Monday 21 March 2022

Hating Russians

 
A news report has emerged that a county manor house in East Sussex has been mobbed by angry residents from a local village. Luckily none of them so far have carried torches and pitchforks, but they did place Ukrainian flags outside the gates. This is because the manor, Seacox Heath, is owned by the Russian state. It's been nicknamed "the UK's Kremlin". It is actually an accommodation centre and country retreat for staff at the Russian embassy, which is in central London on Bayswater Road. Source: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/uks-very-kremlin-residents-shocked-26389360. In neighbouring Kent, a Russian themed restaurant in Ramsgate is struggling after a boycott by local residents. The restaurant is called "CCCP", Russian for the USSR, Союз Советских Социалистических Республик. Obviously this means it has a retro style. The owner is called Rimantas Taralis and is not Russian; he's Lithuanian. He wears an "I stand with Ukraine" T-shirt and has been donating a lot of his much-needed profits to Ukrainian war welfare charities. Sadly this kind of virtue signalling rarely works and has not melted any ice with the people of Ramsgate. Another Russian restaurant in Glasgow, Cafe Cossachok, has been inundated with one-star reviews. Another establishment in Texas USA is removing all Russian delicacies from its menu. There are many institutional examples of Russophobia. The TV station RT has had its UK licence revoked, see: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2022/02/rt-censored.html. This means British people are being denied the chance to hear Russia's side of the story; in other words we are being propagandized. The famous department store Harrods had to issue a disclaimer when it was accused of selling vodka. Is vodka now the equivalent of crack cocaine!? Even in the height of the Cold War there was not this level of anti-Russian insanity. In the United Kingdom there are 73,000 people who originate in Russia. The kind of rhetoric we're seeing at the moment and the actions from officialdom has led to a bizarre repulsion in the British population that is even worse than the recent one against the unvaccinated (That's been curiously forgotten now, it seems). I'm afraid it's only a matter of time before it falls on the ears of somebody truly so deeply deranged that we see a violent attack against a Russian expat. If there are any Russians reading this then I promise you I will never succumb to that kind of incitement. If I'm ever in Ramsgate I'll pop into the CCCP and have some borsht washed down with a glass of finest Smirnov. I will continue to buy vodka from my dealer on dark street corners and drink it quietly with other vodka drinkers at secret parties. To anybody who wants me to hate Russians; I refuse!
See here for background: http://hpanwo.blogspot.com/2022/02/ukraine-war-portal.html.   
And: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2018/03/institutional-russophobia.html.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Ben, you should watch Republic World Indian channel debates - It has plenty of remarks from both Russian and Ukraine panelists. BTW, that channel is the ONE TO WATCH if you want to hear both sides of the story Ben - but I am worried, and it's due to Putin threatening to use the Nuclear Option. I really, really hope not, but as for Biden, well this is increasing his 'ratings' - which is welcome after his Afghan debacle.

Ben Emlyn-Jones said...

Thanks for the recommendation, Anon. Most people in the world are being manipulated into avoiding both sides of the story. I'm also frightened by the current situation and hope it won't get worse.

Anonymous said...

Not really surprised now considering the scale of potential war crimes committed is turning into a flood due to the internet and independent journalists on the ground, Yes cities have remained relatively untouched in no small part due to Ukrainian resistance and poor Russian logistics/planning/management.

Russian state media would have you believe the Ukrainians shot down MH17, the Syrian opposition gassed themselves, the White Helmets are al-Qaeda, Navalny collapsed because of medication he was taking, the identified GRU agents were in Salisbury to see the cathedrals, there are no Russian troops in Crimea or Donbas all of which have substantial factual evidence beyond what would be needed for prosecution.

I expect propaganda from both sides makes people distrustful and fearful thus Psychologically more likely to believe conspiracy theories such as the debunked biolab 'excuse' when 'De-nazifying' Ukraine didn't wash as Putin's real purpose of the invasion to claim more territory/regime change which has been abject failure so far...

Ben Emlyn-Jones said...

It's a hall of mirrors' Anon. I'm not watching BBC News about this. They banned RT so if I'm not allowed to hear the defence, why should I listen to the prosecution?

Anonymous said...

The current 'prosecution' are the images and words of the civilians in territory now being reclaimed by the Ukrainian forces after Russian occupation. These aren't 'actors' or fakes these are sadly very real horrific images captured in the words and images of those who have suffered first hand as verified by independent sources not MSM as you would like to think if it shields you from reality that this is all somehow 'made up' to discredit Putin.

Whatever 'military' objective shouldn't involve the systematic killing, looting and raping of the population akin to some medieval horde. It appears that that was very much the intention.

The defence are Russian authorities claims both via their embassies social media or at the UN none of which are blocked or censored. This may be in part due to the fact their claims being so easily and readily rebuked by factual evidence.

If you don't watch BBC, Sky etc (and I can't say I blame you) then why would you watch RT an even more polarised propaganda outlet fully state controlled?

There has been a shift in the past 5 years that Putin and maybe yourself as a 'researcher' didn't expect and that is open source investigation and intelligence. You can't hide the truth in the current era of drones, satellite imagery and peoples access to first hand information on mobiles recording and streaming events when they happen. The ability to control information is lost to the military in the same way as the media as the globe has become a crowdsourced intelligence agency.

The truth of Russian warfare is being seen first hand as it happens which was not the case in 2014 Ukraine, in Georgia, in Chechnya or even Syria sadly.

The prosecution and the defence are your own eyes and ears if you choose to look and hear.

Ben Emlyn-Jones said...

I disagree. All information is coming through either professional media sources or local social media users. The latter gives a very mixed mnessage while the former is promoting ONLY that which supports the official story: Ukraine= good, Russia= bad. you're wrong when you say the stories are definitely verified and questioning that is a shield from reality? How do you know it's not made up to make Putin look bad? Such things have happened before. Remember the Kuwait baby incubator story? And, going back much further in history, the baby-killing Germans of Liege after the July Crisis of 1914.

Anonymous said...

"How do you know it's not made up to make Putin look bad"?

It is ironic reading this a year later with Putin and others having arrest warrants issued for investigation into war crimes by the ICC which only happens when enough evidence has been presented to enable a conviction.

It's even more ironic considering the examples you gave of propaganda involving babies after the horrific child kidnapping, systematic rape and torture engaging in by Russian troops which is very provable with multiple witnesses and victim testimony. Or have hundreds of men, women and children fabricated some fictional events to 'make Putin look bad alongside the bragging and boasting by the Russian troops themselves, egged on by their state media commentators...

I fear you may be the victim of blinkered viewing if you think this is all propaganda without substance and it does a disservice to the brave victims women and children who escaped alive to tell their stories to the world.




Anonymous said...

I would suggest taking a deep dive a year later into the events at Bucha, a town liberated after weeks of Russian occupation and the evidence of atrocities committed there became a source of many far fetched conspiracy theories of Ukraine committing these on it's own people.

Sadly Russia has form in brutally killing civilians in it's previous military campaigns
Chechnya, Georgia, Crimea, and Syria (and that’s not even to mention the record of Soviet Red Army before all that).

In June, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights published a report based on interviews with victims and witnesses, among other sources, noting it had recorded at least fifty extrajudicial killings in Bucha by Russian forces at that point.

https://ohchr.org/en/documents/country-reports/situation-human-rights-ukraine-context-armed-attack-russian-federation

Days after Bucha’s liberation, the NYT offered satellite footage showing the same bodies from the viral 4/1 video lying in the same locations back in mid-March, when Russia controlled the town—thus disproving the false-flag theories blaming Ukraine.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/04/world/europe/bucha-ukraine-bodies.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes

Non-English-language outlets in Ukraine and elsewhere have also done outstanding work on Bucha.

Examples:

New Voice (Ukr): https://nv.ua/ukr/ukraine/politics/svidchennya-zhitelki-buchi-shcho-robili-rosiyski-viyskovi-z-mistom-50231043.html

*Denis Kazansky (Ukr): https://glavcom.ua/kyiv/video/yak-vbivali-u-buchi-rozpovid-miscevoji-zhitelki-video-855301.html

*Vot-tak (Belarus): https://vot-tak.tv/novosti/03-04-2022-rasstrely-zhitelej-buchi

*SAM (Ukr): https://youtube.com/watch?v=0Ac4BSE_eD4

There are also the crazy genocidal fantasies that are constantly aired on Russian state TV.

https://twitter.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/1584054018145685504?s=20

Ultimately some of the most heinous crimes have been committed, but not to 'make Putin look bad' but because this is Russian military doctrine, not to liberate but to rape, pillage and destroy.

Ben Emlyn-Jones said...

Do you really think I haven't heard these reports? Neither you nor me know exactly what is going on in Ukraine right now (except the family I know went home for Christmas!) What I do know is that we're in a bit of a "vampire of Liege" situation, or is that "baby incubators of Kuweit". Either way, since when have we been told the truth to persuade us to wage catastrophic wars?

Anonymous said...

Ben do you not realize that by repeating 'Vampire of liege' or 'babies in incubators' stories (both classic examples of war propaganda of a pre-social media era indeed even 'instant news or the internet as we now know it) you are confirming my own argument that it is virtually impossible to 'pull the wool' over the publics eyes with the same techniques now for the reasons I previously stated regarding the tools at our disposal in the information era we now live.

What is going on is exactly what the facts and evidence show.

"Either way, since when have we been told the truth to persuade us to wage catastrophic wars?"

Only one country is waging war, Russia. Are you suggesting Ukraine should not defend itself by any means possible? Are countries invading Russia or being convinced to? No. Are countries being convinced to assist Ukraine defend itself, most certainly. Is it morally acceptable to arm a defender or arm the aggressor? or should we disarm them both by force?

Did you miss all the Russian propaganda convincing the masses Russia had no intention of invading Ukraine? did you then see the U turn of why it's totally justified? from the same Russian state media outlets? Which falsehood did you believe and which do you believe now?

Do you think all Ukrainians are Nazi's perhaps(statistically more far-right fascists' exist both in the Russian military and general population btw) or US funded biolabs in Ukraine (which mysteriously don't exist when geolocated when Russian held territory was retaken) or perhaps you believe that ethnic Russians were being persecuted and needed liberating despite the utter destruction of the 'liberated areas'? the kidnapping of children seen as liberation to save them?

I fear the very propaganda you believe western journalism is inflicting on you has driven into a very real state propaganda machine of Russian making, amplified in the echo chambers of the conspiracy socials, bad-actor influencers turning those who should know better into Putin apologists. History repeating itself.



Ben Emlyn-Jones said...

You're wrong about all that, but I don't have time to go into details right now. Will get back to you later.

Anonymous said...

Well if you take the time to answer the questions then we can see who is 'wrong' at that point nobody is infallible Ben but it's getting fairly hard to justify an ongoing war(sorry, special military operation!!!) even for Putin.

Maybe when Trump said Putin was 'genius and savvy' for invading Ukraine he was a bit far of the mark a year on... Perhaps he was told to say that by someone?

To quote Trump- I think nobody probably knows him better in terms of the discussions that we have or that we’re having this morning.”

“I knew that he always wanted Ukraine. I used to talk to him about it. I said, ‘You can’t do it. You’re not gonna do it.’ But I could see that he wanted it,”


https://www.politico.com/news/2022/02/23/trump-putin-ukraine-invasion-00010923


Ben Emlyn-Jones said...

Sure, Anon. It's up to you whether you want to be patient or not... I'll be in touch ;-)