Blue_Tires
Blue_Tires's JournalRussian media learn to love the bomb
Nuclear war is the ultimate, unthinkable catastrophe. But in some sections of the Russian media it is being viewed as a realistic possibility and even something to be embraced.
As the crisis in Ukraine has deepened over recent months and Moscow's relations with the West have become ever more strained, talk of nuclear war has been looming large in the Russian media.
In fact, as liberal journalist Yuriy Saprykin recently noted, it has almost become "commonplace".
Saprykin was struck by how presenters and listeners on independent radio station Ekho Moskvy now speak about nuclear war "more or less in the same way as if they were discussing increases in parking fines".
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31557254
That can't be right...DUers keep telling me Victoria Nuland and the West are the *real* warmongers 
How many Russians are fighting in Ukraine?
Western arguments about how to counter President Vladimir Putin's support for east Ukraine separatists are leading to clashes over the question of how deeply involved Russia's military is in the conflict.
The latest salvo between Nato allies came in a German government briefing to Spiegel magazine that accuses the alliance's supreme commander (American Gen Philip Breedlove) of disseminating "dangerous propaganda" on the extent of Russian military involvement, trying to undermine a diplomatic solution to the war.
The Kremlin has denied its forces are directly involved in combat, but the latest estimate by US Lt Gen Ben Hodges, commander of the US Army in Europe, says 12,000 Russian troops are operating inside the neighbouring country.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31794523
Crimea fears amid joy one year after Russia's annexation
As Crimea gears up for celebrations marking its annexation from Ukraine, supporters of the "Russian Spring" on the peninsula strongly outnumber its opponents.
But economic strain caused by Western sanctions, growing pressure on dissent and the departure of skilled professionals suggest not everybody is happy with the past year's events in the peninsula. The UN estimates some 20,000 have chosen to leave.
For many, voting in the disputed secession referendum on 16 March last year was an experience of a lifetime.
A reported 96% of Crimean voters backed joining Russia, although the Russian Human Rights Council put the true figure at far lower than that.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31876529
Ukraine pilot detained in Russia resumes hunger strike
Moscow (AFP) - A female Ukrainian pilot detained in Russia on murder charges that Kiev says are politically motivated restarted a hunger strike Monday that officials have warned could kill her, her lawyer told AFP.
Helicopter pilot Nadia Savchenko first went on hunger strike in December to protest against her arrest last year for alleged involvement in an attack that killed two Russian journalists on eastern Ukraine's frontlines, where she had enlisted as a volunteer in one of the battalions fighting pro-Russian rebels.
Savchenko broke off the more-than-80-day hunger protest earlier this month after her health nearly collapsed but lawyer Mark Feigin told AFP that she was starting again as her basic demands had not been met.
"She insists that she is innocent," Feigin said.
http://news.yahoo.com/ukraine-pilot-detained-russia-resumes-hunger-strike-175041441.html
LAPD officer arrested on suspicion of human smuggling at US-Mexico border
Source: ABC 7 News Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES (KABC) --
An officer assigned to the LAPD's Hollywood Division was arrested Saturday after Border Patrol agents at the U.S.-Mexico border found a man hiding in his car.
The 34-year-old police officer and his female passenger were stopped for a vehicle inspection at about 6:30 p.m. at the California border crossing in Otay Mesa. Both are U.S. citizens.
When Border Patrol officers examined the car with a device similar to an X-ray, they found a 26-year-old Mexican man hidden in the cargo area.
The officer, whose name was not released, and the woman were arrested and face possible human smuggling charges. The car was also seized.
The Los Angeles Police Department declined to comment.
Read more: http://abc7.com/news/lapd-officer-arrested-on-suspicion-of-human-smuggling-at-us-mexico-border/559520/
Czech Republic Expels Three Russian Spies
An exposé published today by the Czech news magazine Respekt has blown the lid off a major spy scandal that played out in Prague over the last few months. The report, based on sources inside the Security Information Service (BIS), the Czech counterintelligence agency, reveals that no less than three Russian intelligence officers have been declared persona non grata by Prague in the last nine months.
The first case involved a Russian diplomat who was not accredited to the Prague embassy, rather he had recently come from another (unidentified) country, but was in the Czech Republic when he wound up on BIS radar. Czech counterintelligencers determined that the “diplomat” was engaged in espionage — exactly what he was doing was unclear — and he was sent on his way.
More serious was the case of two Russian diplomats whom BIS determined were engaged in espionage on Czech soil. One was accredited to the Russian Embassy in Prague, while another was soon headed there: the Czech Foreign Ministry PNG’d the diplomat who was already in Prague and informed Moscow that his co-worker was not welcome and should not report to the embassy.
The current Czech center-left government has been cautious in its dealings with Moscow, preferring not to anger the Russian bear, so this spy affair was kept out of the media — until today. Sensibly, Czech officials have declined to comment on these linked cases. However, today’s report indicates that two Czech diplomats have been PNG’d by Moscow, in customary tit-for-tat retaliation for the BIS operations that unmasked the three Russian spies.
http://20committee.com/2015/03/12/czech-republic-expels-three-russian-spies/
http://respekt.ihned.cz/c1-63671160-ceske-tajne-sluzby-odhalily-tri-ruske-spiony
EU sanctions against Russia should hit Putin propagandists
The EU should not shy away from adding the names of the Russian media representatives in charge of running Putin's propaganda machine to the list of those covered by its sanctions against Moscow, said Krzysztof Bobinski.
Krzysztof Bobinski is the co-chair of the Steering Committee of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum.
The European Union’s sanctions against Russia remain controversial among the member states, even if Brussels is currently considering stepping up restrictive measures. But it was Boris Nemtsov, who often wondered out loud why the West and the EU were sanctioning politicians and business people but not Russian media managers and editorial bosses.
When I heard him speak at a conference in Visby, Sweden last autumn, Nemtsov argued these are the people who produce the propaganda, which underpins Russia’s aggressive policies both at home and abroad.
http://www.euractiv.com/sections/europes-east/eu-sanctions-against-russia-should-hit-putin-propagandists-312904
EU warns of Russian military buildup in Crimea
The EU warned Monday of a continued Russian military build-up in Crimea as it condemned Moscow’s “illegal annexation” of the peninsula from Ukraine one year ago.
Diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini said the 28-nation bloc was also deeply concerned at the deterioration of human rights, demanding free access for outside monitors to investigate the situation.
“The EU reaffirms its deep concern at the continuous military build-up and deterioration of the human rights situation in the Crimean peninsula, including the denial of free speech and the persecution of persons belonging to minorities,” said a statement by Mogherini approved by the EU’s foreign ministers.
The European Union, which has hit Russia with tough economic sanctions over its intervention in Ukraine, “does not recognise and continues to condemn this act of violation of international law,” the statement said.
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/2015/03/eu-warns-of-russian-military-buildup-in-crimea/
Toe-to-Toe with Putin: Canada Is Keeping an Eye on Expanding Russian Military In the Arctic
Today, in the morning hours of Moscow time, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave orders for snap military exercises in the Russian Far North. The sudden "combat readiness" maneuvers of the Northern Fleet are just the latest military flexing in the Arctic by Putin since the Ukraine crisis began in 2013.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu is quoted in Sputnik News, the English wing of the state media apparatus, explaining that the exercises are designed to test Russia's ability to defend its Arctic regions.
"New challenges and threats of military security demand the further heightening of military capabilities of the Armed Forces and special attention will be paid to the state of the newly formed strategic merging [of forces] in the North," said Shoigu.
Back in January, Putin announced major spending plans for Russian military infrastructure in the Arctic as well as expanding the very Northern Fleet currently testing its mettle.
http://www.vice.com/en_ca/read/canada-is-keeping-an-eye-on-expanding-russian-military-in-the-arctic-283
Under Pressure From State Media, Russian Liberal Paper May Go Out of Print
One of Russia’s oldest and most liberal newspapers, famous for its critical stance against the Kremlin, is likely to go out of print, having come under considerable pressure due to competition from Russia’s state-sponsored newspapers.
Novaya Gazeta’s editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov told Russian television station Dozhd that the newspaper would probably stop its print operations in May, although he did not say whether the newspaper’s website would continue to function...
“...The independent media in Russia is under enormous pressure, both politically and commercially, in its battle to publish stories that the authorities would rather are not covered,” says Rachael Jolley, editor of Index on Censorship. “Novaya Gazeta is seen as one of the last independent voices that tries to bring the Russian people objective coverage of important news.”
“Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who was killed for her reporting, was one of the paper's most famous writers, and is emblematic of the type of reporting that is now being suppressed in Russia,” Jolley continues.
http://www.newsweek.com/under-pressure-state-media-russian-liberal-paper-may-go-out-print-313708
Profile Information
Gender: MaleHometown: VA
Home country: USA
Current location: VA
Member since: 2003 before July 6th
Number of posts: 55,445
