By Chris Faure for the Saker Web log

Practise people seriously imagine Russia but blundered into the Ukraine non knowing what the west would do?

Yous may exist surprised to hear that the world is actually yet spinning.  All we have to bargain with is the mighty Wurlitzer which is an old-style piping organ for theaters, and also a propaganda instrument.

Allow me a moment to explain:

In 1967 the magazine Ramparts ran an exposé revealing that the Key Intelligence Agency had been secretly funding and managing a wide range of citizen front groups intended to counter communist influence around the world. In addition to embarrassing prominent individuals caught upward, wittingly or unwittingly, in the hush-hush superpower struggle for hearts and minds, the revelations of 1967 were one of the worst operational disasters in the history of American intelligence and presaged a series of public scandals from which the CIA's reputation has arguably never recovered.

CIA official Frank Wisner called the operation his "mighty Wurlitzer," on which he could play any propaganda tune.   Hugh Wilford provides the first comprehensive account of the hole-and-corner relationship between the CIA and its front organizations. Using an unprecedented wealth of sources, he traces the ascent and fall of America'south Common cold War front network from its origins in the 1940s to its Third World expansion during the 1950s and ultimate collapse in the 1960s.

Covering the intelligence officers who masterminded the CIA's fronts as well equally the involved citizen groups—émigrés, labor, intellectuals, artists, students, women, Catholics, African Americans, and journalists—Wilford provides a surprising assay of Cold War society that contains valuable lessons for our own age of global disharmonize.

At present, the Mighty Wurlitzer, exposed during the cold war, has never ended.  We encounter information technology in full swing now.  Here are a few snippets, a few items from memory (it has to exist from memory as most of the Russian sites are still down, or upwardly or down, in a relentless cyber propaganda war and this cannot be meticulously linked to source).  And you know what, the Ukraine inherited its own theater and mighty Wurlitzer, where they are designing and producing for the common human, theater productions for this current fourth dimension.  Excepting now, it is all done in studio with breathless journalists playing war and running around in forepart of green screens.

Then, while the tinny and discordant theater music sometimes drowns out even our own ability to think (it is torture, you know!) let's await at a few realities.

Sanctions.  Big Big Headlines – Russia is sanctioned for this or that and for basically everything, even Vodka.  The latest is SWIFT (but only for a few banks).  Take a practiced look at the sanctions.  It is newspaper production for the purpose of paper production.  The German sanctions on Russian banks for case accept fine impress.  (They all take).  They're sanctioning Russia from hell, only of form, this does not utilise to gas or oil payments.  Those volition proceed, says the fine impress.

Sanctions on Russia are now the latest mode accessory.  The one that can play that Wurlitzer the loudest is the 1 who wins.  So what happens if they don't win?  What happens if they are busy shooting themselves in the heart, and not even in the foot?.  What happens if the fervor to punish Russia just accelerates their own demise?

Russia is decoupling as fast equally what the West is sanctioning.  A headline that comes to heed is: "European Committee: The disconnection of a number of banks from SWIFT "volition really cake Russian exports and imports".

No Einstein, it will hasten de-dollarization.

This morning from Medvedev:

'Final review' of Russian federation's relations with Westward now possible – former president

Dmitry Medvedev has dubbed European organizations "meaningless almshouses"

Western sanctions could be an "first-class reason for a final review" of Russian federation'southward relations with the nations that accept imposed the restrictions, the deputy chairman of Russian federation'south Security Council and onetime president, Dmitry Medvedev, said on Saturday.

Russia's armed services performance in Ukraine, which was launched on February 24, has prompted outrage in the Westward and a new wave of harsh sanctions against Russian federation. In a lengthy mail on the Russian social network VK, Medvedev called the restrictions "a myth, a figment, a figure of speech communication."

"Sanctions could exist an excellent reason for the last review of all relations with those states that have introduced them. Including interruption of the dialogue on strategic stability ," Medvedev wrote.

[sidebar] Take some other look at that sentence – why now? Information technology is because most of the western world practice not have answers to Russian federation on strategic stability, and then they decided to play that Wurlitzer pretty loud to try to hide their inability).

He added that in principle, information technology is possible "to renounce everything," including the New Get-go Treaty.

"Yes, and diplomatic relations, in principle, are non peculiarly needed. It's time to close the embassies with befouled locks. And to continue contacts by examining each other only through binoculars and weapons' optical systems," Medvedev said.

Commenting on the decision by the Quango of Europe and Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to suspend Russia'due south membership, the old president said that while this is a "flagrant injustice," it could notwithstanding be considered every bit a good reason "to finally slam the door and forget nearly these meaningless almshouses forever." This development could too be used to "restore a number of of import institutions for prevention of especially serious crimes in the country," he said, such as the "death punishment for the most dangerous criminals, which, by the manner, is being actively used in the U.s. and China."

He has no assets abroad and to the United kingdom sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Strange Government minister Sergey Lavrov, Russia'south Foreign Ministry building spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote:

"Neither Putin, nor Lavrov have accounts neither in United kingdom nor anywhere abroad. Maybe the kingdom'due south authorities got something frozen off rather than it froze something?"

We are in a new earth.

A few more:

Russia has but suspended cooperation with NASA on the international space station .. including the launch team which volition not be available to the U.s.a..  Russian federation volition work with Mainland china.  Zap!  Are there any US astronauts there at the moment?  I don't know, but Elon Musk volition take to get them home.

Allow's take a await at few more of Mr Putin'south actions these last days.

Russian federation's President Meeting (http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67851) with Security Council permanent members

💬 Vladimir Putin: Co-ordinate to available information, and this is confirmed by objective monitoring – we are seeing this; Banderites and neo-Nazis are putting upwardly heavy weapons, including MLRS, right in the central districts of big cities, including Kiev and Kharkov. They plan to force return fire by Russian strike systems vs residential quarters. They are acting in the same way terrorists human activity all over the world – using people as shields.

It is known for a fact that all this is being done on the recommendations of foreign consultants, primarily American advisors.

❗️ In one case again, I am appealing to the military of the war machine of Ukraine. Do non allow neo-Nazis and Banderites to utilise your children, wives and elders as a live shield. Take power into your own hands. It seems it will exist easier for us to come to terms with yous than with this gang of drug addicts & neo-Nazis that have settled in Kiev and that have taken the Ukrainian people.

President Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation (https://is.gd/m8pf2L) with President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

The Presidents discussed developments related to the special military performance designed to protect peaceful civilians in Donbass as well as Ukraine'due south demilitarisation and denazification.

☝️ Shavkat Mirziyoyev expressed understanding of Russian federation's actions.

The Presidents also touched upon sure current issues on the bilateral calendar. They reaffirmed their shared intention to continue the development of the Russian-Uzbek strategic partnership with a focus on implementing specific merchandise, economical, and humanitarian projects.

#RussiaUzbekistan

President Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation (https://is.gd/322XIF) with President of the People'south Democracy of China Xi Jinping.

The President of Russia gave the President of China a detailed account of the reasons behind the recognition of the Donetsk People's Commonwealth and the Lugansk People's Commonwealth and the start of a special military operation to protect civilians from genocide and ensure the demilitarisation and denazification of the Ukrainian state. Vladimir Putin also noted that because the signals received from Kiev he was fix to transport a delegation to Minsk to hold talks with representatives of Ukraine.

☝️ Xi Jinping stressed that he respected the actions of the Russian leadership in the current crisis.

The two Leaders assessed the current international situation from a common perspective. They reaffirmed a mutual readiness to closely cooperate and support each other further at the UN and in other multilateral platforms.

Held at Kyrgyzstan's initiative, the telephone conversation (https://is.gd/Ppnjou) between President Vladimir Putin and President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Japarov focused on the situation with the special armed forces operation carried out by Russian federation in Ukraine.

☝️ Sadyr Japarov said that Kiev was responsible for derailing the Minsk agreements and expressed his support for Russian federation's decisive actions to protect civilians in Donbass. Vladimir Putin thanked the President of Kyrgyzstan for his principled solidarity.

The two Presidents reaffirmed their common commitment to strengthening the strategic partnership and centrolineal relations betwixt Russia and Kyrgyz republic in all areas.

President Vladimir Putin had a phone conversation (https://is.gd/oACYDq) with Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan.

The Parties connected their exchange of views on the practical aspects of the implementation of the agreements documented by the November 9, 2020, January eleven and November 26, 2021, tripartite statements by the leaders of Armenia, Republic of azerbaijan and Russia on Nagorno-Karabakh, including efforts to ensure stability and security on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. Some items on the current bilateral calendar were as well touched upon.

The Ukraine is dancing to the music of the Mighty Wurlitzer.  Don't you practice that too!  Turn the music off. Zone B is way behind Zone A in playing the organ, just fashion ahead in creating a life friendly to homo people, for this planet.

Margarita Simonyan focused on the 5th and 6th columns with a devasting phrase:

"If you are now ashamed that you are Russian, do non worry, you are not Russian," she wrote in her Telegram channel.

And in the outcome that you are worried about China, they just posted this from their Russian diplomatic mission.  They truly understand that this time information technology is Russian federation, just for the throw of a set of dice, or a different tune on the Wurlitzer, it could have been China.

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