#chaika radio

[international-repeater-station]

hello i think it's time to share one of my favourite songs maybe ever. i stumbled upon it somewhere around october, have since contributed at LEAST 70 views to this already and the video is still only at 365 views which i think is criminally underrated for such a nice song???

if you're not a fan of synthV/vocaloid then i still recommend you to give this a go because the vocals are soft as a cotton candy, pleasantly quiet, submerged in the instrumental which in turn is so so delicate, so dreamy, it's filled with little carefully coordinated electronic clicks and beats and i honestly can't get enough of these sounds. it's awesome. this song is like a big warm blanket thrown over my head. <3

[skyfullofpods]

It's audio fiction Sunday and Y'ALL HAVE BEEN BUSY

[russianreader]

Band Practice

Drivers, workers, and policemen play in the Uglich recreation center’s brass band. The vocalist hosts a children’s program on local television, while the drummer performs as Father Frost at New Year’s celebrations. Most of the musicians played in the October Club Brass Band as children, and the current ensemble is named the Sysoyev Pop and Brass Band in memory of Alexander Sysoyev, who came to…

[cardest]

Russia playlist

Gorbachov! Tear down that wall.......and turn up this Russia playlist! The Cossacks are dancing to this one and the yaks are singing. Russia, Siberia, Moscow, St Petersburg and a cold war. It’s all here in this Russia playlist. Hit play: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-iHPcxymC18F7oDKY8zH1IOplzHM05MY

We begin the journey in Siberia and make our way across Genghis Khan territory towards Omsk and beyond. We have a look at Chernobyl, Ukraine for a look around and make our way up to Moscow, We finish up this playlist in St Petersburg. Hope you enjoy it.

RUSSIA

001 FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE 007 OST - Main theme 002 Ozzy Osbourne - Crazy Train 003 The Beatles - Back in The USSR 004 Iron Maiden - Mother Russia 005 Sisters of Mercy  - Dominion / Mother Russia 006 Ramones - Cretin Hop 007 Sting - Russians 008 Russkaja - Peace, Love & Russian Roll 009 Robert Simon Thomas - Troika  (balalaika) 010 Jello Biafra, The Guantanamo School Of Medicine - We Created Putin 011 The Cult -  Siberia 012 Mastodon -  Siberian Divide 013 Yes - Siberian Khatru 014 Pesnokhorki Barnaul - Cossacks songs of Siberia 015 Diablo Swing Orchestra - Siberian Love Affairs 016 The Kills - Siberian Nights 017 The Night Flight Orchestra - Siberian Queen 018 Altai Kai - Traditional Siberian music 019 Vallenfyre -  My Black Siberia 020 Skyhooks - Jukebox In Siberia 021 MISERY INDEX - Siberian March 022 Wooly Mammoth - Mammoth Bones 023 Grumbling Fur -  Siberian Priest 024 Iron Maiden - Genghis Khan 025 Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Night enchanted 026 The Locust -  Live From The Russian Compound 027 ACCEPT - Russian Roulette 028 Cavalera Conspiracy - Genghis Khan 029 Diaframma - Siberia 030 Renaissance - Mother Russia 031 Echo & The Bunnymen - Siberia 032 Dschinghis Khan - Genghis Khan 033 Bad News -  Warriors Of Ghengis Khan 034 The Hu - The great Chinggis Khan 035 Shah - Escape 036 Ray Stevens - Surfin USSR 037 Ramones - Locket Love 038 Heirs -  Russia 039 The Dillinger Escape Plan - Hero of the Soviet Union 040 Natalia Albychakova - Takhpakh 041 Svetlanas - Go Fck You Self 042 Maloletka - Irkutsk Path 043  Kuban Cossack Choir - The hat all around 044 The Lords of the New Church - Russian Roulette 045 Paul Lay Trio - Irkutsk 046 Elvis Hitler - Rocking Over Russia 047 Russian Circles - 309 048 Thylacine - Irkutsk 049 Valeriy Voloshin and gruppa Pyatiletka - Irkutsk 050 DEVO -  Cold War 051 Güiro Meets Russia - It's Not The World, It's You 052 Powerwolf - Nightside of Siberia 053 Altai Kai - Oilo oilo altai 054 Arkona - Yarilo 055 Depeche Mode - People Are People 056 Gorky Park - Bang 057 Igor Stravinsky -  The Rite of Spring, Part 1- 3 Game of Abduction 058 Martika - Toy Soldiers 059 Transvision vamp    - revolution baby 060 The Stranglers -  No More Heroes 061 Gari Gari - Russian gypsy  music 062 Russian Sailors - Dance Yablochka 063 Manic Street Preachers - Revolt 064 Elton John - Nikita 065 Krokus - Russian winter 066 Prince - Ronnie Talk to Russia 067 Soviet SOunds - Baikal-Amur Railroad 068 Genesis - Land of Confusion 069 Duran Duran - Planet Earth 070 Today Is The Day -  The Russian Porn Ballet 071 Nytt Land - Ballad of Gjallarhorn 072 Rotting Christ - Ветры злые - (featuring Irina Zybina) 073 Metallica - Blackened 074 Anneke van Giersbergen, Árstíðir -  Russian Lullaby 075 Der Kommissar - After the Fire 076 Czas relaksu - Andrzej i Eliza 077 korobushka - Folk Russian 078 Peter Gabriel - Red Rain 079 FEAR - Bomb the Russians 080 Rush - Heresy 081 RUSSKAJA - Energia 082 Megadeth -  Peace Sells 083 King Crimson - One More Red Nightmare 084 Sodom - Nuclear Winter 085 Bruce Cockburn - If I Had A Rocket Launcher 086 Talisman - Hey you Horses! 087 Styx - Cold War 088 Grateful Dead - Throwing Stones 089 Gimines - Kai armonika tyliai užgros 090 EXHUMED - Coins Upon the Eyes 091 Mastodon -  The Czar 092 CCCP - American Soviets 093 Sapce Rockit - Supersonik Elektronik 094 Septic Flesh - The Eldest Cosmonaut 095 Quicksand -  Cosmonauts 096 Arkona - Zimushka 097 Abracadabra - Damned Dances 098 Pink Floyd - Two Suns In The Sunset 099 Prince - 1999 100 Trololo Guy - Sean Sell Duck with Fake Subtitles ( Buffalax Style ) 101 Armonika - Gromatele Parašiau 102 Diablo Swing Orchestra - Vodka Inferno 103 Accept -  Balls to the wall 104 Killing Joke - New Cold War 105 UB40 - The Earth Dies Screaming 106 RAMONES - Bonzo Goes To Bitburg (My Brain Is Hanging Upside) 107 TCHAYOK - Zavarka - Mi-minable 108 COH - Soii Noir 109 Vircator - Tunguska 110 Scorpions -  China White 111 Tears For Fears  - Everybody Wants To Rule The World 112 The Stalin - 解剖室 113 KAIRA - OХ РA 114 Alexander Robotnick - Ce n'est q'un début 115 Tunguska Electronic Music Society - Alpha Kawu 116 Arkona - Odna 117  Cist - Antisceptic 118 Sabaton -  Nuclear Attack 119 Leningrad Cowboys - Katjusha 120 PRONG - Rude Awakening 121 Imperial Age - And I Shall Find My Home 122 Так - пела метель 123 Fear Konstruktor - Nonexistence 124 Oneohtrix - Russian Mind 125 Police - Every Breath You Take 126 dEpEchE modE - Two Minute Warning 127 Ultravox - Dancing With Tears In My Eyes 128 Sigue Sigue Sputnik - Love Missile F1-11 129 Metallica - Fight Fire With Fire 130 David Bowie - Heroes 131 woven hand - my Russia 132 Survivor - Burning Heart (Rocky IV OST) 133 Forest - As a Shade Above This Land 134 Tesla - Modern Day Cowboy 135 Colossus Form - Son Of Nature 136 The Flying Lizards - Russia 137 Djivan Gasparyan - A Cool Wind Is Blowing 138 Iron Driver (feat. Pasha Mrachek) - Prisoner of time 139 Pussy Riot - CHAIKA 140 Boris Alexandrov - Катюша (Katyusha) 141 DEVO - Going Under 142 Motor - Yak 143 Nuclear Assault - Nuclear War 144 Edward Artemiev - Station (Solaris OST) 145 Soviet Valves - Puritan Blues 146 Verasy - Polet 147 FAVALLI - Yuri Gagarin 148 Wolfmother - Cosmonaut 149 Yuri Gagarin  - Psychological Discontinuity 150 Witchfinder General - Soviet Invasion 151 Korrozia Metallah - Russian Vodka 152 Russkaja - Kosmopolit 153 Dio -  Gypsy 154 The The - slow train to dawn 155  Blues Pills -  Gypsy 156 Rush - Red Lenses 157 Corey Hart - Komrade Kiev 158 Master - Metal Doctor 159 Howlin Rain - Phantom In The Valley 160 ARKONA - Liki Bessmertnykh Bogov 161 Pitchblack - IHATEU 162 Ozzy Osbourne - Killer of Giants 163 Scorpions - Wind of Change 164 Yat kha - Chorumal Bodum 165 Nadezhda Babkina, Russkaja Pesnja 166 Ramones - Here Today, Gone Tomorrow 167 Russian radio - red flag 168 Manicure - Atomic Summer 169 The Dillinger Escape Plan -  The Threat Posed By Nuclear Weapons 170 Love Among Freaks - Berserker 171 ARIA - HERO OF ASPHALT 172 Temnozor - Fatherland 173 Walknut - Motherland Ostenvegr 174 Weird Al Yankovic - Now That's What I Call Polka! 175 Underworld - Underneath the Radar 176 Skyclad - Polkageist 177 Helloween - Russian Roulé 178 John Coltrane - Russian Lullaby 179 Julian Cope - russian revolution blues 180 Rodrigo y Gabriela - The Russian Messenger 181 Kate Bush - Babooshka 182 ВИА - Чаривни гитары 183 Mastodon - The Last Baron 184 Hovert – Omyt 185 Minsk -  Consumed by Horizons 186 Kypck - Stalingrad 187 Def Leppard -  Gods of war 188 Black Country Communion  - Big Train 189 Sabaton -  Stalingrad 190  Doomsquad - Russian Gaze 191 Soviet Soviet - Human Nature 192 Murray head    - one night in bangkok 193 The Korgis - Young n Russian 194 Chelsea Light Moving - Communist Eyes 195 Helix - Champagne Communist 196 UDO - Train Ride In Russia 197 Mr Weebl - Russian Dancing Men 198 Jamie Jones   - Siberian Express 199 They Might Be Giants - Sold My Mind to the Kremlin 200 Ed Khuild - lolololololololol 201 Sepultura - Itsari 202 Vy Pole - Enormous 203 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Fifteen Feet Of Pure White Snow 204 Gogol Bordello -  Gypsy Auto Pilot 205 Buffalex - Horse Eat My Nipple 206 Municipal Waste - Wolves of Chernobyl 207 Drudkh -  Cursed Sons II 208 Chernobyl - A song for the fallen 209 Russkaja - Hometown Polka 210 Toxic Holocaust -  Out of the Fire 211  Hail Caesar! Soundtrack - 19 Soviet Man 212 The Blow Monkeys  - The Man From Russia 213 The Devil's Blood - The Anti-Kosmik Magick 214 Orchid - Cosmonaut of Three 215 Vergeltung - Cold War 216 KYPCK - Alleya Stalina 217 Cabaret Voltaire -  Calling Moscow 218 Red Army Choir - Polyushka Polye 219 Iron Curtain - Ready To Strike 220 Porcupine Tree - Russia on Ice 221 Sigue Sigue Sputnik - 21st Century Boy 222 Al Stewart - Roads to Moscow 223 The Rolling Stones - Sympathy For The Devil 224 Soviet Soviet - ecastacy 225 KREMLIN - Will You Feed Me 226 AC/DC - Heatseeker 227 ANJ - Gorbachev 228 Katyusha (Катюша) - Aleksandr Marshal & Valeria Kurnushkina 229 ARKONA - Stenka Na Stenku 230 Black Obelisk -  The wall 231 Skyclad - Catherine at the Wheel 232 Pussy Riot - Kropotkin-vodka (Kill the sexist!) 233 Brian Eno -- Stedelijk 234 Zola Jesus - Siphon 235 Insect Inside - The First Shining of New Genus 236 MR. ZIVAGO - Little Russian 237 The Real McKenzies - Midnight Train to Moscow 238 Red Army OST - KGB 239 The Toasters - Night Train to Moscow 240 Thy Catafalque - Urania 241 The Apogee - Hieronymus Bosch 242 Sabaton - Panzerkampf 244 RUSSKAJA - Barada   245 Oneohtrix Point Never - KGB Nights 246 Faith No More -  A Small Victory 247 Mike and the mechanics - A Call To Arms 248 Michael Jackson - Stranger In Moscow 249 Blondie - Contact In Red Square 250 Rammstein - Moskau 251 Pseudogod - deathwomb 252 KGB - Subway Sleepwalker 253 Igor Butman Big Band - Moscow at 3am 254 Genghis Khan - Moscow 255 Demon - Blue Skies In Red Square 256 Type O Negative - The Profit of Doom 257 COH - Red Square 258 Cougars - Red Square 259 Ray Conniff - Moscow Nights 260 INDIANS IN MOSCOW - Indians in Moscow 261 Radio Moscow - 250 Miles 262 Kingdom Come - Crown of Moscow 263 Powerwolf - Moscow after dark 264 U.D.O. - Decadent 265 System Of A Down - Störagéd 266 Closure In Moscow - Pink Lemonade 267 VIBRATORS - DISCO IN MOSCO 268 IRA PETROWA - MOSKAUER NÄCHTE 269 Visage - Moon Over Moscow 270 Farmers Market - Red Square Dance 271 Wonderland -  Moscow 272 Courtney Pine - Red Square Gagarinesk 273 Stray Cats - Storm The Embassy 274 German Shepherds - Communist Control 275 Moloko - Radio Moscow 276 March of the defenders - Moscow 277 Takako Nishizaki - Podmoskovnye vechera( Moscow Nights) 278 Simple Minds - Moscow Underground 279 The Spotnicks - Moscow 280 The Russian Jazz Quartet - Journey from Moscow 281 Bob Crewe Generation - Miniskirts In Moscow 282 MODERN TROUBLE - FLY TO MOSCOW 283 Gorky Park - Moscow Calling 284 BB Gabor - Moscow Drug Club 285 Doe Maar - De bom 286 Manicured noise - Moscow 287 Russkaja - Ras Dwa Tri 288 PLANET P PROJECT - Armageddon 289 Clan of Xymox - Muscoviet Musquito 290 Gogol Bordello -  60 REVOLUTIONS 291 Uriah Heep   - Gypsy 292 Living Colour - Cult Of Personality 293 The Hollies - Russian Roulette 294 Kenny Ball and His Jazzmen - Red Square 295 Frank Chacksfield - Under Moscow Skies 296 Thomas Dolby - Eastern Bloc 297 The Redskins - Kick Over The Statues 298 The Alchemist - Moscow Mornings - Sunrise 299 N.O.T.A. - Moscow 300 Svetlanas - Where Is My Borscht? 301 Against Me! - Russian Spies 302 James Horner - Gorkij park (Gorky Park 1983) OST 303 Hetalia Russia - Moscú 304 Roberto Jacketti & The Scooters - Moscow Nights 305 Ram J Holder - The Blues in Moscow 306 Ivan Rebroff sings Russian folk songs - Moscow nights 307 Jethro Tull - Crest Of A Knave Said She Was a Dancer 308 Men At Work - Its a Mistake 309 Skeewiff - Moscow Mule 310 The Clash - Ivan Meets G.I. Joe 311 Captain Sensible - Glad its all over 312 Ulfdallir - Steel Armor 313 Arkona - Oi Ti ne Vecher (Oh Not That Evening) 314 Lena Katina - No Voy A Olvidarte 315 JOHNNY M5 - Moscow Nights 316   Eddy Huntington - U.S.S.R. 317 Selsius - Moscow 318 WINTERUS - MOSCOW 319 Mr. Zivago - Love in Moscow 320 Brutto - Moscow Calling 321 Udo Lindenberg - Moskau 322 Aliza Kashi - Moscow Nights 323 Angelic Upstarts - Last Tango In Moscow 324 ASIA - Russian Dolls 325 Blaze Bayley & Thomas Zwijsen - Russian Holiday 326 Kate Bush - Breathing 327 Roger Waters and David Bowie - When the wind blows 328 Roky Erickson & The Aliens - Sputnik 329 Moscow - Orange Juice 330 Ivan Rebroff - Cossack Patrol 331 Alexandr Gradsky - Как молоды мы были 332 James Horner - Gorky Park - Following KGB 333 B.T.R - Moscow City 334 Gogol Bordello -  Hats Off To Kolpakoff 335 CCCP - Sputnik [Cosmos] 336 Russkaja - Go Sputnik 337 Red Spektor - Cosmonaut 338 Bald Red Lady - Cosmonaut 339 Ulver - Russian Doll 340 Hawkwind - Sputnik Stan 341 Bad Acid Trip - Putin Fears Pussy 342 Queensryche - Operation Mindcrime 343 Dark Tranquillity -  Arkhangelsk 344 TOTAL REJECTS (This Night) I'm Going To Be Destroyed 345 Manic Street Preachers - The Next Jet to Leave Moscow 346 Billy Joel - Leningrad 347 Victor Smolski    - The Heretic 348 Boney M - Rasputin 349 Type O Negative - Tripping A Blind Man 350 Leningrad Cowboys - Leningrad 351 Accept - Stalingrad 352 Russian Folk Music - Russian Winter 353 Cavalera Conspiracy -  Rasputin 354 Kontrust - Rasputin 355 Bersarin Quartett - St. Petersburg 356 Folkearth - From Volga to Bosphorus 357 Anastasia - Rumor in St. Petersburg 358 Retox - Soviet Reunion 359 Fireside - Let Rasputin Do It 360 Mastodon - Oblivion 361 St.Petersburg Ska Jazz Review - Volga River Boat Man 362 THERION - The Khlysti Evangelist 363 The Mountain Goats - Evening in Stalingrad 364 Rage - Soul Survivor 365 Indigo Girls - Closer to Fine 366 ARKONA - Slavsia Rus 367 Russian Folk Music - Kalinka (balalaika) 368 Catch 22 - The Decembrists Song 369 Joanna Stingray - City of Lenin 370 Aria - Attila 371 KAUAN  - Khurum 372 Balalaika Ensemble Wolga - Cossacks Dance 373 The Liminanas - Russian Roulette 374 Vasiliy Shumov - Porridge 375 U.D.O. - I GIVE AS GOOD AS I GET 666 Russkaja - Change

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-iHPcxymC18F7oDKY8zH1IOplzHM05MY

[cerastes]

how does nijisanji/parent company keep its talent safe? also as an aside, nijisanji seems WAY more lax about the girls mingling with guys and so on, especially compared to hololive

I cover it in this post I made a while ago as part of a longer tale, so let me synthesize it a little for easier, more accurate digestion:

Ichikara used to be pretty bad with their talent as well, leading to plenty of “graduations” (polite and ambiguous term for “they are no longer affiliated with us”), but the highest profile of said graduations was Sasaki Saku, who was and still is one of the top popular Vtubers worldwide (her retirement was due to other things as well, including issues with Nintendo, but Ichikara being bad with their talent was one of the reasons). This led Hanabatake Chaika and Shiina Yuika, two close friends of Saku, to form what they called the “Nijisanji Resistance”, a radio show in which they would air grievances and complaints about Ichikara/Nijisanji management and call them out for different issues. It’s important to note that Chaika and Yuika both expressed surprise during the first episode of Nijisanji Resistance about how management was ok with them doing this, which they interpreted as management saying “it doesn’t matter at all if you do this, it won’t have an impact”.

Ichikara was wrong, if that is the case: Chaika and Yuika invited several Nijisanji colleagues into the show and they aired their grievances in a polite, humorous but still very real manner. Midst jokes and bits, they would seriously talk about ways in which Ichikara screwed over some of the talent, including more egregiously a few cases in which Ichikara made a few vtubers pay for their character design without telling them beforehand, when it is the company that foots that bill usually. They also had other pretty crappy practices that overall resulted in pretty bad workplace conditions. Chaika and Yuika rallied support from both colleagues and fans and complaints eventually got so serious that Ichikara buckled and improved by leagues. Nijisanji Resistance ended up going inactive because Chaika and Yuika said “there isn’t anything else for us to complain about”, meaning that they managed to get the changes they wanted, and they managed to get heard. As you well know, Sasaki Saku was contacted and offered to rejoin after this reform, and she made her return.

What I meant when I said that is that making the company responsible and directing complaints at them is what gets results. Ichikara more or less expected no impact from this, yet they ended up having to do a huge reform because the complaints from both their own talent and the fans got that big. We can always get into the cultural end of things as well, but the matter of fact is, it worked. It took a pretty high profile retirement, but it made enough waves that change came. Supposedly, they are pretty good with their talent now (there’s hiccups here and there but it’s no longer a straight up toxic workplace).

Nijisanji doesn’t really mind letting girls and guys collab a whole ton because they don’t fashion themselves an idol company, unlike Hololive: Nijisanji vtubers call themselves “livers” as opposed to “virtual idols”, and there’s even very popular mixed gender groups within Nijisanji livers themselves: Hoshikawa and Yuika love the idea of Gundou and Kanda dating and have made that very clear, there’s a running joke that Sasaki Saku and Ange Katrina fight over Belmond Banderas’ affections (all played for laughs, they are all good friends), lots of fans and Nijisanji vtubers call Yashiro and Dola a couple due to the Dokuzuhonsha quartet (Yashiro, Dola, Himawari and Kuzuha; their schtick is that they pretend to be a family, with Yashiro and Dola as the dad and mom), Ex Albio and Ars Almal are another fan favorite duo that has Pekora and Miko energies because they keep messing with one another, and people note that the usually pretty withdrawn Ars is pretty cheerful and not shy at all when messing around with Ex, and many more, really. It all goes back to how you market yourself: Nijisanji was never about idols, whereas Hololive is, so expectations and what their respective hardcore fans will think differs.

To Cover’s credit, they really seem to regret the idol company thing to a certain degree and want to subvert it: For example, Subaru is allowed and even encouraged by management to collab with the male vtuber Maimoto (from Nijisanji), a close friend of hers. Matsuri and Fubuki tend to collab with Holostars and with outside male vtubers pretty frequently, too, which is supposedly because of their own desire to do so (and Matsuri and Fubuki are big in Hololive, so they have more sway over management than, say, a fresh debutee), so it’s not entirely fair to say they aren’t trying at the very least, but that still doesn’t excuse not standing up for their talent, you feel me? Priorities.

As you can see, it’s a pretty nuanced situation!

[welcometomy20s]

February 6, 2021

February 8th is the 3rd anniversary of Nijisanji, and to celebrate I want to give you a quip about every single extant member of Nijisanji... since there are over 130, that’s including ID, IN, and KR... but not VirtuaReal, because they are not on Youtube and also.... China... it’s split into three parts. Part 1 covers everything up to the merger that happened on the beginning of 2019.

First Wave

Tsukino Mito - The iinchou. One of the original seiso gone wrong. Mito is something else, a term I used for Haato, but Mito’s degeneracy feels very different. Mito is much more cynical, definitely likes gore like Korone, and definitely one who calculates things. Haato is just beginning to figure out how to play out her degeneracy, to great effect, but Mito knew the future. In that sense, she fits the Student Representative nature.

Remember that Mito is kind of like Sora in Hololive. This comes as the major source tension, for Hololive, it’s the tension of being an idol and being oneself. Here, it’s more like how to best express oneself within the limitation of the medium. It seems similar, but the feeling is quite different, and that’s what makes Nijisanji so different from Hololive.

Higuchi Kaede - I heard she plays the trumpet. Hmm, that’s all you need to know about this person. If you were in band, you know the instrument determines your personality. Trumpet people are outgoing, brash, but ultimately a nice group of people. The girls, in particular, have a cool side to them, even if they present feminine. They are going to be good friends, with no worries of love blossoming. Usually referred to as Deron, which roughly translates to a slobbering napper... and part of JK Gumi with Mito and Rin.

Shizuka Rin - The functional leader of the group. She’s the competent one, pretty good at gaming, pretty good at hosting, good at being both boke and tsukkomi, also good at drawing apparently. Also good at language as well.

Yuki Chihiro - A soft spoken loli who plays a lot of shooters, and is pretty good at them. Also quite pervy at times. So, just your typical salty gamer, who happens to be a magical girl, apparently... so in another word, a brat.

Elu - Full name, Snow White Paradise El Santo Flow Wasurena Pure Princess Livre Love Heidern Dokodoko Yattaze Valkyria Passion Alfr Noel Chakoboshi Eluaria Frosia Made-in Bloom Elu. Shares the illustrator with Hal Shibuya, Toya, Sister Claire and so on. Started out as a talk streamer, known for her wide range of voice, she shifted to playing Minecraft as you usually do. A bit lacking at top, but tries her best.

Shibuya Hajime - Not to be confused with Shibuya Hal, who was affiliated with upd8. One of the more proficient players in Nijisanji, from his start as pro Getting Over It player, to giving tech advice, and eventually establishing himself as a pro PUBG and Apex player. Apparently did some odd tweets that got him under fire, but he’s better now, apparently. Probably why he did so good at the imagination tournament.

Moira - A goddess, you know with ara ara and everything. Apparently seems to have her head above her clouds... which makes sense considering she’s a goddess.

Suzuya Aki - We have a cross-dresser, everyone. According to TVTropes, he’s affably evil, you know the type. Apparently the most normal of the first wave... and as you have might have guessed Toya really likes this kid. It figures.

Second Wave

Morinaka Kazaki - Another loli character, but has an adult form. Formed a duo with Gibara for some goddamn reason... childhood friends with Emma August, and strangely seen as mother-like, although she looks ten half the time. It’s odd.

Mononobe Alice - Not a loli, despite the appearance... and some of her acts. Has a decent grasp in English, which is really pretty cool. Not much other than that.

Suzuka Utako - The shotacon of the group, and just the most perverted person. Usually has a deep voice, but actually has a pretty wide range, and therefore a really good singer. First Nijisanji member to get banned, apparently.

Fumiko Tamaki - Very much Nijisanji’s own Okayu, including the bad live streaming environment, and having a cat of her own, who is just the most bad of kitties... but even more like a cat in how her schedule is what she feels like... apparently got 250 grand by sleeping. Well, sleeping cat is a staple. Also has a tendency to get her jaw taken out... you know those people. As you might garner, very clueless with technology.

Yuhi Riri - She’s from the future... She has a nice boyish voice, but usually is the butt of the joke due to her lore, so no one comments about it. She seems nice.

Ienaga Mugi - Shares the illustrator with Rin, a shut-in who loves video games and her onii-chan, one of the few who actually grows in age. Pretty good musician, likes to flirt with Riri... which is interesting. Had her identity revealed at school... yikes.

Ushimi Ichigo - She’s a strawberry milk sea slug, which is just the coolest thing. Has a father-daughter relationship with Belmond, and good at drawing. Got some cool advice from Matsuri... which actually, uh, isn’t really a good idea, isn’t it?

Kenmochi Toya - Speaking of not being a good idea to be next to lolis... many people point to the double standard about female vtubers being creepy as kind of a quirk, compared to men, who would go straight to jail... and I point to Kenmochi Toya.

He’s a good host, strangely like Matsuri or Marine, apparently the son of Mito, which Mito likes but Toya doesn’t... go figure. Has that v-line chin that is parodied a lot, and likes to rap... which also feels like a Marine thing. Sorry... he’s pretty good on his own.

Fushimi Gaku - Cheerful man who does a morning show and plays horror games. Kind of plays the father figure for the second wave... but also has a dark side, which makes sense considering the children above. Also fit with the horror games above.

Gilzaren III - Rarely streams, but hangs around in the chat a lot, like he’s some kind of an official lurker of Nijisanji. Also speaks with a pretty high tone, which doesn’t quite fit, although this might be a ruse... it’s unsure.

Nijisanji Gamers

Kanae - Kind of have his head in the clouds, which fits the lore of having amnesia. Kind of the leader of the Gamers, and one of the best at gaming. Does long streams and everything, likes PUBG but venturing to Apex and the likes. Good at Minecraft, too. Usually works with Kuzuha, leading to that famous clip... such a good classic.

Overall, a really solid streamer and personality in general. A real gem for the crew.

Akabane Youko - Rarely streams, but she is good at gaming. Has a wild laugh and so people still like her... huh, in some sense she’s the female Gilzaren.

Himawari Honma - Gamers 2nd Generation is an absolute goldmine. There were three, one of them retired, but you still know her (wink wink), and all three are just fantastic. Probably the best is Hima... one of those empty-head people that is really good at gaming... you know, Aqua, but somehow better, least to me.

Like Aqua, she's a pretty good singer and she likes vocaloids. But Hima-chan is like a sunflower while Aqua is an... onion. I mean onion could be sweet, but it always gives off a bad taste at the end, while a sunflower is a pure delight. Just look at her, her emptiness is a light, while Aqua’s emptiness is dark. (You can tell my bias here.)

I never like the dumb sterotypes, but Hima is so warm and comforting in her emptiness that you cannot help but smile at the airhead. She’s just such a good vtuber.

Sasaki Saku - She’s the hot-headed of the three, well two. She picks fights with everyone, including people like Belmond or Yashiro, and they fight back because she’s just an entertaining fighter. She’s entertaining, period.

Kuzuha - Probably one of more well-known male Nijisanji members. Went on the Suisei route, as in, he was independent before joining Nijisanji. Plays FPS with Kanae as mentioned before. Pretty good player, but better at banter. Kind of a mischievous person who is actually quite shy... a little of Pekora in the person, except Kuzuha is more annoying than truly like a villain that is Pekora.

One of the people who says cannot sing, but can actually sing very well. Just overall, a great talent to have and just fun to watch, especially in collabs.

Shiina Yuika - Likes Nintendo, and also does a radio show on YouTube. Actually did a radio show as well once. One of the brutally honest people, and a trouble-maker.

As you kind of expect, Sasaki Saku was the one who really got her into the groove, and during her what-turned out to be an absence, Shiina did feel a bit down. Likes to sleep, which makes sense in the context. Not the best at gaming, but still a fun player.

Aqua really likes her, which is interesting since she shares the illustrator with Okayu, and therefore the two are close friends... and they would go after the poor onion.

Makaino Ririmu - Supposedly a succubus. Definitely headstrong and kind of a loli, so there’s a pretty wide fanbase for her... but she’s honestly a good-hearted person. Just look at her collabs with Kou or Lize... she did calculus for a stream?

SEED 1st Gen

Ryushen - Real name, Sengawa Midori. Singer of uncertain gender, so I’ll use ‘they’. Known to be the planner, and a good one at that. Friends with Sister Claire, and their junior, Kakeru and Hayato. Is part of the group, ‘Rain Drops’ with five other members. Originally stated to be part of VOIZ, a male pop group, but as stated... ‘they’.

As for personality, they are a cool kid, friendly with others. Not a bad person to watch.

Hanabatake Chaika - Muscular Okama Elf who wears a maid dress. Very cool personality, a rough and tumble kind of person. As with the description earlier, the concept is odd, but the person is odd in a more palatable way. Honestly, one of people I would try to seek to watch in Nijisanji. Apparently the cross-dressing thing was enforced, rather than a personal choice. Got turned into a robot once.

As for an example, his 3D debut was actually months after he has gotten them and actually used them in collabs and TV interviews, so Chaika skipped right to the shenanigans instead. Perhaps this spontaneity is what makes Nijisanji 3D better.

Yashiro Kizuku - Concept is a systems engineer, likes rhythm and retro games. Friendly with a lot of people, especially with Sasaki Saku, which they host a gaming show. It’s really fun! They are a good bickering couple. The show is kind of a good gateway for Nijisanji as a whole, I believe. Oh, right the intellectual test with Hima...

Yeah, the blandest concept, but one of the most likable members in Nijisanji.

Dola - She’s a fire dragon. Act as an elder to the SEED group, kind of an admin at the minecraft server, so she’s treated like a god here. Good singer, great dancer.

She’s in a group with Yashiro, Hima, and Kuzuha, where the concept is that they are a family, with Dola and Yashiro being parents, and Hima and Kuzuha being their children, and they are one of the best groups to come out of Nijisanji. You can’t miss them.

Sister Claire - Usually does really short talk streams, which was reformatted to a radio format. One of the last seiso people, but strangely gets along with many of the members, mostly because she wants to be funny, and honestly... succeeds for me.

Also a great singer... who would have guessed? Sometimes treated as a cult leader.

Todoroki Kyoko - A 19 year old gyaru. Self proclaimed normie, but obviously not the case anymore. Great at drawing, but only in 2D. As with gyarus, really nice!

Suzuki Masaru - A chunni cross-dresser. Wants to be cool, but obviously cute. Actually doesn’t really like cross-dressing, but it does get the views. Honestly, he looks cool.

Uzuki Kou - A rich teenage boy, well liked by other people. Great singer but doesn’t show often... he does have a rap about hot pot ingredients that is well-covered by others. Friends with Ririmu, I believe. He’s a nice person to watch.

Azuchi Momo - A 14-year old illustrator who did her own design, and one of the most dangerous members of Nijisanji. Yep, known for her curses and drinking cocktails... and yes, she’s supposed to be 14. But even she recognizes that she’s an adult woman...

SEED 2nd Gen

Takamiya Rion - A student at a magic school. Supposed to be a lass, but in reality becomes like that sketch where two beautiful women are dubbed by kids? Yeah, she becomes like that. Just the least intelligent person... good for moron-sexuals, I guess.

Apparently this is more a debuff, as she can act smart and lady-like in late night streams. She was the one who hosted the imagination event. Also really likes SAO, and therefore fell into Genshin pretty hard last year, and who can blame her?

Asuka Hina - Is sometimes called a succubus, kind of works a producer and did a special producing session as a result. Can be calm and outgoing at once.

Maimoto Keisuke - Originally a farmer, but got tired of it. Does gaming and sport commentary, usually wrestling or baseball. Became someone who always gets tortured by his female peers... strange but not a bad character. Oh, this harassment leads to a lot of anger and there’s a tradition where they burn people virtually... and he always gets lumped in as a person to be burned. Friends with Subaru and Ui, and forms the Oozora family, believes to be a middle-aged man, but others don’t treat him like that.

Amemori Sayo - Typical high school student, but we’re sure she’s a ghost. Does a lot of special effects, leading to tech problems. Kind of a quiet speaker.

Kanda Shoichi - typical college student, has a buddy relationship with Gundou Mirei. Good at gaming, singing and hosting, which means he got his due even though it was a little late. Doesn’t really like Korea, though, which is a problem.

Rindou Mikoto - An oni queen, likes girls and booze. Can hold down a liquor, and hold down a girl... a quick learner in everything, therefore excellent at everything.

I knew her as Marine’s coach at Mario Kart... and now I know the reason.

Joe Rikiichi - He’s a joker, a real comedian. Good at improv. Pretty poor. Does late-night radio with Maimoto as well. He’s always a fun person to watch.

Debidebi Debiru - Demon koala who dabble in the occult. He’s the kid in the family, with all the stubbornness and gumption included. Likes to make nicknames, good in collabs. And as with kids, ultimately a good person at heart, which is why he does collabs.

Probably one of my favorites... I’m kind of miffed his section is so short, honestly.

Sakura Ritsuki - A fairy from another world. Basically only plays minecraft as the resident builder in the area. Got a new outfit, and suddenly got a ship going on with Kuzuha, which is good for her, I guess. Yeah, she does what she does.

Machita Chima - A great singer and bit of a psychopath. Went dark to study for exams, but soon returned to herself. Kind of a younger Suisei is what I’m getting at.

Belmond Banderas - The Corpse of Nijisanji. Low voice, and very kind to everyone. But he can be funny too. If he’s drunk, he’s just your average guy who agrees on everything. Also incredibly lucky, apparently, enough to make a religion with Lize as worshipper.

Yumeoi Kakeru - Singer-songwriter who got calling as a host. Really likes Ryushen to a psychopathic degree, but they are good friends as well. Seriously, he’s one of those well-adjusted psychopaths. Apparently he was a biochemist before singing. Sara calls him papa... which, okay, I guess. Did some shady stuff like catfishing in the past...

Overall, he’s that person who came from a rough background, and that means there’s some edges and some of his strength. Definitely an important asset.

Kuroi Shiba - She’s a four year old dog, but acts like an old lady and eventually earned the suffering characteristic and works at a shady company. But what’s the most fascinating thing is her deep lore. Seriously, it might be one of the most interesting lore before Haachama/Haato became a thing.

Yaguruma Rine - A eleven-year old girl who says the first thing on her mind. Also went dark during exam season, but returned after the summer exams. Practices English a bit during her streams, so there’s that going for her. Also her phone disappeared for a bit.

Harusaki Air - Air here meaning ‘spring’ in Greek. Kind of interpreted as a cleaner version of Toya. He’s a prince, so he’s usually busy... unlike a certain princess.

Naruse Naru - Remember has a different look! Although now he can switch it back and forth... apparently it was management issues? Whatever, won the current mario kart tournament (Mikoto was second) and that’s pretty much it, honestly.

[miri-illustration]

剣持刀也/Toya Kenmochi

彼のおかげでにじさんじライバーを知ることができた。ありがとう。

Thanks to him,I was able to come to know NIJISANJI vtuber.Thanks a lot.

アキくんand勇気ちひろ(ちーちゃん！)

鈴谷アキくんは凄く可愛い！女の子みたいに見えるけど男の子です。Aki Suzuya very cute！He looks like a girl,but he's a genuine boy.

勇気ちひろさん。ちーちゃんは魔法少女です！Chiro Yuki.Chi-chan is magical girl！

Let's go！mahosuzu radio.

文野環/Tamaki Fumino(Noraneko)

野良猫は分からない…。Noraneko is I'm not sure.

エクス・アルビオ/Ex Albio

エクス・アルビオは英雄。だよね？Ex is hero.He is a hero,isn't he? HAHAHA!it's hero.

エクス・アルビオとアルス・アルマルの二人をぜひアーカイブで見て。Ex Albio and Ars Almal is hilarios,You rially must see that video.

I'm supporting Kenmochi.You may supporting Ex Albio.

加賀美ハヤト/Hayato Kagami

スパチャで殴られてる。社長は驚きもくれるし人を惹きつけるし、すごくカッコいい。He was beat by a Super Chat.CEO is amazing,CEO is attractive,and cool.

Kagami-shacho.shacho！

花畑チャイカ/Chaika Hanabatake

Chaika Hanabatake is smiles can heal my mind.

社築さんって知ってますか？Do yo know Kizuku Yashro?

花畑チャイカさんと加賀美ハヤトさんと社築さんの会話は面白いです。もちろん、それぞれ面白い配信をしています。Kizuku Yashiro,Hayato Kagami,and Chaika Hanabatake is three people. It was so funny to watch their back and forth.

モイラ/Moira

活動初期にした「魂の200連投」、私は当時を知らないけどすごいことだと思う…想像してみただけで途方もないって。She is a walking legend! 「魂の200連投」

英語、まちがえていたら　ごめんなさい。

今度、この絵の剣持刀也ばっかり上げるから待ってて！To be continued.

[imasallstars]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY - YUKO HARA

The 13th of June, was the 28th birthday of Yuko Hara(Harabou), the voice provider for Takumi Mukai! She is currently employed under Enkikaku as a voice actress. She obtained her first named role in as Akari Acura in the Chaika -The Coffin Princess-(2014) anime, but was credited as a background character in Happiness Charge PreCure(2014)

She joined the Im@S family on the 21st of April 2015 through the 12th MAGIC HOUR Voice Radio

Data

Website　　  : Enkikaku  Twitter　　　 : @krs2kn

Official Profile Translations:

Birthday　　　: June 13th 1992 Height/Weight : 158cm/48kg Place of Birth  : Saitama Prefecture Voice Type　　: Alto~Mezzo-Soprano Hobbies　　　: Baking Cakes

Trivia

※ Due to her naturally rough voice, rumors have spread that she was once part of a gang. She denies any accusations of this but has mentioned that she has had “amazingly coloured” hair before ※ Loved by those of the Cinderella Girls cast so much, there exists as “I Love You Harabou Club” of which, Ruriko Aoki(Riina) is a part of

Thank you for joining the IDOLM@STER family, and let’s wish her all the best of luck in her career! Again, happy birthday!

[international-repeater-station]

*slams this on the table*

the original track is one of my favorites on the OMORI ost, i listen to it all the time. and i usually am not a fan of slowed+reverb, but sometimes these kinds of remixes can sound INSANELY good to me. when i first saw this i was pretty curious — this track's got a lot of high notes hasn't it? and those glitchy noises. how would that sound then?

AMAZING IS HOW

i don't think i'm on earth anymore. it's just. (⁠ ⁠ꈍ⁠ᴗ⁠ꈍ⁠)💤

[humanrightsupdates]

Take action! Novaya Gazeta threatened for reporting torture of gay men in Chechnya

The staff of Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta and journalists supporting them have been threatened following the newspaper’s publication of reports about the abduction and torture of gay men in Chechnya.

On 1 April, Novaya Gazeta reported that over a hundred men believed to be gay had been recently abducted, as part of a coordinated campaign. Reaction from Chechen officials to this information has varied from denial to thinly veiled threats. On 3 April, 15,000 people including Chechen elders, public opinion leaders and Muslim theologians attended an assembly at the central mosque in the Chechen capital Grozny. At the assembly, Adam Shakhidov, a Counsellor to the Head of Chechnya, publicly accused the newspaper of lies and described its staff members as “the enemies of our faith and homeland”. A resolution adopted at the meeting stated, amongst other things: ��Considering that the Chechen society’s age-long foundations have been insulted, as have been Chechen men’s dignity as well as our faith, we promise that the real instigators [of this] will face retaliation, irrespective of where and who they are, however long this takes”. A recording of Adam Shakhidov’s speech and of the assembly has been widely circulated on local state-controlled television and through social media. Following the threats to Novaya Gazeta, the independent radio station Ekho Moskvy, which came out in support of the threatened staff, has also been threatened by the Mufti of Chechnya, Salakh Mezhiev.

Public calls for retaliation made by influential people in Chechnya in the past have on many occasions been followed by attacks on the individuals concerned, including killings. Those who issued the threats have enjoyed impunity, and the killings and other incidents of violence have never been fully and effectively investigated. Among the victims of such attacks were Novaya Gazeta’s journalist Anna Politkovskaya, celebrated for her reporting on Chechnya, who was murdered in 2006, as well as human rights defender Natalya Estemirova who had been a frequent contributor to Novaya Gazeta, and who was murdered in 2009.

Please write immediately in Russian or your own language:

Urging the Russian authorities to address the threats made against Novaya Gazeta staff members and Ekho Moskvy, and ensuring that they are investigated promptly, effectively and impartially in accordance with Article 144 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation regarding the “obstruction of lawful professional activities of journalists”;

Urging them to publicly condemn all threats and violence against journalists and commit to bringing those responsible to account;

Reminding them that as a party to the European Convention on Human Rights the Russian authorities have an obligation to guarantee freedom of expression and protect journalists from threats and attacks.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 30 MAY 2017 TO:

Chairman of the Investigation Committee Aleksandr Ivanovich Bastrykin Investigation Committee of the Russian Federation Tekhnicheskii pereulok, dom 2 105005 Moscow, Russian Federation Fax: +7 495 966 97 76 Online submissions (accepted only in Russian): http://sledcom.ru/references/Organizacija_priema_grazhdan#reception Salutation: Dear Chairman

Prosecutor General Yuriy Yakovlevich Chaika Prosecutor General’s Office ul. B. Dmitrovka, d.15a 125993 Moscow GSP- 3 Russian Federation Fax: +7 495 987 58 41/ +7 495 692 17 25 Online submissions (accepted only in Russian):http://ipriem.genproc.gov.ru/contacts/ipriem/send/ Salutation: Dear Prosecutor General

And copies to: Human Rights Ombudsman of the Russian Federation Tatiana Nikolaevna Moskalkova ul. Miasnitskaia, 47 107084 Moscow Russian Federation Fax: +7 495 607 7470 / +7 495 607 3977 (to check if fax received: +7 495 607 1854)

Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. HIS EXCELLENCY MR ALEXANDER VLADIMIROVICH YAKOVENKO, Embassy of Russia, 6-7 Kensington Palace Gardens, London, W8 4QP, 020 7229 6412

Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date. This is the first update of UA 80/17. Further information: www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur46/6023/2017/en/ ADDITIONAL INFORMATION On 1 April, the Russian independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported that over a hundred of men believed to be gay had been recently abducted, as part of a coordinated campaign. According to confidential credible sources, the abducted men were tortured and otherwise ill-treated, and forced to disclose other LGBTI individuals known to them. Novaya Gazeta was able to verify that at least three men had been killed by their captors, but its sources claimed that there had been many more killings, including by family members to whom some of these men were returned. On 4 April, Novaya Gazeta published several testimonies of eyewitnesses revealing details of secret detention sites in Chechnya where abducted gay men are held and tortured. (For more information please see https://www.amnesty.org/en/get-involved/take-action/chechnya-stop-abducting-and-killing-gay-men/)

Journalists and human rights defenders who reported human rights violations in Chechnya have on numerous occasions faced threats and physical violence. These are rarely if ever effectively investigated. On 9 March 2016, two members of the human rights organization Joint Mobile Group (JMG), along with their driver and six journalists from Russian, Norwegian and Swedish media, were assaulted by a group of armed masked men suspected of being local law enforcement officials while travelling from North Ossetia to Chechnya. Two hours later, the JMG’s office in Ingushetia was ransacked by a mob, and on 16 March 2016, the JMG’s leader Igor Kalyapin was asked to leave a hotel in Grozny by the manager because he “did not love” the Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. Igor Kalyapin was then punched and pelted with eggs, cakes, flour and disinfectant by an angry mob. None of these incidents were effectively investigated. (See https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur46/3643/2016/en/ as well as https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur46/1802/2015/en/).

On 5 September 2016, Zhalaudi Geriev, a contributor to the authoritative news resource dedicated to the Caucasus region, Caucasian Knot, known for his criticism of the leadership of Chechnya, was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment by the Shali District Court of Chechnya for allegedly possessing 167 grams of marijuana. At his trial he withdrew his “confession” to the drugs charge, saying that three men in plain clothes had detained him on 16 April, forced him into a car and driven him to a forest outside Grozny, where he was tortured before being handed over to law enforcement officers who forced him to “confess”.

On 6 January 2017, Magomed Daudov, speaker of the Chechen parliament and one of the most powerful Chechen officials, used his Instagram account to threaten Grigory Shvedov, the editor-in-chief of Caucasian Knot. This incident was not effectively investigated. (See https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur46/5442/2017/en/). According to the Committee for Projection of Journalists, 56 journalists have been killed in Russia since 1992.

Further information on UA: 80/17 Index: EUR 46/6075/2017 Issue Date: 18 April 2017

Download PDF

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!  Please let us know if you have taken action on this case.  You can either include us - iar@amnesty.org.uk - in the email you send to the authorities or send us a seperate email if you've sent your appeal by post or fax.  Tell us any way you like!  All we need to know if that you've sent an appeal and the UA number - which is at the top of each email.  Thank you.

We are now on twitter, follow us for information on Urgent Action cases: @AmnestyUKUrgent

You can view all UAs on our website here. To download your copy of the Urgent Action Participation Guide that will tell you everything you need to know about the Network click here. To see latest updates, blogs and our quarterly news round up on Urgent Actions please visit our Urgent Action blog here.

[nickyschneiderus]

Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space #OTD in 1963!!! She launched aboard Vostok 6. While in space she spoke over radio to Valerii Bykovskii, who was orbiting in Vostok 5. Her call sign: Chaika; Russian for Seagull.pic.twitter.com/ShNLFYkutr

Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space #OTD in 1963!!! She launched aboard Vostok 6. While in space she spoke over radio to Valerii Bykovskii, who was orbiting in Vostok 5. Her call sign: Chaika; Russian for Seagull. pic.twitter.com/ShNLFYkutr

from Ricky Schneiderus Curation https://twitter.com/NASAhistory/status/1008031452632616961

[mastcomm]

Big Changes? Or Maybe Not. Putin’s Plans Keep Russia Guessing.

MOSCOW — Nobody knows what’s going on inside the Kremlin right now. And perhaps that’s precisely the point.

President Vladimir V. Putin announced constitutional changes last week that could create new avenues for him to rule Russia for the rest of his life.

But will they? How? And will he?

Mr. Putin’s new prime minister announced his roster of ministers on Tuesday, with the most prominent officials keeping their posts. Yet as more details of what appears to be Russia’s biggest governmental overhaul in a decade trickle out, the true nature of Mr. Putin’s long-term plan — and whether he even has one — is shrouded in mystery.

Ever since his opening salvo at the end of his annual state-of-the-nation speech last Wednesday, nearly every day has brought news of high-level resignations, unexpected appointments and cryptic new legislation. Decoding these clues — and arguing over whether one should even try — has thrown the international cottage industry of Kremlin experts into a contradictory cacophony of prediction and interpretation.

Mr. Putin’s proposals, sure to be adopted by his rubber-stamp Parliament, mean “potentially very little change at all,” Sam Greene, the director of the Russia Institute at King’s College in London, said in an 11-part thread on Twitter. “Or potentially quite a lot of change.”

Marat Guelman, a former Kremlin media strategist, wrote on Facebook, “I’m going to make a risky forecast, but I’m almost convinced it’s true.” Mr. Putin, he said, is surely on the verge of resigning. “Soon, we will lose him.”

“Alas!” Alexei Venediktov, the editor of the Moscow radio station Ekho Moskvy, posted on the messaging app Telegram, responding to the latest news on Monday by quoting a 19th-century poet. “Not even a quarter-hour passed, and I already sensed that it was high time to drink vodka.”

The first response by many analysts to Mr. Putin’s speech last week laying out a constitutional overhaul was that it was meant to provide the groundwork for the president to maintain his grip on power even after his fourth term ends in 2024.

A strengthened Parliament might allow Mr. Putin to become a highly influential prime minister, the thinking went. Or new powers set to be granted to an obscure body called the State Council could give Mr. Putin, who is now 67, a venue to fill a father-of-the-nation role in semi-retirement.

But events since then have been so fast-paced and chaotic by the standards of Mr. Putin’s deliberate, no-drama style of domestic leadership that many observers now wonder whether something else might be afoot.

Kremlin control of Russian television has kept a full-fledged debate off the country’s airwaves. But in Twitter threads, lengthy Facebook posts and screeds on Telegram, political commentators have put forward so many different theories that they paint a picture of a nation in collective befuddlement.

Given Mr. Putin’s penchant for trying to keep his adversaries off balance, the befuddlement might be part of the Kremlin’s goal.

“The president put up a smokescreen behind which he is determined to reform the political system based on a new ideological project,” political scientist Vladimir Pastukhov wrote in the Novaya Gazeta newspaper. “It is impossible to make out what is actually going on.”

The fine art of making educated guesses as to what Russia’s leadership is up to — also known as Kremlinology — dates back to Soviet times. But few moments in recent history have left the chattering classes as off-kilter as this one.

In addition to proposing sweeping constitutional changes, Mr. Putin last week accepted the resignation of his entire government and replaced the longtime prime minister, Dmitri A. Medvedev, with a man few Russians had ever heard of — the tax-office chief, Mikhail V. Mishustin.

One school of thought held that Mr. Medvedev’s career was all but over and that Mr. Putin had tapped Mr. Mishustin as a potential presidential heir. Another was that Mr. Mishustin was in fact a mere technocrat, while Mr. Medvedev, in his new role in the newly created position of vice chairman of Russia’s Security Council, was parked in a vice-president-style function that made him the heir apparent.

The bigger question was what would happen to Mr. Putin himself. New clues came on Monday with the publication of a 29-page bill to enact the constitutional changes that he outlined last week.

Ekaterina Schulmann, a political scientist, wrote that the first thing she noticed about the bill was the commas: So many of them seemed to be missing that it appeared the bill had been drafted and published in haste.

The fine print of the legislation showed that the prime minister’s powers would not be expanded as much as first advertised, while members of the State Council would still appear to serve at the pleasure of the president.

So maybe Mr. Putin’s plan is to stay president, after all?

Theories that seemed far-fetched on the surface soon gained currency. While Russia’s Constitution currently prohibits the president from serving more than two “consecutive” terms, Mr. Putin’s proposed changes included a tweak to ban a president from serving more than two terms, period.

Perhaps this one-word change was the real aim, some postulated: Down the road, the Kremlin could argue that the amendment had reset the term-limit counter, allowing Mr. Putin to stay in office for two additional six-year terms.

Others claimed, citing no evidence, that the remarkable haste with which the Kremlin was pushing through the constitutional changes and remaking the government was evidence that Mr. Putin might want to call it quits — or was trying to head off a coup.

The drip-drip of revelations continued with what seemed to be a wide-ranging reorganization of senior officials. Yuri Y. Chaika, the powerful prosecutor general, abruptly left his post on Monday, only to resurface as Mr. Putin’s new representative to Russia’s northern Caucasus region on Tuesday. A demotion? So it seemed, but one couldn’t be so sure.

By Tuesday afternoon, the guessing game over who would form the rest of the new cabinet was in full swing. Margarita Simonyan, the editor of the pro-Kremlin television network RT, posted a plea to Telegram asking journalists to stop calling her to confirm rumors that she would be taking this or that senior post.

“I’m not going anywhere and won’t be going anywhere,” she wrote.

The new cabinet, announced on Tuesday evening, kept the most prominent members of the old one — Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov and Defense Minister Sergei K. Shoigu. The roster of ministries that received new heads — including health care, sports, education and economy — suggested that Mr. Putin wanted to show he was taking Russians’ domestic problems seriously while not planning any shifts in foreign policy.

“The most important goal is to raise the well-being of our people, to strengthen our statehood and the international standing of our country,” he told the new cabinet.

Konstantin Sonin, a Russian economist at the University of Chicago, took his colleagues to task for tying Mr. Putin’s changes to any transition plan for 2024. Given the Kremlin’s track record of adjusting in real time to major unforeseen events, it was hard to see Mr. Putin’s tacticians gaming out such a long-term plan, he wrote. Rather, he said, the developments could be the result of a power struggle between conservative and progressive factions in Mr. Putin’s orbit.

“I don’t know how this story ends,” Mr. Sonin wrote on Facebook.

The debate quickly escalated to whether there should be a debate at all. Nothing could change the most important fact of political life in Russia, the popular blogger Aleksandr Gorbunov wrote: Mr. Putin’s system is a “one-man regime.”

“All this reshuffling is only necessary to make sure the framework doesn’t change, and rather is cemented even further,” Mr. Gorbunov wrote on Telegram.

A journalist, Yury Saprykin, offered a similar sentiment on Facebook, but in verse:

We’ll be debating over how he won’t leave, We’ll be guessing, will he leave or won’t he. And then — lo! — he won’t be leaving. That is, before the elections he won’t leave, And after that, he definitely won’t leave.

Ivan Nechepurenko, Sophia Kishkovsky and Oleg Matsnev contributed research.

from WordPress https://mastcomm.com/event/big-changes-or-maybe-not-putins-plans-keep-russia-guessing/

[roguenewsdao]

Trump's Quiet Little Executive Order Proclaims Clintons as "National Threat"

"I therefore determine that serious human rights abuse and corruption around the world constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States, and I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat."  -- President Donald J. Trump, December 20, 2017

"Be still my heart, but are we about to see some justice?" That's my paraphrased version of what media pathologist Lionel exuberated earlier this week while dissecting President Trump's Executive Order #13818 "Blocking the Property of Persons Involved in Serious Human Rights Abuse or Corruption". The proclamation silently went into effect on the winter solstice, December 21, 2017. You can read or download the E.O. for yourself at the official federal site that guards it [linked here]. Lionel opened his discussion by reminding listeners that we already have all the laws we need to slam these criminals into jail, so why pass the specifically targeted executive order?

The question presents its own answer. The thrust of the order is to target 13 specific foreign entities for their role in human rights abuses. The Clintons are not named, of course. Nevertheless, even a superficial review of names on the list reveals the common thread that likely will bind many of them together: the Clinton Foundation. Therefore, the Order appears to be telegraphing Trump's future move. The message is: Hillary, you're going down.

Again, I must remind the RM readers of what our W. The Intelligence Insider has said for at least two years: we are watching a domination of the Standard Oil Rockefeller Empire by that Old World money priesthood who has once again destroyed a creature that it shaped: the Rothschild Cabal. Think of this as the inevitable clean-up and slim-down that takes place whenever two mega corporations merge together. The global cabal machine continues moving, spreading, and evolving. However, along the way, the unnecessary scummy dross gets discarded.

Lionel was correct to give an Atta-Boy to ZeroHedge who immediately did the yeoman's job of connecting dots among several of the 13 individuals that were specifically named. Skipping to the end of the E.O., here is that list of names whose assets are at immediate risk of seizure. Below, I have copied just a few of the Clinton connections that ZeroHedge [linked here] has found:

1. Mukhtar Hamid Shah; Date of Birth (DOB) August 11, 1939; alt. DOB November 8, 1939; nationality, Pakistan

2. Angel Rondon Rijo; DOB July 16, 1950; nationality, Dominican Republic

Angel Rondon Rijo - Sanctioned for funneling a $92 million bribe from Brazilian conglomerate Odebrecht to Dominican Republic officials as kickbacks. Odebrecht Donated $50-$100k to the Clinton Foundation.

3. Dan Gertler; DOB December 23, 1973; nationality, Israel; alt. nationality, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Dan Gertler is an Israeli billionaire mining magnate revealed by the Paradise Papers to be chief negotiator between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and his primary business partner - mining company Glencore, founded by Marc Rich - who was pardoned for corruption by Bill Clinton on his last day in office after his wife gave $450,000 to the Clinton Library foundation.

4. Maung Maung Soe; DOB March 1964; nationality, Burma

5. Yahya Jammeh; DOB May 25, 1965; nationality, The Gambia

Jammeh was installed as President during a 1994 CIA-led coup in Gambia authorized by the Clinton administration, and in 2014, the Obama administration effectively sidelined an attempted coup. Indeed, Jammeh appears to have been a friend to both the Clinton and the Obama Administrations. 

6. Sergey Kusiuk; DOB December 1, 1966; nationality, Ukraine; alt. nationality, Russia

7. Benjamin Bol Mel; DOB January 3, 1978; alt. DOB December 24, 1978; nationality, South Sudan; alt. nationality, Sudan

Benjamin Bol Mel; Sudan - Financial Advisor to South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and president of ABMC construction company accused of corruption. Hillary Clinton pushed for a waiver from the Obama Admin on the prohibition of military aid due to the use of child soldiers in South Sudan. 

8. Julio Antonio Juárez Ramírez; DOB December 1, 1980; nationality, Guatemala

9. Goulnora Islamovna Karimova; DOB July 8, 1972; nationality, Uzbekistan

10. Slobodan Tesic; DOB December 21, 1958; nationality, Serbia

11. Artem Yuryevich Chayka; DOB September 25, 1975; nationality, Russia

Artem Yuryevich Chayka; Russia - Son of Russia's Prosecutor General, Yuri Chayka (Chaika) - used father's connections to win state owned contracts. Curiously, Russian Attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya met with Yuri Chayka before her involvement in the infamous Trump Tower meeting arranged by Fusion GPS associate Rob Goldstone - a meeting many believe was one of several schemes used by the Obama administration to justify wiretapping the Trump campaign. Of note - Donald Trump Jr. reportedly shut down the Trump tower meeting when Natalia Veselnitskaya began discussing lifting sanctions under the Magnitsky act - the very legislation Trump's Executive Order is now leveraging against Artem Chayka. 

12. Gao Yan; DOB April 1963; nationality, China

13. Roberto Jose Rivas Reyes; DOB July 6, 1954; nationality, Nicaragua

We'll be watching to see who's naughty or nice once the Trump administration gets back to work after New Year's. Based on this supposition that ZeroHedge made about the Podesta Boyz, Johnny might be praying for that UFO to show up real, real soon and pick him up.

Hypothetically, if the Uranium One deal is deemed corrupt by the Trump administration, and "Russian nuclear officials" indeed routed millions of dollars to the Clinton Foundation, and Tony Podesta lobbied on behalf of the deal for the Clinton Foundation - it stands to reason that this Executive Order could freeze the US-housed assets of quite a few individuals. Of note, assets can be frozen with no prior warning, as Trump has declared a national emergency due to the "scope and gravity" of the threat posed by said individuals.

We might want to keep an eye on orthopedic boot inventory too.

My Twitter contact information is found at my billboard page of SlayTheBankster.com. Listen to my radio show, Bee In Eden, on Youtube via my show blog at SedonaDeb.wordpress.com.

[newstfionline]

Watching Comey’s testimony, Moscow shrugs off claims of Russian hacking

By David Filipov, Washington Post, June 8, 2017

MOSCOW--Russians are watching with morbid fascination as the American political establishment struggles to get to the bottom of how and to what extent Russia--their country--meddled in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

As the appearance of former FBI director James B. Comey before the Senate Intelligence Committee approached Thursday, 143 million or so Russians still can’t abide by the notion that the United States is pointing the finger of blame at their country. Some are proud that their country’s hackers are apparently as creative and world-class as Russia’s aerospace industry. Others add the hacking allegations to the long list of transgressions everyone attributes to Russia. Many more are worried that all the chaos in Washington will come back to haunt them.

Whatever their conclusions, Russians are scratching their heads over the twists and turns of the Russia probe.

This was the response I got Wednesday when I went on a Russian radio station to explain The Washington Post’s latest scoop: that the top U.S. intelligence official had told his associates that President Trump had asked him whether he could ask Comey to back off the probe into the Russia contacts of Trump’s former national security adviser. One co-host gave me a funny look and mouthed, “Who told whom that who had asked whom if they could get what to do what?” The other host tweeted that I must be a spy.

Russian commentators said the Comey hearing had deflated the effort by Trump’s opponents to use the Russia probe, and how the former FBI director was fired, as a way to remove the president.

“The commotion around the testimony of Comey was inflated,” tweeted Alexei Pushkov, a senior member of Russia’s upper house of parliament. “Trump’s enemies are thirsting for blood. It reminds one of the search for enemies under McCarthy.”

Sergey Armeyskov, who blogs about Western perceptions about Russia, calls the U.S. fixation with Moscow Russomania: “obsession with a conspiracy theory that the Russians did it, based on a belief with no solid proof.”

It’s not as though Armeyskov, or anyone else in Russia, believes everything President Vladimir Putin says. But when the Kremlin leader told NBC’s Megyn Kelly last week that Americans have “lost their minds” over this “nonsense” and that someone should “give them a pill” to “make it stop” already, that struck a chord.

“Whether or not they agree with Putin or came to the conclusion independently, Russians think that the Americans have gone insane over Russian meddling,” said Andrei Kolesnikov, a senior associate at the Carnegie Moscow Center.

Predictably, the daily bombardment of U.S. allegations has stirred Russia’s own suspicions about the United States. People were genuinely optimistic about the future of the U.S.-Russia relationship, even as late as March, when a Russian pollster found that 58 percent of those surveyed thought ties would improve. That’s down to 34 percent in the latest poll.

But the Russiagate effect goes beyond popular perceptions. Moscow has a long list of its own gripes about what it considers concerted efforts by the United States to interfere, surround, beat down, hold back and generally mistreat Russia (to say nothing of manipulating Russian elections).

Now, the Russian upper house of parliament is proposing new restrictions on nongovernmental organizations that receive foreign funding. There was a time when newly democratic Russia welcomed U.S.-funded efforts to foster democracy and market reforms. Now these efforts are seen as attempts to “destroy the foundations of our state institutions,” as Russia’s prosecutor general, Yury Chaika, told lawmakers at a hearing Wednesday.

Russian suspicions of U.S. intentions go beyond domestic interference, though.

“The scenario being pursued by the West envisions depriving Russia of independence in international affairs and gaining unlimited access to our natural resources,” Sergei Naryshkin, the head of Russia’s foreign intelligence agency, told the upper house. “The U.S. and its allies see the Russian leadership’s independent and nationally oriented course as the main obstacle to this.”

So rest assured that while Comey is being grilled by senators about what he knew about Russian interference and when he knew it, Russians will be pondering what to do about what lawmaker Andrei Klimov calls the “thousands of tireless operatives” paid for by U.S. funds and working to undo the Russian state.

So where does it end? Russians are scratching their heads about that one, too.

[international-repeater-station]

We threw our shoes at God

And I heard you praying for clean runoff

And we trashed your AC and its broken freon coils

It wasn't EnergyStar

It wasted BTUs

It wasn't right

But it was there because I wanted you to be cool

I wanted you to be cool

It cooled off and we got a reaction

I wanted you to be cool

hi that's like the gentlest song i've ever heard.

[international-repeater-station]

i am once again listening to the best track ever made