Monday, June 19, 2017

Vladimir Zhirinovsky is the only Russia currently registered for the 2018 presidential elections.

March 15, 2017
By Damien Sharkov

The populist firebrand of the Russian political establishment (click here) stormed out of parliament, threatening to “shoot and hang” lawmakers from Russia’s ruling United Russia party, after accusing them of corruption.

Vladimir Zhirinovsky, whose LDPR party seldom breaks ranks with United Russia, has long served as a tumultuous and ultra-conservative foil for Vladimir Putin at presidential elections. Speaking to parliament Wednesday, in the midst of a characteristically aggravated preamble about corruption, Zhirinovsky whipped himself into a shouting frenzy that ended with death threats and a walkout.

He first accused officials of covering for criminal gangs—a popular, if passé, trope of Russian politics—naming the Moscow region as one of the more corrupt ones. When a United Russia member for Moscow, Oksana Pushkina, piped up in defense of her region, Zhirinovsky shifted gears....

There is every indication the USA could be at war with Russia, except, for conflict of interest with Trump/Kushner company profits. Zhirinovsky needs to straighten his tie a little before declaring war.

June 19, 2017
By Sabra Ayres

Russia’s defense ministry (click here) said Monday that it was withdrawing from a Syrian airspace agreement with the United States in retaliation for the U.S. downing of a Syrian jet, and would begin considering any U.S.-led coalition planes flying west of the Euphrates River as targets.

Moscow, the closest ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, called the downing of the Syrian jet on Sunday “military aggression.”

"The shooting down of a Syrian Air Force jet in Syria’s airspace is a cynical violation of Syria’s sovereignty,” the ministry said in a statement. “The U.S.’ repeated combat operations under the guise of ‘combating terrorism’ against the legitimate armed forces of a U.N. member-state are a flagrant violation of international law, in addition to being actual military aggression against the Syrian Arab Republic."

The U.S.-led coalition said it shot down the Syrian SU-22, a Russian-made fighter-bomber jet, late on Sunday afternoon. The U.S. Combined Joint Task force said it downed the Syrian government plane after it bombed fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF. The SDF is a multiethnic alliance made up of Kurds and Syrian Arab groups. The U.S. has supported the group in its fight against the Islamic State.

SDF is also fighting against Assad’s government, which Russia has continued to support throughout Syria’s six-year civil war....

Why did Russia enter into an airspace agreement in the first place? Was that before or after Turkey shot down a Russian jet? The air space agreement was well after Turkey shot down the Russian jet. That was December 2015 (click here). It only seems like yesterday.

Actually that is not precise. The ORIGINAL air space agreement was October 20, 2015 (click here). Then Putin tore up the Syrian air space agreement when Trump attacked Assad's airfield (click here). Gassing the people stuff. So now Putin wants to end ALL COOPERATION in order to carry out retaliatory strikes against the USA coalition which includes the SDF. But, the warehouse was already destroyed, so is this Putin continuing aggression or simply declaring war at the next opportune moment?

But, to be honest, this is just the latest in a lot of opposition between the two countries, not including Syria.

May 16, 2017 
By Anne Barnard

Beirut, Lebanon — The Syrian government (click here) forcefully rejected on Tuesday accusations by the United States that the bodies of thousands of political prisoners had been disposed of in a crematory at a prison near Damascus, describing the allegations as “lies” to justify American aggression.

The government of President Bashar al-Assad has long been accused of killing thousands of prisoners and burying them in mass graves. But on Monday, the Trump administration made a new charge, accusing Damascus of burning corpses at the Sednaya prison to destroy evidence of war crimes.

“U.S. administrations continue fabricating lies and allegations to justify their aggressive and interventionist policies in other sovereign countries,” the Syrian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, according to the state news agency SANA. “These allegations are totally untrue and are only fabrications by the imagination of this administration and its agents.”

The response from the Foreign Ministry, which likened the accusations to the script of a Hollywood movie, came on the first day of a new round of negotiations in Geneva on the Syria crisis....

And we have quite a way to go before the Russian elections, which probably won't produce anything other than more war mongers with brinkmanship the favorite political posture.

See, but, brinkmanship throws the USA off to think "Oh, here goes Russia again." I would not let my guard down that much to be understanding and compassionate.

Russia is just not a happy place these days and it is really itching for war with the USA since the religious extremists were reflected in the "Putin Gaze" that reveals his soul. Even vacationers are down from Russia. If they asked "pretty please" maybe the Trump Organization could help with a casino in Crimea. Now that would attract interest from all over the region, huh?

June 19, 2017

Russian travel agents (click here) have seen sales of package holidays to Crimea fall by almost a third, new data has revealed.

Sales for trips to Crimea was down 30 percent in June compared to the same time last year, the Russian Travel Industry Union (PCT) reported on Monday.

PCT spokesperson Irina Tyurina said that more Russian holidaymakers were choosing to travel abroad thanks to the growing stability of the ruble. The end of Kremlin sanctions against Turkey — a popular destination among Russian tourists — also affected the domestic travel market, with resorts across Russia's Black Sea coast suffering similar declines, she said.

The number of Russians traveling abroad plummeted in 2015-2016, falling from 17 million to 9 million people annually. The trend sparked a pledge from the Kremlin to boost domestic tourism, although growing prices in Crimea has caused many Russians to holiday elsewhere.

This is my theory.

Russia wanted Trump in the White House so badly because he is inept. Rammed ships in the Pacific, downed jets and an airfield attacked in Syria. New Kushner opportunities for wealth in China and perhaps deceiving Trump into believing he would be the preferred organization to establish gambling casinos and tourist hotels in Russia.

Add to the current tensions the fact ExxonMobile is selling oil fields in Kurdistan in order to purchase them in Russia with lifted sanctions and all is right with the world. At least the world of the USA plutocrats. Demoralizing the educational system in the USA, setting up environmental damage to America's air and water, denying health care to 24 million Americans and all sorts of "Perks for Profit" of the American taxpayer, while setting up "for profit" dynamics in the rest of the world.

This USA administration is on a one way path to economic and international disaster. At every turn, Trump is defaming NATO and not committing to support of the treaty. He is looking for payments from NATO allies in the face of increasing tensions with Russia and growing fears in the UK.

This administration spells bad. I don't mean a little bad, I mean it stinks. It is playing footsie with the Trump Organization and the Kushner family to increase their wealth. I've had enough of the attacks against the past policies of the USA that have stood for decades and now I am watching the USA Navy pay the price for China's anger with increased tensions between it, Taiwan and Japan. Now bring to bear the reality with North Korea and the increased USA presence in the region and it looks as though Russia and China are getting ready to make their "2000 Friendship Agreement" matter.

The USA Congress needs to act. I firmly believe Trump's ego is more important to him than the country and he would sell the USA down the tubes to have his empire expand in China and Russia. The communists know it and they are ready to take advantage of Trump's willingness for profits before Hillary Clinton can return to the White House!

My Irish Grandfather had an expression for times like this, "May you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows you are dead."