Job Discussion Forums

[wonderingjoesmith]

Dear John,

The Ukraine is falling apart and all, human rights groups inclusive, ought to be able to examine the situation better than they have so far. Calling Crimea’s referendum or other nation’s elections “charade” may be critical but is it a demonstration of the critical thinking?

What’s obvious is that the struggling state of the Ukraine has had tough times choosing its destiny. Whenever a political and/or economic battle within a country is influenced by other countries’ interests, the result often is suffering.

The dominance of capitalism and unwillingness to compromise with other systems, which contradict it, is the reason why the misery does not and will not go away. Had Russia been accepted to NATO, the Ukraine would not have got in such turmoil.

Now, I would like to think that a critical thinking is a tool that is as objective as it can be and that this tool reflects rather than deflects on events that should never be out of control in a well developed society. Why we would be pointing to only a few parts of the picture rather than the whole one is beyond me, although I bet the “human rights watch” or the democracy groups which have been funded by some bourgeois minds have all the answers.

Let’s see what happens and/or how far we’re all willing to go in order to sacrifice for what we stand for.

Respectfully yours,
Joe

[johnslat]

This is, well, disturbing at the very least:

"Jews in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk where pro-Russian militants have taken over government buildings were told they have to "register" with the Ukrainians who are trying to make the city become part of Russia, according to Israeli media.

Jews emerging from a synagogue say they were handed leaflets that ordered the city's Jews to provide a list of property they own and pay a registration fee "or else have their citizenship revoked, face deportation and see their assets confiscated," reported Ynet News, Israel's largest news website.

Donetsk is the site of an "anti-terrorist" operation by the Ukraine government, which has moved military columns into the region to force out militants who are demanding a referendum be held on joining Russia."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/04/17/jews-ordered-to-register-in-east-ukraine/7816951/

However - "Pro-Russian separatists from Donetsk in eastern Ukraine denied any involvement in the circulation of flyers calling on Jews to register with separatists and pay special taxes.

The flyers were distributed earlier this week in the city, where pro-Russian separatists led by Denis Pushilin this month took over several government buildings and declared their secession from Ukraine as the Donetsk Republic amid a standoff with authorities.

The flyers were official-looking documents that carried what was presented as Pushilin’s signature, but the news site tvrain.ru on Wednesday quoted Pushilin as denying any connection to the flyers, calling them a provocation.

Jewish groups have expressed concerns over possible anti-Semitism amid rising tensions in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists have clashed with Ukrainians.

Chairman of the Jewish Agency Natan Sharansky told Israel Radio Wednesday that he expects immigration to Israel from Ukraine to double by the end of the year.

Last month Sharansky reported that there had already been a noticeable growth in the immigration numbers from Ukraine with the average growth double that of 2013.

Several anti-Semitic attacks, including a stabbing and the attempted torching of a synagogue, have occurred in Ukraine since the eruption in November of a revolution over the perceived pro-Russian policies of former President Viktor Yanukvych. He was ousted from power in February.

Many supporters of the revolution blamed pro-Russian provocateurs for the attacks.

On Tuesday, the news website novosti.dn.ua reported that the flyers were handed out that day by three unidentified men in balaclava masks carrying a flag of the Russian Federation.

According to the report, the men distributed the flyers next to a local synagogue. The website quoted unnamed sources from the local Jewish community as saying that the flyers were an attempt to provoke a conflict and blame the attack on the separatists.

The flyers said all Jews who are 16 years old and above should register at the government building, which separatist protesters are occupying, and pay a registration fee of $50 by May 3.

“Jews supported the nationalistic gang of [Stepan] Bandera in Kiev,” the authors wrote in reference to the Ukrainian Nationalist leader who in the 1940s fought with Nazi Germany against Soviet troops before he and his men took up arms against the German occupation.

The flyers also said Jews were hostile to the Donetsk Republic and that they were required to report any real estate and automobiles they own.

The Times of Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/pro-russians-in-donetsk-deny-calling-for-jews-to-register/#ixzz2zA6LFfJn

Regards,
John

[wonderingjoesmith]

The American Sanctions Team headed by Adam Szubin is working around the clock.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/15/us-usa-sanctions-insight-idUSBREA3D1O820140415

[johnslat]

How terrible - Obama needs to man up and send in the missiles. Sanctions? What a wimp! Where's Dubya when you need him?

"On CNN’s State of the Union, Sen. Graham said, “Well, number one, stop going on television and trying to threaten thugs and dictators. It is not your strong suit. Every time the president goes on national television and threatens Putin or anyone like Putin, everybody’s eyes roll, including mine. We have a weak and indecisive president that invites aggression. President Obama needs to do something.”

Regards,
John

[wonderingjoesmith]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/18/us-ukraine-putin-diplomacy-special-repor-idUSBREA3H0OQ20140418

The report above on how the US made its Putin problem worse is quite compelling.

911 truly got Vladimir on the side of Americans. GWB really played it the right way when entertaining Vladimir on his Texas ranch. What happened a couple weeks later may be the question to ask the White House and the Pentagon? Withdrawing from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty for the system in Eastern Europe to Vlad has been “a mistake”.

Out of the 300 million people in the great nation, it’s sadly hard to find enough who actually see the rest of the world the way it really is. Moreover, we don’t seem to be able to comprehend how others may see us.

The Ukraine, which seems to be in the middle of the problem now, may or may not escape the worst. If things settle there tomorrow, they'll blow up elsewhere the next day afte that.

[johnslat]

Dear wonderingjoesmith,

"Out of the 300 million people in the great nation, it’s sadly hard to find enough who actually see the rest of the world the way it really is. Moreover, we don’t seem to be able to comprehend how others may see us."

Which, I guess, would mean the way you see the rest of the world. From your post, I see you're from the USA ("we . . . . us"). How long have you been away from it and how many other countries have you lived in?

I spent 23 years overseas, in four different countries, so maybe I have some idea of how "others may see us."

Regards,
John

[Sashadroogie]

Hee hee! Just read my posts to learn the other viewpoint!

[johnslat]

Dear Sasha,

"The" or "an" other viewpoint?

Regards,
John

[Sashadroogie]

Dear Johnslat

The only one that matters, of course!


With Communist greetings

Sasha

[wangdaning]

Israel courageously stands up for human rights.

[johnslat]

Did I miss something, How did Israel come up here? Is the implication that because Israel tramples the human rights of Palestinians, that makes it OK to circulate flyers intimidating Jews in the Ukraine.

Naw, that COULDN'T be the implication - it's far too illogical and far-fetched.

Regards,
John

[wangdaning]

http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_04_18/Journalists-suspect-US-State-Secretary-Kerry-in-quoting-Internet-fakes-6039/

The news in the story you posted came out of Israel that is how it came up.

[johnslat]

Dear wangdaning,

Well, I'm glad to see that you didn't post it intending the behavior of Israel to be a justification for harassment of Jews in the Ukraine.

Um, just why DID you post it?

Regards,
John

[wonderingjoesmith]

Dear John,

The Current State of The Ukraine is not about you, me or anyone in particular but about what/whom the world turns around.

Madonna shouldn’t tell Romanians how to treat gypsies as much as the commander-in-chief shouldn’t advise others than his 300 million what their values are to be.

Most importantly, this is concerning the recent era when many of us missed the train to better life and about the 300 million counted souls out of whom many earn the American dollar which is basically the language of international trade and the subject of Adam Szubin’s American Sanctions Team as well as this is about the few in the world that fancy their ideas of how all should live.

Pointing at Jews as the reason for the present turmoil wouldn’t be responsible, although suggesting the equations in between The West and The Ukraine or The Israel and The Ukraine would make enough sense to me.

Even though I look forward to your further inquisitions, I fear the worst for many people around the world and in The Ukraine.

Peacefully hopeful,
Joe

[johnslat]

Dear wonderingjoesmith,


Of course the story below in in a capitalist organ that is notoriously slanted: The New York Times. Still, it present food for thought:

"Photos Link Masked Men in East Ukraine to Russia

By ANDREW HIGGINS, MICHAEL R. GORDON and ANDREW E. KRAMERAPRIL 20, 2014

KIEV, Ukraine — For two weeks, the mysteriously well-armed, professional gunmen known as “green men” have seized Ukrainian government sites in town after town, igniting a brush fire of separatist unrest across eastern Ukraine. Strenuous denials from the Kremlin have closely followed each accusation by Ukrainian officials that the world was witnessing a stealthy invasion by Russian forces.

Now, photographs and descriptions from eastern Ukraine endorsed by the Obama administration on Sunday suggest that many of the green men are indeed Russian military and intelligence forces — equipped in the same fashion as Russian special operations troops involved in annexing the Crimea region in February. Some of the men photographed in Ukraine have been identified in other photos clearly taken among Russian troops in other settings.

And Ukraine’s state security service has identified one Russian reported to be active among the green men as Igor Ivanovich Strelkov, a Russian military intelligence operative in his mid- to late 50s. He is said to have a long résumé of undercover service with the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian general staff, most recently in Crimea in February and March and now in and around the eastern Ukrainian city of Slovyansk.

“There has been broad unity in the international community about the connection between Russia and some of the armed militants in eastern Ukraine, and the photos presented by the Ukrainians last week only further confirm this, which is why U.S. officials have continued to make that case,” Jen Psaki, the State Department spokeswoman, said Sunday.

The question of Russia’s role in eastern Ukraine has a critical bearing on the agreement reached Thursday in Geneva among Russian, Ukrainian, American and European diplomats to ease the crisis. American officials have said that Russia would be held responsible for ensuring that the Ukrainian government buildings were vacated, and that it could face new sanctions if the terms were not met.

Ukraine Provides Evidence of Russian Military in Civil Unrest

The Ukrainian government provided these photographs last week to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Vienna. Ukraine says the photographs document that the armed men who have taken over government buildings in eastern Ukraine are Russian combatants. The State Department, which has also alleged Russian interference, says that the Ukrainian evidence is convincing."

For more, including photos:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/21/world/europe/photos-link-masked-men-in-east-ukraine-to-russia.html?emc=edit_th_20140421&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=22183462&_r=0

Regards,
John