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Poland should ASAP take measures to ensure the security of ethnic Poles in Belarus, especially in Grodno Oblast.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poles_...larus_1960.png
Persecution of ethnic Poles in Belarus by Lukashenko:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF4Chjk4MiE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF4Chjk4MiE
The census of 1959 enumerated 538.881 Poles in Belarus (of them 332.300 in Grodno Region).
Check what this Irish guy says at 5:38 of this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFWMi96JIR8#t=5m38s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFWMi96JIR8
Today Kupyansk has been recaptured by Ukrainian forces, despite the betrayal of the town's mayor on Sunday.
The mayor betrayed but the inhabitants stayed loyal to Ukraine, as seen in this video from Kupyansk:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/FtblUe3QmWA
A good documentary about the battle of Grodno in September 1939 (with English lector / English subtitles):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xttcvJE1KFY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xttcvJE1KFY
Belarusian band "Stary Olsa" has many songs about joint Belarusian-Polish history:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRbBHo2sGXE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRbBHo2sGXE
^^^
This song is about the battle of Orsha, Belarus - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Orsha
This thread has advanced 10 pages in 24 hours, so I can't respond to everything that has likely been said.Quote:
Originally Posted by Northener
However, any good liberal who criticizes the Russians for not allowing anti-war demonstrations really needs to hold up a mirror to his own country.
I should also point out that as a nationalist, I generally sympathize with Navalny, just as I sympathize with the Ukrainian nationalists. I certainly don't approve of the Russian propaganda that portrays the Ukrainian fighters as neo-Nazis and the like. And I recognize that Putin is a Russian imperialist (with limited ambitions), and that as an imperialist he will oppress all nationalist movements in the territories he controls.
Again, my position is informed by balance-of-power considerations. I think we are making a massive mistake in conducting war against Russia. Only China stands to profit from this.
And though I am reluctant to "personalize" arguments that ought to stick to the merits, I will say that I quit my job, gave up everything I had, moved to a red state, and took the bar exam last week. I am hardly a great legal mind, but I intend to fight for basic liberties that I took for granted for far too long (freedom of speech, freedom of bodily integrity). Easier said than done, but that is my intention. Right now I am barely competent to defend against a speeding ticket, and I am no longer a young man.
I always liked Schmidt. My father met him a few times. My father was the timpanist in the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra. Schmidt attended many times and also brought a few foreign representatives with him occasionally. After the concerts, he would sit with the people from the orchestra and have a few beers and/or dinner.Quote:
Originally Posted by Northener
But again... in 1982 the FDP decided to break the great coalition and side with Helmut Kohl. A move that has forever tainted my view of the world and the claim that we live in a democratic world. Mind you... in the election before, Schmidt beat Kohl.
The Americans who settled the frontier were high thumos, and that legacy continues to inform the wider culture, despite the all the competing degeneracy. (I am from low-thumos Quaker stock, plus Italian working class, so I don't claim any "connection" to this noble American trait.) And the East Europeans are high thumos. Although much of what you, as a Pole, have been writing on this thread strikes me as foolish, I tip you my cap for your high spiritedness. But thumos must be governed by nous.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tomenable
I realize you're in the Netherlands, so I cannot fairly expect your barbs to be accurate. But I am much closer to Buchanan in my views than Perot, and I went down to Occupy Wall Street a few times to show my support, but never rallied with the Tea Party.Quote:
Originally Posted by Northener
As for the "hillbilly position," I hope to become a hillbilly. It appeals to the extremist in me. After NYC, why settle in the grey suburbs of Middle America? Full-on hillbilly it shall be for me.
All of this grand talk from the last century. You are fighting the wrong war. China is the enemy, and this should determine all else.Quote:
Originally Posted by Northener
Sadly the Western propaganda machine is now in overdrive, and war hysteria has taken hold.
Evidently I cannot count. Not as many pages as I feared!Quote:
Originally Posted by Malaparte
Very unhappy to hear that both Ukrainians and Poles are allowing racism against non-whites to impact decisions. Not that the Russians would be any better; they'd probably be worse in the same situation.
It's alleged that Syrians, Africans, British and American Africans are routinely pulled off buses to allow Ukrainians to get out first, and signs in Poland say NO BLACKS.
If true, that's just terrible. The invasion is horrific and a violation of the 1994 treaty; the use of cluster bombs and vacuum bombs on civilian populations is a war crime. However, the eastern democracies have a long way to go, and its best to remember what kinds of societies they create. It ain't Iowa, folks.
The unintended consequences of all of this also have to be considered. It's one thing to get Germany to pay its fair share of NATO costs, but is a militarized Germany really a good idea? I honestly don't know, because I don't have a good enough grasp of the real mind set in Germany these days, especially when I see that even on this site there are those whose Pan-Germanism superiority complex is starting to show.
Hard hearted as it makes me feel, sending materiel is one thing, but declaring a no-fly zone over Ukraine could easily lead to NATO planes shooting down Russian aircraft. What then if Putin uses so called tactical nukes? I wouldn't put it past him.
I'd just like to say for the record that some posts on this thread lead me to dig deeper into far right and far left rhetoric on this matter, and it's really sad that instead of seeing objective analysis I see people just basing their opinions on their political orientation, with much of it still swirling around one's view of Trump. It's beyond pathetic. That's what really makes me despair of the future.
In 1952, Stalin offered the prospect of a unified but *neutral* Germany to Adenauer. Reportedly, Adenauer opposed this prospect, in part, because he wished to eliminate the Prussian influence on the (west) German national character. Of course, Adenauer had other motivations. He was a devout Catholic, and though the Catholic/Lutheran divide in Germany tends to run North-South, it also has an East-West axis.Quote:
Originally Posted by Northener
OK yes forgive me the details but indeed Buchanan says something to me....but was some time ago he was in the picture wasn't he?Quote:
Originally Posted by Malaparte
May be strange but I think ypu are a quite honest person, I guess we are quite differentiated in visions but that's ok.Quote:
Full-on hillbilly it shall be for me.
I wish it could be that simple. My worries are much much more that in fact 1 person, totally isolated from the outside world, with yes marbles around him, even his inner circle are treated by Putin as schoolboys. So besides wrong or not wrong. Such a situation leads to a ver very narrow mind....that is very tricky.Quote:
Sadly the Western propaganda machine is now in overdrive, and war hysteria has taken hold
Correct, nevertheless I like the "sea civilisation" more because that meant already in the 17th century much more diversity. Just like in for example NY the North Sea culture was kind of blue print, figurally (culture) and literary (Walstraat, Haarlem, Breukelen.....).Quote:
Originally Posted by Malaparte
I've met a Russian and Ukrainian married couple through work always loved the sound of the language pleasant to the ear...is this a all just a culture war on Putin's part? I know the east is very conservative and Russia is not the Athiest communist country it once was now it promotes the Orthodox faith. I was hoping that perhaps Putin would be satisfied with carving out a buffer state and installing a Pro Russian government... If that is what it would take to maintain peace I would sign on the dotted line...Europe is too precious to descend into chaos... I don't like Autocratic regimes but I understand the reason they exist people are afraid of losing their identity and culture and you don't need the majority of a population to have that sentiment only a strong vocal minority is needed for an Autocrat to seize the day. I fear the United States is at that point... unfortunately conservatism stifles progress in my mind you need ages of enlightenment, but perhaps the Greeks were right Golden Ages descend into decay only to deteriorate back into an Iron Age...
Banning Russian athletes from international competitions? Shameful. The IOC has shown itself to have no more integrity than the WHO.
https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sp...ts-2022-02-28/
Totally agree.Quote:
Originally Posted by Angela
And with regard to this:
I'm the the last one who is a pan Germanist let that be clear. Nevertheless also thanks to the US the BRD has developed to stabile democracy. Pacifism was the norm. And with regard to Putin's Russia they aimed until recent for negations and change through trade. But they saw Putin in the ugly face and made a major turn. When the Pax Americana is lowered because the isolationist tendencies are becoming prominent it's good that BRD fills the gap and stands firm against the neo czar.Quote:
The unintended consequences of all of this also have to be considered. It's one thing to get Germany to pay its fair share of NATO costs, but is a militarized Germany really a good idea? I honestly don't know, because I don't have a good enough grasp of the real mind set in Germany these days, especially when I see that even on this site there are those whose Pan-Germanism superiority complex is starting to show.
The real problem we now in Europe have and that's way way more dangerous imo than pan-germanic (that has nearly zero support here) is that we have large sections of the populist right that are direct connected with the Kremlin. Quit absurd in earlier times the commies had such lines with the Kremlin.....now it's it's the fare right.
https://nltimes.nl/2022/02/27/ex-bau...-putin-support
https://nltimes.nl/2022/02/25/far-ri...rns-parliament
https://bylinetimes.com/2020/06/02/d...e-netherlands/
Wow fascinating. The new Hamburg Philharmonic building is really nice.Quote:
Originally Posted by firetown
Schmidt lost also because (way way less than in Netherlands but still) coalitions. The FDP was turning to the right, went into reaganomics.
Schmidt, pretty hawkish, was one of the few in the SPD for the NATO double decision, placement of nuclear missiles. So he was under a lot of pressure.
Germany needs to remilitarize. This is not because America is "isolationist," but because American must "pivot" to China. However, Germany cannot afford to get into an arms race with Russia, at least not in the near term. The absolute gap between Russian and West European capabilities is too great for the latter to contemplate an arms race. Therefore, Germany must come to an understanding with Russia. In effect, Germany will have to persuade Russia to allow it to remilitarize. This can be negotiated. Germany will have to give in order to receive. Obviously trust between the two countries will deteriorate as a result of the present conflict. Hopefully the deterioration in relations is short lived.Quote:
Originally Posted by Northener
Right now it looks like the Western strategy is to conduct a proxy war against Russia in the Ukraine, and exert all its economic powers to collapse the Russian economy.
Using SWIFT for Economic Warfare Could Come at a Heavy Cost
By: Mike Maharrey|Published on: Feb 28, 2022|Categories: Federal Reserve, Foreign Policy
The government of the United States has intervened militarily in other countries for decades, against the council of founders like George Washington who advised America should “observe good faith and justice towards all nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all.”
But the U.S. doesn’t only project power across the globe through its massive military. It also weaponizes the U.S. dollar, using its economic dominance and its privilege as the issuer of the reserve currency as a carrot-stick tool of foreign policy.
The U.S. government showers billions of dollars in foreign aid to “friends.” On the other hand, “enemies” can find themselves locked out of SWIFT, the global financial system that the U.S. effectively controls using the dollar.
SWIFT stands for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication. The system enables financial institutions to send and receive information about financial transactions in a secure, standardized environment. Since the dollar serves as the world reserve currency, SWIFT facilitates the international dollar system.
SWIFT and dollar dominance give the U.S. a great deal of leverage over other countries.
The U.S. has used the system as a stick before. In 2014 and 2015, the Obama administration blocked several Russian banks from SWIFT as relations between the two countries deteriorated. Under Trump, the U.S. threatened to lock China out of the dollar system if it failed to follow U.N. sanctions on North Korea. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin threatened this economic nuclear option during a conference broadcast on CNBC.
“If China doesn’t follow these sanctions, we will put additional sanctions on them and prevent them from accessing the U.S. and international dollar system, and that’s quite meaningful.”Locking a country completely out of SWIFT would effectively cut it off economically from the world. But there would also be consequences that ripple through other economies. For instance, a member of the Russian parliament warned locking his country completely out of SWIFT would halt the flow of goods into Europe.
If Russia is disconnected from SWIFT, then we will not receive [foreign] currency, but buyers, European countries in the first place, will not receive our goods — oil, gas, metals and other important components.”Given America’s history of using sanctions as a foreign policy tool, Russia wasn’t unprepared for the move. In fact, A number of countries that know they could easily find themselves in the crosshairs have taken steps to limit their dependence on the dollar and have even been working to establish alternative payment systems. This includes Russia, China and Iran.
Russia developed its own payment system for internal use several years ago. According to the Central Bank of Russia, 416 Russian companies and government organizations had joined the System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS) as of September 2018.
A growing number of central banks have also been buying gold as a way to diversify their holdings away from the greenback.
Before ending its purchase program at the onset of the COVID pandemic, Russia was the biggest central bank buyer of gold. The Central Bank of Russia bought $4.3 billion worth of the yellow metal between June 2019 and June 2020. And the Russians were buying gold long before that. The Central Bank of Russia bought gold every month from March 2015. According to Bloomberg, “Russia spent more than $40 billion building a war chest of gold over the past five years, making it the world’s biggest buyer.”
Meanwhile, the Russian central bank was aggressively divesting itself of US Treasuries. Russia sold off nearly half of its US debt in April 2018 alone, dumping $47.4 billion of its $96.1 billion in US Treasuries.
It’s not just America’s “enemies” who are worried about the U.S. abusing its economic power. Her friends are also wary, as they should be.
After Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal, the EU announced the creation of a special payment channel to circumvent U.S. economic sanctions and facilitate trade with Iran. EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini made the announcement after a meeting with foreign ministers from Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China and Iran. She said the new payment channel would allow companies to preserve oil and other business deals with Iran.
This underscores a risk to the U.S. sanction policies could also have long-run consequences, eventually undermining the dollar as the world reserve currency.
Economic analyst Peter Schiff warned that other countries are watching how the U.S handles its power as the issuer of the global reserve currency during the Russian-Ukraine war.
China is looking on thinking, well, Russia is doing something America doesn’t want. They’re getting sanctioned. What if we do something that America doesn’t want? We get sanctioned. They pull the dollar out from under us. Let’s get out from under the dollar on our own. Let’s not leave this weapon in the hands of the U.S. that can be turned against us at any time.”If enough countries abandon the dollar, the value of the U.S. currency would collapse and create economic chaos here at home. The de-dollarization of the world economy would likely perpetuate a currency crisis in the United States. Practically speaking, it would likely lead to hyperinflation.
Meanwhile, the U.S. government should be wary of throwing its economic weight around too glibly. It isn’t the only country with an economic nuclear option. China ranks as the largest foreign holder of U.S. debt. If the Chinese were to dump a significant amount of U.S. Treasuries, it would collapse the bond market and make it impossible for the U.S. to finance its massive debt.
America’s undeclared wars have cost trillions of dollars. And economic sanctions are an act of war.
Most people view economic sanctions as an acceptable alternative to military force. But economic warfare also comes at a cost. It’s typically not the sanctioned government that suffers. It’s the innocent people living in that country that must cope with shortages and increasing prices.
As James Madison said, “Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other.”
War always comes at a steep cost – whether military or economic.
HAHAHA Ok. Clear story.Quote:
Originally Posted by Malaparte
About the balance of power.......We are so freaking close to the following scenario. And everybody condemns Joe Biden. Nevertheless he stands firm (with sanctions) without ******* up Putin completely. Putin is in a total tunnel vision and knows no internal checks and balances any longer. If Putin freaks out who is going to prevent him to touch the red button??
That's pretty close to the big amergerdon. Princeton scenario.....:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jy3JU-ORpo
They pretty well can, they are the fourth economy in the world, they have made 100 billion "over night" free for extra investment in the Bundeswehr. And may be an old stereotype but they know how to organize (the invasion of Russia in the Ukraine doesn't give that impression they really on brutal simple power with cluster bombs and they even have nuclear options in mind....al blunt power nothing more) so sorry Malaparte Russia is no match. And there is even no need for Germany to deal with Putin's Russia. The simple fact the is since last Thursday gone. The only way the relationship could get normal is after Putin.Quote:
Originally Posted by Malaparte
Northerner: Not to move the thread away from the subject of Ukraine and Putin. Yes, Pat Buchanan was indeed a long time ago. He comes from Irish-Catholic background, Jesuit Educated at Georgetown (when it was still a Catholic school in more than name only), but still tied to the working-class roots.Quote:
Originally Posted by Northener
He worked for both Nixon and Reagan as a speechwriter and he generally did not care for Bush 1. While I think he agreed with Bush 1 getting an international coalition to stop Saddam's invasion into Kuwait, I think Bush 1's "new World Order" speech was where Buchanan totally broke with Bush 1 as he saw this speech as not only relating to dealing with Saddam, but the use of the global trade system to be a force for both economic and foreign policy to get countries like China and Russia to behave like the USA and European democracies Buchanan saw it as betrayal to American workers and manufacturing self reliance to produce things here at home. Trade should be done with partners that have the same values and respect for law that you have. Buchanan challenged Bush 1 in the GOP primary and scored some victories. Ross Perot ran against Bush 1's global trade agenda. Bill Clinton talked about the economy but his angle was to push for national health care (when he won he put Hillary, unelected, in charge of writing the law).
The 1992 presidential debate is where Perot talked about Bush 1's policies, which Bill Clinton wiggled but he too was committed to the same type policies (he signed NAFTA on 8 December 1993) and this is when Perot said if these trade polices go through, it will result in a great sucking sound of American Manufacturing jobs leaving the USA. I must confess instinctively I agreed with both Buchanan and Perot on the trade deals but I have to admit I voted for the neo-con Bush 1.
As I have said in (I don't know how many post), 30 years later, on these trade links with countries like China, and Russia to, making us too dependent on key supplies (think Medical during COVID-19) and energy has proven to be 100% correct. So my lay person geopolitical analysis, Trump's 2016 election n many ways can be traced back to decisions that were made during the Bush 1 and Clinton presidencies.
Mexico is not going along with sanctions against Russia
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2022-03-01/mexicos-president-says-will-not-take-any-economic-sanctions-against-russia
not only the far rightQuote:
Originally Posted by Northener
here in Belgium the far left is still the biggest advocat of Putin
https://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20220225_97531341