‘Our voices are louder if we stay’: Russian anti-war activists refuse to flee

Despite reaching one of the darkest moments in more than 40 years as a dissident and human rights activist, Oleg Orlov says that he has no plans to flee Russia. “I made a decision a long time ago that I want to live and die in Russia, it’s my country,” Orlov told the Observer. “Even though it’s never been so bad.”

That’s saying something for Orlov, who can recall printing homemade anti-war posters in the late 1970s to protest against the Russian invasion of Afghanistan or in support of Poland’s Solidarnost movement, and was an observer and negotiator during the bloody war in Chechnya in the 1990s.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Ukraine - Russia"

Jury awards $14MILLION to Black Lives Matter protesters in Denver after finding police used excessive force when they fired rubber bullets, tear gas and beanbag rounds

Jurors on Friday found police used excessive force against protesters, violating their constitutional rights, during demonstrations over the killing of George Floyd in 2020 – and ordered the city to pay a total of $14 million in damages to 12 who sued.

The jury of two men and six women, largely white and drawn from around Colorado, returned its verdict after about four hours of deliberations.

The verdict followed three weeks of testimony and evidence that included police and protester video of incidents.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in#BlackLivesMatter, WTF?

Ukraine prepared to discuss neutrality status, Zelensky tells Russian journalists

Ukraine is prepared to discuss adopting a neutral status as part of a peace deal with Russia but it would have to be guaranteed by third parties and put to a referendum, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in remarks broadcast on Sunday.

Zelensky was speaking to Russian journalists in a 90-minute video call, an interview that the Russian authorities had pre-emptively warned Russian media to refrain from reporting. Zelensky spoke in Russian throughout.

Zelensky said Russia’s invasion had caused the destruction of Russian-speaking cities in Ukraine, and said the damage was worse than the Russian wars in Chechnya.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Ukraine - Russia"

With eye to China investment, Taliban now preserve Buddhas

MES AYNAK, Afghanistan (AP) — The ancient Buddha statues sit in serene meditation in the caves carved into the russet cliffs of rural Afghanistan. Hundreds of meters below lies what is believed to be the world’s largest deposit of copper.

Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers are pinning their hopes on Beijing to turn that rich vein into revenue to salvage the cash-starved country amid crippling international sanctions.

The fighters standing guard by the rocky hillside may once have considered destroying the terracotta Buddhas. Two decades ago when the Islamic hard-line Taliban were first in power, they sparked world outrage by blowing up gigantic Buddha statues in another part of the country, calling them pagan symbols that must be purged.

Say what? China plans to destroy an ancient Buddhist city to get the copper buried there

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"China - Communist Slave State", Afghanistan, Taliban

Pope Francis: ‘The Time Has Come to Abolish War’

ROME — Pope Francis renewed his appeal for an end to war Sunday, condemning the “bestiality” of the Russian war on Ukraine.

“More than a month has passed since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, since the beginning of this cruel and senseless war which, like any war, represents a defeat for all, for all of us,” the pontiff told the 30,000 pilgrims gathered in the Vatican for his weekly Angelus address.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Ukraine - Russia", Pope Francis

Ukraine: UK and France distance themselves From Biden’s flaky ramblings

UK distances itself from Biden saying Putin ‘cannot remain in power’

A UK cabinet minister distanced the government from Joe Biden’s call that Russia’s Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power” amid criticism that the comment could bolster the Kremlin.

Though no government figure has been overtly critical of the comments, unlike the French president, Emmanual Macron, Nadhim Zahawi, the education secretary, said it was “for the Russian people to decide how they are governed” after the unscripted remark from Biden at a speech in Poland on Saturday, which the White House later said was not a call for regime change.

Macron distances himself from Biden’s Putin comments

French President Emmanuel Macron said he “would not use those words” after US President Joe Biden called the Russian leader a “butcher” over the war in Ukraine.

Biden’s barbed remark about Putin: A slip or a veiled threat?

… Several of the administration’s most ardent supporters in the foreign policy world quickly chided the president for seeming to seek Mr. Putin’s removal. Richard Haass, the president of the Council on Foreign Relations, called it a “bad lapse in discipline that runs risk of extending the scope and duration of the war.”

Biden is not all there.

 

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"President Dementia AKA Joe Biden", "Ukraine - Russia", WTF?

Convoy protesters were expected to leave Ottawa during 1st week, city says

A new City of Ottawa memo is shedding more light on the early days of the truck convoy protest and when officials thought participants in the disruptive occupation were going to leave town.

The so-called Freedom Convoy, which occupied large swaths of downtown Ottawa for weeks, was dispersed by police from several agencies on Feb. 19, after protesters ignored many orders to leave.

Three days earlier, the councillor for Ottawa’s Rideau-Vanier ward, Mathieu Fleury, peppered the city with questions about its response up to that date.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inCanada's Corrupt Liberal Government, Canada's Corrupt Political Class

Putin wants ‘Korean scenario’ for Ukraine, says intelligence chief … Plus Evidence Of War Crimes?

Vladimir Putin wants to split Ukraine into two, emulating the post-war division between North and South Korea, the invaded country’s military intelligence chief has said.

Gen Kyrylo Budanov, who predicted Russia’s invasion as far back as November, said Moscow had been unable to “swallow” the country but faced guerrilla warfare should it seek to split it.

His warning came as Leonid Pasechnik, the leader of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic in the contested Donbas region in the east, said he may stage a referendum on his territory becoming part of Russia.

War crimes?

This vid is making the rounds on Twitter, trending under POWS. Ugly if true but then again all wars result in war crimes often committed in tit for tat fashion by both sides in a conflict.

Vid 1

Vid 2

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Ukraine - Russia"

GOLDSTEIN: Trudeau government lowballed cost of carbon tax

The reason Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux says most Canadians paying Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s carbon tax are worse off financially, as opposed to the Trudeau government which claims most are better off financially, is simple.

It’s that their calculations depend on what’s being measured, and the federal government and Giroux are measuring different things.

It’s also because Giroux’s calculations better represent the true costs of the carbon tax.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inCanada's Corrupt Liberal Government, Green-Scam

Deadbeat Jagmeet says Canada should not meet NATO spending commitment

NATO’s military spending target ‘arbitrary,’ but some boosts warranted: Singh

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says the military spending targets agreed to among NATO countries are “arbitrary” goals and says he told Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Canada should not aim to meet them.

However, some areas of additional support for the Canadian Forces, such as boosting recruitment and improving search-and-rescue times are warranted, he told The West Block‘s guest host Eric Sorenson.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inCanada, WTF?

Canada to try and help countries stop using Russian oil but Golly our pipeline capacity is limited for some reason!

Canada pledges to help countries stop using Russian oil

Minister Of Being A Dick Head

Canada says it can provide more oil, gas and uranium to help solve the global energy crisis.

… Canada is limited in how much oil it can export because its pipelines are running near full capacity, but Mr Wilkinson says sending it via the United States is an option.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inCanada

Reuters Attempts Cover Up Of Justin Trudeau’s Hosiery Scandal & Denies Authenticity Of Junior’s Dick Socks In Dubious Fact Check

Fact Check-Altered photo of Canadian PM Justin Trudeau’s socks

Social media users are sharing a photograph of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau where the design on his socks has been altered.

The altered photos were likely intended as satire, but some users appeared to take the edit seriously, with comments including: “That’s not funny! Such a horrible example of a Canadian!”, “What an idiot” and “What a sicko!!! Seriously and he is a leader of a country!”

Given Trudeau  Reichsminister Chrystia Freedolph used to work for Reuters it’s safe to assume this is simply another cover-up by the MSM similar to the Hunter Biden laptop scandal.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inJustin Trudeau - Pissant