So now we know why the Red Wave didn’t happen. (Although it did, it just didn’t crash on the right shores.)
It’s because of this guy. The guy on the left. The one wearing the Nazi patch on his left tee-shirt sleeve. A certain devotee of the white powder who was previously a comedian, known for dressing in drag and playing the piano with his penis. You know the guy I’m talking about.
Him.
Well, like a good little oligarch, he certainly knows how to exploit connections. And he dang sure knows how to launder money. Because at the end of the day, that’s what the Ukrainian war is about –laundering money.
I suppose one could excuse the Kiev regime for resorting to whatever it takes to repulse the Russian behemoth to the east. But that’s not the full story. Ukraine has been Ground Zero for money laundering for decades now, before the Russian Special Military Operation. In fact, years before this war really started, in 2014.
You see, in 1991, with the break-up of the Soviet Union, Ukraine was granted independence, as were all other fourteen Soviet Socialist Republics. Like them, Ukraine went through some tough times, especially in the 90s. Russia was no different. Things were bad. Far worse than they were under communist rule if you can believe it. Though the vaunted communist safety net was badly worn, it was still there and –just barely–provided a modicum of social services.
To make matters worse, The Harvard Boys, a group of American vulture capitalists swooped down on the former USSR and injected “shock therapy” on the Russians and Ukrainians. And with certain native collaborators, they completely exploited the vast wealth of those two countries, arguably the two wealthiest countries on the planet when it comes to natural resources. It is estimated that a trillion dollars in wealth was expropriated from Russia, all to the benefit of American “investors.”
Harvard University, was but one institution that made out like a bandit due to its massive transfer of wealth from Russia to the United States. That’s because he was president of Harvard at the time.
And so, a whole new class of predatory, exploitative oligarchs was formed.
Fast-forward now to 1999. Things were so bad that Boris Yeltsin, the hopelessly corrupt drunkard of a president, finally did the sane thing and appointed Vladimir Putin, the Mayor of St Petersburgh as his successor.
Putin as you all know, was an officer in the KGB and unlike Yeltsin, he was sober and not afraid to crack some skulls if necessary. Under his stewardship, Russia began a slow but obvious economic recovery. It wasn’t pretty at times but it was undeniable. The oligarchs who lived in Russia were either arrested and imprisoned, exiled –or worse. Some who decided to remain in Russia (like Roman Abramovich), decided to play nice and were rewarded by the Russian Federation. It’s corrupt but we live in a fallen world. (As FDR said about Nicaragua’s dictator Anastacio Somoza back in the early 40s, “he’s a sonavabitch but he’s our sonavabitch.”)
The same could not be said for Ukraine. The same group of oligarchs who gamed the system to their advantage remained in that country and if anything, got wealthier, more corrupt, and more exploitative. No Ukrainian president had the wherewithal or the resolve to do what Putin did. And so it became the central focus of all sorts of financial chicanery and mischief.
This helps explain why the Ukraine became the playground of American princelings like Hunter Biden and Paul Pelosi, Jr. Their employment (so to speak) became the mechanism through which the Ukrainian oligarchs bought influence from their parents.
Now there’s more to the story than simple financial mischief. Along with all of this chicanery some real war crimes were being committed. Particularly among the Russian speaking population that made up a majority of the eastern reaches of that country, that is to say the Donbass regions. Beginning in 2014, a wave of terror was being perpetrated against the civilians of the Donbass. Atrocities against citizens of the Crimea were also taking place, hence their desire to secede from Kiev that year and formally join Moscow.
There were other nefarious activities going on as well; most probably without the knowledge of the Ukrainian government. It was at this time that NATO began looking at Ukraine as a staging ground for an eventual war against Russia. To facilitate a future conflict, American biowarfare labs were established throughout Ukraine, perhaps a total of 38 or more. Many were close to the Russian border.
In the Age of COVID, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what the purposes of these biolabs were.
In the meantime, the Russians were on to this. When it became obvious that the West would not listen to their concerns about the lack of Ukrainian neutrality, they decided to build up a massive defensive infrastructure. They also decided to take hold of their internal resources and build up their economy. They succeeded on both fronts.
Unfortunately, NATO intelligence was either blissfully ignorant of these developments, or so hopelessly in thrall to neoliberal ideology to plan accordingly.
Or possibly, they didn’t care either way. Ukraine was the goose that continually laid the golden eggs as far as they were concerned. However, as far as the native Slavic populace were concerned, they were merely viewed as cattle.
And now, thanks to the FTX scandal coming out into the open, we can see why. Not only were American oligarchs getting richer by the day thanks to the hopelessly corrupt Ukrainian way of doing things but the campaign chests of American politicians were being replenished.
Of course that’s not the only reason that your average Representative and/or Senator got weak in the knees every time they saw St Zelensky on television. There’s still enough native cuckery in the American soul to reflexively send blood and treasure to every crap-hole and by-water that hoists a flag and yells “Independence!” or “Democracy!” Unfortunately, most of that cuckery exists on the Republican side of the aisle, the Democrats to their credit are too clever to believe any of that crap.
Having said that, it is as obvious as the day is long why the Congress in toto threw bushels of money to Kiev (and why it continues to do so).
It’s because of money laundering pure and simple. Zelensky, his coterie, the armaments industry, their lobbyists and last but not least, the Congressmen who get their share of the cut benefit from this vast Ponzi scheme.
Unfortunately, the money has to come from somewhere. Up till now, the rich, fertile earth of Ukraine was the source of this ill-gotten wealth. Now that the Russians control 85 percent of the Ukrainian GDP, the source of the money needed to continue this Ponzi scheme comes from you and me: the American taxpayer.
Now be sure and wave your Ukrainian flag, then bend over and say “Slava Ukraina!” It’s for your own good. Because, you know, Democracy.
Just to give the readership an idea of the breadth and depth of the scandal:
https://www.conservapedia.com/FTX_scandal
Spygate/Russiagate
Covid
FTX
Ukraine
and The Steal 1.0 and 2.0
America is the most corrupt nation on earth. It is run by a fascist, oligarchic mafia known as the DNC.
Good article, George.
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.” – JFK
Russians control 85% of Ukraine GDP? Russia doesnt even control all Donbass, plus half of Zaporizhia and countryside Kherson. I dont know if you are aware but the Donbass area, since the 1990s is the Ukrainian version of the American Rust Belt, but much worse. Is an area with a bunch of old and broke mining, coal and heavy industries, shrinking cities, it has the lowest life expectancy and the most decresing population in the country. And now with the war things must be obviously worse. The same way that much of the American economic power has moved from the North East to the South, in Ukraine it has been from the East to the capital and to the West, specially since 2004.
We’ll see.
Russia has annexed about 20% of the Ukraine, not counting Crimea. They’re not going to give it back. Ukrainian forces have been allowed very small gains due to Russian retreats from ground that is not strategically vital to them. But these minimal gains have been obtained at the cost of massive losses of men and munitions.
Russia has been fighting a war of attrition up to this point. Though it has conquered a vast amount of territory, its primary concern has been destroying Ukie soldiers and equipment. And that has been a raging success. What lies ahead is a Russian winter offensive which will likely end the Ukraine as we know it. You don’t muster upwards of half a million troops, all sources considered, without intending to settle the conflict decisively. Russia is just waiting on General Zima (i.e., “winter”) to arrive. He and Surovikin will then wrap it up.
I have doubts about a “total victory” of Russia, not because I don’t think Russia can achieve it, but because I am not at all sure it is what Russia really wants.
What they wanted all along, in addition to protection of ethnic Russians, is a neutral buffer state between them and NATO allied counties. If they take the whole of Ukraine they are back where they started and possibly in an even worse position in this regard. They could also get stuck in a virtually unending war against the terrorism of the radical NAZI elements in western Ukraine.
My hunch is that they will carefully and fully secure the ethnic Russian regions, expand on their gains (possibly as far as Odessa), and neutralize (or replace) the existing Ukrainian government both militarily and economically.
I suspect they will go for the first objectives hard and fast as soon as conditions and readiness permits, while hoping to force negotiation on whatever remains of western Ukraine, leaving it landlocked and neutralized. And although I really do believe they want negotiations (as they have from the very beginning) over the last objective, I do not think they will be quick to settle for less than what truly serves their interests for two reasons:
1.) The West has shown itself to be thoroughly untrustworthy in negotiated ‘settlements.’
2.) Each of the West’s refusals to negotiate in good faith serves Russia’s diplomatic and economic interests by further convincing the rest of the world that the Western allies are unreliable, selfish, exploitative, and untrustworthy trading partners.
It’s sad to see so many people either reject or ignore Christ. It seems the world is spiraling farther and farther into the rabbit hole where the Antichrist resides. Lord have mercy upon us sinners!
Wow! I did not know the depth of the corruption.
What fools these mortals be!
What the House Republicans and Trump need to do is get Giuliani and any number of Republican prosecutors who have excellent records against the mafia and frame the whole thing as a RICO case against the DNC as a criminal enterprise. Cruz is on the right track in characterizing Biden as the Godfather. And the perfect time to strike the mob is when the don is weak and senile.
I lived in Ukraine for a year back in the 90’s. I remember Leonid Kuchma, and how he allowed the strip mining of so much of the industry there as the olegarch’s consolidated their power there. He did work to build Russian relations and brokered cheap energy deals for the people. I witnessed first hand the western private jets flying into Kiev and Odessa. I witnessed the trafficking in arms, people, and technology even back then. In the Odessa summer you saw mafia style criminals with Rolex’s shopping the new boutiques to impress their temporary Ukrainian girls friends. I used to walk my dog in the mornings and see the 3rd shift workers who would call me over for a drink of vodka and dried fish or meat. They would spend a days wages just to be hospitable to speak with an American, talk politics, or just share stories. I got to know a few of them and they were really hopeful people that had already been through a century of turmoil. I remember how they thought America was a friend, and was altruistic in our intent. I didn’t have the heart to tell them what was coming. It’s gotten 100 times worse and it was bad in the 90’s. I still remember neighbors talking about the pretty young 12 year old girl from down the street who “Disappeared”. That was a common and very sad story, everyone had one of these. My brother still lives in Odessa, currently without light and power. He could have made it out, but he didn’t want to leave his ex wife alone there. Americans have no idea of Russian history, and our role in the destructive policies of the region. What we have done in Ukraine is beyond war crimes. It’s Satanic.
Mr Ring, reading what you wrote causes me great shame as an American. It brings back to mind Henry Kissinger’s dictum: “To be an enemy to America is dangerous, to be its friend is fatal.”
South Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan. Not that the EU is getting out of this alive, given the suicidal sanctions which are eviscerating Western Europe’s manufacturing base.
I pray that the Lord will be merciful to us.
Bob Ring: You should have told them what was coming. I was in Russia in the early ’90s and it was pretty clear to me what was going on when the price of bread jumped up by about 4000% in less than a month, but people’s pay remained the same. The “Harvard Boys” were tying the ruble to the dollar quickly, but leaving themselves enough time to buy up Russia’s wealth from the incredulous for pennies. Ordinary people who had never had any contact with the West did not know the market prices over there of commodities. Pornography suddenly appeared in all the metro stations and on billboards. And girls were also disappearing. Some foreigners even offered an ancient monastery I was living in what seemed to them a good deal: turn it into a privately traded shareholder’s company, for tourism, and they would get some shares. I suggested they pour molten lead on those guys from the battlements. I had no qualms about telling people there the truth about corporate America. I had already seen in the States conferences of American businessmen who were poised to get into the Russian market. But the combination of predator capitalism and soviet godlessness was yet show itself in all its horror. (Now that’s not to say that the US did not send humanitarian aide, but that came from completely different people, God bless them.)
Mother, your advice was spot on.
Someday I’ll write about what Genghis Khan did to those who hoarded their gold instead of fighting.
Not a pretty picture.
And God bless you for repelling the rogues
I look at China, the US and Russia at this point in history and am coming ever closer to a firm conviction that emigration is wise. History has caught up with America. I look at our own internal squabbles and our attitudes toward Russia and China and I wonder what good is really left in America?
Bear in mind, we’re not fighting about restoration of the patriarchy or the re-closeting of perversion, let alone any revision in the grossly and unhistorical way we view race and ethnicity. MAGA has no such pretentions. Without that, what serious progress is actually possible? We are left simply riding along the edge of a cliff, grateful that so far we have avoided careening over it, but ever perilously close to perdition.
We look at China and see repression over Covid lockdowns in a totalitarian state. Yet we had lockdowns ourselves and we are all aware of the Covid tyranny we have endured here. I am not saying the CPC is right to behave regarding Covid as they have. But does anyone doubt that the CIA is behind the riots we see there – the blank page revolution? Occasionally, there are no good guys. But that is undigestible for most Americans.
It is almost a ritualistic ante to have to offer up some condemnation of Putin or Russia. Each party competes to outdo the other. Even MAGA figures issue obligatory condemnations, though they have enough presence of mind to realize that sending money to Black Hole 404 is a fool’s errand, helping no one but Ukrainian elites, the MIC and those on the receiving end of the skimming both here and abroad.
America is a country devoid of truth.
Misha, what’s your view about the recent anti-lockdown riots in China? Do you think that President Xi and the CCP will be able to ride it out?
George,
I’m looking into it now. My initial reaction was that I don’t approve of the lockdown/Covid measures the Chinese have been enacting, but I’m very skeptical that the protests were not CIA instigated.
Russian often say: “Это не случайно.”, “This is no coincidence.”
It is simply impossible for me to believe that after the Chinese have supported the Russians diplomatically and by purchasing Russian energy when Europe sanctioned them, and after the Chinese and Russians announced a joint partnership of sorts early this year, and after the troika of Russia/China/India have essentially caused the locus of world power to move to Eurasia, that somehow, there are spontaneous riots across China in reaction to alleged draconian lockdown measures, a fire which killed about 10 people and general repression. All that with the cheap Western symbolism of holding up a sheet of paper to protest the censorship regime.
That would be all very fine and well, but why now? I am no fan of communists anywhere, but China is essentially a fascist/nationalistic state masquerading as socialist. I abhor Covid protocols everywhere. But again, why now? China has been on periodic lockdown in various regions since the Covid saga began.
I haven’t done a deep dive on it yet but my instincts tell me that this has CIA/State Department written all over it. This does not mean that the Chinese state is the good guy. In point of fact, the only “good guys” appear to be the Chinese people (whether they are quiescent, rioting, or whatever) who suffer under the Covid protocols.
My guess is that Xi will survive and adapt and will attempt to turn the tables on the West for instigating the unrest.
Having looked at it a little closer, it may be the case that it is simply the Western reporting of the magnitude of the protests which is exaggerated rather than there actually being mass unrest there. That is Alexander Mercouris’ view explained as part of a larger discussion regarding Taiwan. He thinks the protests are considerably smaller than are being reported and are localized in a couple of centers.
Hard to say.
Having seen enough, I’m sure the whole China thing is bs. CIA had the NGO’s try to stir up a tempest through social media but the main impetus only lasted about 48 hours and was not nearly as widespread or popular as reported in the West. Protests occur in China on a relatively frequent basis and this one was not of a more substantial character than normal. It was simply magnified by the legacy media.
Finally, Berletic directly addressed this. Of course, it’s all passed already. But he did a show on it which might be worth taking a look at. I don’t agree with everything his guest says but much of it is illuminating.
This Roundtable between Coach RedPill and A. Mercouris is excellent and detailed at diagnosing the problem with the Western Elites.
The rise of false prophecy laundering in Ukraine and Russia also appears to have been one of the resulting casualties of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Specifically, the widely-published “prophecies” that are still now attributed to St. Laurentiy of Chernigov, but that only appeared after his 1993 canonization, have been shown to come from a singular and highly suspect source, one of the non-canonical Sekachev “archbishops”, Cherubim Degtyar. An article published in 2015 on Orthochristian.com, entitled St. Lawrence of Chernigov: Some Prophecies and Statements on the Ukrainian Situation (by Dimitra Dwelley), even quotes Cherubim Degtyar’s book as the source and even includes his own personal admission that “I am personally adding what has not been included in previous ‘Lives’ of the Elder”:
https://orthochristian.com/77399.html
This strange man, who is widely known as a “secret archbishop” of the TOC, published his book on St. Laurentiy of Chernigov in 1994, the year after the saint’s canonization, and his book has been shown to be the singular source of some “sayings” and “prophecies” that are even now attributed to St. Laurentiy and that continue to be popularized today, even by Patriarch Kirill. A recent study by the respected ecclesiastical historian Dr. Serhii V. Shumylo has uncovered this:
“As Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev states, ‘the core of the Russian world today is Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, and the holy Venerable Lavrentiy of Chernigov expressed this idea in the famous phrase: ‘Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus are holy Russia.’ It is this understanding of the Russian world that is incorporated in the modern name of our Church’.
“However, in fact, behind these words of the Moscow patriarch [perhaps unknowingly] lies a banal lie and falsification, because St. Lawrence of Chernigov never said these words. To attribute words and ideas to St. Lawrence of Chernigov to which the reverend ascetic never adhered and of which he is not the author constitute an act of fraud and forgery intentionally propagated with an ideological purpose.”
https://orthodoxtimes.com/false-prophecies-as-justification-for-the-war-sectarian-hoaxes-by-moscow-patriarch-kirill/
Joseph, Orthodox Times is a highly suspect source. For one thing, it is extremely pro-Istanbul in its partisanship. Secondly, does not call the MP by his title and name (i.e. Patriarch Kirill) but uses his secular last name. Nobody in Russia calls the EP “Bartholomew Arhcandonis.”
Third, it is incapable of grasping irony. It condemns this prophecy by saying that the partisans of Holy Rus’ conmparing the three Russian nations (Great Russia, Malorussia and Byelorussia) with the Holy Trinity. And yet, at the same time Bartholomew stated that Istanbul is “like the Father,” the fountain and origin of all Orthodoxy.
Not only is this blasphemous, it is historically illiterate.
Fourth, this “polemic” does not disprove the prophecy of St Laurence of Chernigov but only asserts it.
George, the author of this study, Dr. Serhii V. Shumylo, is nonetheless a respected ecclesiastical historian and scholar. Here, for example, is this same study, as posted on The International Institute of Athonite Legacy:
https://afon.org.ua/publikatsii/falshivye-prorochestva-kak-opravdanie-vojny-sektantskie-mistifikatsii-moskovskogo-patriarkha-kirilla.html
It’s certainly one thing for Patriarch Kirill to believe that Holy Russia consists of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, but it’s an entirely different thing for him to attribute this idea to St. Laurentiy of Chernigov, whereas there was no such association made about St. Laurentiy at the time of his canonization in 1993.
Joseph, again I read this article. More closely this time. There are many assertions but no evidences that St Lawrence didn’t say what was attributed to him.
And how does “the respected ecclesiastical historian
Dr. Serhii V. Shumylo” *know* what St Lawrence said,
and what he did not say?
What is “the TOC”?
“Orthodox Times is … extremely pro-Istanbul.”
I don’t think Joseph would necessarily see this as a problem.
This, from Saker, is quite good.
The Saker overall, rocks. I especially like Pepe Escobar.
Misha, as far as I’m concerned, these two paragraphs are the “kill shots” of Orlov’s essay:
“Keep in mind that these are neither brain surgeons nor rocket scientists: these are people who prance around on stage while making noises with their hands and mouths; or they are people who sit there while makeup artists do things to their faces and hair, then endlessly repeat lines written for them by someone else. These are not people who have the capacity to analyze a tricky political situation and make the right choice. In an earlier, saner age their opinions would be steadfastly ignored, but such is the effect of the Internet, social media and all the rest, that any hysterical nincompoop can shoot a little video and millions of people, having nothing better to do with their time, will watch it on their phones and make comments.
“The fact that these people are voluntarily cleansing the Russian media space of their presence is a positive development, but it takes time. If the special military operation were to end tomorrow, there is no doubt that they would attempt to come back and pretend that none of this ever happened. And then Russian popular culture would remain a Western-styled cesspool full of vacuous personae who seek to glorify every single deadly sin for the sake of personal notoriety and gain. Russia has plenty of talented people eager to take their place—if only they would keep out long enough for everyone to forget about them!”
Me: think of how much better America would be if all the antifa, BLM, and proggies in general would decamp for Mexico, or better yet, Cuba.