An Observer in a Black Sea Town
Very pleasing to see no blue haired, transexual, transgendered non-binary people in this group of young attractive Russian girls filmed in February 2023 at the Shaman’s concert in Yekaterinburg singing the song Я Русский [I’m Russian]. The girls sing: “I am Russian, and I am lucky”. **
It offers a glimpse into how wars can create new artistic forms. The war in Ukraine has triggered a new vibrant music culture in Russia, which expresses a new contemporary sense of Russian nationalism, reaffirming traditional values, and asserting a new confidence in Russia’s future and its place in the world. We could say the most significant music development occurring in the world today is taking place in Russia, and its energy is very attractive, irrespective of the war itself.
An onlooker inserts two flowers into the muzzle of a Wagner tank.
Yevgeny PrigozhinPutin is stronger, not weaker as the Western media claim. He is not “hiding”. Since last Saturday, he’s been making speeches, holding telephone conversations with heads of state, giving interviews, and meeting with security and military personnel.
There is not the slightest indication that his position is shaky or that he will be removed.On the contrary, he is supported by all factions in the Duma, from communists to the far right, as well as by 85 to 90 percent of the Russian people.
A painting depicting the events in Rostov on 24 June 2023. Here, Wagner soldiers sit in a tank while a local casually walks through the street with her dog as a male figure chats with Wagner fighters.
The Western media has totally lost its sense of reality about Russia and Putin, and have no understanding of either. The Western newspapers are just a sewer of endless shit…………………………..
Last Sunday, I sat down for a delicious Mediterranean breakfast in a Greek restaurant and the headlines in the newspapers I picked up said it was “the end of the road for Putin”, that he was “terminally weaked”, that Russia was “on the brink of civil war” and about to collapse, and other such nonsense.
In truth, in the rush to celebrate Putin’s downfall, the collective Western media had just pre-ejeculated over their readers. Some Western journalists were already speculating who would replace Putin without any understanding of what was happening. I laughed because the headlines and words that followed in the newspapers were not just out of date, but far from reality, and wrong on every point, as five hours earlier, I had seen the Wagner insurrection was over, and the Wagner grouped had packed up and left town by Saturday midnight Russian time.
It will take many years to decipher exactly what actually happened that day as many interests are involved and it is too sensitive to reveal precise details. Those interests include the Russian military and security agencies, the US + UK intelligence agencies, Lukashenka, the Kremlin, and Prigozhin himself.
We can decipher Prigozhin’s motivations but there are questions about why he suddenly began to push a Ukranian-Western narrative over Russia’s reasons for conducting a SMO in Ukraine. Russia’s intelligence agencies will need to resolve those questions as soon as possible, though they may already have a clear idea.
Belarusian President Lukashenko had told Prigozhin earlier on Saturday that he and all his Wagner would die that night if they continued their insurrection as Russian and Akhmat special forces had surrounded them in Rostov-on-Don and would attack that night and put an end to it.
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ADDENDUM: … A montage of Western headlines which are divorced from reality
A headline from the British media (which was later replicated in the Australia and American mainstream media) which is staggering in its stupidity as in its arrogance.
The Russian Federation is not about to collapse. Putin isn’t “morally wounded” and he is not going to launch a Stalin-style purge. So why “must Britain prepare for the collapse” of Russia, and what does the British plan for Russia entail? Are the British planning to take over Russia and install their own Government? Is that their plan? This bullshit spurs stupidity in Western peoples as for instance in the case of an idiot named Richard Hanania who recently posted a tweet declaring Russian culture and civilization had failed and therefore the country “has to be remade along Western lines”. Russia does not have to be made along Western lines, nor should it be. Russian culture and civilization has not failed and so the premise on which his argument is based is profoundly flawed. Russia couldn’t be more vibrant as it is today. So why does the Western media continue to churn out a sewer on endless shit when it comes to analysing Russia?
EDITORIAL NOTE: The initial TPS version had these lines at the start: “Very pleasing to see no blue haired, transexual, transgendered non-binary people in this group of young attractive Russian females who were celebrating their school graduation by singing the song Я Русский [I’m Russian].”
More apologetics for authoritarian dictatorship with a queer-phobic prologue to boot…
How far you have fallen, Michael Roberts.
Time you faced reality. Stop hiding behind false propaganda and the daily serve of wishful thinking and Russia bashing…if only, if only. The neo-nazis and Waffen SS sympathisers are busted. In case you didn’t know they are the people you are supporting.
MARK, in case our COMMENT hasentered or been placed in the wrong SPOT do please clarify WHO your “You” is.
I have wondered why the Americans have to specifically negate the general perception that they were NOT involved in Prigozhin’s bombast, that fell down like a pricked balloon. The negation itself suggests that they were involved!
In response to “thastrings”: This keyboard sniper has totally missed the point I was making. “thastrings’” statement is an echo of Western ideologies that only permit a single narrative to be heard, and seeks to ban or exclude anything that doesn’t conform to very narrow Western idealogies. It is exactly what I would expect from a black and white CIA propagandist seeking to propagate queerism around the world as an instrument of American soft power with the aim of replicating Western values all over the world, thereby diluting the diversity of cultural identities, particularly in Russia, the Islamic world, and most of Asia. Those daring to express an appreciation of traditional values, as for instance, appreciating neatly dressed Russian girls singing, are falsely labelled as “queer-phobic.” this position, if one thinks about it, is the true authoritarian, undemocratic and hypocritical position. There was nothing authoritarian or queer-phobic in what I wrote. Russia is not an authoritarian dictatorship and if “thastrings” knew anything about Russia, he/they would know it.
I also profoundly disagree with thastrings’ dishonest accusation against Michael Roberts in their statement: “how far you have fallen, Michael Roberts” (MR) which is a disingenuous attempt to bully MR into only posting “officially sanctioned Western ideological narratives” and to exclude all perspectives that do not conform to Western values or ideologies. That is a definition of fascism. “thastrings” attempts to denigrate MR’s intelligence and intellectual standing in academia is disgraceful. Shame on you!
Who is being authoritarian here? It is not Michael Roberts, and it is not I,
Just because a narrative is positive about Russia doesn’t mean it is disinformation or propaganda. That’s what the Western propaganda machine wants everyone to think. Russian narratives do contain certain truths. In these very dark days, it is important for all people, irrespective of their nationality, to read all sources of information and make up their own minds. Anglo-Saxons and Western people do not have a priviledged truth status in this world.
As an footnote to my article, the painting above is not a realistic representation of the events in Rostov-on-Don on 24 June. This artist is sympathetic to Wagner which is evident in the way they attempt to depict an image of normalcy and tranquillity when in fact what was taking place was an armed insurrection.
“Mark Labrooy has indicated via EMAIL that he was directing his comment at “thastrings.” So, his eading [from Australia presumably?] is in line with that BLOKE in a Black Sea resort ….” — writing here as a Thuppahi Bloke in Adelaide