, is one of thousands of Russians to be detained, fined or jailed for speaking out against Moscow’s invasion of its neighbour amid an escalating crackdown on free speech and opposition to President Vladimir Putin.

Skochilenko was arrested in her native St Petersburg in April 2022, after an elderly customer at the supermarket found the slogans on the price tags and notified the police.

“The Russian army bombed an arts school in Mariupol. Some 400 people were hiding in it from the shelling,” one read, in reference to Russia’s brutal siege of the southern Ukrainian city. Another said, “Russian conscripts are being sent to Ukraine. Lives of our children are the price of this war.”

Judge Oksana Demiasheva delivered the verdict on Thursday hours after Skochilenko, who has a congenital heart defect and coeliac disease, had made a final statement to the court, asking for compassion and to be set free.

As well as the prison term, the artist was banned from using the internet for three years.

Skochilenko, wearing a colourful T-shirt decorated with a large red heart, reacted with shock to the sentence, covering her face and wiping away tears.

Supporters shouted “shame” and “we’re with you Sasha”, the AFP news agency reported.

Skochilenko’s lawyers left without giving any comment.

Skochilenko’s arrest came about a month after authorities adopted a law effectively criminalising any public expression about the war that deviated from the Kremlin’s official line.

Human rights group Memorial – now banned in Russia – said police spent 10 days interrogating supermarket staff and inspecting security camera footage before arresting the artist.

“They sometimes give less for murder than for five price tags in a supermarket,” Boris Vishnevsky, a politician linked to the opposition Yabloko party, told AFP.

“Hopefully, someday, the pendulum will turn the other way.”

Skochilenko was accused of committing what the state prosecutor described as a serious crime out of “political hatred” towards Russia. He had asked for her to be jailed for eight years.

Skochilenko admitted to swapping the tags but denied that the text written on them was false. She said she was a pacifist who valued human life above all else.

“How weak is our prosecutor’s faith in our state and society if he thinks our statehood and public safety can be ruined by five little pieces of paper?” she said in court.

“Everyone sees and knows that you are not judging a terrorist. You’re not trying an extremist. You’re not even trying a political activist. You’re judging a pacifist,” she said.

Skochilenko’s friends and supporters said the verdict was a disgrace [Olga Maltseva/AFP]

Amnesty International condemned the verdict.

“Her persecution has become synonymous with the absurdly cruel oppression faced by Russians openly opposing their country’s criminal war,” it said in a statement.

Memorial has designated Skochilenko a political prisoner and has launched a campaign calling for her release.

She has already been in detention for nearly 19 months, meaning that her overall term will be reduced by more than two years, since every day served in a pre-trial detention centre counts as 1.5 days of time served in a regular penal colony.

But she has struggled in custody due to pre-existing health conditions, and her need for a gluten-free diet, according to her lawyers and her partner.

According to OVD-Info, a prominent rights group that monitors political arrests and provides legal aid, a total of 19,834 Russians have been arrested between February 24 2022, when Russia began its invasion, and late October 2023 for speaking out or demonstrating against the war.

Also on Thursday, opposition politician Vladimir Milov was convicted in absentia of spreading false information about the army and sentenced to eight years. Milov, who was once Russia’s deputy energy minister and is now an ally of imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny, has left the country.

[suratan-zir]

I've never been this close to leaving tumblr forever than I am now. Y'all are so humanistic, so righteous and merciful, when it's not your country that is being bombed into the stone age, not your people tortured, executed, shot and thrown into a mass grave with their hands tied simply for being citizens of a certain country, speaking a certain language. Not your babies being torn apart by missiles, buried under rubble. Not your relatives held in one of the many torture dungeons, being electrocuted through wires attached to their genitals. Not your houses leveled down, burned with everything inside, every little thing you loved or cared for.

Hell, we can even tone it down a notch. It's not you who is being left without electricity and water, without heating in winter, because it's not you who russia is trying to beat/freeze into submission. It's not you going to bed to the sound of an air raid siren and wondering if you'll wake up tomorrow. It's not you receiving insults, slurs and threats from russians. No, they probably don't have any problem with you, but even if they do, luckily for you, you don't speak russian. Because if you did, you could go to literally any place they hang out, any voice or text chat, any social media and ask them yourself. If only you'd spoke Russian, you could ask them what they think about the genocide carried out by their country, their people. And then you wouldn't have any more questions. Then you wouldn't dare to say it's "racist" to call russians what they are - murderers, thieves and their accomplices.

I never said that all russians support this war, this genocide. And I will never say it, it's just statistically impossible. But many of them do, and another large portion simply doesn't care, which in my opinion is even worse. I have less disgust and hatred for russians who say: "go-go pootin, all khokhols must die", then to those who mumble: "I'm not into politics". Because you can't afford to stay neutral and passive when your country is trying to obliterate an entire nation.

You know, those missiles that kill our people and destroy our infrastructure, they are launched from "peaceful" russian cities. Warplanes that fly to kill us fly - they fly over the heads of the "innocent" russians, who are filming it on their phones and cheering on. The only times they would be sad or pissed about it is when those planes suddenly crush on their homes. Or when something flies into their city in exchange for those missiles that flew out of there. This is when they get mad and demand to kill us more effectively.

Lately we are seeing many protests from the mothers and wives of those "poor" russian men who have been drafted into army. Do you know what they are protesting against? Of course you don't, because you don't speak russian, you don't care enough to find out. No, they aren't protesting against the war, genocide, bombings of cities of a neighboring country. They don't demand for the war to end. They demand that their sons and husbands not be sent to the very front line, they demand that they be placed on the 2-3 line of defense, where it is safe. Or they demand better equipment for their men, again, to kill the citizens of a neighboring country more effectively. Because they are not against the genocide, they just don't want their men to hurt during it. Those of us who understand russian language don't need to look at any polls and statistics. We can just ask them ourselves, and we hear their responds very clearly. Even from our own relatives who live in russia or from our former friends. And I wouldn't wish this horrible realization on anyone. Now there are more and more russians who don't support this war. Because they are losing it. They would have absolutely no problem with it if they could "take Kyiv in two days" as was planned. But now they have regrets.

I'm not asking you to blame and ostracize all russians. That's not the point I'm making here. But maybe - just maybe - you can't forgive people for things they didn't do to you? Maybe you can't be forgiving on behalf of others? If you live somewhere in the US, the russians can never harm you, your city will not be bombed, your relatives won't be kidnapped and tortured. Of course you don't hate them, of course you don't condemn them - it's not because you are morally superior - it's because you literally don't have to suffer from their aggression, either physical nor verbal. Your life isn't constantly endangered because of this particular country and people. Of course you can forgive and defend them all you want, and pat yourself on the head afterwards. Such a nice kind human being you are, not at all insensitive.

It's not like there are people who lost their homes, their loved ones. People living under constant shelling, without power and heat, people who survive day after day against all odds. But those people aren't as merciful as you. Only you are the beacon of humanism in this unfair world, good for you.

[fuckyeahmarxismleninism]

The Palestinian Assembly for Liberation and Al-Awda NY send their highest salutations to the Palestinian Resistance, the Freedom Fighters and Defenders of the indigenous Palestinian people; the sole defense against escalating zionist genocide of Palestinians, the sole hand working against the daily torture meted out by the zionist colonizing usurper, the sole shield against the zionist torture and murder of our children, of our brothers and our sisters, and the sole force daring to implement the rights and protections owed Palestinians under all tenets of international law.

PAL and Al-Awda NY call on all people of conscience to demand the immediate dismantlement of all zionist supremacist institutions—from the ghetto camp prison of Gaza, to the illegal and brutal violent settlements, checkpoints, and bases, to the zionist border colonizing forces and their war machine, to the zionist kangaroo courts, and to all cultural and political institutions training zionist colonizers and their youth to hate and torture Palestinians, and to engage in expanding the colonization, genocide and home invasions of Palestinians.

PAL and Al-Awda NY call on Palestinians globally to take their place in history, and to mobilize in all fora in support of the Liberation Operation, to rally in the streets, to draft statements and op-eds, to advocate that civil society and governments in all countries in which they currently reside demand and work to implement the immediate right to return for all Palestinian refugees, and that they support each other in demanding reparations, prosecutions and justice for every zionist crime.

We further demand that the PA and all institutions speaking in the name of Palestinians to include clearly calculated demands for reparations, and to include a NON-NEGOTIABLE DEMAND for Palestinian refugees' immediate and safe RETURN to their original lands and homes.

These principles are basic demands and rights due under international law and universal morality.

PAL and Al-Awda NY further call on those who consider themselves allies and advocates for the Palestinian people to refrain from making demands that distract from any rights of Palestinians, including the fundamental right to self-defense and the right to armed resistance against 75+ years of brutal, horrific zionist war crimes which amount to incremental genocide of the Palestinian people, as enshrined in International Law and numerous UN resolutions. We demand all allies stand in full and unequivocal solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for Liberation and Return.

For over 75 years, Palestinians have struggled for liberation from zionist colonization, hatred, and torture—bravely resisting bloodthirsty massacres, invasions, and expulsion. Now more than ever is the moment for all Palestinians and allies globally to stand proudly, in full support of the brave Palestinian Freedom Fighters who usher in an era of regional and global peace by weakening zionist colonialism and its key role in the global war machine.

All glory to the Palestinian Resistance.

Palestinian Assembly for Liberation and Al-Awda-NY: The Palestine Right To Return Coalition

[omarera]

Below is a long text. The reason I share this is that I think the article below gives a great insight into Swedish culture and debate climate and views of celebrities taking stands in political issues. I think it is a good to read for those who demand the Swedish cast to actively speak out on different political issues.

It also touches upon Sigge and Alex podcast. I am frustrated to see the polarization and cancel culture and also the narrative of Sigge as a Zionist based on that he followed some Insta accounts. And also Edvin and Felicia being labeled Zionists by association. Maybe the article can give some perspectives.

Sigge Eklund is a provocative person, and his and Alex Schulman’s pod is both popular and controversial. You kind of either love them or hate them, or both. They are both authors, both outspoken what I would call leftists, Alex for example write columns that are very leftist. They are also quite full of themselves and can be very condescending to others and also take ideas and concepts to extremes to prove points. Their takes are often debated. There is a bit of irony in that they have received criticism for not standing up for Israel and stated they were against Hamas attack and now Sigge also being accused of being a Zionists. Sigge is criticized from both sides.

With that said, below is a translation of an article from SvD, one of Swedens large morning papers. It discusses Swedes silence. It shows how celebrities that do speak up are treated in Sweden. Let’s just say they are shot down. Swedes don’t have a tradition of appreciating celebrities to speak up on subjects they are not fully educated on. It’s so easy to get lost. But also that we need to talk about but it’s so damn difficult.

The article below is from Nov 25th 2023. It’s also important to consider when reading it. I still think it showcase Swedish culture really well and our debate climate and view on celebs speaking up and how polarized and infected and hard the long ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict (now genocide) is for us to discuss.

link to article it’s probably locked for non-subscribers.

“That's why I keep quiet about the war"

During a dinner Björn Werner (the author of the article) was at recently, the question came up. The one that not only cuts through the public debate but is strong enough to tear apart friendships and social nets and relationships.

Alex Schulman's voice chokes with anxiety. He stabs himself. And stakes himself again.

"It freezes me now when I hear you're going to talk about it."

Now it must be done. Sigge Eklund has taken the plunge. They will talk about the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.

It's fast. Just a few minutes. A gentle ripple in a podcast of over an hour. Like few others in public Sweden, the two men are otherwise always carefree open with what they think and feel. Bridges to important colleagues, friends and acquaintances are burned in every other episode. They do everything for the content. But not now.

It is at the very beginning of the war. Barely a week since Hamas kidnapped women, children and the elderly and brutally murdered 1,200 Israelis. Israel's intense bombing campaign has only been going on for a few days. Nevertheless, the Swedish debate about the Israel-Palestine conflict is so feverish that the two seasoned authors and media men prefer not to talk about it.

"I hardly think it can be done without arousing so much hatred that in the end it won't be worth it," Schulman continues.

Eklund basically agrees:

"I've really felt at a loss for words," he replies and goes on to explain that it's not because he doesn't have anything to say, but that he himself doesn't know exactly what he's going to say once he starts. The feelings are too strong.

It is, of course, easy to call the podduo cowards. That they want to wriggle out of this deeply polarized conflict without clashing with anyone – whether listeners or advertisers. But in that case they are not alone.

There are many who, for social and understandable reasons, avoid the question. The price of taking a stand can be very high. For one thing, what one says can be taken out of one's mouth and reshaped into something grotesque and ugly. For one thing, the risk of losing control over one's own emotions is great. Then it is easy to end up wrong. To say wrong.

An abyss you like to avoid thinking about and talking about, if you can.

During a dinner I attended recently, the question came up. Someone admitted that he "sympathizes with Israel's cause here." Another then raised his hand: "I don't agree with that, and I think we should leave it like that, so it will be nicer." The entire table nodded in agreement. Everyone exhaled. A similar dynamic exists in the group chats I'm in, which have morphed from lively, fun conversations to cautious, polite flirting. Everyone sees the dark clouds towering. Nobody wants to see the rain fall.

A lot of this depends, I think, on the complexity of the situation. The vast majority of people outside the Israel-Palestine conflict are touchingly in agreement that it is terrible for all innocent people to die, regardless of nationality. It is all the more difficult to navigate beyond this single, self-evident opinion. Because one needs to have one after all. In everything else it is more difficult. They are looking for a scapegoat. The violence can't just happen? It must be someone's fault. Demanding a ceasefire also leads to the natural follow-up question: and then?

In both the issue of guilt and in the conversation about the future, dangers lurk wherever you turn: those who rush forward without a map and compass risk quickly running into both anti-Semitic and Islamophobic cuts.

Not that it is necessarily easier for those who actually take the time to read up on the issue. Is it about a multi-thousand-year European oppression of Jews? That Arab leaders have consistently refused to accept Israel's existence since the UN proclaimed the state in 1948? Is it the fault of the many Jewish settlers who drove Palestinians from their homes? Arab countries that in turn expelled Jews from theirs? That Palestinians by both Israel and Arab countries are used as a real political playing cards? Netanyahu? Hamas? It's just a matter of choosing. Everything is right – at the same time.

Whatever you think, however educated you are, there is always a weighty opinion that speaks for the opposite of what you have come to.

The situation is bizarre. Despite the fact that there is a terrible conflict going on where innocent children are killed daily, it is therefore a socially viable, perhaps even wise, strategy to just keep quiet.

the public also has results on how it goes for those who speak first and think later. When 160 celebrities signed a petition to stop the bombing of Gaza, they came under fire for not showing the same commitment during Hamas' massacre of Israelis. Artist Stina Wollter's star now appears to be falling after she mixed up her commitment to Palestinian children with anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. And the competence of the Green Party's Märta Stenevis is being questioned because she liked Stina Wollter's (not entirely clear) apology.

It is quite unusual for external events to cut so deeply into interpersonal relationships. Not least in the consensus-seeking country Sweden, which is otherwise known for its lukewarm political temperament. While the 1968 movement in Paris led to street battles between students and police, the student movement in Stockholm occupied its own union building. When Sweden, after 200 years of non-alignment, joins NATO, everyone just sighs amicably. The war in Ukraine has, if anything, acted as a unifying force, where people from left to right could confidently state that the world in this particular case really is black and white.

But there is a force in the Israel-Palestine conflict that is strong enough to tear apart the social net and relationships. Partly because of the horrific images we are all exposed to, but also because of the historically deeply infected nature of the issue. It's all starting to resemble the climate of debate in Britain about Brexit, which went to such levels that the prestigious British etiquette magazine Tatler raised the topic as one of twelve things you absolutely should not talk about at the dinner table.

Anyone who puts their faith in the ability of public discourse to unravel complex events also has nothing to gain from the issue of Israel-Palestine. The ongoing debate has quickly degenerated into a hopeless meta-debate about who thinks the most "wrong". The amount of constructive, well-read and nuanced posts that have been put forward since Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7 and Israel's subsequent bombing of Gaza can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Expressen's Per Wirtén succeeds, through a combination of solid humanism and understanding of the matter, to tackle the subject in a dignified way. Another is SvD's Elaf Ali, who from his personal perspective testifies to the polarization in the Swedish debate.

But - the more texts are about things that could just as easily take place at a dinner with a lost footing. There and in social media, the waves are high. Are leftists anti-Semitic because they react more strongly to Israel's attacks than to Hamas? Are right-wing debaters really Islamophobes, because they so fervently defend Israel while at the same time advocating cooperation with the newly anti-Semitic SD?

Who is foolish enough to stick their head into this hornet's nest willingly?

Maybe Alex and Sigge are doing the only reasonable thing. Despite one's instincts screaming to react when news of dead children sweeps by, there is not much to say – because hardly anything can be said without being taken as revenue for something else. But the question is whether it is even possible to be silent. According to today's twisted logic, there is also something to be said.

Shortly after "Alex and Sigge's podcast" was published, the right-wing comedian Aron Flam responded to X (recently on Twitter): "So Alex Schulman cannot condemn murder, torture and rape? Hard to say anything about murdering women, young, old, pregnant, babies? Speaking. He who is otherwise so full of goodness.”

And it hasn't stopped there. In a later episode, both podcasts return to the consequences of not taking a stand. Their social media inboxes are overflowing with anger.

Swedes are one of the world's most educated peoples, and at least until very recently formally non-aligned. The majority have few personal connections to either the millennial suffering of Jews or the Palestinian people's quest for their own state formation.

If even a remote, frostbitten nation of newly urbanized farmers can't pull themselves together, who can? If even we can't talk to each other, then who can?

[royalberryriku]

// Sort of a vent/ political rant but yeah

TLDR Free Palestine and there IS no antisemitism besides Israel itself, and the Zionists speaking for Jewish survivors of the holocaust who consistently say "not in our name".

Absolutely fascinating how we've gotten to this point of hundreds of Jews saying "hey this thing doesn't represent us!" and "Not in our name" while not-Jews say "hey stop being antisemetic" at these exact said Jews for saying a thing non-Jewish people don't like. And yes there are Jews saying this too, but a very large number are also saying Not Us and we're just. Ignoring them. Speaking over them. Silencing them. Then act like that isn't fucking antisemetic??

Also how said non-Jews are predominantly white Christian Zionists who also want Jews dead alongside Muslims because they think Israel belongs to Christians and in government positions of country's who have historically hated Jews and wanted them dead or legislated against them at the very VERY least.

And here we are still, in this western society that has a huge ass history of antisemitism that has existed since way after world war II with how badly they're still treated, calling freaking Jews antisemetic for not agreeing to the non-Jew WHITE CHRISTIANS WHO HATE THEM with their opinion of literally just "shut up for being the wrong kind of Jew" since that is, you know, really antisemetic but hey since they said it and they're defending Israel they're apparently totally allowed to tell Jews to shut up apparently when they "say the wrong thing".

It reminds me of other times when the suffering of a minority group is co-opted by people not even in that group who only listen to the smallest, TINIEST fraction of said minority who happen to agree with them. Usually out of internalised fear or hatred for other minorities.

All the while being okay with Jews saying by the hand of the IOF and being "yeah but what about Hamas" when Israel has killed hostages and Israeli civilians over and over again with "friendly fire", meanwhile Jewish Palestinians also die, and also as if arabic people in general aren't also of the Semitic people like... Israel itself has been antisemetic and murdering the Semitic race for, what 76+ years now? but we're still willing to back and ethnostate that refuses to even teach the holocaust properly more than listen tobthe majority of Jews who have said, over and over, "not in our name". Particularly holocaust survivors who have said they're appalled and who we actively silence in all of this because, woopty doo, they don't say what white Christian leaders want.

And by fascinating I mean absolutely fucking horrible.

It costs nothing to maybe think for five seconds "huh, why are so many Jews against Israel" to figure out that maybe Israel is fucking antisemetic that's why?? Because WE, our nation's in the west, have been antisemetic for a long ass time while we go "huh I wonder who's gonna deal with those neo Nazis attacking synagogues :/" and "I wonder why it's on the rise and no one's caring or talking about it" because our nation's are okay with it maybe like Jewish people have been saying and we've been ignoring for a long ass time?? Maybe because this shit about "aww the west just cares about Jews guys, stop being insensitive" is bullshit because where were you all when Jewish graves were being defaced by neo Nazis?? Because maybe Israel saying "we celebrate the killing of arabic babies because no child is innocent" is fucked up and doesn't represent Jews and claiming it does makes you antisemetic as all fuck?? Damn, what's not to get.

Also an interesting (and by that I mean fucked up) fact; so far, each time I talk about this issue with really pro Israel people, they keep being like "well I don't really like Jews either" or "I think it's good that Jews aren't in my country". So many pro Israel people are just antisemetic to the core.

Anyway, sorry for the rant but also not sorry if you support Israel by now I'm just gonna fucking assume you hate both Arabs and Jews. Wanting the side that actively bombs its own hostages doesn't care about Jews so no don't come at me with excuses either. Israel doesn't help Jews they don't care about Jews.

[waitingforsecretsouls]

Though Fëanor after the days of his first youth took no more active part in linguistic lore and enquiry, he is credited by tradition with the foundation of a school of Lambengolmor or ‘Loremasters of Tongues’ to carry on this work. -The War of the Jewels, Chapter: QUENDI AND ELDAR

In light of my previous reblog about the issue of the change of þ > s, I posit that it was likely his failure to prevent or reverse its spread among the wider populace that led to Fëanor's resignation from further participation in linguistic discourses.

As had been noted in the original post, Fëanor's position against the shift was the one widely held by all other actual loremasters and linguists, and it was only due to the politicisation of the issue, out of personal dislike and rejection of Fëanor as a political figure (not least out of a support for Nolfinwë in particular, later on), that it was rejected.

Into the strife and confusion of loyalties in that time this seemingly trivial matter, the change of þ to s, was caught up to its embitterment, and to lasting detriment to the Quenya tongue. Had peace been maintained there can be no doubt that the advice of Fëanor, with which all the other lore-masters privately or openly agreed, would have prevailed. But an opinion in which he was certainly right was rejected because of the follies and evil deeds into which he was later led. He made it a personal matter: he and his sons adhered to þ, and they demanded that all those who were sincere in their support should do the same. Therefore those who resented his arrogance, and still more those whose support later turned to hatred, rejected his shibboleth. -The Peoples of Middle-Earth, Chapter 11: THE SHIBBOLETH OF FËANOR

Which would have rankled Fëanor something fierce, not only due to the emotional component of his mother and her memory, but also because he was one of the Noldor's chief linguists, and yet his expertise was rejected due to politics. "In favour" of personalities never associated with linguistic studies in any way and that he was already predisposed to dislike without mangling one of his "crafts".

The change was a general one, based primarily on phonetic ‘taste’ and theory, but it had not yet become universal. It was attacked by the loremasters, who pointed out that the damage this merging would do in confusing stems and their derivatives that had been distinct in sound and sense had not yet been sufficiently considered. The chief of the linguistic loremasters at that time was Fëanor. He insisted that þ was the true pronunciation for all who cared for or fully understood their language.

(While the first experp seemingly suggests that the main "switch" occured only during the Darkening, other parts make clear that it had set in earlier:)

Indis was a Vanya, and it might be thought that she would in this point at least have pleased Fëanor, since the Vanyar adhered to þ. Nonetheless Indis adopted s. Not as Fëanor believed in belittlement of Míriel, but in loyalty to Finwë. For after the rejection of his prayers by Míriel Finwë accepted the change (which had now become almost universal among his people), although in deference to Míriel he had adhered to þ while she lived. Therefore Indis said: ‘I have joined the people of the Ñoldor, and I will speak as they do.’

I also have to scratch my head over how one expected Míriel's son to take this as anything other than a disrespect to her and her (forced) sacrifice, since it says black on white that, while Míriel was still alive, Finwë had respected her position on the issue, but now that she was dead for presumably until the end of the world, 100% due to Finwë's and Indis' marriage, well, he didn't need to bother respecting her wishes anymore, did he? Out of sight, out of mind.

She [Míriel] was therefore called Þerindë (Needlewoman) – a name which she had indeed already been given as a ‘mother-name’. She adhered to the pronunciation þ (it had still been usual in her childhood), and she desired that all her kin should adhere to it also, at the least in the pronunciation of her name.

I don't think respecting someone's wish for their name to be pronounced properly (so according to their preference) is too much to ask, really. Imagine having people, including your father and your step-mother, who got that position through agreement that your mothers eternal death was an acceptable sacrifice, deliberately mispronounce her name to your face.

Fëanor was a saint for not starting fist-fights over this and instead simply moving out as soon as possible, focusing on his own joys. But it's not like a lack of respect for Míriels rights and dignity was something new, afterall.

When it became clear at last that Míriel would never of her own will return to life in the body within any span of time that could give him hope, Finwë’s sorrow became embittered. He forsook his long vigils by her sleeping body and sought to take up his own life again [...]. [Wanders and meets Indis] So it came to pass that Finwë and Indis desired to be wedded, and Finwë sought the counsel of the Valar. [...] It was judged that Finwë’s bereavement was unjust, and by persisting in her refusal to return Míriel had forfeited all rights that she had in the case; for either she was now capable of accepting the healing of her body by the Valar, or else her fëa was mortally sick and beyond their power, and she was indeed ‘dead’, no longer capable of becoming again a living member of the kindred of the Eldar. ‘So she must remain until the end of the world. For from the moment that Finwë and Indis are joined in marriage all future change and choice will be taken from her and she will never again be permitted to take bodily shape. Her present body will swiftly wither and pass away, and the Valar will not restore it. For none of the Eldar may have two wives both alive in the world.’

I can't even read this without getting incensed, the sheer lack of not only compassion but even just theoretic understanding for Fëanor's position and perspective of the matter is genuinely baffling to me, even from a purely "reading-comprehension" standpoint.

Míriel didn't adamantly refuse to ever return and Finwë made the best of it, the Valar repeatedly hounded her to return right now because what even was wrong with her, Finwë was lonely, and if she couldn't be healed RIGHT NOW she was clearly beyond healing FOREVER. Because Finwë had no hope she'd return in a manner timely enough to make him happy, because it was unfair for Finwë to remain without a spouse, so Míriel's rights to take the time she needed to heal before returning (as any elf in the Halls of Mandos is supposed to have, as are arguably their purpose) were suspended, because Finwë wanted to have his marriage and he wanted it now.

The Valar and all the Eldar were grieved by the sorrow of Finwë, but not dismayed: all things could be healed in Aman, and when they were rested her fëa and its body could be reunited and return to the joy of life in the Blessed Realm. But Míriel was reluctant, and to all the pleas of her husband and her kin that were reported to her, and to the solemn counsels of the Valar, she would say no more than ‘not yet’. Each time that she was approached she became more fixed in her determination, until at last she would listen no more, saying only: ‘I desire peace. Leave me in peace here! I will not return. That is my will.’

Instead of being left to recover from her weariness in peace, she got told over and over how much grief she had brought to everyone with her need for rest (apparently seriously expecting that to incentivise her to want to life again?). That's messed up! Her final plea, "I desire peace. Leave me in peace here!" just reeks of desperation, and also makes it clear (in conjunction with her previous "Not yet"s) that it's not to be taken as a definite statement of a desire to never return to life, but a desperate plea to finally be allowed to rest, the need for which caused her death in the first place.

But you want know the kicker of all this, that never fails to get me with its double standard?

During the time of his sorrow Finwë had little comfort from Fëanor. For a while he also had kept vigil by his mother’s body, but soon he became wholly absorbed again in his own works and devices.

Hey. Hey, remember that previous paragraph about how Finwe "forsook his long vigils by her sleeping body and sought to take up his own life again [...]"? Now Fëanor is suddenly depicted as callous for doing the very same thing that was depicted as admirably weathering his grief in Finwë's case, except he didn't even need to throw Míriel under the bus for it.

[wild-ride-to-headcanons]

Starscream’s fall from grace

He stared at the Energon trickling off his clawed digits, a sight he has long since gotten used to. A cold liquid surrounded his peds. Ruby optics shifted down towards the lifeless form of Cliffjumper. Why did he do that again? Why did he carve the mech’s spark out?

Screeching metal scarred his audials. Right, he didn't want to be in the Autobot’s position. Instead of being surrounded by those he loved, properly buried and mourned, Cliffjumper was going to be torn apart and used for scrap. The deceased warrior wasn't even given the honor of being carried away by living bots. Sparkless drones, who barely had a simple processor, dragged his corpse away. It was a considerably worse fate compared to those who remained on the war torn fields of Cybertron. They were given the honor of being untouched, allowed to rest, and hopefully given a proper burial in the future.

The Seeker sighed, he was tired of this. A thought pushed its way through his processor. What would have happened if he never joined the Decepticons? Would he and his Trine still be together? Would he still be able to work with Jetfire, his old lab partner and bodyguard? Would things have changed? Would there have been no war if he hadn't helped that gladiator? After all, It was he who pushed that mech into the political spotlight. He used to be called the prince of Vos, the floating city, a place where flyers could live peaceful lives. He used to be kind and caring, giving protection to those who were beaten down and broken, making sure that his city stayed safe. Then he fell from grace, joining the now warlord in his conquest. Why did he join him again?

The wisps of an EM field brushed against his form. He glanced behind him, Soundwave was a great example of the many reasons he joined. While he never knew the other before the war, it was clear they had done something to get themselves in trouble with the council. Their body had been stripped from several parts of armor, with two mini-cons protecting the other's torso, acting as armor replacements. The others' helm had been replaced with those screens, many who had them were stripped of their personality and emotions. Soundwave was quiet, and every time the Seeker got close to them, he could feel nothing but a cold force.

Then there was Megatron, the gladiator, the politician, and the warlord. At the beginning, the gladiator was quite the charmer. He spoke in poems, his words holding great promise backed by powerful conviction. He chose his words wisely when talking, always able to get others to listen to his words, and believe in what he said. The seeker admits that he looked up to him and greatly believed in him, just like many others of his kind. He was a naive fool back then, unable to spot as the gladiator turned from the charming mech into a violent murderer.

He finally opened his optics when the Rescue Corp was torn apart, slaughterd by Megatron and his followers. It was an appalling event, one that sits in his memories vividly. He remembers standing within his suite, surrounded by his Trine and partner. Then a screen popped up, taking their attention. They saw as the Rescue Corp’s main headquarters was in ruins, black fog bellowed from a raging inferno. Fallen forms of mechs and Femmes layed with the rubble, none moving. Someone on the broadcast was frantically speaking, telling of the events. No one was listening, too stunned at the thought that someone would even think of attacking the peace keeping bots.

The screen suddenly fazed from the scene, shifting to show a familiar face. Megatron. The mech was covered in Energon, some from his own injuries, some from others. His bloody optics glared through the screen, holding within them deep hatred and anger. Clutched within his servos was a young Femme, being held up by her scruff. It was clear she was a recent graduate from the Academy, still holding the markings of a cadet. Her gold optics blazed with terror, but she wailed and kicked at the mad-mech. The youngling's derma were pulled back into a snarl, showing off her impressively honed denta. She was a fighter, that was for sure, but the fiery spirit she displayed was useless against the much larger and stronger gladiator.

Sound rang through the screen, allowing those watching to hear the colorful words yowled out by the femme, as she clawed at the others servos. The mech was unimpressed by her display, and apparently starting to get annoyed, as her screeching stopped him from talking. A rumbling growl ripped through his form, his own derma pulling back to reveal a terrifying display of denta. To her credit, the young femme didn't flinch back, returning his threat with a hiss of her own. Eventually the gladiator resorted to just covering her intake, tired of her constant wailing.

His stare pierced the screen, and the Seeker felt his wings pin down. That was the terrifying side that the prince had yet to see. The gladiator had begun his monologue, he still spoke as a poet, his words carrying promises fueled with conviction, but they were followed by wisps of blood lust and revenge. He was loud, ensuring that he would be heard. He threatened anyone who opposed him, offered many to join him, and warned those of the council to be prepared, as the hunt for their energon had already begun. Sealing his promise of energon, Megatron began forcing his digits into the poor Femmes chest. It was slow, dragging out her pain, as she writhed within his grips. Her vocalizer began to fizzle, as her pained screams were too much for it to produce. Eventually Energon had begun oozing from her wound, as Megatron's digits continued to slowly push through.

He wanted to look away, he wanted to yowl in anguish, do something to help her! But just like his trine, the little prince was frozen in terror, forced to watch as this youngling's life was slowly taken from her.

Megatron finally entertained her with mercy, pulling out her spark chamber and crushing it within his servos. Her body limped, the golden light from her optics fluttered off, her color went cold, proving that she was gone. Her future, her memories, her emotions, thoughts, feelings, likes and dislikes, her life, all gone. Slowly taken away.

The broadcast finally ended when the noise of rotors echoed in the distance. Most likely the military has finally arrived to deal with them.

The revelation of the event has followed him to this cycle, a haunting reminder of what he chose to follow.

To him, witnessing the death of the Rescue Corp and seeing a new side of the charming gladiator, wasnt even the worst part of that cycle. He remembers the anguish he felt from his trine, their fear pulsing through the bond. Skywarp was clinging to Thundercracker, her frame shook, and she looked ready to collapse if the bigger seeker wasn’t supporting her. Thundercracker was harder to read, he was frozen in place, his optics distant. He remembered that he himself had clung onto Jetfire, a natural instinct for flyers was to huddle close to bigger flight frames when scared. Like Thundercracker, Jetfire was frozen in place, shock settling into the lager mechs frame.

Jetfire’s EM field had suddenly exploded in anger, making the trine of Seekers flinch away from him. The large mech stomped away, his peds booming through the halls. He followed the other, calling for his name, leaving the other two to process their shock. Jetfire had ended up marching into their lab, scrounging through what they had in there. He asked him what was wrong, and Jetfire exploded at him. That was the first time he had seen the kind and jovial mech angry, his denta were bared and he was snarling. Then out of a fit of rage, Jetfire tore the symbol of Megtron off him, taking a chunk of his armor with it.

That was the first time the Prince had to forcefully command the other to stop. He had to use his “royal voice”, dubbed by his trine, and made sure that Jetfire knew who was in charge there. That was enough to prevent the large mech from causing any more harm, letting the two to settle down. The seeker promised the other that he would confront Megatron on his actions, promising to not follow the gladiator any more.

That became his first lie.

The naive prince talked with Megatron, but the gladiator charmed his way through the conversation. He did not cut ties with Megatron, he did not turn him in for his crimes, he did not even try to attack the other. He foolishly allowed the mech to talk, and he was enchanted by the others words. The prince was captivated by the others conviction, somehow he forgot this was the mech that slaughtered Cybertron’s heroes and mercilessly killed off a young femme, broadcasting the deed across the planet.

Before he even realized it, Cybertron was thrown into war, and he was part of a faction called the Decepticons. At first it was just filled with bots who were vengeful and wanted the higher caste to feel their pain, but as the war grew, more and more joined, most of the faction was formed by criminals in the end. The once noble cause was twisted and morphed into nothing but cruel conquest, as more and more Decepticons became deranged and lusted for death. They began performing horrendous experiments, turning more of their soldiers into deranged beings.

The prince himself was lost. Everytime he doubted wether he should continue on, Megatron would manipulate him, re-charming him into believing their cause. At first he had his trine, and Jetfire stayed after he managed to convince him. Then he lost Jetfire, the other had betrayed him, and left. It stung, but he understood why, he just wished he had the strength to do the same. His Trine was next, he doesn't even know how it happened, they got separated and their bond was blocked. They were alive, he had heard whispers of them falling under the command of a Seeker femme. That hurt a lot, and it left him wondering as to why he was cut off from them.

He was alone. Something he had never felt before. It was painful, he didnt know what to do. His comfort was gone just like his support, all that was left was the warlord himself. They had been seeing each other less and less, both caught up in various duties, but everytime they spoke to each other, Megatron would reassure him that he was doing the right thing.

So, he knew what he had to do. The position that would get him closest to the warlord was second in command of course, no doubt he’d be executed if he attempted to go for first. The problem was that he had to start climbing up the ranks to reach that position, and some of those ranks already had a bot in them that would have not stepped down willingly. That started his string of questionable decisions, sealing his fate. He lied and manipulated, killed when necessary, formed himself a reputation as someone who shouldn't be crossed. At first he was horrified about it all, but as time went on it became easier and easier, and finally he got what he wanted.

Many who would reach their goal would believe that they would get to slow down and maby stop, but thats not reality. At first he enjoyed his time being Megatron’s second in command, but he soon came to realize that he wasnt allowed to return to who he was. He had to keep lying and manipulating, killing so many, bot or con, it didnt matter. The worst part was when he realized there was no turning back, he couldn't betray the Decepticons now, the Autobots wouldn’t accept him, and the Decepticons wouldn't want him back. He had to keep going if he wanted to survive, and the naive prince he was is no more, killed off by the Decepticons second in command.

The strong pressure of an EM field snapped him from his thoughts. He blinked. The second in command went deep into his memories this time, not even noticing that a drone had cleaned up the puddle of energon. Soundwave, his communications officer, must have made multiple attempts to gain his attention.

He sighed but stood straight “what is it Soundwave?” he made his voice go cold, not wanting the other to get a hint of his exhaustion, they most likely knew of it already.

Soundwave’s screen for a face lit up, showing coordinates inside, and the lanky con pointed towards the groundbridge control.

His spark stuttered, and he quickly looked away. He knew what Soundwave was saying, he just didnt know how to feel about it. Part of him was excited, the other part felt dread.

“Are you sure?” he questioned, looking towards a screen “I trust you Soundwave, but we are considerably low on resources.”

The silent nod and forceful point, meant that the other was quite sure. So there was no other option but to go through with it. The signal was too important to ignore.

He nodded, marching to the helm of the bridge “Ready the Spacebridge with the coordinates provided by Soundwave!” he commanded, using his old royal voice to put extra importance. The drones did as he said, and he could see the ship slowly rise through Earth’s atmosphere.

“Summon the others,” he waved a servo at Soundwave “they must be present for this.”

Soundwave nodded, and sent a signal to the three other Cons on the ship.

The first to respond was Makeshift, they always lurked within the shadows. The Seeker didnt know them well, as he himself arrived here a few years back.

The other two took their pretty time, clearly not understanding the importance of the command. They had only arrived about a month ago, they claimed they were tracking an unidentified cybertronian ship, and lost it when it landed on Earth. Probably more Autobots they had to deal with.

Knockout sauntered into the room, his crimson optics carrying hints of annoyance “this better be important, we were in the middle of polishing my frame” his armor did look shiny. Candy-Apple red was a pretty color for a pretty mech, it was unfortunate that he had a bad habit of disobeying orders. He was lucky that they needed a medic.

The deva’s Conjux closely followed behind the other. Breakdown was a strong and an oddly friendly mech, he often showed his love for Knockout, uncaring if others find it gross or inappropriate. He was not bright, like at all, but his helpful tendencies made up for that.

The second in command looked at the three, ignoring Knockout’s rude comment “Soundwave has picked up a signal, and he is quite certain on what or who it is.”

“And,” the medic made a go on motion, clearly not getting the implications he was given.

He rolled his optics “Soundwave has located Lord Megatron.”

————————————————————

Sorry that this is so long, originally I wanted it to be shorter, then I kept on writing and writing. School tends to be stressful for me, and I’m a stress writer.

My AU’s Decepticons will get a spotlight soon, you may have noted some things that I have implied in this. I will also have a spotlight for how relationships work in my au, like a trine, conjux, and others.

I like the idea of a Starscream who isn’t a deceitful character, but one who was forced into the role and control act it, believing they can’t go back.

I may or may not go with this version of the Seeker, I haven’t really given as much thought into the Decepticons. Though I will work on them and have made some choices on them.

That’s it for the moment, thanks for reading.

[fursasaida]

We Jews are a diverse people, and we draw strength from that diversity. Many of us have no connection to Israel and don’t desire one. By the same token, many Israelis are opposed to oppression and war. I am thinking of comrades like Hayim Katsman, a leftist scholar who envisioned different politics for the future and was killed on October 7. I am thinking of lifelong peace activists like Vivian Silver, whom we learned recently was also killed that day. May their memories be a blessing, and may the memories of all victims of injustice inspire us to greater works and higher aspirations than our elected officials and pundits—and may they move us to reject the false choices and petty prejudices they peddle.

My Jewish ancestors were treated like second-class citizens in their homelands, just as non-Jews are now throughout Israel and the occupied territories. My Jewish ancestors were killed in or made refugees by pogroms like the ones carried out by Hamas on October 7, and like the many carried out by Israeli settlers over the past year in the West Bank, which continue into the present at an accelerated pace with the active support of the Israeli military. My Jewish ancestors were targeted by ethnic cleansing projects that look increasingly similar to what is underway right now in Gaza. My Jewish ancestors, alongside those of many other communities, suffered at the hands of ethnonationalist, ostensibly genocidal projects like the one that has been perpetrated against the Palestinian people for the last hundred years.

As a Jewish American, I know that I honor their memory, my heritage, and our religion by speaking out for all those facing the same calamities. As a Jewish American, I know that my Jewishness is whole without nationalism, without a state—without hatred, racism, and violence. I know that preserving my safety does not require compromising anyone else’s, that my life is not secured by the deaths of others. I know that we all have the right to equal rights and peace alongside one another, as the Palestinian and Israeli people deserve equally. I know that nations do not keep us safe, and I know that we cannot achieve peace without justice.

I know that no Jews anywhere are safe from the scourge of antisemitism, just as our Muslim siblings are not safe from the scourge of Islamophobia. I know that no Jews anywhere are kept safe from the scourge of antisemitism by a nuclear superpower governed by extremists that carries out atrocities in our name daily. And I know that speech against war, on behalf of Palestinian lives, or critical of the actions or project of the Israeli government, is not antisemitic.

This is very personal to say in my workplace. I am compelled to speak here and now as a member of this faculty because there are many loud voices on and off campus claiming that Jews here are protected by the suppression of speech, expressions of Palestinian identity, criticism of Israel, and silencing of our anti-Zionist students, who have demonstrated tremendous courage and fortitude.

I must say to you all that I, a Jewish member of this faculty, am not asking the University to suppress anyone’s speech. I, a Jewish member of this faculty, am not threatened by appeals to Palestinian humanity and calls for peace. I, a Jewish member of this faculty, am not threatened by seeing keffiyehs and flags, or by the beautiful seas of students from all backgrounds calling for peace and justice that have swept through campus as of late. I, a Jewish member of this community, reject racism and prejudice in all forms—and I consequently reject the idea that calls for Palestinian liberation are by definition calls for the elimination of Israelis.

[...]

As I fear that University leadership recognizes only one account of modern Jewishness, I am—as a Jewish American whose home is here, in New York City, and not in Israel—left with no choice but to speak out. I do so on behalf of myself and my like-minded colleagues, for our students, with some of whom I share these experiences and outlooks. Anyone telling our leaders that they need to suppress our students’ free speech in order to keep Jews like me safe does not speak for me, and never will.

[emperornorton47]

Retired Peace Activist

That phrase appears on my Twitter page. People ask me what this means. I marched against the War in Iraq, posted news from Al Jazeera. In 1992, I visited former Yugoslavia and wrote about what I saw in an online publication called Miracles. I spoke about what I saw all over the country until I dropped from exhaustion. The attack on the World Trade Center and the war in Afghanistan caused me to pause: there was no stopping that war, so I kept silent.

I call myself a pacifist which means that I will not prepare for war or own weapons. I had a gun nut insist he was a pacifist because his guns deterred violence. He was unhappy when I told him he wasn't.

But it is not people like him who caused me to retire. I speak now of my fellow activists. They declared their opposition to war, but very few of them were pacifists. For example, in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, they decidedly took the side of Palestine and called for the abolition of Israel. In the Yugoslavia War, they called for the west to join Bosnia and Croatia in attacking Serbia. They were peace activists of convenience. People like me had no place in their movement.

So driven out by these, I no longer had a place. They did not seek to make peace by nonviolent means: they sought to oppose the United States or whatever major power waged the latest war. Their stand was based on politics rather than conscience.

The kind of action in war that I endorsed was similar to that performed by a Quaker Hospital in Vietnam. All wounded people - - regardless of side - - were welcome. A sign on the door told visitors to leave their guns outside because many of the people inside had been hurt by guns.

Another example was the Quaker Ambulance Corps in World War I. The medics picked up people on both sides and delivered them to the appropriate hospitals. In the Second World War, conservative politicians outlawed Americans from engaging in this kind of activity. It took many years for Quaker lobbyists to reverse the rider.

Peace activists rarely participate in this kind of action.

Pacifists help all victims of war. As I matured, I felt contempt for the leaders who used war as diplomacy. Then I started feeling contempt for the invaders and sympathy for the citizens and soldiers in their path.

Regarding the Ukraine war, I sympathize with Ukraine. I see Russian soldiers who are often picked up off the street as victims of Putin's bellicosity.

Pacifism is for the people. When I went to Yugoslavia, I began with a hatred for soldiers. This was a strange war. Soldiers fought all week and came home to rest. I could see darkness in their eyes, the exhaustion. That is when I began to see that they were also victims of wars.

So I have a broad sense of who I should be defending. But I can't stand the politics of peace activism which forgets the cost being paid by people. I ain't gonna suffer them no more.

[johnlocsin-johnyakuza]

Last two endings

Surface Wars: This ending only becomes available after the death of both the Pale Templars and the Eyes of Rodoria. If both are done and the route for “revolution” is also taken, the avatar can choose to organize with the use of tools and magic, alongside ancient maps collected to make a whole new entrance, so large that it can give them the choice to launch a war against the surface, The Hollows independent but fighting for a better world with their own rules. The ending shows all of the realms see a large army pierce a exit from the side of a mountain and leave as a army. The last scenes shows both the north and south prepare for war, leaving it ambiguous if any alliances, treaties, or even who will when is.

End of humanity: During their travels the avatar can come across burgeoning new people that aren’t human, a race of sentient parasitic fungus related to cordyceps, they gain intelligence through more complicated constructs but require a good amount of mass to infect for that. Basically a option opens up for them to release spores into the cities, as well as key social locations across The Hollows. It ends in a timeskip where it shows both the The Hollows and the surface being taken over by these new people, wiping out humanity and making room for the mushroom people.

Extra info

Non city groups

Scarlet Moon Coven: While Arkia is a city of dedicated scholars with magic, The Scarlet Moon Coven are a religious group that worship a series of gods that are no longer allowed to be worshipped on the surface of the southern realms, this is because the main 3 goddesses were heavily tied to the use and worship of magic. The avatar can find this group in a secret location after saving one of them from attacking zealots of the Reach of Radiance, if they are defended they give the option to blindfold them and take the avatar to their secretive home. They offer questline that are about collecting ingredients, old tomes, and religious artifacts that still exist.

The Ronai: A nomadic group of caravan travelers, they have long since accepted being lost in the dark abyss, they pride themselves as smart merchants, independent and self self efficient from any settlement, they are also well protected after traveling as long as they have. The avatar can meet up with the caravan and can buy items, weapons, and accessories, there is a random chance that the player can catch them under attack from a particularly dangerous monster, intervening gives them the opportunity to be meet the caravan on a more personal nature and start up a series of side quests to help with explore new depths of The Hollows

Deathstalkers: Deathstalkers live in the ancient catacombs of The Hollows, their names given by the giant centipedes they ride and hunt with called Deathcrawlers. They do not speak any known language and are descended from some of the first people trapped in The Hollows. Because the catacombs are unaffected by the rest of The Hollows war, politics, and dangers they are isolationists with a deep hatred for any outside their own people. The avatar can find the catacomb for an ending of just exploring, and will find a deep hole that drops straight down with tons of bridges, graves, and traps across it.

Eyes of Rodoria: A collection of spies of the northern realms, they can be met during a side quest of tracking of a seemingly normal librarian, but turns out it part of this network. The player can choose to report them or aid them in investigating and reporting with them on the problems of The Hollows.

So that’s everything, I’ll try to work on that Zelda idea next, however now that you seen everything I’d like to ask what class, second class, origin, and ending you would choose

I loved this idea you made, I’m looking forward to your Zelda idea.

For me, my class still would’ve been shadoweaver and bounty hunter. Origin would’ve been Collage of Arcane, and Ending being Revolution

[girlactionfigure]

GENEVA, May 23, 2022 — Russia’s counsellor to the United Nations in Geneva has resigned, the most senior diplomat to defect since his country's invasion of Ukraine began in February, according to an exclusive report by UN Watch, an independent non-governmental human rights organization based in Geneva.

“Never have I been so ashamed of my country,” wrote Boris Bondarev, in a statement shared with diplomats in Geneva.

"Boris Bondarev is a hero," said UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer, who is currently participating in the Oslo Freedom Forum, an annual gathering of human rights dissidents.

"We are now calling on all other Russian diplomats at the United Nations—and worldwide—to follow his moral example and resign."

"Bondarev should be invited to speak in Davos this week," said Neuer, "and the U.S., the UK and the EU should lead the free world in creating a program to encourage more Russian diplomats to follow and defect, by providing protection, financial security and resettlement for diplomats and their families."

UN Watch recently spearheaded the campaign to expel Russia from the UN Human Rights Council.

The Swiss human rights group also leads a campaign of 30 NGOs at the UN calling for the release of Russian political prisoner Vladimir Kara-Murza, arrested in Moscow in April for opposing the war. UN Watch also invited his wife, Evgenia Kara-Murza to address the UN.

STATEMENT BY BORIS BONDAREV, RUSSIAN COUNSELLOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS IN GENEVA

My name is Boris Bondarev, in the MFA of Russia since 2002, since 2019 until now — Counsellor of the Russian Mission to the UN Office at Geneva.

For twenty years of my diplomatic career I have seen different turns of our foreign policy, but never have I been so ashamed of my country as on February 24 of this year.

The aggressive war unleashed by Putin against Ukraine, and in fact against the entire Western world, is not only a crime against the Ukrainian people, but also, perhaps, the most serious crime against the people of Russia, with a bold letter Z crossing out all hopes and prospects for a prosperous free society in our country.

Those who conceived this war want only one thing — to remain in power forever, live in pompous tasteless palaces, sail on yachts comparable in tonnage and cost to the entire Russian Navy, enjoying unlimited power and complete impunity. To achieve that they are willing to sacrifice as many lives as it takes. Thousands of Russians and Ukrainians have already died just for this.

I regret to admit that over all these twenty years the level of lies and unprofessionalism in the work of the Foreign Ministry has been increasing all the time.

However, in most recent years, this has become simply catastrophic. Instead of unbiased information, impartial analysis and sober forecasting, there are propaganda clichés in the spirit of Soviet newspapers of the 1930s. A system has been built that deceives itself.

Minister Lavrov is a good illustration of the degradation of this system. In 18 years, he went from a professional and educated intellectual, whom many of my colleagues held in such high esteem, to a person who constantly broadcasts conflicting statements and threatens the world (that is, Russia too) with nuclear weapons!

Today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not about diplomacy. It is all about warmongering, lies and hatred. It serves interests of few, the very few people thus contributing to further isolation and degradation of my country.

Russia no longer has allies, and there is no one to blame but its reckless and ill-conceived policy.

I studied to be a diplomat and have been a diplomat for twenty years. The Ministry has become my home and family. But I simply cannot any longer share in this bloody, witless and absolutely needless ignominy.

Hillel Neuer 

[bookoformon]

Jacob Chapter 3. "Apartheid in America."

The pure in heart receive the pleasing word of God—Lamanite righteousness exceeds that of the Nephites—Jacob warns against fornication, lasciviousness, and every sin. About 544–421 B.C.

1 But behold, I, Jacob, would speak unto you that are pure in heart. Look unto God with firmness of mind, and pray unto him with exceeding faith, and he will console you in your afflictions, and he will plead your cause, and send down justice upon those who seek your destruction.

2 O all ye that are pure in heart, lift up your heads and receive the pleasing word of God, and feast upon his love; for ye may, if your minds are firm, forever.

3 But, wo, wo, unto you that are not pure in heart, that are filthy this day before God; for except ye repent the land is acursed for your sakes; and the Lamanites, which are not filthy like unto you, nevertheless they are cursed with a sore cursing, shall scourge you even unto destruction.

4 And the time speedily cometh, that except ye repent they shall possess the land of your inheritance, and the Lord God will lead away the righteous out from among you.

5 Behold, the Lamanites your brethren, whom ye hate because of their filthiness and the cursing which hath come upon their skins, are more righteous than you; for they have not forgotten the commandment of the Lord, which was given unto our father—that they should have save it were one wife, and concubines they should have none, and there should not be whoredoms committed among them.

6 And now, this commandment they observe to keep; wherefore, because of this observance, in keeping this commandment, the Lord God will not destroy them, but will be merciful unto them; and one day they shall become a blessed people.

7 Behold, their husbands blove their wives, and their wives love their husbands; and their husbands and their wives love their children; and their unbelief and their hatred towards you is because of the iniquity of their fathers; wherefore, how much better are you than they, in the sight of your great Creator?

8 O my brethren, I fear that unless ye shall repent of your sins that their skins will be whiter than yours, when ye shall be brought with them before the throne of God.

9 Wherefore, a commandment I give unto you, which is the word of God, that ye revile no more against them because of the darkness of their skins; neither shall ye revile against them because of their filthiness; but ye shall remember your own filthiness, and remember that their filthiness came because of their fathers.

10 Wherefore, ye shall remember your children, how that ye have grieved their hearts because of the example that ye have set before them; and also, remember that ye may, because of your filthiness, bring your children unto destruction, and their sins be heaped upon your heads at the last day.

11 O my brethren, hearken unto my words; arouse the faculties of your souls; shake yourselves that ye may awake from the slumber of death; and loose yourselves from the pains of hell that ye may not become angels to the devil, to be cast into that lake of fire and brimstone which is the second death.

12 And now I, Jacob, spake many more things unto the people of Nephi, warning them against fornication and lasciviousness, and every kind of sin, telling them the awful consequences of them.

13 And a hundredth part of the proceedings of this people, which now began to be numerous, cannot be written upon these plates; but many of their proceedings are written upon the larger plates, and their wars, and their contentions, and the reigns of their kings.

14 These plates are called the plates of Jacob, and they were made by the hand of Nephi. And I make an end of speaking these words.

Greater than the sins of the flesh, is the sin of bigotry and its execution in the form of Apartheid.

Apartheid refers to the implementation and maintenance of a system of legalized racial segregation in which one racial group is deprived of political and civil rights. Apartheid is a crime against humanity punishable under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. 

The term “apartheid”, an Afrikaans word, derived from the French term “mettre à part”, literally translated to “separating, setting apart.” Apartheid is a policy that is founded on the idea of separating people based on racial or ethnic criteria. Usually, the separation operated by apartheid is exercised over geographical areas, putting one part of the population in an area separated from the others, or forbidding a group to access some areas solely based on their belonging to a race or ethnicity.

Apartheid policies include, but are not limited to: the prohibition of mixed marriages, banning a specific racial or ethnic group from access to certain meetings and unions, and the restriction of movement, prohibiting access to certain public spaces.

Apartheid is alive and well in the United States of America. There have been numerous accounts perpetrated by the Donald Trump Administration and still more have taken place under the Biden Administration including the attacks of Reproductive Health, marriage equality, and freedom of speech by the Republicans and their satellite system of organized assholes in the Family Research Council, the Heritage Foundation, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and at the state level by Governor DeSantis, for example.

Apartheid must be prosecuted the moment it appears and its supporters and implementers put to the sword lest a habit for it occur, as has happened in the country. We just accept the plight of African Americans, transgendered persons and gay persons as part of life, like their oppression is always going to be here, like it can't be made to go away.

President Biden needs to step up to the plate and do his job, which first and foremost is to level all civil rights violations in this country and make it a safe place to live for all of its guests and citizens against organizations and politicians that are attempting to use the State as instrument of oppression against them.

Then he needs to do it abroad. This is the duty of the Office of the President of the United States of America first and foremost. Upon this all the rest depends.

The Family Reseearch Council, Republican Party, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and Heritage Foundation, who raise funds on behalf of politicians who practice Apartheid must be closed, their candidates arrested and a single party system that does not force American Citizens to compete with the government for their safety must result.

The evidence follows:

There has been a long-standing crisis in America regarding the value and importance of its LGBTQ citizens. This remains an issue today. Under the tyrant, Donald Trump threats were numerous and coordinated and continue, unabated under the Trump Administration:

There has been a long-standing crisis in America regarding the value and importance of its LGBTQ citizens. This remains an issue today. Under the tyrant, Donald Trump threats were numerous and coordinated and continue, unabated under the Trump Administration:

Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court to Legalize Workplace Discrimination Against Gay Employees

Workers' sexual orientation is not protected under Title VII legislation, federal lawyers argue

TIME

Heritage Explains: Understanding Why 'Trump's Transgender Military Ban' Is Logical

This week, Lieutenant General Thomas Spoehr, director of Heritage's Center for National Defense, explains what's actually in the Pentagon's

THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION|MICHELLE CORDERO

RNC sides with Trump ban of transgender people in military

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican National Committee is siding with President Donald Trump on his order to bar transgender individuals from s

AP NEWS

Family Research Council

frc.org sexual-orientation issues page

FRC.ORG

Reddit - Dive into anything

REDDIT.COM

Florida's governor signs controversial law opponents dubbed 'Don't Say Gay'

The law says public school teachers may not instruct on sexual orientation or gender identity in grades kindergarten through third grade.

NPR

African Americans have also experienced repeat assaults through the political system:

African-American woman shoved at Trump rally

Video footage shows an African-American woman being pushed by people in the crowd until she leaves a Donald Trump rally.

BBC NEWS

Full List of Republicans Who Voted Against Interracial Marriage Law

The bill is now one step closer to becoming law as it heads to the House and then, if passed, to President Joe Biden's desk for his signatur

NEWSWEEK

Muslim Americans also suffered under Donald Trump’s tyranny following an attack of religious apartheid against them:

Timeline of the Muslim Ban

A brief timeline of Trump's Muslim Ban & the ACLU's fight against it

ACLU OF WASHINGTON

Reproductive Rights are also now not being guaranteed in America, a violation of the UN Declaration and Charter, an issue America and its Chief Executive need to be confronted with along with the former:

Statement on the Strikedown of Roe v. Wade on Friday, June 24, 2022 – Breakthrough U.S.

LETSBREAKTHROUGH.ORG

In focus: Sustainable Development Goal 5 | UN Women – Headquarters

The Sustainable Development Agenda, adopted by UN Member States in 2015, set a 2030 deadline for the achievement of gender equality and the

UN WOMEN – HEADQUARTERS

President Biden can be put under arrest and America can be sanctioned by its neighbors if he does not do all he can to end Apartheid in this country.

Please insist upon this at once by calling or writing your State Senator or Congressman and insist on an end to all organizations and politics that are causing Aparheid to seem inalienable from our lives.

Once the Republicans and their friends are gone, that should do it- end the last vestiges of organized hatred affecting the lives of Jews, Muslims, LGBTQ, African Americans and disabled persons in the world and complete the work President Lincoln left unfinished in our country.

[richo1915]

Political liberty was now firmly established on the basis of the restored tribunate, and the tribunes felt themselves strong enough to proceed against individuals.

Their first victim was, of course, Appius, and Verginius was put up to conduct the case against him. The summons was issued.

Appius entered the Form with a strong escort of young patricians, and the sight of him there with his satellites was a bitter reminder of the frightful tyranny which had so recently been suppressed.

Verginius spoke. 'Oratory,' he said, is all very well when there are no facts to go on: it was invented to conceal our doubts, I will not waste your time in presenting a case against a man from whose bestial conduct you found freedom by force of arms, nor will I let him at this juncture add to his other crimes the impudent hypocrisy of defending himself. Very well then: I have nothing to say at the moment, Appius, of all the countless vile offences which during the past two years you have committed against the dictates of decency and law; one charge only I bring against you: unless you can produce a referee to establish your innocence of having illegally given custody of a free person to one who claimed her as his slave, I shall order you to prison.'

What the people's verdict would be was all too obvious, and in the protection of the tribunes Appius could have no hope whatever; nevertheless he called on the tribunes and, when none of them offered to stay the proceedings and he was arrested by an officer of the law, he cried out: 'I appeal.'

The sound of the word, so intimately associated with popular liberty, on the lips of the man who so short a time before had pronounced that monstrous judgement which no one could forget, struck everybody dumb. Here, they murmured, was the very man appealing who had robbed the nation of the right to do so - begging for the people's aid, when he himself had trampled under foot every privilege they possessed - being hauled to prison without the protection which every man in a free society should enjoy, in just retribution for his own foul deed.

Suddenly above the murmurings of the crowd Appius's own voice was heard, raised in supplication to the people he had once enslaved.

'Will you not remember,' he said, 'the services my family has rendered our country in politics and war, or my own unhappy involvement in the popular cause? It was for that that I braved the Senate's displeasure and resigned the consulship, simply to codify the laws in a form that would be just to all. And what of those laws themselves - the Twelve Tables - which will be there for ever to protect your interests, while I, who am responsible for them, am taken to prison? As for my own personal acts - good or bad - I mean to put them to the proof when I am given the chance formally to plead my cause; for the moment I confine myself to demanding the common privilege of a Roman citizen accused of an offence to speak, and to await the judgement of the people. You hate me, but I am not so afraid of your hatred as to have no confidence in the mercy and the sense of justice of my fellow-citizens. I will call a second time upon the tribunes if I am taken to prison unheard, and I warn you not to imitate those whom you hate. Moreover, if the tribunes declare that they are bound not to listen to an appeal - the very crime with which they charge the decemvirs - then I appeal to the people, and invoke the protection of the laws passed this year for the safeguarding of this privilege, on the motion both of consuls and of tribunes. Who - I ask you - do you expect to appeal, if not a man who has been refused the right of pleading his cause and has never been legally found guilty? What humble working man do you suppose will find protection in the laws of our country, if I cannot? Your treatment of me will show clearly enough whether it is liberty or tyranny which has been strengthened by the new legislation, and whether the right of appeal either to the tribunes or to the people against injustice in high places is a reality or a mere parade of empty words.'

Titus Livius

[exit-babylon]

The New Normal Left

April 5, 2023

So I went to London to speak to the Left… no, not “Left” as you are probably thinking of. Not the Left wearing masks and waving Ukrainian flags. Not the outspoken, segregating Left. Not the WEF, WHO, FBI, CIA, DHS and MI6 loving Left. Not the world capitalist New Normal Left. The Other Left, (...) writes CJ Hopkins .

We were about 150 people. Our "thing" was a conference loosely based on the Left's opposition to the WEF and its dystopian visions of our future... you know, eating bugs, owning nothing, being happy, that sort of thing. I was invited by the Real Left group to speak on a panel with Fabio Vighi , Professor of Critical Theory at Cardiff University. We didn't talk much about the WEF. We mainly talked about global capitalism, totalitarianism and “New Normal Left”.

These are the broad outlines of what I said at the conference.

To understand what happened to the Left (i.e. how the Left became the New Normal Left), you need to understand the history of global capitalism over the past 30 years.

Actually, you have to go back a little further, to the beginning of the 20th century, when the Great Ideological Game was still going on. Then capitalism, which had overthrown the aristocracies, was on the rise and the world turned into one big marketplace. It was challenged by two opposing ideologies, fascism and communism. They fought it out. Long story short, capitalism won.

World capitalism (“GloboCap”) was born. It is now one big global capitalist world. It has been that way since the early 1990s. GloboCap has no external adversaries, so it has nothing to do but Clear and Hold, ie root out internal resistances and introduce ideological uniformity. That is what it has done for the past 30 years, first in the former Soviet bloc, then in “The Global War on Terror”, and finally in our so-called “Western Democracies”, as we have just witnessed up close during the shock-and- awe phase of the New Normal rollout, and still going through it, albeit a little less dramatically.

In other words, GloboCap is going totalitarian. That's what the New Normal is. It's not your grandfather's totalitarianism. It is a new, global capitalist form of totalitarianism. It has a number of familiar features – suspension of constitutional rights, government propaganda, goons, censorship, ubiquitous symbols of ideological conformity, unfounded restrictions on freedom of movement and other aspects of daily life, hatred and persecution of official “Untermenschen”, segregation, criminalization of dissent, mafia violence, book burnings, show trials, etc. – but no one will be hopping around in jackboots screeching about “the master race”. It's not that kind of totalitarianism.

Hypocritical globalists eat culinary flesh while forcing a diet of insects on the rest of us

To understand it (and that would do us good), we need to understand world capitalist ideology, which is not as simple as it sounds. Global capitalism has no ideology… or rather, its ideology is “reality”. If you don't have ideological opponents, you don't need an ideology. You are in fact God.

The “reality” is what you say it is, and whoever disagrees with it is a “science denier”, or a “conspiracy theorist”, or a “disinformation purveyor”, or some other kind of deceptive “extremist”. You don't need to discuss ideology with anyone, because you have no ideological opponents. Society is divided into two fundamental groups, (a) "normal people", who accept "reality", and (b) the "deviants" and "extremists", who do not.

Your political and ideological opponents are pathologised, deliberated preventively. After all, who would go against “reality” except liars and the clinically insane?

Yes, of course there are intramural political and ideological conflicts within the confines of so-called “normality”, just as there is intramural competition between global corporations, but challenging the ideological system itself is impossible, because there is no basis from which to launch an attack. undertaken. This is probably the hardest for most of us to accept. There is no ideological field outside of global capitalism. There is no "outside". There are no external opponents. There are only riots and anti-riot operations.

The rest is intramural competition.

And here's another thing we need to understand about global capitalist ideology, and it's not going to make my conservative readers, or my libertarian readers, or my left-wing readers happy. But it is essential to understand the New Normal Left and the shape of the current ideological landscape. I'm going to try to keep this as simple as possible and not get lost in a bunch of post-structuralist mumbo jumbo.

Finished? OK, here we go.

Capitalism is a value decoding machine. It strips society of despotic values ​​(i.e. religious values, racist values, socialist values, traditional values, all values ​​that stand in the way of unfettered capital flows… capitalism does not discriminate). This is how capitalism (or democracy if you are hypersensitive) liberated us from a despotic "reality" in which values ​​came from the aristocracies, kings, priests, the church, etc. In short, it displaced the broadcasting and maintenance of values ​​from despotic structures to the market, where everything is essentially a commodity.

So, hooray… capitalism has freed us from despotism! I am grateful. I'm not a big fan of despotism. The problem is that it's just a machine. And it has no power button. And now it dominates the entire planet without any significant opposition or restriction. So it does what it was designed to do: it strips societies of their despotic values, turns everything and everyone into commodities, establishes and enforces ideological uniformity, and neutralizes groups' internal resistance.

Looking at what is happening, it seems clear to me that there is a coordinated destruction of entire countries and their economic sectors

The vast majority of that resistance is reactionary. I don't mean that in a pejorative sense. Most of the opposition to the New Normal comes from the traditional political right, from people who try to preserve their values, ie avoid being decoded by the GloboCap values-decoding machine. Many of those people don't see it that way because they don't want to face the fact that what they're opposing is global capitalism, so they call it other names like "crony capitalism," "corporatism," or "cultural Marxism." I don't really care what they call it unless they call it "communism" which just makes them sound extremely stupid.

The point is that these people are a reactionary force that opposes the rise of world capitalism and its ideology, whether they know what they are opposing or not. Russia, too, is such a reactionary power, at least insofar as it tries to defend what is left of its national sovereignty. Syria and Iran are two other examples. All these reactionary forces are integrated into the GloboCap system and at the same time resist their inclusion in it. The dynamics are complex. It's not a cartoon or Hollywood movie with "good guys" and "bad guys".

Anyway, the battlefield looks like this… you have GloboCap running its Clear-and-Hold operation, and you have the reactionary (“populist”) response to it. And that's it. These are currently the only major forces on the battlefield.

Which brings us to the plight of the Left.

The Left – and I mean “Left” in a broad sense, meaning liberals and serious as well as Brooklyn Leftists – are in an ideological dilemma. Either they join an increasingly totalitarian GloboCap or they join the reactionary resistance against it.

They can't join the reactionaries because a lot of them are... well, you know, somewhat bigoted, or they believe in God, or they object to drag queens rubbing themselves on kids. Many of them own multiple firearms and fly giant American flags outside their homes (or whatever flags they fly in Britain). Many of them have voted for Donald Trump, or Brexit, or the AfD here in Germany, or the National Rally in France, or The Brothers of Italy. These are not BBC/NPR listening people. These are not LGBTQ pronouns folks. These are scary working class people.

So the left has joined GloboCap, which after all still decodes all those nasty despotic values ​​(i.e. racism and other forms of bigotry), opposing dictators and religious fanatics, and spreading “democracy” all over the planet. You may think I'm funny. That is not true. Global capitalism still does. Which I support, just like all liberals and Left parties anyway.

Covid and Putin are not a threat to your freedom; people like Schwab, Gates and Trudeau are

The catch is that while global capitalism continues to do so and make a big show of it, it is also becoming totalitarian. It does not decode those despotic values ​​out of the goodness of its heart. What it does is bring about ideological uniformity. The problem is that it has no ideology. All it knows how to do is decode values, turning societies into markets and everything in them into worthless commodities. And she does so in a totalitarian way. The Nazis called this process “Gleichschaltung”, the synchronization of all elements of society according to the official ideology. That is what is currently happening worldwide.

GloboCap has begun to move from a “reality” of competing ideologies, sovereign nation-states, cultures and values ​​to a new, supranational, post-ideological, ultimately transhuman, globalized “reality”, and the message is: “You are either with us or against us.”

New Normal Left is clear for GloboCap. The New Normal Left will furiously deny this, clamoring for more censorship of dissent and cheering for real Sieg-healing Nazis.

Just as the “populist” right cannot accept that what it opposes is a form of capitalism, the New Normal Left cannot accept that it is joining a new form of totalitarianism. It is literally unthinkable for them. You can show them screenshots of their posts and Tweets calling for "the unvaccinated" to be locked up in camps, and pictures of when they formed fanatical mobs and threatened people who wouldn't chant their slogans, and they'll look at you like you are crazy.

And so we're in a bit of a bind. That's basically what I told the conference in London. I wish I had a brilliant plan of action. Unfortunately I don't. Probably no one has at this stage. The New Normal has only just begun.

One thing I do know for sure, if you don't want to end up eating the bugs and owning nothing and be happy in your AI-guarded 15-minute city while you wait for your social credit app to update your vaccination record, so that you can access your CBDC account and make another minimum payment on your deepening credit card debt, it's probably a good idea to try and understand what's actually happening.

Or maybe not. What do I know? I'm just an old "far-right Leftist."

Copyright © 2023 translation by Frontnieuws. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit and direct link is given.

[thenamesofthings]

Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly, 21 Feb 23

A Moral Assessment

Citizens of Russia,

This Presidential Address comes, as we all know, at a difficult, watershed period for our country. This is a time of radical, irreversible change in the entire world, of crucial historical events that will determine the future of our country and our people, a time when every one of us bears a colossal responsibility.

One year ago, to protect the people in our historical lands, to ensure the security of our country and to eliminate the threat coming from the neo-Nazi regime that had taken hold in Ukraine after the 2014 coup, it was decided to begin the special military operation. Step by step, carefully and consistently we will deal with the tasks we have at hand.

Since 2014, Donbass has been fighting for the right to live in their land and to speak their native tongue. It fought and never gave up amid the blockade, constant shelling and the Kiev regime’s overt hatred. It hoped and waited that Russia would come to help.

In the meantime, as you know well, we were doing everything in our power to solve this problem by peaceful means, and patiently conducted talks on a peaceful solution to this devastating conflict.

Behind our backs, a very different plan was being hatched. As we can see now, the promises of Western leaders, their assurances that they were striving for peace in Donbass turned out to be a sham and outright lies. They were simply marking time, engaged in political chicanery, turning a blind eye to the Kiev regime’s political assassinations and reprisals against undesirable people, their mistreatment of believers. They increasingly incited the Ukrainian neo-Nazis to stage terrorist attacks in Donbass. The officers of nationalist battalions trained at Western academies and schools. Weapons were also supplied.

I would like to emphasise that, prior to the special military operation, Kiev held negotiations with the West about the delivery of air-defence systems, warplanes and other heavy equipment to Ukraine. We also recall the Kiev regime’s vain attempts to obtain nuclear weapons; they discussed this issue publicly.

The United States and NATO quickly deployed their army bases and secret biological laboratories near Russian borders. They mastered the future theatre of war during war games, and they prepared the Kiev regime which they controlled and Ukraine which they had enslaved for a large-scale war.

Now they admit this publicly and openly, and they feel no shame about it. They seem to be proud and even to be revelling in their own perfidy, while calling the Minsk Agreements and the Normandy Format a diplomatic show and a bluff. It turns out that all this time, while Donbass was ablaze, while blood was being spilled, and while Russia sincerely made every effort to achieve a peaceful solution (I want to emphasise the word “sincerely”), they gambled on people’s lives, and in effect, were playing with marked cards, as they say in certain circles.

This appalling method of deception has been tried and tested many times before. They behaved just as shamelessly and duplicitously when destroying Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya, and Syria. They will never be able to wash off this shame. The concepts of honour, trust, and decency are not for them.

Over the long centuries of colonialism, diktat and hegemony, they got used to being allowed everything, got used to spitting on the whole world. It turned out that they treat people living in their own countries with the same disdain, like a master. After all, they cynically deceived them too, tricked them with tall stories about the search for peace, about adherence to the UN Security Council resolutions on Donbass. Indeed, the Western elites have become a symbol of total, unprincipled lies.

We firmly defend our interests as well as our belief that in today’s world there should be no division into so-called civilised countries and all the rest and that there is a need for an honest partnership that rejects any exclusivity, especially an aggressive one.

We were open and sincerely ready for a constructive dialogue with the West; we said and insisted that both Europe and the whole world needed an indivisible security system equal for all countries, and for many years we suggested that our partners discuss this idea together and work on its implementation. But in response, we received either an indistinct or hypocritical reaction, as far as words were concerned. But there were also actions: NATO’s expansion to our borders, the creation of new deployment areas for missile defence in Europe and Asia – they decided to take cover from us under an ‘umbrella’ – deployment of military contingents, and not just near Russia’s borders.

I would like to stress –in fact, this is well-known – that no other country has so many military bases abroad as the United States. There are hundreds of them – I want to emphasise this – hundreds of bases all over the world; the planet is covered with them, and one look at the map is enough to see this.

The whole world witnessed how they withdrew from fundamental agreements on weapons, including the treaty on intermediate and shorter-range missiles, unilaterally tearing up the fundamental agreements that maintain world peace. For some reason, they did it. They do not do anything without a reason, as we know.

Finally, in December 2021, we officially submitted draft agreements on security guarantees to the USA and NATO. In essence, all key, fundamental points were rejected. After that it finally became clear that the go-ahead for the implementation of aggressive plans had been given and they were not going to stop.

The threat was growing by the day. Judging by the information we received, there was no doubt that everything would be in place by February 2022 for launching yet another bloody punitive operation in Donbass. Let me remind you that back in 2014, the Kiev regime sent its artillery, tanks and warplanes to fight in Donbass.

We all remember the aerial footage of airstrikes targeting Donetsk. Other cities also suffered from airstrikes. In 2015, they tried to mount a frontal assault against Donbass again, while keeping the blockade in place and continuing to shell and terrorise civilians. Let me remind you that all of this was completely at odds with the documents and resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council, but everyone pretended that nothing was happening.

Let me reiterate that they were the ones who started this war, while we used force and are using it to stop the war.

Those who plotted a new attack against Donetsk in the Donbass region, and against Lugansk understood that Crimea and Sevastopol would be the next target. We realised this as well. Even today, Kiev is openly discussing far-reaching plans of this kind. They exposed themselves by making public what we knew already.

We are defending human lives and our common home, while the West seeks unlimited power. It has already spent over $150 billion on helping and arming the Kiev regime. To give you an idea, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the G7 countries earmarked about $60 billion in 2020–2021 to help the world’s poorest countries. Is this clear? They spent $150 billion on the war, while giving $60 billion to the poorest countries, despite pretending to care about them all the time, and also conditioning this support on obedience on behalf of the beneficiary countries. What about all this talk of fighting poverty, sustainable development and protection of the environment? Where did it all go? Has it all vanished? Meanwhile, they keep channelling more money into the war effort. They eagerly invest in sowing unrest and encouraging government coups in other countries around the world.

The recent Munich Conference turned into an endless stream of accusations against Russia. One gets the impression that this was done so that everyone would forget what the so-called West has been doing over the past decades. They were the ones who let the genie out of the bottle, plunging entire regions into chaos.

According to US experts, almost 900,000 people were killed during wars unleashed by the United States after 2001, and over 38 million became refugees. Please note, we did not invent these statistics; it is the Americans who are providing them. They are now simply trying to erase all this from the memory of humankind, and they are pretending that all this never happened. However, no one in the world has forgotten this or will ever forget it.

None of them cares about human casualties and tragedies because many trillions of dollars are at stake, of course. They can also continue to rob everyone under the guise of democracy and freedoms, to impose neoliberal and essentially totalitarian values, to brand entire countries and nations, to publicly insult their leaders, to suppress dissent in their own countries and to divert attention from corruption scandals by creating an enemy image. We continue to see all this on television, which highlights greater domestic economic, social and inter-ethnic problems, contradictions and disagreements.

I would like to recall that, in the 1930s, the West had virtually paved the way to power for the Nazis in Germany. In our time, they started turning Ukraine into an “anti-Russia.” Actually, this project is not new. People who are knowledgeable about history at least to some extent realise that this project dates back to the 19th century. The Austro-Hungarian Empire and Poland had conceived it for one purpose, that is, to deprive Russia of these historical territories that are now called Ukraine. This is their goal. There is nothing new here; they are repeating everything.

The West expedited the implementation of this project today by supporting the 2014 coup. That was a bloody, anti-state and unconstitutional coup. They pretended that nothing happened, and that this is how things should be. They even said how much money they had spent on it. Russophobia and extremely aggressive nationalism formed its ideological foundation.

Quite recently, a brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was named Edelweiss after a Nazi division whose personnel were involved in deporting Jews, executing prisoners of war and conducting punitive operations against partisans in Yugoslavia, Italy, Czechoslovakia and Greece. We are ashamed to talk about this, but they are not. Personnel serving with the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Ukrainian National Guard are particularly fond of chevrons formerly worn by soldiers from Das Reich, Totenkopf (Death’s Head) and Galichina divisions and other SS units. Their hands are also stained with blood. Ukrainian armoured vehicles feature insignia of the Nazi German Wehrmacht.

Neo-Nazis are open about whose heirs they consider themselves to be. Surprisingly, none of the powers that be in the West are seeing it. Why? Because they – pardon my language – could not care less about it. They do not care who they are betting on in their fight against us, against Russia. In fact, anyone will do as long as they fight against us and our country. Indeed, we saw terrorists and neo-Nazis in their ranks. They would let all kinds of ghouls join their ranks, for God’s sake, as long as they act on their will as a weapon against Russia.

In fact, the anti-Russia project is part of the revanchist policy towards our country to create flashpoints of instability and conflicts next to our borders. Back then, in the 1930s, and now the design remains the same and it is to direct aggression to the East, to spark a war in Europe, and to eliminate competitors by using a proxy force.

We are not at war with the people of Ukraine. I have made that clear many times. The people of Ukraine have become hostages of the Kiev regime and its Western handlers, who have in fact occupied that country in the political, military and economic sense and have been destroying Ukrainian industry for decades now as they plundered its natural resources. This led to social degradation and an immeasurable increase in poverty and inequality. Recruiting resources for military operations in these circumstances was easy. Nobody was thinking about people, who were conditioned for slaughter and eventually became expendables. It is a sad and dreadful thing to say, but it is a fact.

Responsibility for inciting and escalating the Ukraine conflict as well as the sheer number of casualties lies entirely with the Western elites and, of course, today’s Kiev regime, for which the Ukrainian people are, in fact, not its own people. The current Ukrainian regime is serving not national interests, but the interests of third countries.

The West is using Ukraine as a battering ram against Russia and as a testing range. I am not going to discuss in detail the West's attempts to turn the war around, or their plans to ramp up military supplies, since everyone is well aware of that. However, there is one circumstance that everyone should be clear about: the longer the range of the Western systems that will be supplied to Ukraine, the further we will have to move the threat away from our borders. This is obvious.

The Western elite make no secret of their goal, which is, I quote, “Russia’s strategic defeat.” What does this mean to us? This means they plan to finish us once and for all. In other words, they plan to grow a local conflict into a global confrontation. This is how we understand it and we will respond accordingly, because this represents an existential threat to our country.

However, they too realise it is impossible to defeat Russia on the battlefield and are conducting increasingly aggressive information attacks against us targeting primarily the younger generation. They never stop lying and distorting historical facts as they attack our culture, the Russian Orthodox Church and other traditional religious organizations in our country.

Look what they are doing to their own people. It is all about the destruction of the family, of cultural and national identity, perversion and abuse of children, including pedophilia, all of which are declared normal in their life. They are forcing the priests to bless same-sex marriages. Bless their hearts, let them do as they please. Here is what I would like to say in this regard. Adult people can do as they please. We in Russia have always seen it that way and always will: no one is going to intrude into other people’s private lives, and we are not going to do it, either.

But here is what I would like to tell them: look at the holy scripture and the main books of other world religions. They say it all, including that family is the union of a man and a woman, but these sacred texts are now being questioned. Reportedly, the Anglican Church is planning, just planning, to explore the idea of a gender-neutral god. What is there to say? Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

Millions of people in the West realise that they are being led to a spiritual disaster. Frankly, the elite appear to have gone crazy, and it looks like there is no cure for that. But like I said, these are their problems, while we must protect our children, which we will do. We will protect our children from degradation and degeneration.

Clearly, the West will try to undermine and divide our society and to bet on the fifth columnists who, throughout history, and I want to emphasise this, have been using the same poison of contempt for their own Fatherland and the desire to make money by selling this poison to anyone who is willing to pay for it. It has always been that way.

Those who have embarked on the road of outright betrayal, committing terrorist and other crimes against the security of our society and the country’s territorial integrity, will be held accountable for this under law. But we will never behave like the Kiev regime and the Western elite, which have been and still are involved in witch hunts. We will not settle scores with those who take a step aside and turn their back on their Motherland. Let this be on their conscience, let them live with this – they will have to live with it. The main point is that our people, the citizens of Russia, have given them a moral assessment.

I am proud, and I think we are all proud that our multi-ethnic nation, the absolute majority of our citizens, have taken a principled stance on the special military operation. They understand the basic idea of what we are doing and support our actions on the defence of Donbass. This support primarily revealed their true patriotism – a feeling that is historically inherent in our nation. It is stunning in its dignity and deep understanding by everyone – I will stress, everyone – of the inseparable link between one’s own destiny and the destiny of the Fatherland…

[xtruss]

North Atlantic Terrorist Organization’s (NATO’s) Proxy War Highlights Urgent Need For a Multipolar Future

— Carlos Martinez | February 17, 2023

Threatening Peace. Illustration: Liu Rui/Global Times

A year ago, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Beijing at start of the Winter Olympics, issuing a joint statement that called on the West to abandon the ideologized approaches of the Cold War. The statement expressed their shared opposition to the further expansion of NATO and emphasized the need for long-term legally binding security guarantees in Europe.

President Xi said the two sides have taken an active part in the reform and development of the global governance system, followed true multilateralism. A year later, with NATO's horrifying proxy war against Russia dragging on, the people of the world are living, and dying, with the consequences of the US and its allies' stubborn refusal to join the path of multipolarity.

With the benefit of hindsight, the Ukraine crisis has acquired a certain tragic inevitability. Russia had made its red lines perfectly clear over the course of many years: that Ukraine must never become part of NATO; that NATO's expansion must end; that Ukraine must never be allowed to be used as a launching pad for war on Russia; and that the national rights of the Russian-speaking peoples of eastern Ukraine must be respected.

As John Wojcik wrote in the left-wing US journal People's World in January 2022, what happens in Ukraine is of critical importance to the survival of Russia. "From Napoleon to the Kaiser to Hitler, Russia has been invaded too many times from Europe, and it is understandably determined to maintain a militarily non-aligned buffer zone on its border."

It was within the West's power to prevent the current war, and it remains within the West's power to put a stop to it now. Unfortunately the leading Western power, the US, has only a marginal interest in helping to bring about peace in Europe. If the US wanted peace, it could have supported Ukraine in adopting a path of military neutrality and building friendly and mutually-beneficial relations with both East and West. But the US prioritizes hegemony over peace, and has therefore constantly meddled in Ukraine with a view to exploiting its people and geography to project imperial power against Russia.

Guardian journalist Martin Kettle said the quiet part out loud recently, observing that "sending tanks to Ukraine makes one thing clear: this is now a western war against Russia." The West is pursuing a policy of gradual, continuous escalation in Ukraine - recycling a strategy that it used against the Soviets in Afghanistan four decades ago. Its end-game is to significantly weaken Russia, cripple the Russian economy, undermine public support for the Putin government, and fertilize the ground for the emergence of a new government in Moscow willing to follow Washington's instructions.

Such a policy is not pursued out of any specific hatred of Russia, but as part of a broader global campaign to assert US hegemony and break the trajectory toward a multipolar system of international relations. At the same time as attacking Russia, the US is also escalating its long-term campaign to contain and encircle China.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated in a recent visit to South Korea that "China poses a challenge to our values, to our interests and to our security." One has to wonder whether by "our values and interests" he means hegemony, warmongering, plutocracy, profiteering, and domination of the world's land, resources and markets.

These desperate attempts to roll back the multipolar process are not destined to bear fruit. Even among the countries of Western Europe - with which the US shares a political ideology, a set of cultural values and an enduring commitment to white supremacy - there is diminishing enthusiasm for a reckless new Cold War, which is already contributing to serious economic difficulties in Britain, Germany and elsewhere. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has reluctantly agreed to allow German Leopard 2 tanks to be delivered to Ukraine, but only after sustained pressure.

In the Global South, such pressure has increasingly little impact. Soon after capitulating on the tanks issue, Scholz travelled to Brazil to visit the newly-inaugurated President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Asked whether Brazil would provide weapons to Ukraine, Lula stated firmly that "our war is against poverty, not Russia."

Lula made an important suggestion: that China, Brazil, India and Indonesia - "a club of countries that want to build peace on the planet" - could take the lead in mediating a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine conflict. He added that "our friends the Chinese play a very important role."

The idea of China and other responsible countries of the Global South taking a lead on mediation is gaining traction. Professor Jeffrey Sachs recently wrote an article in the Economist that "neutral nations including Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and South Africa" could have an important role in facilitating a negotiated end to the conflict and becoming "the co-guarantors to begin a new era of peace and rebuilding."

People who have critical thinking skills recognize that the US and NATO are incapable of, and unwilling to, clear up the mess they created. Herein lies the profound irony. The US is waging war on multipolarity, but a major effect of this war is to highlight to the peoples of the world the indispensable and urgent need for a multipolar future.

— The Author is a British Author and Independent Political Commentator.