Submitted by Martin Armstrong via Armstrong Economics blog,
Russia and China are becoming closer thanks to Obama and his insane policies behind the NSA that have left America trying to find friends in a dark hour. The sanctions being imposed on Russia have sent China into its camp. The USA is finding it increasingly more difficult to be the bully in the school-yard. No former administration has ever acted with such arrogance and blind stupidity than the Obama Administration. The net result is to empower Russia and to inspire a new dynamic-duo of Russia-China against the USA. China supported Russia, when Western countries launched an anti-Russian campaign. With both of their economies turning down, this is by no means the proper time to impose sanctions. All this policy is doing is re-enforcing Putin and placing him in the position where he must become more aggressive or seem weak in the shadow of Obama.
In keeping with the idea that the West/America plotted the fall of the Soviet Union as a covert plot rather than the economic collapse of Communism, feeds directly into the idea that the majority of people see whatever happens to them as a victim of someone else rather than the consequences of their own stupidity. Putin’s statements that the fall of the Soviet Union was the greatest tragedy of the 20th Century is gaining momentum in Russia.
There is now talk of Mikhail Gorbachev being put on trial. Gorbachev was the last president of the USSR and the proposition to bring him to trial for the collapse of the Soviet Union is being bantered about. This is part of the propaganda machine to enrage the people to justify the invasion of at least Eastern Europe. Putting Gorbachev on trial will be an indictment of the West and further the conspiracy theory that it was a plot and not economics.
The Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev delivered a well received speech in the Duma in Russia demonstrating the rise in power and determination of the New Russia. He stated regarding trade how the West suppressed Russia. ”For 17 years, we were actually kept in the hallway, where we argued that we deserved the right to enter the world trading community, that we meet its standards. Now we have a full right to demand other WTO member countries should observe the regulations with respect to Russian goods.”
The treatment of Russia by the Obama Administration has been appalling to say the least even before Crimea. The policies that are in place and the thinking is so outdated built around an ego of self-centered aggrandizement, it is hard to see how this cannot lead to any place other than armed conflict. I stated upfront, give the East Ukraine back to Russia on a timetable and allow free elections there that should have been monitored. The people should have decided this issue, not politicians. That should have been the serious solution just as East Germany was given back to the West. Failing to reach such a negotiated settlement allowing for real free elections has led to this confrontation with no escape. Both sides now have their backs against the wall and neither will back down fearing this will be a sign of political weakness.
Putin is playing into the conspiracy of a victim – not that Russia fell because of economics. This is going over very well and this is the danger for therein we find the seeds of war.
Wow. Been some time since we’ve seem Armstrong here. I personally think he’s one of the smartest, no-bullshit, unbiased, no-ax-to-grind, honest financial bloggers on the net.
Jeebus Krist. That Gorbachev fellow is starting to look like Jabba Da Hut. What is it about Russians? They reach a certain age, and then they all look identical.
Stucky ,remember we have seen your picture and the only difference is you have a little bit of hair.
I also don’t have a fuckin’ map on top of my head.
No chance of WWIII. Ukraine is a failed state with numerous problems one of the biggest is Chernobyl. The military is already going over to Russia and the Ukrainian military does not fight very hard. Once everyone realizes that NG and gasoline are going to cost a fortune under the EU they will start looking east.
This is just a pissing match where no one wins.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
I’m gonna go waaaaay out on a limb here and say that ……….. the Ukrainian “army” going into towns populated mostly by Russians, and loading up the trucks to leave with the town’s insulin, grains, and bread ……….. well, I’m guessing that won’t end well. Like I said, just a guess. I’m sure Ketchup Kerry is all over it.
Referring to these people, their own citizens, as a “Russian disease”, well, that ain’t gonna go over to well with, you know, the 40,000 diseased Russian troops five feet over the border. But, that too, is just a wild-assed guess. I’m sure the Head Nigger In Charge will be on the phone for at least 90 minutes with Putin, threaten to sanction Ivan Sukmahkokov who lives just 6 miles outside Moscow and has 400 rubles in the bank, and then the crisis will be averted.
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“The latest news from Ukraine, as reported by George Eliason, is that Lugansk just gave Kiev an ultimatum to implement the Geneva agreement by the 29th at 2 pm. The different Ukrainian “republics” finally got together and are putting together a unified army and government. That’s a big deal.
“According to Catherine Gubareva, wife of the arrested Peoples’ Governor of Donetsk, the Kiev junta has been holding back medical supplies, starting with insulin. Grains and bread are being taken out of various towns on trucks.
“This morning in a live statement starting at 1 a.m. Dimitry Yarosh declared:”The dream of millions of Ukrainians is now realized. The Glorious Bandera Army is crossing the Dneiper River. We will wipe out the Russian disease.”
rest of the story here ———> http://www.opednews.com/articles/Notes-from-Ukraine-from-Ge-by-Deena-Stryker-Agreement_Culture_Easter_Evidence-140426-323.html
Stuck,Armstrong spent 7 years in prison with no conviction of any crime and yet we have sniveling booger eating neocons claiming ” they hate US for our freedom.”
I first started reading about Armstrong over at Nathan Martin’s Economic Edge blogspot and the treatment he received at the hands of the black-robed deciders -SSS’s heroes- is beyond appalling.
The Federal courts are a travesty riddled with cronyism.
Armstrong as you say is indeed a genius not only in matters of economics , but history as well and a soothsayer to boot.( sooth
I’m very happy to see him posting here on TBP.
“the majority of people see whatever happens to them as (their being) a victim of someone else rather than the consequences of their own stupidity”
That. Right there. Pretty much the explanation of everything.
Anybody on why the nation is most often referred to as “the Ukraine” instead of merely Ukraine?
“Russia and China are becoming closer thanks to Obama and his insane policies behind the NSA that have left America trying to find friends in a dark hour.”
Don’t I wish Obama’s incompetence was limited to his insane policies behind the NSA. Obama and the CIA are balls-deep in Ukraine, with no idea what to do next, except start a war. Obama should have been impeached by now, and not in a position to start a war. But no, he’s still in office destroying our country, erasing 35 years of progress with Russia and China. He’s alienated most of Europe with the NSA, and more people are cheering for Russia than are cheering for Obama.
The end result will be losing the dollar as reserve currency, and losing the petrodollar. Russia has little concern for Obama, and neither does China. Obama still has 3 more years to finish us off, but it doesn’t look like it will take that long. I hope to God he gets impeached soon, before we’re a glowing ball of nuclear fallout.
Pepe Escobar does a beautiful job skewering the MSM whores.
CuNNt and Fux are a laughingstock as far as the rest of the world is concerned.
Ukraine or “the Ukraine”?
by Andrew Gregorovich
THE NAME UKRAINE, which first appeared in the historical chronicles in 1187, has been common in the English language for almost 350 years. In the earliest years it appeared without the definite article “the” but in this century the definite article increasingly preceded the name Ukraine.
First of all we might note that the Ukrainian language has no articles so this is not a factor except indirectly. The reason for this is that many Ukrainian immigrant scholars, due to their imperfect knowledge of English, used the form “the Ukraine” in their books thus helping to perpetuate this usage.
Does English grammar require the definite article the before Ukraine? Ukraine is the name of an independent country. There are only two groups of countries which require the article in English: Those with plural names such as the United States or the Netherlands. The others have names with adjectival or compound forms which require the article, such as the United Kingdom, the Dominion of Canada, or the Ukrainian SSR.
English grammar does not require a definite article before the names of singular countries such as England, Canada or Ukraine.
Geographical regions such as the Arctic, the Atlantic, the North, the West, and the prairies all require the definite article, but these are not countries. Since 1917 Ukraine has had very definite borders so it cannot be regarded as merely a region. Some people have mistakenly thought that Ukraine is a general word meaning “the borderland;’ “the steppes” or “the prairies;’ which would require the article. A few neanderthal writers in the past have even promoted “the Ukraine” to reflect the original meaning “the borderland” in order to diminish the international political stature of Ukraine. They betrayed their ignorance of Ukraine, or their bias against it, with this usage. See for example, the view of Robert 0. Grover in the U.S. News & World Report (Dec. 9, 1991).
Is there any other reason to use the definite article in English with Ukraine? Usage has been suggested as a reason but this cannot be accepted today since the majority of books and newspapers do not use it.
For example, the authoritative five volume Encyclopedia of Ukraine edited by Danylo Struk and published by the University of Toronto Press does not use it. The article is not used by such prominent publications as The Ukrainian Quarterly (New York), Ukrainian Review (London, England), Forum Ukrainian Review (Scranton, Pa.), Ukrainian Voice (Winnipeg), Ukrainian Echo (Toronto), Journal of Ukrainian Studies (Toronto), Ukrainian News (Edmonton) or News From Ukraine (Kiev). In fact, today there is no Ukrainian periodical in English which uses the article although Harvard Ukrainian Studies once forced it on scholarly contributors.
But what about the regular daily press in the USA, Canada and England? Even The New York Times (which once required it in its Style Guide) does not use it now. Neither do The Times (London), The Economist (London), Washington Post, TIME, Newsweek or Maclean’s. News services such as Canadian Press, Reuters, CNN and Associated Press do not use the article. When the December 1991 referendum confirmed the independence of Ukraine the White House in Washington, D.C. officially announced that it would discontinue use of the definite article before the name Ukraine.
Even the computer age has ruled that “the” Ukraine is wrong in English. Gram-mat-ik, the very popular grammar and style checker for computers by Reference Software International of San Francisco, uses Ukraine without the article and labels “the Ukraine” as a mistake of grammar.
There appears to be virtually no grammatical or logical reason to use the definite article before the name Ukraine. But it is still encountered occasionally because of habit or because the writer is careless or ignorant about Ukraine. Sir Bernard Pares the eminent English historian of Russia suggested that “the Ukraine” came from French usage. We say Ia France, le Canada and l’Ukraine in French but not ‘the France; ‘the Canada’ or ‘the Ukraine’ in the English language. The definite article the does not add anything to the meaning or clarity when used before the proper noun Ukraine.
Now, the exception to the rule. Yes, it is possible for “the Ukraine” to be correct in English but it is a very rare usage in apposition to contrast the past with the present. For example, one could correctly say, “The America of George Washington is not the America of Bill Clinton” as well as “The Ukraine of Shevchenko is not the Ukraine of Kravchuk.”
We may conclude then, that the use of the definite article in English before the name Ukraine is awkward, incorrect and superfluous. Writers who care about good style in their English grammar and the correctness of their language will always avoid the use of “the Ukraine” and use only the simpler and correct “Ukraine.”
http://www.torugg.org/ukraine_or_the_ukraine.html
I can find almost anything on the net.
Latest Ukraine news as of today (Sunday) from the Saker
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Ukrainian special forces team caught near Donetsk
RT is reporting that 3 officers of the most elite anti-terrorist unit in the Ukraine, they are called “A” or “Alpha”, were caught in the city of Gorlovka, near Donetsk. Read the full article and watch the video of their interrogation by reporters here.
Now let me provide some context here.
The Ukrainian SBU is a truly frightening secret service. Ever since it’s foundation following the independence of the Ukraine the SBU did some work arresting gangsters and criminals, but it’s most feared mission was to be the “enforcement” service of whoever was in power. The top of the top of the SBU forces were supposed to be the “A” or “Alpha” anti-terrorist forces. It is rather cute that the proudly independent Ukies felt the need to use the same designation as the hated Moskals whose famous anti-terrorist group is called “A” (the Alpha thing is a media invented misnomer and an attempt to sound like the US “Delta” Force; in reality the group is called “the A Directorate”). Anyway, they call have the same name, but in terms of skills or record the two groups are very different. For one thing, the Russian “A” never was the enforcement service of the regime and they had no political role or mission at all. Second, they really did deal with anti-terrorism and very serious organized crime.
Still, by Ukrainian standards, these are the top of the top. These are also the folks who have been kidnapping anti-regime activists over the pasts months. I have to note that the previous commander of the Ukrainian Alpha was sacked for refusing to engage in operations against the Russian-speaking population – so there were some honorable officers in this group. But by now it is pretty clear who stayed. And they mission was typical too: to kidnap the head of the local police department.
Instead, the three wannabe kidnappers got caught themselves. The hunters became prey
The three captured today were lead by a Lieutenant-Colonel, no less. For the Russian militias to have detected, intercepted and captured three undercover Alpha officers is already fantastic, but to catch an Alpha Lieutenant-Colonel is nothing short of miraculous. It is also a testimony of the absolutely unique level of gross incompetence of the Ukrainian security service to have such a high ranking operative caught.
It is also highly ironical.
For days the regime in Kiev was reporting that it caught GRU (Russian military intelligence) officers here, then there, then again over there. They were never shown, of course. At the GRU HQ in Moscow they laughingly declared that by now the Ukies had caught so many GRU officers that the entire GRU personnel was now in captivity and the GRU offices empty. So imagine the pain and embarrassment in Kiev when they found out the self-organized militias of a small town near Donetsk managed to capture 3 Alpha officers alive, including a Lieutenant-Colonel.
The video shows them pretty well-banged up – they did resist being captured – and completely despondent. All three clearly realize that their screwup deserves to be listed in the Guinness Book of Records under the “amazing incompetence” heading.
The past 24 hours have been a disaster for the junta in Kiev: first a group of spies pretending to be with the OSCE got caught, and now 3 Alpha officers are also captured.
Except attacking a few checkpoints and stealing its food and medicines, the junta forces have so far totally failed to achieve anything. The single most feared segment the junta’s security and enforcement apparatus was the SBU, which is also the best equipped and best trained. And then this.
I wonder what else could go wrong? Will a US national working for the CIA be captured wearing a silly wig? Or maybe a junta official like Avakov or Taruta?
Let’s just hope that nothing terrible happens tomorrow as the regime might try something “macho” to save face, like Reagan did in Grenada (arguable the worst military operation in modern history, by the way).
Stay tuned. Kind regards and good nite,
The Saker
What a LOVELY picture, to see these goonfuks bound, heads hung low, scared for their lives …. and I do hope they get a bullet in the head.
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Dmitry Orlov says that US and Russia are heading in opposite directions. Russia is evolving from a totalitarian police state to a liberal republic while the US…
No WWIII. Obama hates this country and will do anything he can to humiliate and wreck its image. That includes running his alligator mouth and then backing down like a eunuch. He doesn~t want a war because it would interfere with his planned vacations and retirement on making million dollar speeches. He is not going to mess that up. Besides he will like it when Putin rubs whiteys nose in crap.
When will they quit feeding me that jingoistic crap coming out of Washington, about the dire need to intervene on behalf of the people of Ukraine. How incredibly vain it is, sham tactics that are all too familiar. If showing us dead Syrian babies doesn’t muster support for a war, how does this lame crap work?
American Foreign policy is just flat out proxy bullshit, that masks the real motive for any action. Besides these war drunk bastards have a huge bar tab for Iraq & Afghanistan they haven’t paid for. Who will lend us some more war money.
kudos to you Stuck..the true King of give a shit…..+1000
Perhaps Stucky should lead a delegation to Ukraine to facilitate the release of these Prisoners of War, being so fearless posting from his protective enclave of New Jersey, almost a police state in it’s own right.
Who gives a shit about anything in Ukraine, except it’s a pawn in a larger game of global risk?
The West lost, then played dirty, then lost again. The only questions is whether they will accept the loss, or escalate the loss into a larger conflict? What we’re witnessing is nothing short of nuclear sabre rattling and the return of the cold war.
Russia, who 10 years ago, was even an actor on the world stage has returned center stage.
The US, who spends more on “defense” than the next top ten military expenditures combined is powerless to stop it. The US has navy ships, so do Russia and China, so on and so forth.
Perhaps the West needs to stay out of the affairs of Russian and Chinese interests in their own hemisphere, and pay a little more attention to the dismal state of affairs of Western socialist democracy. Is this what the West is attempting to export to Ukraine, subservience to the banksters in the form of sovereign debt? You betcha.
Martin Armstrong is very smart, but his pieces published since his release from prison seem to be holding back, probably for fear of being re-imprisoned or just killed. Some of his most interesting work is the handwritten stuff from his time in prison.