Host and scholar Pietro Shakarian talks with Proffer Teasley about her late husband Carl Proffer, the founding of Ardis Publishers, the origin of the Ardis name, and her personal experiences with Russian literary giants Joseph Brodsky, Vladimir Nabokov, Nadezhda Mandelstam, Elena Bulgakova, and Lily Brik, among others.
Why Waiting for Russia to Collapse Is a Terrible Ukraine Policy
Two months ago, a number of senior U.S. national-security officials insisted that the Russian Federation has reemerged as the premier existential threat to American interests. Today, as energy prices continue to tumble and China’s economy falters, a new narrative has emerged: the pending collapse of Russia itself, or at least the prospects that the government of Vladimir Putin is entering into its last days.
The continuous oscillation in views—Russia as a powerful threat, Russia as an imploding basket case—does not permit a cool, rational assessment of Russia’s actual strengths and weaknesses.
Bernie Sanders and Rand Paul Buck Party Consensus on Russia and Iran Sanctions (The Real News)
Investigative journalist Max Blumenthal explains that these sanctions punish Russia and Iran unnecessarily intensifies the conflict between the US and these countries.
Ukraine crisis: Prime Minister says nationalist protesters are worse than the separatists following violence that left one dead
The all-too-familiar sight of masked men, Molotov cocktails, wooden sticks and explosives returned to the streets of Kiev, as violence between police and the mostly nationalist protesters broke out after a contentious vote in the Ukrainian national parliament. More than 100 people were injured, and one national guardsmen died as a result of a grenade thrown during the clashes.
Oliver Stone: ‘Shocked’ by Intelligence Agencies’ Hostility Toward Trump (Fox)
Oliver Stone joined Tucker Carlson to discuss his new four-hour documentary on Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russia’s alleged meddling in the U.S. presidential election, and intelligence agencies’ “hostility” toward President Donald Trump.
KYIV BLOG: Ukraine not out of the woods yet
The $3.6bn debt deal announced on August 27 by Ukraine’s Ministry of Finance, where private bondholders agreed to take a 20% writedown on the face value of $18bn in government debt, is very good news. Yet it’s not a done deal and the final sum that will be restructured will almost certainly be less than the headline figure.
Russian Military Says It Might Have Killed ISIS Leader
Russia’s military said on Friday that it is looking into whether a Russian airstrike in the Syrian desert killed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-declared caliph of the Islamic State, in what would be a major military achievement for Russia.
Right wing, anti-decentralization protest in Kyiv kills three policemen, injures dozens more
Excellent media round up of the unrest roiling Kiev by the website NewColdWar.org which trenchantly examines “two news reports from Western media sources on the clash. The reports come with typical, misleading Western media phrasing describing as “separatists” the people of eastern Ukraine who are resisting the civil war launched by the governing regime in Kyiv in April 2014.
Yasha Levine Reports From St. Petersburg (LBO)
Yasha Levine, author of the forthcoming Surveillance Valley, talks to radio host Doug Henwood about Russia, anti-Russia hysteria, and the latest NSA leak.
Ukraine Has Reached a Debt Deal. Now What?
While most analysts agree that the deal buys time for the authorities in Kiev, the terms of the deal seems to favor the lenders over the Ukrainian government. Goldman Sachs noted that the likelihood that bondholders would vote against the bond restructuring was small “given the attractiveness of the offer relative to market expectations.”
In return for a four-year extension on payments of the remaining debt, Ukraine agreed to a higher coupon (interest rate) of 7.75 percent, up from 7.25 percent. Further, after the four-year period expires in 2019, Ukraine will be obliged to spend 40 percent of any GDP growth over 4 percent on debt repayment.
Ukraine’s ultra-right militias are challenging the government to a showdown (Josh Cohen)
As Ukraine’s fight against Russian-supported separatists continues, Kiev faces another threat to its long-term sovereignty: powerful right-wing ultranationalist groups.
Ukraine move to cede powers to pro-Russia rebels sparks deadly melee
A bill granting autonomy to Ukraine’s restive eastern regions cleared its first parliamentary hurdle on Monday but sparked a violent right-wing protest that left a national guardsman dead and more than 120 people injured.
Sorting Out Ukraine Conflict’s History (James Carden)
Edmund Wilson once wrote that “it is all too easy to idealize a social upheaval which takes place in some other country than one’s own.” And this is an illusion that has plagued the mainstream narrative regarding the Ukrainian revolution from the start.
Exclusive: U.S. weighs sanctioning Russia as well as China in cyber attacks
The United States is considering sanctions against both Russian and Chinese individuals and companies for cyber attacks against U.S. commercial targets, several U.S. officials said on Monday.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said no final decision had been made on imposing sanctions, which could strain relations with Russia further and, if they came soon, cast a pall over a state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping in September.
Russian-Style Diplomacy Can Break the Middle Eastern Impasse (TNI)
Moscow has many potential partners in the region, and no ideological constraints.
Ukraine: Going underground to escape the conflict
Donetsk, Ukraine – On the front lines of war-ravaged eastern Ukraine, Svetlana Alexandrovna, 64, has spent the last 12 months sheltering in the basement of her home on the outskirts of Donetsk.
Life is tough underground with poor ventilation, and the constant artillery shelling above is nerve-wracking. But with not enough money to start a new life elsewhere, Alexandrovna cannot leave her house, and she said she wouldn’t move even if she could.
PODCAST: John Batchelor Interviews Stephen F. Cohen and Oliver Stone
Russia’s leader may be the most vilified foreign leader in recent US history, but until now Americans have never had an opportunity to see, hear and evaluate him for themselves.
Deadly cheering for war in Ukraine by Western politicians and newspapers editors
Two weeks ago, the Washington Post published an editorial saying that the governments of the NATO military alliance are being too soft on Russia over the crisis in Ukraine. The editors want even more aggressive support to the governing regime in Kyiv than what is already being given.
In particular, the newspaper objects to the ceasefire agreement that it says beleaguered Kyiv was pressured to sign in Minsk, Belarus on February 15, 2015.
Putin, Ukraine and What Americans Know (Robert Parry)
In an interview with Oliver Stone, Russian President Putin explained his take on the Ukraine crisis, one that contrasts with what the U.S. mainstream media has allowed the American people to hear, writes Robert Parry
Russia, NATO need new rules to cut risk of war, ex-ministers say
Russia and NATO must agree common rules to handle unexpected military encounters to reduce the risk of inadvertently triggering a war between Moscow and the West, a group of former foreign and defence ministers said on Wednesday.
With both Russia and NATO intensifying military exercises because of the crisis in Ukraine, incidents such as mid-air face-offs between rival military jets are on the increase.