633: Unbuttered Parsnips - Ukraine V

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Well there have been plenty of fine words expressed on the subject of Putin's blatant aggressive stance and actions in a country other than his own: Ukraine.

I am ashamed of the behaviour of the United Kingdom government; yes there have been a few stern words, but the breathtaking incompetence - the carrying of a document in public view, showing apparently this country's lily-livered position, is profoundly embarrassing and indeed, pathetic.

So far - as is always the case - only the US has actually done anything and as usual, Europe sleepwalks, wringing its powerless hands.  Pathetic.  And I doubt if NATO would ever actually do anything; I wonder how much NATO costs us? What's the point of it? And the UN is a talking-shop every bit as impotent as was the League of Nations in the 1930s.

The Tsar declares that the Ukrainian government is one of "fascists and anti-semites (rubbish);" he describes the Ukrainians as having carried out an "armed coup."  He is a liar, a bully and a fascist/NKVD/Chekist thug.  It was his puppet then in Kiev who ordered snipers to shoot down unarmed protestors.  Now he is metaphorically goose-stepping around, allowing his invading soldiers, and more sinisterly, some half-uniformed thugs, to attempt to provoke the Ukrainian soldiers WHO ARE ON THEIR OWN TERRITORY, into defending that territory.

Last night, I saw on the television, an interview with American senator Mr John McCain; I was pleased to hear him refer to the events of the 1930s in  Central Europe just as I did on this blog a few days ago; perhaps he is one of my readers?  And US Secretary of State, Mr John Kerry was fairly robust today. 

I should add that I groaned in despair at the sight of Russian-speaking Ukrainian citizens, gathered around a statue of that murdering tyrant Lenin, carrying Soviet flags; how stupid are these proles?  Have they never read a book? Have they never heard of the starving to death (by Stalin) of millions - yes millions - of their countrymen in the 1930s, all in the name of "progress" under that self-same flag?

Amongst the books I am currently reading is Sir Winston Churchill's first volume of his history of the Second World War, The Gathering Storm.  I now appreciate to the fullest extent that no-one ever seems to learn  the so-called "lessons of history." The book (written in 1947) is full of nicely-expressed (and apposite) sentiments, and I shall end this post with the following quote:

"Virtuous motives, trammelled by inertia and timidity, are no match for armed and resolute wickedness."*

Amen to that.

Until the next time.

*Sir Winston Churchill The Gathering Storm, Cassell 1949 p.171

616: Dresden

Dresden: Brutality and Vandalism

Once again I offer humble apologies for missing the black anniversary - 12th February - of the Allies' great war crime: the fire-bombing of beautiful Dresden FOR NO JUSTIFIABLE REASON AT ALL.

And in making this post I also ask that the outrage of Pforzeim a short while after (17,000 murdered) be remembered.

 Another war crime: Pforzheim

Despite what the apologists say, these were not military targets; as I wrote four years ago, I suspect that they were merely done (as were the nuclear attacks on Japan) to impress mass-murderer and tyrant, Josef Vissiaronovich Stalin.

In shame...

Until the next time

Thank You Private Eye

Yes, a big thank you to one of my favourite publications - the last issue desperately awaited following the death of Nelson Mandela and the absurd over-reaction of the world's media.

Private Eye's latest edition included a full page of suitable and very amusing, antidotes.  "Free-eeeeeeeeeee Lawson Nigella" was especially entertaining.

I watched two blokes, one a Labour M.P. last week on the television.  One of them said something along the following lines: "If we say that Adolf Hitler was the worst man of the twentieth century, then we can say that Mandela was the greatest."

I of course expostulated that this was rubbish.  Mandela was indeed a great man, brave and showing resolute leadership at a difficult time. Hitler was of course an awful man, but I think that Mao Tse Tung and Stalin were worse than he - at least judging by body-count. And as for "the greatest" my list would have to include Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston S. Churchill, who together saved western civilisation. (I do of course recognise Soviet Russia's vast contribution, but find my gorge rising when I think of the then Soviet leader and his numerous toadies).

Until the next time

Could Do With A Good Belly-Laugh

Regular readers of this blog will be familiar with my views on the last Stalinist state in the world: North Korea.  Mind you, North Korea is Stalinist only up to a point; they would have to work very hard to achieve Uncle Joe's levels of mass-murder, torture and cynicism.  They are however doing rather well in terms of paranoia and famine.

For the "laugh" referred to in the title of this piece, do visit this site.  The site, with a Japanese domain suffix, is the KCNA - the Korean Central News Agency of the "Democratic People's Republic of Korea."  Reading the drivel there, one is apt to miss the terms "fascist lackeys" and "imperialist running dogs" that we used to hear from the crackpots that once upon a time dominated China and Vietnam; we do however get "imperialists," "warmongers," and "traitors," so it's not all bad.

Here's an extract giving a fair example of the dramatic, powerful and convincing prose which may be found on the site.

"The Young Red Guards will turn out in the just struggle to annihilate the U.S. imperialists and south Korean puppet traitors with high spirit to defend the country and hostility as the youngsters in the 1950s who defended the country and villages devoting themselves did.

Discharged soldiers will rejoin the KPA as those during the last Fatherland Liberation War did and turn out in the war for national reunification to destroy the hotbeds of evils as they can never revive again.

The speakers stressed that if the U.S. imperialists and south Korean warmongers ignite a nuclear war, all the people of the DPRK would never miss the golden chance and annihilate all the enemies so that even an enemy might not survive to sign the surrender document.

The meeting was followed by a mass demonstration to achieve a victory in the all-people final decisive battle against the aggressors including the U.S. imperialists and the south Korean group of traitors."

And:

"Anyone who goes reckless, hurting the dignity of the supreme leadership and the social system of the DPRK, will never be pardoned but they will be destroyed as the first target as had already been declared.

The DPRK's army and people are compelled to take notice of the ever stepped-up anti-DPRK invectives by the puppet group instigated by the venomous swish of skirt of the owner of the inner room of Chongwadae.

The group of traitors pointing their fingers at the sky will never be able to evade punishment."

And finally:

Meanwhile, the U.S. deputy secretary of Defense flew to south Korea to finally examine the preparations for a nuclear war against the DPRK and openly said that the U.S. military attaches top priority to the second Korean war, giving green light to a nuclear war.
Accordingly, the commander of the U.S. forces in south Korea and the south Korean military chief drafted a "plan to jointly cope with local provocation". The main point of it is to start a total nuclear war involving the U.S. forces in the U.S. mainland and the Pacific region after the south Korean forces touch off a conflict.
The south Korean warmongers, elated with the backing of the U.S. master, are threatening punishment to "provocation" of the DPRK and even seeking to mount precision missile strikes on the statues of the great Generalissimos Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, symbol of the DPRK's dignity.

I love the bit about the precision missile strikes on the statues; I am certain that this mission has been on top of South Korea's list of strategic priorities for some time.

I should add that elsewhere, we are told that the DPRK's forces will wipe out all the US bases in the Pacific...  Very probable I must say!

One does wonder what these people have been smoking...

Until the next time.

Non-Fiction

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One of the worst tyrants in history was of course Josef Vissiaronovitch Stalin: torturer, murderer with a kind of perverse paranoia probably never equalled; certainly the scale of mass murder achieved under his authority was probably only ever exceeded by that other appalling tyrant, Mao Tse Tung.

The second-ever article (and in fact the third) I wrote for this blog concerned what I called Stalin's SS: the NKVD. It will be abundantly clear to any who read the articles, the extent of my disgust at a) the NKVD itself and b) the double standards still prevalent today whereby the Nazi SS is condemned root and branch (and quite rightly) whilst mention of the NKVD is rare indeed - and as I mentioned at the end of the second part of the piece, there is even a record label in California called NKVD! Imagine the fuss if one called a label "SS Records"!

Anyway the reason for my mentioning all this is that a play, called "Into the Whirlwind" featuring Russian actors and actresses, has been put on in London. It is based on the memoirs of Yevgenia Ginzburg who was imprisoned in 1937 and sent to the Gulag, ending up at the living hell that was Kolyma. She was eventually released after Stalin's death.

I was pleased to see in the BBC report that the audience was profoundly moved by the play which I hope proves to be a slap in the face for those in Russia today who wish to rehabilitate the monstrous "Father of the People," Stalin.

Until the next time.

Double Standards Day

I'll begin with the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to be appointed to the United States Supreme Court.

Miss Sotomayor's story is akin to that of Miss Condoleeza Rice, a classic example of the American dream. From a very tough and poor background, she has risen high in the US judicial system, a tribute both to her hard work and dedication and to a society where such achievements are possible.

All well and good, but this does not in my view entitle her to spout rubbish. She said in 2001; "[A]wise Latina" with "richer life experiences" would reach a better decision in court than a white man." Now then suppose that I, who would be described in the US as a "white Caucasian male" were to opine that I, as said white male would reach better decisions than a black man? Imagine the row!

Double standard.

Next we have the tale of the rather unpleasant commercial supremo of Formula 1 motor racing Mr Bernie Ecclestone. Last week in an interview, Mr Ecclestone said he admired a dictatorial approach citing the example of Herr Adolf Hitler who, Mr Ecclestone said "got things done." The result of this politically inept statement was of course outrage despite the truth of the statement. As usual when political correctness raises its head, then truth of course has no relevance. Had Mr Ecclestone chosen Josef Stalin as his model I doubt that there would have been a fraction of the outrage - sadly - if any at all. Marshal Stalin certainly "got things done" and managed to murder many more people than did Herr Hitler - who incidentally was a great admirer of Stalin.

Double standard.

Finally I come to the British National Party, that recently won two seats in the European Parliament. I carry no torch for this shower which I consider to be rather repulsive on the whole.
Nevertheless, Mr Nick Griffin, leader of the BNP intends to challenge government attempts to exclude his party from various European Parliament activities. This article includes the following:

Under new guidelines, agreed by David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, Mr Griffin and Mr Brons will be isolated and kept at arms length from the world of officialdom and diplomatic socialising.

"Officials will not engage in any other contact with elected representatives of any nationality who represent extremist or racist views, unless specific permission has been granted to do so on a particular occasion," a government spokeswoman said.

The article also reports that unsurprisingly the two BNP MEPs were not invited to a champagne reception hosted by Baroness (Glenys) Kinnock, the wife of the famous windbag Neil (now Lord) Kinnock. Mr Griffin said he didn't care about this and described Baroness Kinnock as a "political prostitute" rather unparliamentary language but I had to smile. The Kinnocks have trousered a fortune thanks to their activities in Brussels.

Why double standards in this case? Simple: either you have democracy or you don't; I daresay that there is a variety of loonies and eccentrics who are members of the European Parliament - of course they are 'OK' because they are left wingers! The "great and the good" the so-called "liberal democratic consensus" cannot bear the fact that the electorate might choose to vote for individuals with whom they do not agree or of whom they disapprove, but of course they are always happy to say "we have a clear mandate" when it suits them. If the BNP is elected then its representatives should have access to all the things that are available to any other member of the parliament.

Until the next time.