This is bad: Russia 'abducts' Estonian officer after Obama says US will defend..

[stalinets]

Hi there from Russia. Im sorry my english is not so good but maybe I'll can tell u something interesting as russian citizen? It's all my own opinion.
I want to say, there are strong brain washing everywhere: on our TV, on Ukraina TV and I think in Europe countries too.
But, I think Im not washed and I'll try to talk without loud words.

I don't want a new war. And nobody of russians wants (maybe only small group of radical nacionalists and skin-heads). There are too many lifes was crashed in last big war: u know, east front of WW2 was very deadly for russians, there are memorials of that war stay in every russian city and village. One of my ...grandfathers... (not shure how right to say) was too died in arplane-fighter. So, all "normal" russians don't want a war.

What about Crimea and Ukraine? I don't know is it right that Putin doing, but Crimea was under russian people many ages... There are the same russians living at Crimea and east-Ukraine as we, it's not their fault that they now in Ukraine now after USSR breakup. Im too [was can] be now in Ukraine, Belarus and orher ex-USSR place if be my parents migrate at last. In USSR times, it was One country, people migrated between cities and soviet respublics like now americans migrates between New York and Los Angeles for example. So, many of russians now in Crimea and east Ukraine. U know, cities like ukrainian Donetsk, Lugansk, Mariupol and other speak at russian language. That cities like Odessa, Kiev speak ~50/50 russian and ukrainian. And west cities talking at ukrainian. Why this war begans? Because Kiev was banned russian language all over Ukraina. But in east Ukraina many people even don't know ukrainian language! Yes, it's similar languages, Im russian and can understand in common when I read ukrainian text. But when i MUST use it in all official documents - it's shit u know? So, add to this an idiots in ukrainian goverment, crapping between west and east, situation when russian lives better than east-ukrainians and u understand that east ukrainian people choosing Russia and no choosing Kiev. Putin's hands are tied too and he can't make something active to protect east-ukrainians (=russians).
I think it may be good if Crimea and east-Ukraine will be russian. But I don't want to hypothetical situation when Putin will try to do west Ukraine ano other coutries russian parts. There are so different culture, that union will not be long and stable.

So, about 1930's invasion in Poland and Finlandia. I know war is not good, but Im understand Stalin in this situation. He afraided of Hitler and tried to move goverment frontier from east to west to have some additional days if Hitler will attack. It all the same didn't help with the beginning of its attack... And now Putin trying to make something like that: he afraid NATO and wants have additional minutes to do something if ballistic rockets will starts. So, if NATO will be here, on russian-ukrainian frontier, we'll can not crash a hypothetic ballistic rockets with nuclear bombs that theoretically may be launched (we know a militaristic politics of USA and NATO!!). And if NATO will not be on frontier, we will have some minutes to launch couner-rockets and maybe some east cities will be saved from niclear fire.
This is main purpose of Putin I think. He isn't want to occupate Europe.

[1714949905]

1714949905

[countryfree]

It's a negative sign that Russia doesn't enjoy friendly relations with any of its neighbor. Well, Belarus is an exception, but that isn't a free country.

Well, for your information, Russia is a trans-continental country, sharing its border with 16 sovereign states. With some, it enjoy quite frosty relations (such as Poland and Latvia). But with others, there is no lack of warmth in the relationship (Kazakhstan, Belarus, Mongolia, DPRK, China.etc).

And coming back to Belarus, I personally don't care whether it is a free country or not. After the breakup of the USSR, Belarus was the only country which remained stable. It's president refused to nationalize the public assets (i.e selling them to the oligarchs at 1/100th of the original rate).

In the late 1990s, when millions of Ukrainians and Russians were dying from alcoholism and other external causes, the Belorussians enjoyed a modest but stable lifestyle. It is evident from looking at the death rates at that time. Death rates in the Russian and Ukrainian regions bordering Belarus shot up to around 25/1000, while the same in Belarus was around 15/1000. The reason was that drunkard Yeltsin and Kravchuk / Kuchma never bothered about the silent genocide of their people, but Lukashenko did his best to prevent similar incident from happening in Belarus. I have a great deal of respect towards him for that.

I know Russia is a trans-continental nation, I've flown over it quite a few times. I also note you conveniently forgot to reply to the main part of my last post, but that's all right, we can talk about Belarus is that's people want here.

How about press freedom? Is it possible to print in a newspaper that the president of Belarus has a tiny, tiny willy like Putin? (I'm only joking, don't get angry). How about economic freedom? How easy is it to start a business in Belarus?

Any fair elections there? What are the democratic institutions in Belarus? How many political parties in the opposition?

Yes, please. Let's talk about freedom in Belarus!

[Nemo1024]

Democracy is only one of the forms of governing, and in its current form is a pretty recent invention. Belarus is not democratic. Agreed. But it does not make it malfunctioning for that.
I have several friends in Lithuania, who moved closer to their relatives into Belarus, simply because living standards and housing is better there, and there is work to be had - the factories and agriculture are working, unlike in the Baltic states.

For those, who read Terry Prattchett, I invite you to think about the ruler of Ankh-Morpork, Lord Vetinary. One man, one vote; Vetinary is the man, so he has the vote. And Ankh-Morpork works as a fine-tuned clockwork.

[Balthazar]

Democracy is only one of the forms of governing, and in its current form is a pretty recent invention.

Which form you mean? Any modern liberal democracy it's still a feudal regime but under liberal guise. Feudal democracy was invented 8 centuries ago, look at Republic of Novgorod for example.

[Nemo1024]

Democracy is only one of the forms of governing, and in its current form is a pretty recent invention.

Which form you mean? Any modern liberal democracy it's still a feudal regime under liberal guise. Feudal democracy was invented 8 centuries ago, look at Republic of Novgorod.

I meant the indirect "let's pretend you have a choice" variety.
Choose between the "2+2" party and the "2*2" party.
In Novgorod republic you had a least some influence on the choices taken, provided your the right kind of man.

[Pagan]

ruSSia against the Baltic States-

"If even several years ago one could see Russia's will to distance itself from the Soviet regime, the recent events [...] clearly indicate not just legal, but also ideological identity between #Russia and the #USSR."
The General Prosecutor's Office of Lithuania has informed that the Russian law enforcement authorities are trying to reopen criminal proceedings against Lithuanian nationals who refused to serve in the Soviet army following the country's 1990 secession from the USSR.

http://en.delfi.lt/lithuania/defence/lithuanian-defence-minister-we-are-doing-all-to-protect-our-citizens-against-prosecution-in-russia.d?id=65786158


Attempts by Russia's law enforcement agencies to re-open criminal prosecution against Lithuanian nationals who avoided military service in the Soviet army in 1990-1991 has no legal basis, says international law expert Erika Leonaitė.
Moreover, she says, such a move reaffirms that Russia is the successor state of the USSR, responsible for crimes inflicted on the Baltic States.

http://en.delfi.lt/lithuania/foreign-affairs/legal-expert-russia-indicates-that-it-questions-lithuanias-independence.d?id=65801104

[fsb4000]

I know Russia is a trans-continental nation, I've flown over it quite a few times. I also note you conveniently forgot to reply to the main part of my last post, but that's all right, we can talk about Belarus is that's people want here.

How about press freedom? Is it possible to print in a newspaper that the president of Belarus has a tiny, tiny willy like Putin? (I'm only joking, don't get angry). How about economic freedom? How easy is it to start a business in Belarus?

Any fair elections there? What are the democratic institutions in Belarus? How many political parties in the opposition?

Yes, please. Let's talk about freedom in Belarus!

1)nope, you can not slander the President
2)easy
3)majority Belorussians support president...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_Belarus

[bryant.coleman]

I know Russia is a trans-continental nation, I've flown over it quite a few times. I also note you conveniently forgot to reply to the main part of my last post, but that's all right, we can talk about Belarus is that's people want here.

How about press freedom? Is it possible to print in a newspaper that the president of Belarus has a tiny, tiny willy like Putin? (I'm only joking, don't get angry). How about economic freedom? How easy is it to start a business in Belarus?

Any fair elections there? What are the democratic institutions in Belarus? How many political parties in the opposition?

Yes, please. Let's talk about freedom in Belarus!

I don't care about the press freedom as long as the people there are able to lead a normal family life. In 75% of the world nations, there is no press freedom, so Belarus is nothing special. IMO, the Belorussians are better off being ruled by a dictator who cares for his own people, rather than being ruled by some oligarch or a western puppet.

Lukashenko averted a catastrophe during the late 1990s and early 2000s. The ordinary Belorussians will never forget that. The Western rulers are just angry because they can't steal the national assets of Belarus, unlike what they did in Russia and Ukraine.

[Balthazar]

Lukashenko is a honest person, at least... Unlike Obama, Cameron and other 99.99% of "democratic" politicians hypocrites, he officially described himself as "last dictator in the europe" and says that he's proud to be dictator. Despite the fact that it's not true and the most of politicians from the Baltic states are much worse in terms of human rights suppression. They're just too cowardly to admit the real nature of own regimes.

[countryfree]

Freedom of press makes educated people. Freedom of enterprise makes people proud of themselves when they are successful. Free elections make responsible citizens. Etc...

There are monkeys in zoos which are perfectly happy when they are well fed, but human beings deserve more than that. Monkeys too, when I think of it.

Can you live a normal life, a happy life, when you can't decide your children's education, how many hours you work, what doctor you'll see if you're ill? A happy life is having choices.

The Western rulers are just angry because they can't steal the national assets of Belarus, unlike what they did in Russia and Ukraine.

No Russian national asset has been stolen that I know of. What are you talking about? Russia sells natural gas to the West, but that isn't stolen, and Russians are happy to get the cash.

[Nemo1024]

No Russian national asset has been stolen that I know of. What are you talking about? Russia sells natural gas to the West, but that isn't stolen, and Russians are happy to get the cash.

You are mixing up the nation as such, and the 0.001% that for example bought the gas fields during the 90s for something like $1 per square kilometer. That was a nation-wide defrauding, not just in oil and gas, but in every branch of industry in Russia. Moreover, large scale tax avoidance is also widespread (Yukos case and Khodorkovskij). So that 0.001% of "Russians" (who are mostly Jewish) are happy to get the cash. Russians are getting just scraps. Putin started doing something about it, making more of the natural resource money flowing into the state coffers, which, among other things, made him popular in Russia and not popular in the West (remember the recent EU ruling where Russia as a state is supposed to return 50 billion € that were seized from Yukos for tax fraud back to the handful of the fraudsters and the thieves.)

And, as Balthazar mentioned, you don't need to go far for real freedom limitations. Just look at Latvia, where you have a class of citizens, who are called non-citizens (287.000 of them, dubbed as "ne-gry", "niggers"). They live and work there, amny were born there, but have no access to any "democratic" mechanisms, no voting rights, etc.
http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CD%E5%E3%F0%E0%E6%E4%E0%ED%E5_%28%CB%E0%F2%E2%E8%FF%29

Can you live a normal life, a happy life, when you can't decide your children's education, how many hours you work, what doctor you'll see if you're ill? A happy life is having choices.

Or, at least the illusion of having choices. And example of Norway and doctors. You cannot go to a specialist before you visit and pay to a local doctor and survive several months of waiting in lines. You have a choice of going to a specialist directly with less waiting, but then you have to pay the 50x price.  And even then not all specialists are allowed to accept you like that, so the particular doctor you might wish to visit quickly is unreachable, because the seeming choice is of options is an illusion and you anyway have to endure the system.

By the way, if people are happy to have a benevolent dictator for a ruler, and a functioning society and economy (and judging by conversations with a few Belorussians that I had, they do), who are we to impose on them a form of government that will destroy their country, but will give them the illusion of freedom? How are we to do that? With democratic bombings and befreeing scorched earth as NATO usually does?

[Pagan]

Russia threatens to jail hundreds of Lithuanians

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/europe/article4201694.ece

Russia increases pressure on the Baltic States

http://www.redstate.com/2014/09/09/russia-increases-pressure-baltic-states/

[Nemo1024]

Hmm... I see Pagan is diversifying into other threads...

[bryant.coleman]

No Russian national asset has been stolen that I know of. What are you talking about? Russia sells natural gas to the West, but that isn't stolen, and Russians are happy to get the cash.

Western puppets such as Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Platon Lebedev, Mikhail Brudno, Vasily Shakhnovsky and Leonid Nevzlin fraudulently seized Russian national assets including oil and gas fields using a variety of means (including murder and intimidation of government officials) and later sold them to bankers and investors from the EU and the US.

[Rassah]

I wonder who is the most dangerous to world peace, IS or Russia. To all countries in Eastern Europe, this is Russia.

The most dangerous country to world peace is the United States of America. IS has invaded 2 countries in the last 50 years. Russia has invaded none.

Yeah, I kinda had to comment on this one too. Did you forget Crimea and Eastern Ukraine already?

[Pagan]

Police raid homes of Latvians connected to pro Russia rebels in Ukraine, weapons found


A car is seen in Latvia flying the flag of the Donetsk People’s Republic


 Security police have raided several homes in Latvia in connection with residents who may be fighting with pro Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine.

Weapons and ammunition were found in some of the homes, LETA reports.

Criminal cases have been launched against the people for committing acts of terrorism and the purchase, storage and carrying of illegal weapons, security police say.

It follows after videos emerged earlier this month showing interviews with Latvians fighting for separatists in the region. Two of the men in the video claim to be from Ludza, Latvia. Police say the men have connection with the National Bolshevik Movement.

Meanwhile, Latvia's Security Police earlier this month began a criminal process against three people from Latvia who have publicly made appeals for others to join the fighting in Ukraine.

The Baltic Times http://tinyurl.com/mbxl7kp

[Rassah]

Why this war begans? Because Kiev was banned russian language all over Ukraina. But in east Ukraina many people even don't know ukrainian language!

This is not true. Many people in Kiev speak only Russian and do not understand Ukrainian very well. This is something maybe some person in Kiev said, who had no power to actually change anything at all, and that Russia spread big propaganda about to try to scare Eastern Ukraine. It would be silly for Kiev to ban all Russian language when so much of Kiev and Ukraine speaks it. Besides, it is not the language that Ukraine is worried about, it is Russia and Putin.

Democracy is only one of the forms of governing, and in its current form is a pretty recent invention.

What? Its current form is similar to what Greeks experimented with thousands of years ago, and almost exactly what Romans had thousands of years ago (Senate, parliament, etc).

I don't care about the press freedom as long as the people there are able to lead a normal family life. In 75% of the world nations, there is no press freedom, so Belarus is nothing special. IMO, the Belorussians are better off being ruled by a dictator who cares for his own people, rather than being ruled by some oligarch or a western puppet.

So, DPRK (North Korea) is perfectly ok then?

[fsb4000]

I wonder who is the most dangerous to world peace, IS or Russia. To all countries in Eastern Europe, this is Russia.

The most dangerous country to world peace is the United States of America. IS has invaded 2 countries in the last 50 years. Russia has invaded none.

Yeah, I kinda had to comment on this one too. Did you forget Crimea and Eastern Ukraine already?

1)Russia didn't invade Crimea. Crimean people did not want to live together with the Nazis from Kiev and asked Russia rejoin. Do you feel the difference?

2)There are no Russian troops in Eastern Ukraine. If there were Russian troops, militia would have won long ago.

[bryant.coleman]

Yeah, I kinda had to comment on this one too. Did you forget Crimea and Eastern Ukraine already?

Crimea was a part of the Russian SFSR until 1954, when Nikita Khrushchev illegally annexed it to Ukraine. In 2014, the vast majority of the Crimean people rebelled against the Kiev rule, and seceded from Ukraine. A few days after the declaration of independence, the Crimean people voted to join the Russian Federation. Their request was approved by Russia. Where is the invasion here?

[Pagan]

Both #Estonian and #Russian border guards signed an act after #EstoniaKidnap confirming it took place IN #Estonia.