[12 year old child at Navalny “protest,” Jan. 23, 2021. Tik Tok and Instagram told kids there would be a fun party there]
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Feb. 2, 2021, “Aleksei Navalny Is Resisting Putin, and Winning,” NY Times Editorial Board
Feb. 6, 2021, “New York Times Editors Lie, Obfuscate Facts, To Reinforce Their False Russia Narrative," Moon of Alabama
“It is amusing to what extent the editors of the New York Times resort to lying in their attempts to portray the incarceration of the right wing racist Alexei Navalny as a best thing that happened since the invention of sliced bread.
Today’s [2/5/21] editorial is as delusional as it can get.
“Aleksei Navalny Is Resisting Putin, and Winning”
[NY Times] “The opposition leader was sentenced to prison, but he has mobilized a vast movement that’s not done growing.”
Beyond being delusional the editorial is full of lies and disinformation:
[NY Times] “A Russian court on Tuesday opened a new and fateful stage in the gripping power struggle between Aleksei Navalny, Russia’s tough-talking and internet-savvy opposition leader, and President Vladimir Putin, by sentencing Mr. Navalny to his first serious stint in prison. On the face of it, this would appear to be a clear victory for Mr. Putin, who has effectively proclaimed himself president for life….
But in this David v. Goliath saga, the 44-year-old Mr. Navalny has succeeded through raw courage and perseverance in putting Mr. Putin on the defensive. The imprisonment was Mr. Navalny’s move. Mr. Putin had tried for years to give him only brief sentences to avoid making him a martyr….
The Kremlin attempted to give the court proceedings a veneer of legitimacy by moving them to a large courtroom in central Moscow and allowing Mr. Navalny to do all the talking he wanted to. But the outcome was preordained: Mr. Navalny was accused of violating parole from a 2014 conviction that the European Court of Human Rights had debunked as “arbitrary and manifestly unreasonable.” The accusation served to underscore the main reason Mr. Navalny couldn’t make the requisite visits to the authorities: Evidence suggests he was nearly poisoned to death in August by the secret police. He was subsequently evacuated to Germany.”
[MoA] The sentence in bold [“The accusation served to underscore the main reason Mr. Navalny couldn’t make the requisite visits to the authorities:”] is an outright lie. On January 17 the Russian Foreign Ministry relayed a statement (in English!) by the Moscow Directorate of Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service which debunked that claim:
“Earlier, on 30 December 2014, Zamoskvoretsky District Court of Moscow sentenced Mr. Navalny to serve 3 years and 6 months in prison and pay a fine of 500 thousand rubles on the charges of fraud and money laundering. The court ruled the sentence to be suspended with a 5-year probation term. On August 4, 2017, Simonovsky District Court of Moscow extended Mr. Navalny’s probation period by twelve more months. However, Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia has registered multiple violations of the probation terms by Mr. Navalny during the year 2020; namely, Mr. Navalny has failed to check in for registration at the Department of Corrective Services of the Federal Penitentiary Service’s Moscow Directorate twice a month as per the assigned schedule. There were two registration appointments missed in January 2020, and one in each of the following months: February, March, July and August, 2020. Last time Mr. Navalny checked in with the Department of Corrective Services was on August 3, 2020. All this time the Department of Corrective Services has been warning Mr. Navalny that these violations could lead to his suspended sentence being revoked and replaced with an actual prison term.
Department of Corrective Services suspended the requirement for Mr. Navalny to check in for registration for the duration of his treatment at the Charité Hospital in Berlin, Germany. However, Charité Hospital’s official statements indicated that Mr. Navalny’s treatment there was completed on September 23, 2020. Later, Mr. Navalny confirmed this fact in a notification he sent to the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia. In the apparent absence of any valid reasons Mr. Navalny has not appeared for any of the regular check-in appointments with the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia from October 2020 until the end of his probation period, thus violating the probation terms again.”
[MoA] Either the editors of the New York Times do not know the facts or they are avoiding them because they do not fit their narrative:
[NY Times] “It was Mr. Navalny in the glassed-in prisoner’s
dock. But it was Mr. Putin and his corrupt cohort who were on trial
behind the army of riot police officers gathered in central Moscow to prevent the sort of mass protests across all of Russia that followed Mr. Navalny’s return to his country on Jan. 17. “Hundreds of thousands cannot be locked up,” Mr. Navalny declared from court to his millions of followers on social media. “More and more people will recognize this. And when they recognize this — and that moment will come — all of this will fall apart, because you cannot lock up the whole country.”” [Unless you’re the USA, then it’s no problem.]
[MoA] There were, at max, some 40,000 people protesting all over Russia when Navalny returned. Many of those were school children. In total there were way less protesters than on other occasions.
[Above, child at Navalny “protest,” Jan. 23, 2021]
“Nina Byzantina @NinaByzantina – 15:11 UTC · Jan 23, 2021 Neon sign on the building above these anti-govt protesters in Russia reads: “Circus: trained animals.” Yes, yes they are.”
The following week less than half took again to the streets. Navalny’s organization has since stopped all calls for further demonstrations. They know that no one would follow them. The “vast movement” the NYT claims to see does not exist.
[NY Times] “Massive police repression and winter frosts may quell the demonstrations. But the vast movement Mr. Navalny has mobilized is quantitatively different from earlier opposition forces, and still growing. The opposition now has 40 offices across Russia, and most of its millions of followers are young people who have not challenged the Kremlin before. Among people ages 18 to 24, Mr. Putin’s popularity has slid from 36 percent in December 2019 to 20 percent.:”
[MoA] The last sentence is an outright and intentional lie. The link provided goes to a Washington Post story which does not include any such numbers.
There are however fresh poll numbers from Russia. The New York Times ignores these because, again, they do not fit its narrative:
“Something has changed, we are told again and again. After two decades of misrule, Russians are getting increasingly fed up with Vladimir Putin and his ‘regime’. The recent protests caused by the arrest of Alexei Navalny are just the tip of the iceberg, underneath which is a huge wave of dissatisfaction just waiting to burst loose. But is it?...
To answer that question, we turn to the Russian sociological organization known as the Levada Centre. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, Levada has been doing surveys for a long time, so one can compare data over a prolonged period. And second, Levada is well known for its liberal, anti-government orientation, and so cannot in any way be accused of biasing its surveys to favour the Russian state.
Today, Levada published its latest set of indicators. So, let’s take a look at these, starting with the one that everybody is always interested in – Vladimir Putin’s approval rating.
This records that when asked the question ‘do you approve of Vladimir Putin’s activities as President?’, 64% of respondents said yes. That’s down from 69% in September of last year, but up from the 60% recorded in July at the peak of the first wave of coronavirus.
If there is any reason for Putin to be concerned it is that his approval rating is lower among younger people than older ones. Whereas 73% of people aged 55 or over approve of him, only 51% of those aged 18 to 24 do so. But then again, 51% is still a majority.”
The New York Times claims that Putin’s popularity with younger people has ‘slipped’ down to 20%. It deceivingly gives a link, which few will follow, as source of its claim even when the linked page fails to support it. This when current polls show that a majority of Russian youths approve of Putin.
The Times and other ‘western’ media are constantly and intentionally building a narrative of Russia that has little to do with reality. That is dangerous as the false narrative over time forms the basis of ‘western’ policy making towards Russia. When Russia reacts harshly to unrealistic ‘western’ demands and policies the outcry and disappointment is great. But no lesson is ever learned from it.”
Posted by b on February 6, 2021 at 12:33 UTC | Permalink
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Added: 1/27/21, Text of President Putin’s speech at Davos, “Session of Davos Agenda 2021 online forum,” en.kremlin.ru…WEF video
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We are not seeing PR for Navalny. We are seeing PR for the plotters whose massive expenses need to show some return. Navalny is being burnt. “Success” is being claimed. Usual story for any US foreign adventure, years of non-success or failure followed by a declaration of victory and retreat.
Posted by: Michael Droy | Feb 6 2021 12:54 utc | 2
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I get that the western alphabet organisations are against Russia, China, Iran, Venezuela and North Korea. What I don’t understand is what benefit do they get for it, except to justify their tax dollars and existence. Is there another group who benefit? I simply do not understand this collective western insanity that allows them the moral right to interfere in matters that are none of their business.
Posted by: Kaiama | Feb 6 2021 13:15 utc | 5
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The right wing racist Andrej Navalny had to reappear in Russia in order to boost Atlanticist propaganda lies. And it is much safer for him to stay in and broadcast from (!) a Russian jail then to be disappeared by US and GB secret services like happened to father and daughter Skrouples.
Posted by: Tadlak Davidovitsh | Feb 6 2021 13:23 utc | 6
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The vilification of Russia and China serve several useful purposes. Similar to eras past, it distracts people from their own suffering in their present economic paradigm, it keeps money flowing to the merchants of death, and it displaces rational with emotional thinking.
The first is…it reinforces the misconception that the Empire is the moral center of the planet, irrespective of rational analysis, and contradictory data.
The second is obvious, and the third is the most insidious as it allows the blindness to reality of humanity’s most precarious current situation regarding two fundamental fatal flaws of neo-classical economics, ie not forgiving debt and not monetizing the social and environmental costs of the model.
The people of the planet have been waking up to this reality, just as President Putin recently outlined in his speech at Davos. This reality will only go away with abandonment of this model or humanity’s extinction. Neoliberalism is a pathway to planetary self destruction.
IMHO the delineation of socialism vs capitalism is a false dichotomy, as it used to divide the people, and ignore the problem. This is about a broken model and the corruption that it breeds.
Posted by: Michael | Feb 6 2021 13:24 utc | 7
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The school children were lured there by TikTok and Instagram messages promising a cool party. One of the children, a 14 year old girl, was interviewed at the demonstrations, in the video linked by this article:
https://www.stalkerzone.org/we-demand-changes/
“Hello“
“Hello”
“Say, please, how old you are and what are you doing at this rally?“
“My name is Kristina, I’m in the 10th class. I was told that there would be a cool party. I saw it on TikTok and Instagram. I came to see it.”
“I.e., you don’t understand what is going on here?”
“No, people are standing, waiting for the promised party, but it turns out to be a rotten egg.”
Posted by: Heironymous Dosh | Feb 6 2021 13:36 utc | 9
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https://sputniknews.com/us/202102061081997849-ex-us-capitol-police-chief-entire-intel-community-seems-to-have-missed-preparations-for-riot/
Is the US intelligence community a sort of hoax? They miss the fall of the Berlin wall, 9/11, and the Capitol riots. Across decades, they have been neutered by moles. They get an alcoholic in need of employment to invent an anti-Trump dossier. China and Russia grab databases left and right–and the Soviets supposedly had ‘phone books’ of who’s who for CIA agents in all US embassies.
There needs to be an accounting as to national interests–not being served.
Posted by: Eighthman | Feb 6 2021 13:37 utc | 10
[Yes but it will only get worse because USA is now a third world toilet: Added by blog editor: 3/5/2012, NASA was hacked 13 times in 2011: “The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has admitted that 13 separate major network security breaches took place in 2011.
The agency’s inspector, General Paul K Martin, told a Congressional panel last week that only $58 million of its $1.5 billion annual IT budget was spent on cybersecurity, and hackers managed to gain “full, functional control” of NASA’s systems at the Jet Propulsion laboratory (JPL).
Martin’s statement on Nasa’s cybersecurity was submitted to the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology’s Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight. Apart from the 13 major breaches, 5,408 minor computer security incidents also took place between between 2010 and 2011.
Between 2009 and 2011, 48 agency mobile devices, such as unencrypted netbooks, were also reported lost or stolen.
Using IP addresses based in China, the cybercriminals managed to “compromise the accounts of the most privileged JPL users” in multiple attacks last year — gaining over 150 employee credentials in the process.
The hackers also secured full system access, which allowed them to edit, copy or delete sensitive and confidential files as they pleased. User accounts could be created for JPL systems, uploading viral and hacking tools was made possible, and the hackers were able to modify system logs to hide their presence….
Although the inspector criticized certain aspects of NASA’s investment within cybersecurity, he did note that investigations had resulted in “arrests and convictions of foreign nationals in China, Great Britain, Italy, Nigeria, Portugal, Romania, Turkey, and Estonia.“”…zdnet.com, C. Osborne]
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“who has effectively proclaimed himself president for life.”
and those guys call themselves “journalists”?
The Duma changed the law restricting any incumbent to two terms. He can now be elected for two more six year terms. Those changes were approved by a majority of 78% of voters.
“Mr. Putin had tried for years to give him only brief sentences to avoid making him a martyr.”
They must really know the function of the Russian courts. A multiple year sentence for fraud was meted out but he was released on bail. He violated his bail conditions multiple timesand now has to finish his present sentence.
He now faces another charge for defamation and likely a charge further down the road for being a foreign agent, considering his working together with US agencies (see Helmer:
http://johnhelmer.net/oligarchy-in-russia-alexei-navalnys-telling-mistake/
With regards to the protests: It is also a fact that the group around Navalny during negotiations did not want the protest to happen on a much larger space in Moscow because they likely were scared the lack of support would become obvious, they insisted on a smaller space that however was likely to cause more traffic disturbances. They were denied this venue and subsequently organized the demonstration without permit.
Posted by: Peter Moritz | Feb 6 2021 13:56 utc | 11
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Added by blog editor: US regime change group NED spent $6,347,976 in 2018 alone, on the ground in Russia sowing discord against the Russian government as NED does wherever it intervenes around the world. As of Feb. 2021, NED’s 2020 Russia expenditures are listed. 2018 may be listed elsewhere. I don’t understand why Putin allows NED in his country.
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I think the us intel community has always been something of a hoax, at least after the oss morphed into the cia. they’re good at funneling vast sums of money, and arms, to people who will use them to overthrow governments the us doesn’t like; assuming that takes competence. they’re also good at propaganda.
Posted by: pretzelattack | Feb 6 2021 14:04 utc | 12
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When I entered the newspaper business way back in April 1969 as a copy boy at the now gone Cleveland Press, the New York Times and the Washington Post stood at the peak in terms of reputation in the journalism industry. A reporter who worked at those papers could go no higher. Well, times have changed. Judging by the amount of journalistic crap that is now vomited by their respective editorial and news gathering departments, it seems that readers of the Times and Post would be better informed by by going to that electronic global conduit for crap known as the Internet. At least with the Internet one can find news sites that are serious about informing the people. Considering the decline in reporting standards at the Times and Post, it won’t be long before both papers are merely considered high-class supermarket tabloids, if they are not already there.
Posted by: GeorgeV | Feb 6 2021 14:29 utc | 14
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“The Times and other ‘western’ media are constantly and intentionally building a narrative of Russia that has little to do with reality.”
I have been observing this phenomenon for a long time. In fact, this is an interesting and at the same time strange phenomenon, when the policy of the state (in this case, the United States) is based on the perception of an absolutely illusory, virtual, false, invented image of its counterpart (in this case, Russia). Moreover, this virtual image that does not exist in reality is painstakingly created by the United States itself….
But the United States is…avoiding perception and understanding of the real state of Russia, the reasons for her actions, intentions, and so on. Thus, the United States, in essence, voluntarily deprives itself of the opportunity to succeed in politics in the Russian direction. It’s amazing.
“That is dangerous as the false narrative over time forms the basis of ‘western’ policy making towards Russia.”
I agree that this is dangerous. Moreover, this danger has a purely practical aspect. Remember the assassination of Russian ambassador Andrei Karlov in Turkey at the end of 2016. At that time, it was largely through Russia’s efforts that Aleppo was finally liberated, and the Western media and diplomats literally fought in hysterics. Western mainstream media played an important role in this killing. They pumped the society up with false information, slander, fakes about Russia’s actions in Syria, thereby inciting hatred, intolerance and rage. Individuals in society can be very susceptible to such propaganda. And it can end up killing a person.
I remember very well how, after the tragedy, the MSM wrote that, in a sense, Russia “deserved it.“ I remember how some media wrote about the “stylish costume” of the killer….This is what the spread of lies and the deliberate creation of a false, invented image can lead to – whether it be an entire country or an individual person.
Posted by: alaff | Feb 6 2021 14:33 utc | 15
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Re: New York Times Editors Lie, Obfuscate Facts, To Reinforce Their False Russia…
In other news, water is still wet…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfrhATD4nM0 (18 sec) “Pompeo: ‘I was the CIA director. We lied, we cheated, we stole'”
Posted by: gm | Feb 6 2021 14:39 utc | 16
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Compare and contrast the treatment of Navalny VS Assange.
The very different treatment of these 2 individuals by the “media” propagandists and government officials says it all.
Posted by: James Cook | Feb 6 2021 14:40 utc | 17
While the scope of Navalny’s neglect of the rules of his suspended sentence can be hidden in the West, it is surely well explained on Russian TV. Similarly with the shortage of veracity in the monumental “Putin’s Palace” video. Now Navalny is slapped with a slander suit that cannot make him look good — for YouTubed invectives against a decorated war veterans in his 90-ties. There is a legal dispute if it is enough that Navalny had no shred of reason to conclude that the veteran is a “sycophant seeking monetary rewards”, or if sentencing would require that Navalny knew that he was not. Legally, it is a minor matter, from PR point of view it may be a heavy blow. It is harder to prove that the “confession of a poisoner” was simply a trick, but given that Navalny gained reputation of an intemperate liar, it is very plausible.
In short, Western propaganda is increasingly predicated on a sheltered informational space, while Russia has a more robust strategy, keeping closer to the facts.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Feb 6 2021 14:45 utc | 19
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https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/05/technology/russia-covid-vaccine-disinformation.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage§ion=Technology The US media has long denigrated the Russian Sputnik vaccine and gets really annoyed at the idea the someone else would supposedly start playing the same game, particularly it is when Latin America has the chutzpah to buy Sputnik.
Posted by: JohnH | Feb 6 2021 14:46 utc | 20
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“The Kremlin attempted to give the court proceedings a veneer of legitimacy by moving them to a large courtroom in central Moscow and allowing Mr. Navalny to do all the talking he wanted to. But the outcome was preordained:”
Classic propaganda tautological rhetoric; a point made with the conclusion assumed. Only countries we don’t like have corrupt elections and sham legal proceedings, whereas we on the other hand are boy scouts.
Posted by: A. Pols | Feb 6 2021 14:47 utc | 21
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The New York times is gonna New York times….
FBI criminal complaint on Capitol incursion used Photoshopped 4-chan hoax picture as evidence https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2021/02/fbi_criminal_complaint_on_capitol_incursion_used_photoshopped_4chan_hoax_picture_as_evidence.html
Posted by: Dogon Priest | Feb 6 2021 14:56 utc | 22
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Putin’s Once-Scorned Vaccine Now Favorite in Pandemic Fight
By Henry Meyer
February 6, 2021, 12:30 AM EST Updated on February 6, 2021, 9:55 AM EST
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Feb 6 2021 15:00 utc | 23
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To make any sense of the NYT editorial stance it is necessary to know something about who reads it.
I am in the middle of the country, just outside (2km) city limits of Chicago and often in Chicago. There are still many readers of the dead tree edition of the Times. That artifact is treated with reverence. Being a Times reader is a statement of identity. Criticizing anything that appears in the Times is same as personal criticism of the person who reads it. When in a home where the physical paper is proudly displayed anyone and everyone knows that many subjects are just not discussed, not mentioned. Even the maid who does not speak English sees the Times and knows that heavy manners are in force.
If ever in a political discussion—which happens less and less because they are minefields, and most know nothing anyway — once the NYT is mentioned the discussion is over. NYT is holy writ. Mention of NYT establishes that the speaker is a superior person who must be given deference. Deference to class is absolute….
Times was always a propaganda rag and always had a bias to upper class. Once that meant it was at least well written and well edited. It was occasionally possible to get some information in those pages. Now it is simply Pravda, issuing orders to an elite. That elite does not and cannot see how diminished their newspaper is.
Posted by: oldhippie | Feb 6 2021 15:03 utc | 24
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“. Is there another group who benefit?”
Posted by: Johny Conspiranoid | Feb 6 2021 15:05 utc | 25
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The opposition [Navalny] now has 40 offices across Russia…
I wonder who’s paying the rent on those.
Posted by: farm ecologist | Feb 6 2021 15:31 utc | 27
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Still wildly ironic that the Western press is so keen to demand Navalny’s release from jail over his offence of bail-jumping, but so deathly silent about Julian Assange’s incarceration in Belmarsh for his offence of bail-jumping. Assange, of course, has not been convicted of anything, much less fraud and embezzlement. Perhaps that’s the key. Navalny, after all, commits good capitalist crimes. He has a conscience and he’s willing to sell it. Assange, however, is not a capitalist. Like American native tribes at a Potlatch ceremony, his sin is that he is giving away what he should be selling. That is inexcusable.
Posted by: loftwork | Feb 6 2021 15:42 utc | 28
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It will be hard for the West to get Russia because the country is becoming more and more integrated with Asia and is moving away from the West. The trade with Asia is increasing, with Europe is dropping. The top 3 destinations for inbound and outbound tourism for Russia are now non-western.
There are now more Asian than European consulates in Russia. China became the biggest trading partner on a country by country basis. Energy flows are being redirected away from Europe.
The money people whose businesses are Asian related are unlikely to be pro-western. And the trend of moving away from the West is ongoing.
Posted by: Passer by | Feb 6 2021 15:56 utc | 29
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This is the same New York Times that recently called for the appointment of a “Reality Czar.”
You know, they had a “Drug Czar” to wage a war on drugs.
Now, they want a “Reality Czar” to wage war on reality.
Posted by: Mike from Jersey | Feb 6 2021 16:05 utc | 31
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Reminds me of the scene from the first Godfather film, where the character, Michael Corleone, states that they have friends in the newspapers who can drum up a story to make a guy look bad. This US government is run like a racket. I always say that if you use the RICO statutes, the one applied to the 5 families of the Mafia, and apply that to every single member of Congress, Executive and Judicial branch, three quarters of the US government would have to be shut down.
Posted by: Jose Garcia | Feb 6 2021 16:24 utc | 33
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Since the NYT is in the business of promoting lies and fantasies, it’s understandable that they would wish to make the discussion of certain aspects of reality illegal.
Posted by: Fnord13 | Feb 6 2021 16:34 utc | 34
Well, the more things change…There are no secrets or mysteries to what is going on vis a vis Russia, and it has been pretty thoroughly discussed among these parts. I guess the question is what is or can anyone do about it until the USA collapses as did the USSR under the weight of relentless propaganda, dysfunctional management of society, and a demoralized people.
The USA has three paths from which to choose:
1. Issue unconditional apologies and funds to the billions abused by imperial policies over the last century.
2. Destroy the world in the name of ‘freedom’.
3. Collapse utterly into its own footprint.
And out of the ashes... once more from the breech… another civilization of man vs man will rise and fall.
Posted by: gottlieb | Feb 6 2021 16:49 utc | 36″”
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Added:
All the fake news that’s fit to print …
Posted by: DG | Feb 6 2021 12:38 utc | 1
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