Shut 'Em Down!

In these days of false news  and the growing focus on mobilizing 'the grass roots'  to do your revolutions, or demand 'justis', or lock somebody up,  is it much of a surprise when some governments that really can't stand much heat, or dissident viewpoints,  enlist the help of the grassroots to shut down 'propaganda'?  Rather than trying to cope with it?

In Canada the former government - through its self-defined 'grass roots' mandate - took it into mind to have a good look at registered charities. As a result of which a number of charities that had objectives 'at odds' with government policies,  found themselves un-registered or investigated by the tax department or both.  It had a chilling effect on donations and doing much to help, except for 'big charity', or - even better - political parties.

So it's not much of a surprise to see this to-day

BBC News lambastes 'war via charity'.

Of course the BBC has less to do with this than Sam Bright, another freelance journalist who thinks he's found something that Kyiv already knows, and through him,  the 'revolutionary government of dignity' that unseated the last lot. Not only have they been running a fruitless little ATO (anti-terror Operation) in Lugansk and Donetsk regions, they have also been somewhat peeved by a couple  of westerners who simply will not be shut up. Until now, perhaps,  if they can get themselves banned on fund-raising sites.

Britain came out early on the side of the Maidan 'angels', buying into the myth of 'democracy' and the need for Euro-closeness (who would have thought Britain would have reversed its own need of 'Eurocloseness' before the revolution of dignity was completed)?  The Brits are still 'hyper-Euro' for EUkrainia, however. Just last week they sentenced a Brit (assisting terror) , who had foolishly been subject of a BBC piece on Brits fighting against the Kyiv government, to 7 years in the slammer. A simlar piece on a Brit fighting FOR the Kyiv government, got him some public recognition and no penalty at all.

The problem this time is with an American fighter and two newsies who have been known to do some charitable work in the Donbass,  as well as write about the 'war' there.  The subjects of this piece are Americans: anti-fascist 'warrior' Russell Bentley and videographer/helper Patrick Lancaster and British videographer/reporter  Graham Phillips.  All three have little good to say about the technocrats in Kyiv or the army of louts they have unleashed on the 'Russians'.

I don't know how much real fighting Russell Bentley  has actually done - he talks a good game - but his videography is wide-ranging and depicts many facets of life in the 'novorussian' regions,.  He often depicts himself, armed and in military gear,  but is not very often depicted in combat operations. He does give some valuable insights into a lot of things we do not see on 'mainstream' media and,  if the camera lens doesn't lie, it adds to our understanding of the situation,   a dimension we certainly won't get from the 'what war'/ 'Putin Invades' department in Kyiv.

Graham Phillips has been documenting his time in Ukraine since well before the polyankiy went up. He was there for a large amount of the Maidan 'celebrations' and on both sides of the line as a 'good thing' went sour.  Since the actual fighting has started,  his 'slant' has been increasingly anti-Maidan,  to the extent that, now,  he is a marked man,with a price on his head for illegal entry into Ukraine ( all  three have done that) as well as 'inciting violence'.  He is the subject of a couple of attempted government intimidations in Great Britain.   Phillips has done his anti-Ukrainian 'reportage'  in a number of places outside Ukraine. He is a fluent Russian-speaker and often has  an infuriating effect on Ukrainians he interviews, or depicts. Phillips was  wounded during the first year of the fighting and has documented the horrors of war.

Patrick Lancaster is truly a 'oner' with a gut feel for the people affected by this trouble and a willingness to do what he can to help. He not only documents the home front and the little things that give the impression that the people of the dissident regions are truly 'soldiering on', he also reports on,  and has been exposed to,  the fighting itself. At Christmas time last year,  he was visiting the trenches in the Delbaltsevo area - on the occasion of another  failed government 'tooth-breaking' attempted territorial integration.  His reports showed actual artillery and mortar barrages striking within meters of his position -  front line reporting at its best.  Lancaster is one of the three who claims to be running a one-man charitable operation,  as well as reporting. He has done stories on delivering relief supplies  that  he has purchased for civilians with donations of money he has received.

While the initial problem is what these men do, the BBC is carping about how they raise the money to do it.

For all three are 'free lancer' journalists,  who wouldn't be employed (any longer - for at least one was) by western media .  The BBC claims they are using "crowd funding" and 'charitable donations ' to fund their 'war activities'. The BBC claims that "Go Fund Me" or "Indigogo" being two  that Bentley's supposedly recommending. The BBC claims that Bentley  has raised over $2 000,  while pointing out that a similar 'charity' raised $2.5 million for victims of the Manchester bombing (huh?). Last time I looked,  Indiegogo wasn't a charity fundraiser and,  while Gofundme might be used for that purpose, one would have to be able to 'sell' the case for giving. The BBC fails to mention that all of three of them use 'Patreon',  another 'pay site' dedicated to supporting independent writers and artists, a category into which these three definitely fit. At least two of them have been banned by common payment sources like Paypal  but can receive money directly through email addresses and credit card companies.

дезинформация (dezinformatsiya:disinformation)

The American disease is spreading north!  It's called "disinformation", Russian disinformation,  and how it's gonna wreck civilization.

                                  "Left foot in, left foot out - doing jiggery pokery, shake it all about"

For the past two days, it would appear, Canada has either been under attack or is imminently going to be attacked (depending on which one of the two 'media sources' (Macleans Magazine, National Post) that 'discovered' it)  by whatever parts of Russia are accused of 'attacking' America - skewing the vote there and electing a President nobody - 'except Putin' - wanted.

                                                     What more needs be said?

The 'threat', we are told, has arisen since Canada announced, on Tuesday, (well that's a fib, Putin has been trying to 'screw' Canada, or Krystia Freeland or both, for a much longer time),  that it will be continuing to 'support' Ukraine, in  small part, by maintaining a force of 200  military trainers, in Ukraine, until 2019.  No mention of Canada's already having had military forces, periodically,  in Ukraine dating back some 20 years and that whatever 'parts of Russia' etc,  not attacking us - until now.

                                 Khristia .... and freedumb. She even looks like a real Canadian

What this 'disinformation attack' is about is our (relatively) new Foreign Affairs Minister, Krystia Freeland and her stalwart defence of EUkrainia. It would appear that 'Russia' has, lately, been attacking her, personally, by claiming that her grandfather - a Ukrainian 'refugee' (they used to be called "DP's"  after WW2),  spent some of his 'war' time working for a  pro-Nazi,  anti-Jew, -Pole, -communist, etc publication that blossomed after Ukraine was 'liberated' by Hitler & Co.  The Russians have already listed Freeland on a 'sanctioned persons' list for some of the things she said and did, in person, to get Russians sanctioned here in Canada.  This latest 'move' (other than having been attributed to 'pro-russian blogs', there is no proof the Russian governmment is actually attacking at all)  is, supposedly, just like the Russian 'disinformation campaigns' that have blighted recent modern history. Although it would seem that, like the other 'disinformations',  the facts of the story are essentially true - but 'lacking in nuance'.

That good 'nuance' is being provided in Canadian media (Toronto Star) to correct the disinformation 'nuance' goes like this:

1.   You won't understand if you weren't there.  "War is hell", General Sherman said that, and you can't make omelets without breaking heads. Dirty deeds get done, by accident mostly, and, well, just because "good people" are scared for their lives and willing to do almost anything to survive.

2.  Some of them pretend to do one thing (bad stuff)  but they are really heroes (Brad Pitt and the Nazi-killerz?) , like Krystia's grandad, who used his 'job' to get documents for, and save the lives of,  "anti-nazi fighters".  Don't even try to understand it, except the 'other guys' were worse.

3.  It's been so long now and, heck, Krystia had nothing to do with it - except editing the book her Uncle wrote about his Pop.

4. There were a few of 'ex-nazis' who may have 'sneaked in' with the real refugees but they went on to live in peace and, we hope, tried to live down any evil they had done. If we caught them, we dealt with them ... so we're good and now so are they - unless somebody from Israel finds them.

5. The whole family would have been dead - murdered by the filthy Russians or Russian-sympathizing 'Commie' Ukrainians -  if they'd stayed in Europe - so would Krystia and she's innocent.

                                              Hier Wir haben den gutes Nazis. So?

This is  the 'Canadian chapter' of the 'other' Russian 'disinformation':  that there are  modern 'Nazis' fighting in Ukraine, and in the 'revolutionary' government there.  Once again the 'disinformation' may be in the nuance, for there are 'nazis',  or people who seem to espouse the 'value' of that aspect of Ukrainian history,  who actually do form voluntary military units fighting alongside regular Ukrainian armed forces, in what they call 'the ATO'. And some of the (former) leadership of such groups do hold high office in the government of Ukraine. One of them was invited to, and did, address the Parliament of Canada.  But, once again, our 'nuance' might (probably does) make him a great guy. The truth may be that, politically, he's still well 'right' of Oskar Dirlewanger.

                              Pariuby, founder of the Ukrainian Nazi party, smiles on parliament

So what's the effect of all  this?

Well  for starters - it's going to make any sort of improvement in the relationship between Canada and Russia 'more complicated' - if we wanted anything like that. Not that Canada needs worry,  for we've gotten along well without Russians for so long, now. For about 9 years Canada has been in the forefront of those nations of the world who have more concern for downtrodden Russians and the 'evil  that is done to them by their government'  than we do for the downtrodden of most other places on earth. Human rights for Russians seem far more important, to Canada, than, say, human rights for a lot of other people - many kinds of Moslems come to mind. For instance what Putin is 'doing to the gay population of Russia' is somehow much worse than anything Israel does, regularly, to the ordinary people of Gaza or what's happening to  the Rohinga, or the Houthis. We complain about Russia  and 'defund' our charities aimed at helping Palestine - or Yemen - or the Assad side of Syria.  Moslems 'do things' to "deserve" their treatment and Russian gays, well, they just don't.

But this isn't only about Russia for, you see, like Israel - (and this is perhaps why we don't gripe about human rights there; they have great human rights - for Israelis),  Ukraine is 'under attack'. Yes they don't like gays there, either, but the 'new' Ukrainian police, unlike Russian police, show-up to 'protect' the 'Rainbow March'. If Putin wasn't being so bad to them, they'd be nicer to everybody - or pass more nice laws they won't 'be able' to enforce. Ukraine has been "invaded", parts of it "illegally annexed" (Disinformation?  Nah, undebateable 'facts', dropped and left because they're 'common knowledge') and right now Ukraine is 'holding the Russians back from destroying European culture' (dezinformatsiye - in Ukrainian) . It needs "more effective" weapons, and it needs more money to fight - and to look after culture,  art and beauty - things they would be more interested in than armored divisions, bulletproof vests, night vision glasses and ballistic helmets if only ...  Putin would leave them in peace!

Canada is willing to help train-up the army to do all that the 'right way'. We have, and will, continue to give them money. Ms Freeland and the Ukrainian-Canadian community would like Canada to give them, (even sell if necessary), "more effective" weapons to shoot at 'their' Donbass. But I may be 'disinformed' - maybe EUkraine doesn't need money, or weapons, or anything else and is really at peace ..... nah.

'Russian invasions' play better - we grew up  with that threat - we've 'seen' them on the TV - in Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. We've 'seen' what the Russians have done to Afghanistan, to Latvia and Lithuania and Estonia - oops, those may have been anti-Russian events. We've seen Kruschev and his UN shoe (something else never actually recorded on film)  and we've 'known the fear' of a nuclear stand-off.  We've heard the warning sirens - and we've ducked and covered.

Like the nice man in the Star said, to-day, 'We weren't really there and we can't understand' - he may be right. But if he is, then shouldn't we take into consideration that, having lost World War One and come very close to losing the Second World War Two, the Russians  have 'been there' more than we have?  And might understand Ukraine better than some romantically-homesick 'Canadian' greatgrandchildren?

                                            Definitely NOT bullshit - it's Love

Disinformation aside, what we need to bear in mind that this could all be heading in a direction our grandparents (who "didn't want to know" about war  (?)- the Star) had some real fear of going. Depending on everybody to be 'rational' about nuclear weapons when they can't be rational about an election, accents the point that emotions 'make us' do more than common sense - and often the 'wrong' thing. Disinformation, whether coming from Russia, or the counter-disinformation 'necessary' to make 'theirs' look bad - drives an emotional reaction.  If you've heard Krystia when she gets' upset' you would know that.

I checked out the word 'disinformation' - it didn't look like a 'real' word. It wasn't - until sometime in the 1980's. According to Wikipedia,  it's a 'translation', or transliteration, of a probably-just-as-contrived "Russian word".  Isn't it strange that, having bested the propaganda of the Comintern, and International Communism, the 'agitprop' and a plethora of Soviet propaganda forms about almost everything we love, we have to 'borrow' another 'Russian  word'  to describe something even more nefarious - 'twisting the truth'.

                             Definitely not bullshit either - it's desecrating a Presidential bed

It's a pity that there are such 'truths' for them to find, and twist.

Some other of our 'truths'?  Good guys have to be evil - otherwise, 'the other guys would win'.  THEY 'choose' to do evil and WE have it forced on us. We're good and they're just not. Like Krystia's granddad and all the German Nazis?

                                     Casey, Casey... Casey from the emerald isle - and 'the agency'


ADDENDUM: Smashback Canada

From the pages of the little tabloid that should - Canada's opposition leader (pro tem) - the gorgeous and smart Rona Barrett - reminds us all of the diplomat and pantywaister that was Steve Harper 'standing-up' to Putin when all the other leaders of 'the wurld' were too afraid. Yes!  Steve told Vlad to  'Get out of Ukraine' and backed-that-up by banning a couple of Russian businessmen and some others from ever coming to Canada,  if they were thinking about that. He deployed the forces (or a couple of hundred of them) to go on a mission to 'train-up' a 'real' military for EUkrainia  and backed their fight for 'freedumb'. He  gave them money and flak vests, boots and helmets ( they left most of those unused for the rebels at Debaltsevo).  But he failed to send them the lethal weapons they so desperately needed to kill even more eastern Ukrainians than the 10 000, or so, they already have, with the lethal weapons they've already got.

And now, having so desperately tried , striven even, to "normalize" relations with the Russians - it's time for 'the Kid' to "get serious" (never mind the new troops he's deployed to Ukraine and the Baltics, or the money he's donated for us,  the Mounties now 'training-up' a real police force to match that military in EUkraine, or all his support for their 'freedumb')  and do "what we've done for the Kurds", fer pete's sakes, arm those poor Ukrainians!

And Jesus wept again.

Forward Two Weeks

The Blogroll, a satirical US website that pokes fun at their military mind, came to life last week in a unique story of how some bozos in uniform  tasked to find potential adherents to ISIS or jihadi entities and wean them away from evil-doing by being better, or smarter, or perhaps nore fun than the promise of a glorious death in battle and 72 heavenly houris -  (with a couple of willing hand maidens)  to make the 'meanwhile' more fun than merely hacking at infidels - screwed that up. Somehow the 'guys' - probably as a result of overexposure to a beer tent somewhere - not only 'effed up' their mission, they got caught and outed doing it.  Now they're 'targets' for any domestic terrorists they missed and might meet in Piggly Wiggly or the Likker Barn.  Fun.

Fightin' sojers, from the net. They the best, the best you bet.

Donald Trump has veen visibly active since taking office, calling in the photographers for the daily PR stunts - like Mexican fences and Muslim terrorist bans. And not calling in the photographers while he continues with the all-important task of 'defending' America by killing Yemenis and droning the  Muslim world.

Seal raid "Botched"?

He spent last Saturday morning 'taking' calls from five or six world leaders.   That must be part of 'the Boss thing' he has going - for he also 'cancelled' a meeting with the President of Mexico after the latter said 'he wouldn't be there as there was nothing worth meeting about'. I imagine he saw sitting through an hour of Donald's 'ideas' about how Mexico could pay to keep Mexicans out of the USA, as something he'd prefer to avoid.  That wasn't the end of it,  for Donald did call to tell him to 'look after the bad hombres', or America would do that for him.

                                             Bad Hombres in their rape and killin' outfits

He called Putin.  He didn't call Porko who, being the thorough-going asshole he is, decided that the iron was hot enough to try reestablishing the territiorial integrity of EUkraine by "slowly advancing" into the "Pig Farm" at a town called Avdiivka, just outside Donestk.  Naturally the DPR forces responded to all the tanks and artillery, with some of their own.  The battle (a Ukrainian 'offensive' by some descriptions) is currently still underway.  Since it mostly involves middle-of-the night artillery firing into DPR towns, the greatest number of the fallen have been the Maidan dopes Porko has living in pig sties on the 'eastern front".  Donald should call him and tell him to look after his 'погані люди' before Putin does.  

                                                          EUkrainian bad hombres

In like fashion - to celebrate the accession of the Donald - Benny Netanyahu approved construction of 200 new homes in East Jerusalem and the recognition of  number of 'settlements' in the West Bank. Just to show he's a 'real mensch',  he also sent in the police to remove an illegal settlement - built within sight of what appear to be three or four 'Eretz Israel' realty developments. So that's probably more because it was an eyesore, or the 'settlers' were 'doing religious traditions' that disturbed the neighbors, than it was an effort to make America happy. The resulting news coverage was the standard pastiche of 'poor Jews' resisting the Allegemeine SS and the Totenkopf Verbande -  they way they wished their forefathers had. The police didn't need riot gear, dogs or live ammo as they would have, facing a crowd of 'jihadi women'.   The settlement wasn't bulldozed. 

Thank goodness all this positivity wasn't messed-up when 6 Muslims were shot to death in Quebec. That may not have been  as terrible as gays being offed in mid revel  but it was news - some 'crazy person' shot up their mosque.  Authorities are trying to figure out why.
 

Where Did it Go Gyorgi? Where did it go?

Just like that, hey! presto - the Ukraine is a non-topic for the world's media. After weeks of popping-up as key word on Google news, generating a pond of ink in papers and time in media 'analysis', it's gone! Piff-paff-poof passed-away! Like it never happened.

But why? Not much, apparently, has changed in Ukraine, except the new president. The 'interim' government still sits. 'Yats' is still the Prime Minister and  'Turchy' is still the 'Trotsky' of the new Ukraine  (What do you call what would have been 'the commissar of the armies' back in the day?). The army still surrounds Slavyansk and the indiscriminate shelling of that place goes on. Lugansk remains in the hands of 'separatists'  as do other places and installations. The separatists seem to have no intentions of turning themselves over to Poroshenko's justice and mercy. The people of the region, under fire, still seem to think that asylum lies east and not west. It could be the 'nationalists' - who also haven't gone away,  and seem to be showing-up more and more, well-equipped for battle, are causing that.  Sort of like the frontier negotiations in early North America with indian allies ... watching, and testing 'the edge' ... on scalping knife and tomahawk.

So why has the Ukraine gone away?  Well, actually it hasn't. Russian sources, and some European ones, continue to report on the gas negotiations and mention the 'war' situation. Kyiv Post continues to post its on-line teasers (you have to subscribe to get the whole story) about the wonderfulness that is Ukraine - good for tourists - and the 'badness' lying off to the east. Poroshenko has his 'pen in his hand' to sign on to the 'Euromarket' but they're having some procedural difficulty. All is 'good for the end of the month' - unless that war is still on. Not much of this shows up at first click, you have to do  a search.

So it looks like the west is killing the story, so the 'sheeple' don't get bored, or overly concerned, as the Ukrainian 'army' makes the 'big push'.

In news to-day the Ukrainian government was accusing Russian tanks of "crossing the border" - 3 of them, to be exact - videoed some 40 miles from the border - they were captured from the government forces ( oops Kyiv forgot to mention that) last week. The Russians had a motion coming before the Security Council and were accusing the Ukraine of firing 'indiscriminate' weapons into Slavyansk. Gas negotiations had stalled.

And what had knocked Ukraine off the boards  - well not much: Bowie Bergdahl was one; Boko Haram and their schoolgirls has been off and on; thinking about a future 'president' Hilary distracted America, as did the stealing of Kasey Kasem. Until the  (on-going but again largely-ignored for the past six months) 'situation' in Iraq took a noticeable turn for the worse yesterday, there was nothing much doing.


But since the bad news from Iraq, why Ukraine has reappeared as well. Bad news loves company, or maybe this will be a long awaited 'success' story.

I wouldn't be wagering the grocery money.