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‘Using nuclear war to save the world is like using a guillotine for a headache’

Report + Debate> A former Putin and Yeltsin aide’s call to use nuclear weapons to deter NATO has led to fierce debate…

from thefreeonline on 18th June 2023 by Home Russia (banned in West)

See hundreds of English language comments at original below

Professor Sergey Karaganov’s “Tough-but-necessary decision” article – which claims that by using its nuclear weapons, Russia could save humanity from a global catastrophe – has provoked plenty of reaction domestically.

see Karaganov’s call for Atomic Strike HERE

Some saw it only as the private opinion of a political scientist. Others pointed out that Karaganov is no stranger to high office: he is aligned with the Security Council of the Russian Federation, among other bodies.

Professor Alexey Makarkin, Vice-President of the Center for Political Technologies:

Karaganov’s article about a nuclear strike is completely unsurprising. Last September he did not rule out “the need to use nuclear weapons” and predicted that the US would not sacrifice Boston for Poznan. The signals were clear. There were just two differences.

First, a nuclear strike has been transformed from a possibility into a concrete short-term goal, if the West doesn’t back off – which is what has raised the profile of the news piece. And, secondly, it concludes that the advent of nuclear weapons is the result of a direct intervention of the Almighty, who has decided through fear to keep the world from new wars.

It seems that even the American apologists for the Cold War never thought of such a theological argument.

The text by Karaganov illustrates the desperation to which deadlocked realpolitik can lead us. Three decades ago, a considerable number of Russian Westernizers dreamed of a kind of new Entente ruling the world – with Moscow’s participation, of course. Russia’s modernization at the time was accompanied by an archaic desire to restore “the Russia we lost” – not the real Russian empire, but an imagined and reconstructed version, including elements of the old Soviet superpower.

But there was a consensus among such Westernizers and anti-Western figures that there would be no recognition of an independent role for the “small countries,” which were perceived only as a playground for the great game of the few great powers.

When the Entente failed, a new Yalta was conceived, not to negotiate with our partners but to impose the rules of the game on our opponents. And now Karaganov’s text testifies to its author’s despair at the fact that the Entente has been rejected and the Yalta scheme has not only failed but cannot be achieved by conventional means.

*Sergey Poletaev**, co-founder and editor of the Vatfor project:*

Professor Karaganov suggests that we should stop hesitating and finally strike. Start with Poland and then see how it goes. And after that [the West] will leave us alone and we will live happily ever after.

If they do, that’ll be great. And if not? Then our actions will very quickly lead to the very destruction of humanity that the professor is trying to avoid. That is the first thing.

Second: Our main achievement since the beginning of the military operation in Ukraine is that most of the world has recognized that we are acting within our our rights: Whether openly, like China, or silently or because they, by and large, do not care [about a conflict in Europe].

This is what gives us a chance not just to live but to even develop and prosper in the face of the new normal.

There is no need to put this achievement in danger by starting a nuclear war, especially as we are doing quite well in a conventional conflict so far. The atomic option should still be retained in case of a NATO conventional attack on the Kaliningrad region, Belarus and so on, and we should not hesitate to use them there.

That said, a public nuclear test would be useful. On Novaya Zemlya [an island in the Arctic], with broadcasts and streaming in 5D. The other nuclear powers would probably follow suit, and the rest of the world would be wondering who’s who in this conflict and where it might all lead.

Philosopher Alexander Dugin:

I think this is an extreme proposal. We are far from having exhausted all the possibilities of victory without nuclear weapons, but I certainly understand, as our president has said, that there will be no peace at all without Russia. That has to be taken seriously. But with our current resources, it is irresponsible to talk in advance about a nuclear apocalypse.

‘Peace is unlikely in the near future’: Here’s what Russian experts think about Ukraine’s much-hyped counteroffensive

People like Karaganov [are curious]: one day they are glorifying Western civilization, in his case for decades, but the next they become extreme Russian patriots. They go full-on in both personas, and they don’t show consistency. We have not exhausted all the possibilities of talking about nuclear weapons, but we must not forget what use would mean. Everyone should understand that it would be the last resort.

Rainbow capitalism will never save us

from thefreeonline on 17th June 2023 by Daniel Newton at Freedom News

Image: Guy Smallman

Rainbow capitalism will not save queer people. This has been well-established over many years. Still, a recent discourse has emerged defending so-called “representation” in the marketplace against right-wing fanatics.

As we meander through one of the darkest Pride Months in recent times, through the constant barrage of right-wing (and left-wing) attacks on trans people, the rise of far-right slogans harking back to 1980’s hate campaigns, and the scapegoating of queer people and drag queens across the world, people are understandably beginning to feel nervous.

I am too quite frankly. There is a lot to be anxious about in these current global circumstances, and it’s understandable for people to feel concerned about a loss of “overt” support from corporations..

Both liberals and leftists complain that companies are caving in to the right over their ostensible support of queers people as though they weren’t expecting this all along.

NEW YORK – JUNE 22: The Louis Vuitton store on Fifth Avenue is painted with rainbow Pride

Sure, public support can be positive, but capitalism will never be the solution.

Rainbow capitalism has not worked. It has not liberated queer people; while it might have (loosely) improved tolerance, it has not fostered acceptance. If it had, we wouldn’t be in this problem, feeling the very anxieties we feel now.

Brands follow the money – if it becomes profitable to serve the queer community, they will latch on and suck the life out until we’re shrivelled and dead, before moving on to drain the next profit-making opportunity.

Reaching for tolerance is already reaching for failure. Companies cannot give us freedom.

We cannot rely on capitalism to create space for us. We cannot rely on brands to dictate where and when we exist, nor should we give them the authority to.

We cannot spend our way to freedom. Capitalism is patronising, it is demonising – it tells you how and when it is acceptable to be.

It pretends to support our cause and fight for our history, playing over the tannoy “To all our LGBTQ+ customers and colleagues, we love you” whilst instantly ignoring us come 1^st July.

It grants us tiny displays in the corners of shops that are easily missed and don’t cause too much controversy.

The problem is not in demonstrating that queer people have spending power in shops, or that shops have the power to tell us we can, but instead a more structural and ingrained system of thought at the root of capitalism that demonises not only queer people, but all ‘Others’ – Black, Roma, disabled, working-class people, to say the least.

Rather than waiting for anyone, let alone capitalism or your favourite brand, to grant us the space to be queer, we have the power to go out and queer spaces ourselves.

In small ways or huge, we remind people we exist. Play music that fucks with heteronormative patriarchy, wear skirts or suits or nothing at all, paint your nails, graffiti rainbows in shops, cut your hair, speak about queer power in public, move through spaces as collectives.

Disrupting heteronormativity in any and all its forms is embodying queerness and the power that comes with it.

As rainbow flags get torn down and hidden in shops, we show up in full force and remind the straights we exist.

In embodying our queerness, we build communities and solidarity, we educate through our bodies, and we say fuck you to anyone who can’t bear to look.

It’s not always easy, and it’s not always safe – protect yourself and those around you.

But capitalism will continue to hide us so long as it isn’t commercially viable. An end to hierarchy and imposed power structures should be every queer person’s approach.

Don’t wait for brands to tell you when to exist, and don’t wait for capitalism to save you. They won’t. Queer people save queer people.

~ Daniel Newton

**********

Target isn’t the only brand facing coordinated action from anti-LGBTQ+ voices. Elsewhere, Nike and Adidas have faced heat for trans-inclusive marketing. More broadly, on Pride campaigns, North Face has been a target, and this week Starbucks saw its union accuse the coffee chain of bowing to far-right anti-LGBTQ+ attacks by taking down rainbow decorations.

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CNN Claims Multiple US Regime Agencies hit by Cyber Sabotage

from thefreeonline on 15 Jun, 2023 18:12 by Home World News

The incident comes a day after Russian hackers threatened European banks

“Several” US government agencies have been targeted in an ongoing global hacking spree, CNN reported on Thursday.

While Wasington is not commenting on who is to blame, Russian-speaking groups have taken responsibility for similar intrusions in recent weeks.

The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency “is providing support to several federal agencies that have experienced intrusions,” an agency official told the American broadcaster. “We are working urgently to understand impacts and ensure timely remediation.”

It is unclear who carried out the attack, and how many agencies were affected.

The attack is the latest in a slew of hacks targeting Western corporations, universities, and governments in the last two weeks.

State governments in Minnesota and Illinois have been hit, as have the BBC, British Airways, and oil giant Shell.

A Russian-speaking group known as Cl0p has taken responsibility for most of the breaches, promising to start publishing data obtained from the affected targets if its ransom demands are not met.

According to CNN, the group exploited a vulnerability in a popular file-transfer program called MOVEit to gain access to its targets.

Clop: Russian-speaking cyber gang claims credit for hack of BBC and British Airways employee data | CNN Business

In a video released on Wednesday, the Russian-speaking hacktivist groups Killnet and REvil, as well as another group calling itself Anonymous Sudan, said that they would launch a campaign targeting European banks and financial institutions “without mercy.”

These organizations have allegedly targeted US and other Western governments in the past, although it is unclear whether they took part in any recent attacks..