The State of Affairs in Russia

[grumbler]

Well Bush and Clinton were also both of those things.

And compared to congress, all three men are both.

[Syt]

Kant touch this!

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/news/article/kant-is-an-idiot-spray-painted-on-philosophers-russian-home/517654.html

'Kant Is an Idiot' Spray-Painted on Philosopher's Russian Home

The home of 18th-century German enlightenment philosopher Immanuel Kant, located in what is now the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, is in ruins and has become a hot spot for drinking and debauchery among local youths, news site Novy Kaliningrad reported.

Someone recently spray-painted a Russian phrase translatable as "Kant is an idiot" on the red-brick building's facade. The apparent insult is accompanied by a drawing of a flower and a heart, apparently from the same can of spray paint.

A Novy Kaliningrad reporter who visited the site found a fire burning in the grass nearby, saying it could have spread to the home had it remained unextinguished.

Regional authorities announced last year that they were seeking a caretaker for the home, which has been declared a cultural landmark. Alas, the home's condition remains dismal.

Russians have been known to take very seriously the philosophies of Kant, who is perhaps most famous for his "Critique of Pure Reason."

In 2013, an argument about the philosopher between two men in line at a grocery store in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don ended when one of the men shot the other with rubber bullets.

[Razgovory]

Objectivists.

[The Minsky Moment]

My Critique: it is imperative that such False Subtleties be categorically rejected, as an Illness in the Head.  As an Answer to the Question of why, other than Logic, some Practical Reasons include good Morals and Judgment, as should be clear Within the Limits of Reason Alone.  Only then, with Enlightenment and Cosmopolitan Purpose can these poor benighted souls, to whom I would wish only Perpetual Peace, can come to Feel the Beautiful and Sublime.

[Syt]

http://sputniknews.com/europe/20150321/1019826213.html

Russian Envoy Warns Denmark Not to Join NATO Missile Shield

The Russian Ambassador to Denmark has warned that Copenhagen will face grave consequences if it joins the NATO missile defense shield.

Danish warships may become targets for Russian nuclear missiles if Denmark decided to join the NATO missile defense shield, Russian Ambassador to Denmark Mikhail Vanin said, according to the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Poste.

"I do not think that the Danes are fully aware of the consequences if Denmark joins the US-led missile defense shield. If that happens, Danish warships become targets for Russian nuclear missiles," Vanin said.

He added that Denmark would become "part of the threat to Russia and [its] relations with Russia will be damaged."

Vanin also cautioned that joining NATO's defense shield would be "Denmark's decision", and that the country would "lose both money and security."

Danish Foreign Minister Martin Lidegaard reacted angrily to what he described as "unacceptable" remarks.

"Russia knows very well that NATO's missile defense system is defensive. We disagree with Russia on many important things, but it is important that the tone between us remains as positive as possible," Lidegaard said.

NATO has been building up a missile defense system in the Mediterranean Sea and in several European NATO member states since 2002; it is something that is seen as one of the main stumbling blocks in relations between the alliance and Russia.

[Liep]

Yeah, that' sheen the talk of the town for the last few days. One former foreign minister put it like this: "They really shat on their own face this time." I'm not totally sure about that, but the general consensus is that Russia is weird.

[Zanza]

Wasn't Denmark (just like the rest of Nato) always a target?

[Liep]

Wasn't Denmark (just like the rest of Nato) always a target?

Probably, but we haven't really considered Europe to be a target of Russians missiles for a few decades.

[Syt]

That's probably not the kind of thing an ambassador gets to say without having it ok'ed from above.

Meanwhile, a gathering of right-wing parties from all of Europe is being held in St. Petersburg. Oddly, Russian news outlets don't really mention it.


http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/europe/65095-150321-russian-conference-on-ukraine-to-be-attended-by-far-right-eu-parties

Russian conference on Ukraine to be attended by far right EU parties

International conference aims to raise support from EU parties for Moscow's interests in Ukraine

German neo-Nazis will attend Sunday a Russian international conference aimed at raising support from EU far-right parties for Moscow's interests in Ukraine. The Russian Conservative Forum, which will be held in St. Petersburg, will host Udo Voigt, a European MP from the National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD), alongside representatives from 10 other radical EU parties, including the Greek Golden Dawn and the Italian New Force.

"Some of them openly call themselves followers of Hitler and use the symbol of the swastika", claimed a Russian opposition politician in a last minute attempt to stop the meeting. Boris Vishnevsky of the Yabloko party called yesterday the St. Petersburg prosecutor office to launch an investigation and to cancel the convention. "All the parties, which were invited to this forum, have a reputation of neo-Fascists and neo-Nazis," he explained in an interview with Russian radio Ekho Moskva. "We must take the measures to stop the spread of extremism."

The stated purpose of the Forum, which is organized by Rodina, the Russian National Patriotic Union, is the establishment of a pan-European movement which would lobby for Russia's interests, especially in the face of possible further sanctions against Moscow. The proposed council will allow coordination between conservative and nationalistic forces in Europe and Russia, and would enable Moscow to influence political processes in the European Union.

The organizers are expecting 400 participants from 15 countries. Among them are MPs from the Greek neo-Nazi party Georgios Epitideios and Eleftherios Sinadinos, founder of the Italian Fascist movement Roberto Fiore and other members of far-right parties from the UK, Austria, Sweden, Bulgaria, Belgium, Denmark and Spain. According to the Russian newspaper Kommersant, Marine Le Pen from France's National Front was also invited to the forum but chose to decline, out of fear of damaging her reputation before presidential elections in 2017.

Vishnevsky also noted, when speaking with the newspaper, that a number of prominent military commanders from east Ukraine will attend the gathering, many of whom have strong ties to far-right or neo-Nazi Russian organizations. The Russian politician also commented about NPD's Voigt, saying that "he doesn't conceal his anti-Semitic and xenophobic views and has frequently faced administrative and criminal liability for inciting rebellion and other offenses".

Voigt, a former leader of the NPD who was elected last year to the European parliament, was charged several times with incitement for distributing racially-charged pamphlets, and in 2009 received a seven-month suspended sentence for this offense. He also claimed previously that the number of Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust was exaggerated, and in reality is closer to 340,000.

[Syt]

Wasn't Denmark (just like the rest of Nato) always a target?

Considering that Soviet plans had 60+ tactical nukes earmarked for Schleswig-Holstein alone I'd say that's likely.

[The Larch]

I wonder who is going to that conference representing Spain, we don't really have any far-right parties worth speaking about.

[celedhring]

I wonder who is going to that conference representing Spain, we don't really have any far-right parties worth speaking about.

Plataforma per Catalunya sent an observer to the Crimea referendum. And we still have lots of fringe far-right parties, they just have less followers than my twitter account.

[Martinus]

Poland has not yet perished! 

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/15/world/europe/poland-steels-for-battle-seeing-echoes-of-cold-war-in-ukraine-crisis.html?hpw&_r=0

Poles Steel for Battle, Fearing Russia Will March on Them Next[snip]

This looks like a bogus story - never heard of these people. 

[Martinus]

Yeah, that' sheen the talk of the town for the last few days. One former foreign minister put it like this: "They really shat on their own face this time." I'm not totally sure about that, but the general consensus is that Russia is weird.

Yeah that's the kind of attitude in Poland as well. Some media are trying very hard to drum up the Russia's threat (like the silly article Tim posted) but most people simply see it as a beginning of a new cold war and get on with their business while buying cheap gas.

[Razgovory]

I don't think Russians identify Nazis with anti-antisemitism.