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Putin

Best of the Web: Putin's dream, Russian unity, conflict with NATO: Key takeaways from election victory speech

putin
© Sputnik / Gavriil Grigorov
President Vladimir Putin has addressed the people of Russia following a historic election victory with over 87% of the vote in his favor, amid a record-high turnout. Here are the key takeaways from his speech and a question-and-answer session at campaign headquarters in Moscow on Sunday night.

Putin's dream

"I dreamed of a strong, independent, sovereign Russia," Putin told the audience, expressing his hope that the results of the vote "will allow us all, together with the Russian people, to achieve these goals."

Record election results

The citizens of Russia realize the dramatic situation the country is going through and understand that much depends on them, Putin said.

"Due to the current situation, due to the fact that we have to literally defend the interests of our citizens, our people with weapons in our hands, to create a future for the full-fledged, sovereign, secure development of the Russian Federation, our homeland."

This year's election was marked by a record-high voter turnout of over 74%, with Putin winning over 87% of the vote. The Russian president stressed that while the results would be good for a mono-ethnic state - for a multi-ethnic country like Russia they are "uniquely exceptional."

Future challenges

The Russian leader noted that while the country faces numerous challenges, its people will be up to the task if they remain united.

"We have a lot of tasks ahead of us. And when we are united, no one can intimidate or suppress us. No one succeeded at this before, it did not happen now and will never occur in the future."

"We have a huge development agenda, and people felt it in their hearts and came to create conditions for the development and strengthening of their Motherland... the results of the election are a guarantee that these tasks will be accomplished and goals will be reached."

Border incursions & 'cordon sanitaire' in Ukraine

Russia has repelled multiple attempts by Ukrainian sabotage groups to break into its territory over the past week, with Putin saying that "the enemy has deployed a group of about five thousand people, and their losses are about 40%. And those who crawled into our territory were destroyed almost 100%... If the enemy likes a 'meat grinder' - we even benefit from it."

Kiev claimed that the operation was staged by paramilitary units, which portray themselves as collaborator forces composed of Russian defectors and fugitive neo-Nazis. Putin likened the saboteurs to the Vlasov army collaborators who fought under German Nazi command during WWII.

"Those traitors, that scum fought on the side of Nazis, and now there are similar people who fight on the side of neo-Nazis," the president stressed, adding: "We all know how they ended up."

In order to protect its people from cross-border Ukrainian strikes, Russia could at some point be "forced" to set up a buffer zone in Kiev-controlled territories. The Russian forces would establish a "security zone that would be quite difficult for the adversary to overcome with its weapons, primarily of foreign origin," if and "when we consider it appropriate," Putin added.

Talks with Ukraine

Moscow has always favored peace talks, as long as the opponents are serious about establishing good neighborly relations in the long term, not just because "the adversary has run out of ammunition," Putin said.

He added that Russia is ready to consider various scenarios, provided that they align with the national interest. But since Kiev barred talks with the current leadership in Moscow, and President Vladimir Zelensky has no intention to hold elections, it will require "painstaking research" to even figure out "who to negotiate with over there," Putin noted.

Conflict with NATO

Weighing in on the possibility of a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia, Putin said that "anything is possible in the modern world" and warned that it "would be one step shy of a full-scale World War III.""I don't think that anyone is interested in that," he added, stressing that Moscow was well aware of the US-led military bloc's push to deploy troops in Ukraine.

Putin noted that volunteer fighters from NATO states are facing extremely grim prospects, saying "there is nothing good in this, first of all for them, because they die there and in large numbers."

Black Magic

Best of the Web: Torture, Executions, Babies Left to Die, Sexual Abuse... These Are Israel's Crimes

Palestinian prisoners
Why is the same western media obsessively reheating five-month-old allegations against Hamas so reluctant to focus on Israel's current, horrifying atrocities?

Hostages tortured to death. Parents executed in front of their children. Doctors beaten. Babies murdered. Sexual assault weaponised.

No, not Hamas crimes. This is part of an ever-growing list of documented atrocities committed by Israel in the five months since 7 October - quite separate from the carpet bombing of 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza and a famine induced by Israel's obstruction of aid.

Last week, an investigation by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz disclosed that some 27 Palestinians seized off Gaza's streets over the past five months are known to have died during interrogations inside Israel.

Some were denied medical treatment. But most are likely to have been tortured to death.

Three months ago, a Haaretz editorial warned that Israeli jails "must not become execution facilities for Palestinians".

Israeli TV channels have been excitedly taking viewers on tours of detention centres, showing the appalling conditions Palestinians are kept in, as well as the psychological and physical abuse they are subjected to.

An Israeli judge recently called the makeshift cages in which Palestinians are held "unsuitable for humans".

Comment: The ongoing Israeli genocide of Palestinians might well result in the end of Israel.

See also:


Bad Guys

Best of the Web: Western troops in Ukraine: How a big lie could lead to the biggest war

ukraine germany france security pact scholz macron zelensky
© Sarah Meyssonnier / POOL / AFPGermany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, and France’s President Emmanuel Macron
Macron's latest sallies and the spat they've caused show that Western Europe must finally be honest about the causes of the Ukraine conflict

The current situation in the conflict between Ukraine - serving (while being demolished) as a proxy for the West - and Russia, can be sketched in three broad strokes.

First, Russia now clearly has the upper hand on the battlefield and could potentially accelerate its recent advances to achieve an overall military victory soon. The West is being compelled to recognize this fact: as Foreign Affairs put it, in an article titled "Time is Running Out in Ukraine," Kiev and its Western supporters "are at a critical decision point and face a fundamental question: How can further Russian advances... be stopped, and then reversed?" Just disregard the bit of wishful thinking thrown in at the end to sweeten the bitter pill of reality. The key point is the acknowledgment that it is crunch time for the West and Ukraine - in a bad way.

Second, notwithstanding the above, Ukraine is not yet ready to ask for negotiations to end the war on terms acceptable to Russia, which would be less than easy for Kiev. (Russian President Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, reiterated in an important recent interview that Moscow remains principally open to talks, not on the basis of "wishful thinking" but, instead, proceeding from the realities "on the ground.")

Phoenix

Best of the Web: 'Deep genetic and cellular changes relating to detoxification' found in tissue of tobacco smokers

france cafe
© François WALSCHAERTS / AFP
It's no secret that smoking is extremely detrimental to health. Tobacco smoke contains thousands of chemicals, including carcinogens, increasing the risk of cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.

A new study from the University of Chicago analyzed data from more than 900 samples of nine different human tissue types to understand just how deep the cellular and genetic damage from smoking goes. The research team generated epigenetic data to assess the effects of smoking on DNA methylation, or genetic locations where a handful of atoms can attach to DNA and turn off gene expression.

They found several new regions associated with smoking, including some that are shared across tissue types, suggesting that DNA methylation is part of the body's attempts to defend itself from the damaging effects of tobacco smoke.


Comment: Vaccines work by stimulating the body to protect itself against dead viruses, and yet they're considered to be a revolution in medicine; exercise 'damages' the muscle tissue creating a healthier physiology overall - the point being that perhaps there's more than one way to look at what's happening here.


Comment: For further insight into the potential health benefits of tobacco smoking, see: Also check out SOTT radio's:


Recycle

Best of the Web: Yet again! Boeing 737 flight departing San Francisco with 139 passengers loses external panel mid-air


Comment: At this point, one starts wondering whether sabotage is afoot...


Unitee Airlines
Literally, not a day goes by without Boeing suffering some major incident, whether it is doors and tires falling off, runway excursions, engine fires, hydraulic leaks, pilot seats flailing around the cockpit and slamming the yoke and, OH YEAH, a "suicided" whistleblower who told a close friend if anything happened to him, it most certainly wasn't suicide. Well, we can now add one more: a United Airlines flight - because it's never American or Delta... always United - that took off from San Francisco International Airport Friday morning landed in Oregon with a missing external panel, abc7 reported citing to officials.

As the NY Post notes, United Airlines Flight 433 departed from San Francisco around 10:20 a.m. local time and landed safely at its intended destination, Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport, about 70 minutes later, according to airport officials and flight data.

Once the plane reached the gate, an external panel was found to be missing, halting operations at the airport while a runway safety check was conducted, airport director Amber Judd told The NY Post.

Amazingly, there was no indication of a problem and no emergency was ever declared during the flight, which had 139 passengers and 6 crew members on board, according to United.

Comment: Boeing might be forced to come out with a new PR campaign with words like "Trust the experts" and "safe and effective". As the article suggest, we might also see another whistleblower 'commit suicide'.

For more of the recent Boeing woes, see:


Light Saber

Best of the Web: Houthis go hypersonic? How Ansar Allah's advance in missile tech could scupper US warmongering in the Middle East

Ansar Allah  yemen houthi
© Ansar Allah Media officeHouthi naval missiles on parade in Sanaa, September 2023.
A military source close to Yemen's Ansar Allah (Houthi) movement has informed Sputnik that the militia has carried out a successful test flight of a hypersonic missile and is preparing to add it into its arsenal. Sputnik asked a leading Russian military observer about the development's strategic implications.

Sputnik's source has indicated that the new Houthi missile can accelerate to speeds up to Mach 8 (nearly 10,000 km per hour), and that it is powered by a solid fuel engine - which typically reduces launch preparation time dramatically and eases transport.

Comment: It's unlikely to thwart the evil empire's presence there entirely, however it is probably going to make them reconsider their airstrikes on Yemen:


Quenelle

Best of the Web: Explosive Secret French Military Report Makes Shocking Admissions: "Ukraine Can't Win!"

Macron Boneparte
It's come to light that according to sources from the French Marianne paper, Macron's entire recent mental manqué resulted from a secret series of 'assessments' by the French military that not only provided an absolutely disastrous picture of the actual realities on the ground in Ukraine, but in no uncertain terms even concluded quite frankly that:
Marianne magazine
"Ukraine cannot win this war militarily."
"Ukraine cannot win this war militarily," concludes the first report, written in the fall of 2023, following Kiev's disastrous ground offensive. It praises the Russian forces as the new "tactical and technical" standard of how to run defensive operations and debunks the media myth of "meat assaults."

Comment: Good to know that some behind the political class are able to access things a little more realistically. The French military must have choked on their morning croissant, when they heard their president talking about sending French troops to fight Russia.

See also:


Bad Guys

Best of the Web: Michael Brenner: The West's Reckoning?

Joe Biden, Usa, Israel, Ukraine
The West has set itself on a path of collective suicide — both moral and economic.

Western leaders are experiencing two stunning events: defeat in Ukraine, genocide in Palestine. The first is humiliating, the other shameful. Yet, they feel no humiliation or shame. Their actions show vividly that those sentiments are alien to them - unable to penetrate the entrenched barriers of dogma, arrogance and deep-seated insecurities. The last are personal as well as political. Therein lies a puzzle. For, as a consequence, the West has set itself on a path of collective suicide. Moral suicide in Gaza; diplomatic suicide - the foundations laid in Europe, the Middle East and across Eurasia; economic suicide - the dollar-based global financial system jeopardized, Europe deindustrializing. It is not a pretty picture. Astoundingly, this self-destruction is occurring in the absence of any major trauma - external or internal. Therein lies another, related puzzle.

Some clues for these abnormalities are provided by their most recent responses as deteriorating conditions tighten the vise - on emotions, on prevailing policies, on domestic political worries, on ginger egos. Those responses fall under the category of panic behavior. Deep down, they are scared, fearful and agitated. Biden et al in Washington, Macron, Schulz, Sunak, Stoltenberg, von der Leyen. They lack the courage of their stated convictions or the courage to face reality squarely. The blunt truth is that they have contrived to get themselves, and their countries, in a quandary from which there is no escape conforming to their current self-defined interests and emotional engagement. Hence, we observe an array of reactions that are feckless, grotesque and dangerous.

Comment: If we consider that the upper echelons of the so-called "elite" consist of individuals resembling humans but exhibiting psychopathic traits, wielding influence and control over key positions in the West, it sheds light on the current state of affairs and their motivations.

Psychopaths lack a conscience and compassion, being driven solely by wishful thinking, power, control, and greed. Unfortunately, neither Europe nor the USA boasts genuine state leaders or politicians willing to dissent and engage in critical thinking.

Currently, Russia stands as the sole country within modern civilization that upholds respect for humanity and actively opposes the encroachment of pure psychopathic malevolence seeking to dominate our planet.


Cult

Best of the Web: Pathocracy: Belgian opposition politician JAILED for 'racist memes', barred from running for office

Dries Van Langenhove
Dries Van Langenhove
Dries Van Langenhove, the founder of the far-right movement Schild & Vrienden, has been sentenced to a one-year effective prison term for violations of the racism and negationism law.

The Ghent correctional court announced its sentence for Van Langenhove, a former MP for the Flemish far-right party Vlaams Belang, on Tuesday.


Comment: That's Belgium's leading opposition party, by the way.


He has been given up to one year of effective imprisonment for violations of the racism and negationism law, including denying the Holocaust.

He also has to pay a €16,000 fine and loses ten years of his civil rights, taking away his right to vote, but also the right to be elected or hold public office. He was also handed down ten months of suspended imprisonment for violations of the weapons law. Van Langenhove was again not present at the hearing.

The final sentence is more lenient than what was initially requested by the prosecution (a two-year prison sentence and a fine of €24,000). However, the Ghent court judge used strong language in the sentencing, stating that the accused was "an instigator of racism and negationism."

Comment:


The memes that landed him fines and prison time.


Gingerbread

Best of the Web: Macron fires back for first time at claims wife, 70, was born a man

brigitte macron
French President Emmanuel Macron has angrily hit back at longstanding conspiracy theories that his 70-year-old wife Brigitte was born a man and is transgender, calling them "false and fabricated."

Macron, 46, was unusually candid and emotional about the ongoing speculation in certain right-wing circles about Brigitte Macron, whom he married in 2007.

"The worst thing is the false information and fabricated scenarios," Macron said at an International Women's Day event in Paris Friday after he guaranteed the right to abortion in France's Constitution.

"People eventually believe them and disturb you, even in your intimacy."

Brigitte's lookalike daughter, attorney Tiphaine Auzaine, 40, who rarely gives interviews, also addressed the painful rumors in an interview late last month in Paris Match.

Comment: Here's the complete original research into Brigitte Macron's murky background:

From Jean-Michel to Brigitte Trogneux, Lies at The Elysée