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I figured that story wouldn’t be reported in our MSM. I was wrong. MSN, Yahoo and a few others have reported. They still assert that these 161 children were forcibly abducted to Russia but have now been found in Germany. There is no attempt to explain how that eventuality could have come about. It’s framed as an ongoing success on how the authorities in Germany and Ukraine are working together and solving the issue. So, how did they get from Russia to Germany? Or were they there all along, never having been forcibly deported to Russia in the first place? There is also no mention of their age range. Who was taking care of these children in Germany? I expect this story will quietly disappear or will be spun to paint Russia in a bad light. There will be no questions as to the veracity of Ukraine’s claims of children being forcibly deported to Russia and no questions asked as to the integrity of Ukrainian data.
I hope the kids are okay. It would be good for all children to always be safe and with their loved ones.
I’ll translate for you an interesting posting that was shared on Pikabu. I don’t know if this is true, or if the author made it up. Boys playing war.
—
There was some extremely strange crap.
There’s a chat in Telegram. The channel was thrown into a large channel of the AFU (Armed Forces of Ukraine). AFU decided to take a look. And you know what? – they sit there and chat with RF military, like, how much they get paid, whose equipment is better, they confirm that they will fuck each other until they melt
Oddly enough, all of that with mutual interest
Right down to
– Is g99 worth looting from yours? (*looting is common computer games slang)
– Yes, top gear. What good stuff can I take from you?
Fucked up
I saw this in peacetime. And now there’s this kind of talk:
– Fuck, how do I change the cocking handle of an AK-12 to an M-TAC pouch?
Like, let me offer FPV. (*FPV is another computer games slang, means First Person View, thus may be recorded and then shared as a video help. Also, a word for a drone which transmit the view from its camera to the operator.)
ahhh, is it cyberpunk or surrealism?Were they talking about real weapons or just in games? If it was just in games then looting is a common term in a certain genre of shooter games, some of which I have played :D. I wouldn’t be so concerned about that if it was just in a game or about a game. Gaming is huge. It has more revenue than the movie and music industry combined.
Aside from that Tatyana, I can’t remember which thread the Russian foreign agents law was discussed. Moon of Alabama has a piece on a similar law being considered in Georgia which is provoking street protests apparently:
U.S./EU Lobby Against Georgian Law That Would Reveal Their Secret Influence.A very similar law to the equivalent American Foreign Agent Registration Act, passed in 1938. Colour revolution again?
ET
that chat was described as a real chat of Ukrainian and Russian military (the word ‘mobics’ was used, it’s Russian short for mobilised, means ‘ordered to serve in the army’. In Russia every man goes to serve 1 year after they are 18, and then they are considered ‘reservists’. If they are ordered to join the army in case of war, it’s colled ‘mobilisation of reserve’ and people are ‘mobilised’, or simply ‘mobics’)On foreign agents act in Georgia I’ve seen a report about Georgian Parliamentaries beating each other right in the Parliament stage, because of this law.
Yeah the situation in Georgia is absurd in so many ways. You have people in the streets, violently protest FOR foreign meddling in Georgia!
No criticism, no critical coverage of course by the western msm. Why? Because the meddling comes from the west.
Imagine you have proRussian protests like this urging foreign medddling by Russia. The coverage would be totally different!Georgia, Armenia seems to be the next nations that west will try to trigger regime change. Absolutely reckless.
Tatyana
you have possibly a news link on the children´s story? I can´t find anything here about this, naturally. That way I could at least call the attention of some alternative news sites in case they overlooked it (if it was reported by our news agencies at all.)
AG
I think you can access Ukrinform, it’s unavailable for me.
Also , you can google for ‘head of the National Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Ivan Vygovsky’, or, ‘the President of the Federal Criminal Police Office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Germany Holger Munch’
My news I got from Ria and RBC
https://www-rbc-ru.translate.goog/politics/17/04/2024/661fd2369a79470c0db8b681?_x_tr_sl=ru&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=ru&_x_tr_pto=wappAG, I searched exactly what Tatyana posted, “160 Ukrainian kids, who were believed to be deported to Russia, are discovered in Germany” and it came up with a number of sites as I stated above, none of which asked any pertinent questions nor questioned the original Ukrainian claims, except for one, globaleuronews, a site which I have never seen before to my knowledge and I’ve no idea of its pedigree.
My Russian friend tells me that Russian representatives are officially not welcome at this year’s event in Germany, that celebrates Russia’s liberating of the concentration camps on their victory in WWII.
I did tell her, that the Russians probably weren’t that welcome back then either.
Tatyana, ET
Thank you for your effort.
With references of yours it makes it easier. After all by now I simply don´t know what search engine to use (I´ve always tried to avoid those but sometimes you have to.) But by now it´s completely unclear on what axioms the censorship is taking place. It´s just mind-blowing. And people dont know it. Nobody writes about this. Incredible.
ARGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!AG, I like the site restoreprivacy.com because it reviews various web tools such as search engines etc and gives an insight on how they snoop. The reality is that if you are gonna use the internet someone somewhere is recording it. Whether that’s your ISP, the VPN you might use, search engines, the CIA, MI5/6, NSA, a whole host of advertising agencies or whoever, who gives a fuck tbh. I’m still going to use the internet and search whenever it suits me. It is worth searching for advanced search techniques so you can better hone your searches. Often you’ll have to go beyond the first few pages of search results. I am sure someone informed as you AG can immediately filter out the usual MSM crap from search results quickly. For what it’s worth I currently use QWANT though they fall back on Bing when their own crawlers/network doesn’t cut it. See restoreprivacy.com for why that’s an issue. If you get creative with your search terms (and that’s not always necessary) you can usually get what you want to find; and from those sites you do find, you’ll often get references to other sites and so on. It does take some time and a little effort.
ET
thx a bunch!I simply have to get used to using sources like restoreprivacy.com.
Because eventually I get lazy. For the same reason I gave up on using TOR the way I used to for a little time.
And I have given up on finding a free-of-charge VPN after Proton turned out to be a CIA-friendly service.
I have gotten used to the fact that anything I do most likely could be monitored (considering me visiting e.g. this site.)
The issue is more as you say, finding what I am looking for. And here the situation has really deteriorated seriously.
And that simply annoys me.
In fact the impediments of gathering info for building some knowledge base in the age of “info” are a scandal if I think of it…p.s. CIA and Co. apparently have an internal discussion going on over using textbook/printed knowledge or only internet sources. Those argueing in favour of the former – and I don´t know how anyone in the service can not agree – are stressing that researching e.g. Chinese newspapers for them is of high significance. Well of course it is. If anyone in the CIA research says otherwise I would simply fire them.
And the farce continue, the new US house speaker that were allegedly against spending more money on Ukraine and other uncessary wars, have now folded after speaking with the CIA. What a puppet!
US House Speaker supports Ukraine bill, announces new ‘Axis of Evil’
US House Speaker Mike Johnson says he is willing to take “personal risks” regarding the aid funding to Ukraine.This is considered a clear shift in his stance over the bill to Ukraine, as over the past few months, Johnson has stood against bringing the $95 billion foreign aid bill to a vote and made it clear that just like other Republicans, he cannot back the bill that would give $14 billion in military aid to “Israel” and $60 billion to Ukraine, without it being linked to an overhaul of US border security.
This change in stance comes after a series of recent meetings Johnson had with US intelligence chiefs.
Regardless who they vote in, it is always the deep-state running things in the background.
eventually the money will flow back in some form
… as is perversly confirmed and repeated by these two clones of idiocy
https://opentodebate.org/debate/should-congress-stop-funding-the-war-in-ukraine/ (12 Apr 2024) – 1h 5m 36s
Mearsheimer (and his buddy D.L. Davis) “debating” with them, one from German Marshall Fund, one the former Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs.
Have fun pulling the hair off your head while watching.AG
Thanks – just watched most of it… hah yeah pulling my hair alright. The women on the panel acted very arrogant and of course got applause by the hawkish Council of foreign relations-cheerleader-crowd sitting there. Pathetic.
The women asked how the world could trust Russia by making any deal with it.
Ever heard of Minsk 1? Minsk 2? Ever heard how Poroshenko, Macron, Merkel all admitted that they were not serious about it? Why should Russia believe the west?
Ever heard about the grain deal, ever heard about the Istanbul deal that Zelensky/Boris Johnson botched?
Ever heard that Nato, although verbally, “promised” not to to expand further? They did, countless of times, thus again, why/how could the Russia trust the west?And what is the problem with neutrality? Ukraine was neutral as Mearsheimer pointed out up until somewhere 2014. That worked out fine. Ukraine had peaceful relations with both Russia and the US/EU.
How can the women believe that Ukraine could retake all these regions, and even Crimea, what world are they living in? The hyped up counter offensive did not lead to anything. So exactly what is going to be added to the war that will make Ukraine somehow beat Russia? It is possible.
And for arguments sake, these women do not want diplomacy they only want the war to going on until Ukraine win. Ok, so lets assume for arguments sake Ukraine win and by that humiliating Russia. Would that make Russia a lesser threat? No! That is why a diplomatic soultion is the best for every party here.
What I also found gross is how the women put it like US business/companies win from this war and that ‘we americans do not have to fight’. That is a cynical, disgusting view viewing ukrainians just as cannon fodder.
In fact if the pro-ukraine crowd in the west actually cared about ukrainians well then they would stop the war instantly not keeping the war ongoing killing and maiming more and more ukrainian lives.Jack, I don’t think the USA and its allies care at all about Ukraine or it’s people. It’s all about damaging Russia as much as they can and secondarily boosting their arms industries whilst they can.
The Grayzone had a piece today about how UK insurers are refusing to pay out on Nord stream 1 on the basis that its destruction was under government orders.
UK insurers refuse to pay Nord Stream because blasts were ‘government’ backed.
Switzerland-based Nord Stream AG filed a lawsuit against the insurers for their refusal to compensate the company. So, in court, the insurers will have to present evidence to back their claim that it was state-backed rather than the ludicrous story of a team of rogue Ukrainian operatives in a small boat. The last paragraph in the article suggests that such a court decision could backfire.An important small piece of info from Gordon Hahn´s latest update, which I fear won´t make it into our media. Hahn links to RU source only.
“UPDATE 2 TO “Did the West Intentionally Incite Putin to War?”
https://gordonhahn.com/2024/04/19/update-2-to-did-the-west-intentionally-incite-putin-to-war/It concerns Lavrov´s interview of April 19th and his comment about (non-)negotiations with Blinken 2021/2022 about medium and short range missiles in the vicinity of RU.
US House approves Ukraine aid bill
Lawmakers have authorized about $61 billion in additional spending to support Kiev in the conflict with Russia
https://swentr.site/news/596319-us-ukraine-aid-bill/It is sickening how easily billions after billions is sent for for war, destruction. Meanwhile poverty in the US is on the rise and now almost 40 million americans live in poverty. Instead of sending all these money to war US could help millions of people out of their misery:
The Surprising Poverty Levels Across the U.S.
The U.S. poverty rate saw its largest one-year increase in history. 12.4% of Americans now live in poverty according to new 2022 data from the U.S. census, an increase from 7.4% in 2021. Child poverty also more than doubled last year to 12.4% from 5.2% the year before.
The U.S. poverty level is now $13,590 for individuals and $23,030 for a family of three. The new data shows that 37.9 million people lived in poverty in 2022.
https://time.com/6320076/american-poverty-levels-state-by-state/
This is how the situation look like in Oakland, California:
The Oakland, California Homeless Problem is Beyond Belief
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRWmKh13b50A short political essay by Boris Kagarlitsky from prison. It´s not that good but nonetheless in order to document and share it (I am not acquainted with Kagarlitsky´s work):
“Boris Kagarlitsky: The Hobbesian World of “Multipolarity”
By Boris Kagarlitsky“Translation by Renfrey Clarke
Russian political prisoner Boris Kagarlitsky writes in Jacobin from his jail cell at Zelenograd SIZO-12. He discusses the need for an alternative to the “individualist logic of modern liberalism and the totalitarian aggressiveness of the new conservatism.”
https://jacobin.com/2024/04/boris-kagarlitsky-multipolarity-social-change
BERLINER ZEITUNG:
Sipri study: Germany is becoming Europe’s arms giant – and dictatorships benefit from it
Europe now spends more money on armaments than Russia. Germany is exporting weapons to supposed “values partners,” criticizes a military expert.
April 23, 2024
“Two years of war have impoverished many Ukrainians – Economist
In 2023 Ukraine’s GDP was 72% of what it was in 2021. Millions have either lost their jobs, or had their pay cut by struggling employers. But walk around any of the big cities set back from the frontlines and today you would hardly know there was a war on. Last month a huge new bookshop opened a few minutes’ walk from where the volunteers of Sant’Egidio, a Rome-based charity, distribute their food. Shops, businesses, cafés and restaurants are packed and plenty of people are driving fancy cars.
However, the war has tipped many into poverty, especially those who were hard-pressed before, and above all those whose homes and livelihoods have been lost. A World Bank survey last November found that 9% of Ukrainians had run out of food at some point in the previous 30 days. In March, according to the Centre for Economic Strategy, a think-tank in Kyiv, 23% were in a state of food insecurity. Some 14% were unemployed.”
see:
“Two years of war have impoverished many Ukrainians
The elderly, the displaced and the disabled are the worst affected”
— ECONOMIST
https://archive.is/nkySxA bunch of crazy, lying idiots
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Europe—but Not NATO—Should Send Troops to Ukraine
To Halt Russia’s Advance, Kyiv Needs More Boots on the GroundBy Alex Crowther, Jahara Matisek, and Phillips P. O’Brien
April 22, 2024
Ever since west put sanctions on Russia west said that the Russian economy was to break and collapse any minute, now 2+ years into the war the reality is completely different:
Russia to grow faster than all advanced economies says IMF
An influential global body has forecast Russia’s economy will grow faster than all of the world’s advanced economies, including the US, this year.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-68823399…and now the west changed their tune, now they suddenly claim that Russian economy benefit from the war and as soon as the war is over the Russian economy will break.
This is how propaganda works.
Jack, I recall that when the war began and unprecedented sanctions were announced, the Mother of all the Sanctions, you asked about my opinion how the Russians would perceive this. I remembered that conversation, because it seemed to me inappropriate to discuss the economic aspects earlier than those general humanitarian ones.
I also remember that for myself I personally decided to leave foreign handmade marketplaces and switch to the domestic Russian market, especially since the government facilitated the sale of precious metals with canceling VAT on investment bullion, which allowed me to leave my copper and brass crafts, focusing my efforts to develop my Silver business.Today I can say that in Russia there was an unprecedented business boost.
Places vacated by foreign competitors were taken by local business people. Small businesses flourish.
I use their services and I have friends among the owners of the smallest of them – atelier, bakery, coffee houses, beauty salons. These people now can afford a decent housing, a decent car, education for children in good institutions and spend vacations abroad a couple of times a year. This was not here before.
I myself used to often think about leaving 500 rubles in a hairdresser or saving and dyeing my hair at home. Now I do not consider spending 3,000 rubles in a hairdresser as something significant. Or, earlier I hesitated if I should save on the cost of gasoline, going to visit my family by train. Now I don’t even think about these expenses choosing comfort, although the cost of gasoline and paid roads is about twice or even 3 times as much as the trip by train.
The whole country accepts for granted standard of living, previously considered too “luxurious.” Now people think of spending less and are ready to pay for convenience.The room above me is an online order pick-up point, my window goes to their staircase, and their door never closes. One of the most popular areas of a small business is to rent a room and buy franchises from several large marketplaces or logistics companies at once. They are literally in every multi-storey building.
Self-service checkout with card payment terminals are now standard in all supermarkets. It’s almost impossible to find a retail point without digital forms of payment, probably only in distant villages there are still payment in cash.
We are digitalizing everything here on a grand scale, IT specialists are now paid better than other professions and have significant social benefits such as mortgages at a reduced rate. Local ITs are excellent and I even stopped using the Google browser and Google translator in favor of Yandex.The media sphere is pleasant changes. Rutube offers the most interesting professionally made videos from science popularizers. Russian cinema began to make entertaining content, such as series or popular films, at a quite decent level, I swear! Even to my demanding taste, I find something to watch and I like it! I even bought a new big TV for this.
I had a couple of free hours yesterday and my husband and I walked along the main city street, as the chestnuts bloom this time of the year. I have never seen a city so beautiful, so much has been done for landscaping – neat tiles, benches and empty! garbage cans are everywhere, irrigation systems on lawns, flowers are planted and trees are well maintained. The city really spends money on cleaning services, landscaping and, in general, on comfort and aesthetics.
Cheese shops offer scamorza, buratta and cachocavallo, and the local producer Abrau has finally launched a very affordable ordinary wine (blended, but still very decent dry red).
There are fewer people with carts in supermarkets, more uniformed employees of the delivery service. Couriers on bicycles and scooters have already begun to annoy, as we have little or no bicycle paths here, couriers go along the sidewalks and there are too many of them.And I do not associate these changes with the war, but exclusively with the sanctions, thanks to which foreign competitors have gone.
You know, in Russia the word ‘package’ has several meanings, one of them is ‘plastic bag’. In the impoverished days of the 90s, people washed plastic bags and saved them for reuse. There is a popular joke: in every house there’s a plastic bag in which plastic bags are stored (в каждом доме есть пакет с пакетами)
So, when the West announced the next ‘package of sanctions’, someone joked: we’ll put this package in our package for packages.
I couldn’t have put it more precisely 🙂
