Ukraine's European Revolution?

[Syt]

Anyone have a friend I can have? I'm asking for a friend.

You could go to Paris and ask for government handouts. You know, France with benefits?

[DGuller]

Anyone have a friend I can have? I'm asking for a friend.

You could go to Paris and ask for government handouts. You know, France with benefits?

Everyone in the office asked me why I groaned.  Even a couple of people from three floors below me.

[Queequeg]

Man I fucking hate Ukrainian nationalists.  The Euromaidain twitter tried to argue that the "Moskali" were Asiatic barbarians because the Golden Horde issued a coin with the Double-Headed Eagle on it-an Anatolian symbol adopted by both the Byzantines and the Seljuks, and through them the Tatars while the Ukrainian-Kievan "trident" is a fucking tamga, like the city of Kiev with it's origins in the Khazar influence on the Pontic-Caspain steppe.  They think of themselves as real "Europeans" against the Finnic-Tatar "Muscovites" but the only thing they've done in the history of their nationalist movement is slaughter some Polish civilians and fail to stop the Russians at every opportunity.   

[Ed Anger]

Nerd.

[DGuller]

Man I fucking hate Ukrainian nationalists.  The Euromaidain twitter tried to argue that the "Moskali" were Asiatic barbarians because the Golden Horde issued a coin with the Double-Headed Eagle on it-an Anatolian symbol adopted by both the Byzantines and the Seljuks, and through them the Tatars while the Ukrainian-Kievan "trident" is a fucking tamga, like the city of Kiev with it's origins in the Khazar influence on the Pontic-Caspain steppe.  They think of themselves as real "Europeans" against the Finnic-Tatar "Muscovites" but the only thing they've done in the history of their nationalist movement is slaughter some Polish civilians and fail to stop the Russians at every opportunity.   

Yeah, I was about to say the same thing.

[Jacob]

Man I fucking hate Ukrainian nationalists.  The Euromaidain twitter tried to argue that the "Moskali" were Asiatic barbarians because the Golden Horde issued a coin with the Double-Headed Eagle on it-an Anatolian symbol adopted by both the Byzantines and the Seljuks, and through them the Tatars while the Ukrainian-Kievan "trident" is a fucking tamga, like the city of Kiev with it's origins in the Khazar influence on the Pontic-Caspain steppe.  They think of themselves as real "Europeans" against the Finnic-Tatar "Muscovites" but the only thing they've done in the history of their nationalist movement is slaughter some Polish civilians and fail to stop the Russians at every opportunity.   

Yeah, I was about to say the same thing.

I mean, a fucking tamga!

[HVC]

We rally need a Russian to insult and or threaten spellus so he can get over this Russian fetish.

[DGuller]

We rally need a Russian to insult and or threaten spellus so he can get over this Russian fetish.

Yeah, but then he'll find another culture to fetish over.  Better the devil you know...

[Viking]

http://rt.com/politics/russian-citizenship-ancestors-language-764/

New citizenship shortcut for Russian-speakers of Soviet, Imperial ancestry

President Vladimir Putin has signed into force simpler and faster rules for granting citizenship to people who speak Russian, and have at least one ancestor who was a permanent resident of any state within the borders of the current Russian Federation.

The bill on the simplified granting of Russian citizenship becomes valid today Monday, April 21. Apart from the citizenship fast track, people who comply with the new conditions have less stringent conditions for entering Russia or extending their temporary residence permit.

Under regular rules, those applying for Russian citizenship must be over the age of 18, successfully pass a Russian language test and be legally and continuously residing in the country for five years. In addition, Russian citizenship could be granted to a foreigner for his or her merits and achievements – such as athletes who became Russians in order to join Russian national teams.

To benefit from the new program, a person must have documented proof that at least one of his or her direct ancestors was a permanent resident of the Soviet Union or the Tsarist Russian Empire who lived on the territory of the current Russian Federation. Another condition is good command of Russian, but a complicated and lengthy exam is replaced with a simpler interview.

While most of the candidates would have to renounce their foreign citizenship to become Russians under the new procedure, exceptions are made in cases when doing this would be legally impossible. The program also can be applied to people without citizenship, which is the case for many ethnic Russians who live in the Baltic states but cannot obtain the citizenship and live under non-citizens status.

The new act is a part of a broader campaign aimed at attracting qualified and trained specialists from abroad. Other bills have included allowing citizenship to foreigners who invest at least 10 million rubles ($285,000) in the Russian economy, and foreign students who graduate from Russian universities and then legally use their skills inside Russia for at least three years.

At the same time, lawmakers are suggesting tougher punishment for concealing double citizenship and banning it for senior state officials.These draft laws have not yet been considered by parliament.

Russian speakers in Finland, Alaska and Poland can now hold their own referenda to join Putinist Russia. Time for Katmai to learn Russian?

[derspiess]

Man I fucking hate Ukrainian nationalists.  The Euromaidain twitter tried to argue that the "Moskali" were Asiatic barbarians because the Golden Horde issued a coin with the Double-Headed Eagle on it-an Anatolian symbol adopted by both the Byzantines and the Seljuks, and through them the Tatars while the Ukrainian-Kievan "trident" is a fucking tamga, like the city of Kiev with it's origins in the Khazar influence on the Pontic-Caspain steppe.  They think of themselves as real "Europeans" against the Finnic-Tatar "Muscovites" but the only thing they've done in the history of their nationalist movement is slaughter some Polish civilians and fail to stop the Russians at every opportunity.   

Yeah, I was about to say the same thing.

I mean, a fucking tamga!

No shit. 

[derspiess]

http://rt.com/politics/russian-citizenship-ancestors-language-764/

New citizenship shortcut for Russian-speakers of Soviet, Imperial ancestry

President Vladimir Putin has signed into force simpler and faster rules for granting citizenship to people who speak Russian, and have at least one ancestor who was a permanent resident of any state within the borders of the current Russian Federation.

The bill on the simplified granting of Russian citizenship becomes valid today Monday, April 21. Apart from the citizenship fast track, people who comply with the new conditions have less stringent conditions for entering Russia or extending their temporary residence permit.

Under regular rules, those applying for Russian citizenship must be over the age of 18, successfully pass a Russian language test and be legally and continuously residing in the country for five years. In addition, Russian citizenship could be granted to a foreigner for his or her merits and achievements – such as athletes who became Russians in order to join Russian national teams.

To benefit from the new program, a person must have documented proof that at least one of his or her direct ancestors was a permanent resident of the Soviet Union or the Tsarist Russian Empire who lived on the territory of the current Russian Federation. Another condition is good command of Russian, but a complicated and lengthy exam is replaced with a simpler interview.

While most of the candidates would have to renounce their foreign citizenship to become Russians under the new procedure, exceptions are made in cases when doing this would be legally impossible. The program also can be applied to people without citizenship, which is the case for many ethnic Russians who live in the Baltic states but cannot obtain the citizenship and live under non-citizens status.

The new act is a part of a broader campaign aimed at attracting qualified and trained specialists from abroad. Other bills have included allowing citizenship to foreigners who invest at least 10 million rubles ($285,000) in the Russian economy, and foreign students who graduate from Russian universities and then legally use their skills inside Russia for at least three years.

At the same time, lawmakers are suggesting tougher punishment for concealing double citizenship and banning it for senior state officials.These draft laws have not yet been considered by parliament.

Russian speakers in Finland, Alaska and Poland can now hold their own referenda to join Putinist Russia. Time for Katmai to learn Russian?

I guess there could be a tiny Russian enclave in Hattiesburg, MS.

[Solmyr]

Would this qualify? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Empire_%28Suwarrow%29

[Grey Fox]

Russian citizenship for all!

[Syt]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27104185

BBC Analysis of the Easter shooting:

Ukraine shooting highlights Russian media tactics

Russian TV channel LifeNews's sensational and emotive reports about the shooting outside the east Ukrainian town of Sloviansk have caused controversy and accusations of fakery, with their shots of crisp dollar bills and a business card said to belong to ultranationalist Right Sector leader Dmytro Yarosh. But they also provide a classic case study in the methods used by pro-Kremlin media to shape public opinion about the conflict in Ukraine.

LifeNews is a news channel known for its close relationship with the Russian security forces and is unswervingly loyal to the Kremlin. It has broken a number of stories connected with Sloviansk, a pro-Russian stronghold in eastern Ukraine.

1. Right Sector

LifeNews's claim that Mr Yarosh's business card was among the articles recovered from cars used in the alleged attack near Sloviansk on 20 April is in keeping with the pro-Kremlin media's recurrent message that Right Sector is responsible for virtually all the violence that has occurred in Ukraine in recent months. In some cases, at least, these claims are questionable. On 7 April, Russian TV reported how pro-Russian activists in the eastern city of Kharkiv had rounded on Right Sector activists who were said to have attacked them. But young mathematician Serhiy Melnyk gave a different version of what appear to be the same events. Writing on Facebook, he described how he was among a group of people set upon and badly beaten by "aggressive" pro-Russian activists after attending a concert in Kharkiv in support of the revolution that unseated President Viktor Yanukovych - the so-called Maydan.

2. Foreign interference

Among the objects LifeNews cameras singled out from among the haul said to have been abandoned by the Sloviansk attackers was an array of crisp-looking 100-dollar bills. LifeNews also quoted the self-styled "mayor" of Sloviansk, Vyacheslav Ponomarev, as saying that the gunmen had used "Nato weapons". These are just two examples of how Russian TV has been suggesting that America and the West are somehow behind or even involved in the violence in Ukraine. Last week, state TV used reports about a visit to Kiev by CIA director John Brennan to suggest the USA was partly to blame for "unleashing civil war in Ukraine". It also alleged that personnel from US private security firms were involved in the conflict, though it produced no evidence for this beyond vague reports about troops said to be wearing unmarked or unfamiliar uniforms.

3. Nazi connection

When Mr Ponomarev was showing off the haul from the "gunmen", he drew particular attention to a World War II German machine-gun. "Our opponents continue to promote their fascist ideology, and not only that, since they are using the weapons of their teachers," he told LifeNews. Russian TV has relentlessly promoted the idea that the Maydan protests have unleashed fascism in Ukraine. At the beginning of March, it alleged that in west Ukraine insulting posters were being used to single out the homes of Russians just as Nazis once used Stars of David to brand Jews. But no evidence was produced for this beyond a shot of the poster itself. Pro-Maydan activists in Ukraine are routinely referred to as followers of Stepan Bandera, the controversial nationalist leader accused of collaborating with the Nazis.

4. Sacrilege

LifeNews presented the alleged attack near Sloviansk as a kind of sacrilege. Not only had it contravened the 17 April Geneva agreement and Kiev's promised Easter ceasefire, said the correspondent, but it occurred "right at the very moment when the Easter services were being held in churches". Even more emotive religious language was used during a talk show on official Russian channel Rossiya 1 on 15 April, which suggested that the conflict in Ukraine was in part a religious one. "They are crucifying Orthodox Christians during Passion Week," a pro-Russian churchman from the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa told the programme.

5. Justification

LifeNews followed its reports from the scene of the shooting with footage of Mr Ponomarev calling on President Putin to send in Russian "peacekeepers" to "protect us from Right Sector and the Ukrainian National Guard, who bring only death with them and want to make slaves of us". Prior to Russia's annexation of Crimea in March, Russian state TV aired footage of what it said was a gun battle in the region's capital, Simferopol. As Ukrainian media NGO Telekrytyka pointed out, this video was used as justification for the Russian upper house of parliament to sanction Mr Putin's use of troops in Ukraine. But, said Telekrytyka, the episode was later shown to be a "hoax". Similar doubts are being raised about aspects of the attack in Sloviansk.

[Queequeg]

Simon Ostrovsky, Vice News' correspondent in eastern Ukraine, just got taken hostage in Slaviansk.