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RAGA Antidote 47: Solzhenitsyn Forum, Krasnov: Radio Radonezh, Steve Cohen, Daniel J. Mahoney, Dana Milbank, Armstrong, Paul Grenier, Lozansky, Ajay Goyal

11/8/2018

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PictureVladislav Kransov Ph.D.
​Dear friends of the Russia & America Good Will Association (www.raga.org) and antiwar colleagues!  

In my previous newsletter RAGA Antidote 46, I let you know I was heading to Northern Vermont University for a scholarly conference dedicated to the memory of Alexander Solzhenitsyn.  

How did it go? You could read about it in The New York Times

https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2018/09/07/us/ap-us-solzhenitsyn-conference.html  

Or listen the Voice of America video report, mostly in Russian, with English quotes

https://www.golos-ameriki.ru/a/solzhenitsyn-100-anniversary/4582048.html


My own contribution at the forum was telling the people of my books "Solzhenitsyn and Dostoevsky: A Study in the Polyphonic Novel" (Athens, Georgia: 1980)

https://www.amazon.com/Solzhenitsyn-Dostoevsky-Study-Polyphonic-Novel/dp/0820304727
​
and "Russia Beyond Communism: A Chronicle of National Rebirth," published in Bolder, Colorado in 1991, before the collapse of the USSR. You don't believe me?

Then read or re-read Solzhenitsyn's 1980 piece "Misconceptions about Russia Are a Threat to America"

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, in Foreign Affairs, published by the Council on Foreign Relations
Vol. 58, No. 4 (Spring, 1980), pp. 797-834

https://www.jstor.org/stable/20040505?read-now=1&googleloggedin=true&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

It is as timely NOW as it was in 1980! However, before you read further, whose who know Russian may want to listen to my interview about the Solzhenitsyn forum in Vermont on RADIO RADONEZH, an independent Russian Christian WORLD-wide broadcaster,on Tuesday October 30, 2018 at 22:10 Moscow time.  If you miss this time, you can always listen to it in the Radio's Archive http://radonezh.ru/radio/2018/10/30/22-13
​I confess I do admire Solzhenitsyn, especially as far as US-Russia relations are concerned, RAGA stands with him. But occasionally I disagree with him, as you can see in my recent article Emperor Michael II in the Solzhenitsyn House - Author: Vladislav Krasnov 

http://www.raga.org/news/emperor-michael-ii-in-the-solzhenitsyn-house-author-vladislav-krasnov

Владислав Краснов.  Император Михаил II в Доме Солженицына -  
http://www.raga.org/novosti/imperator-mikhail-ii-v-dome-solzhenitsyna   


Below are other highlights:

Who Putin Is Not. Falsely demonizing Russia’s leader has made the new Cold War even more dangerous.

By Stephen F. Cohen SEPTEMBER 20, 2018

The specter of an evil-doing Vladimir Putin has loomed over and undermined US thinking about Russia for at least a decade. Henry Kissinger deserves credit for having warned, perhaps alone among prominent American political figures, against this badly distorted image of Russia’s leader since 2000: “The demonization of Vladimir Putin is not a policy. It is an alibi for not having one.”

https://www.thenation.com/article/who-putin-is-not/

By Paul Grenier  ·  Friday, September 7, 2018
Are the divisions that fragment the United States primarily driven by some deep flaw in its political life, or was the United States doing just fine, thank you very much—until Russia came along during the 2016 presidential race and started sowing division and dissension? Framed that way, the question answers itself. Whatever some state-sanctioned Russian actors may have done to pester the American political process, it is obvious that America’s deep divisions exist for reasons having essentially nothing to do with Russia. They long precede the last election.

http://www.telospress.com/russia-gate-as-symptom-the-crisis-of-american-community/

As the US is meddling in the Middle East in an alliance with Israel, please read this remarkable article by a Washington Post famed columnist Dana Milbank, September 21, 2018

<<My rabbi, Danny Zemel, comes from Zionist royalty: His grandfather, Rabbi Solomon Goldman, led the Zionist Organization of America in the late 1930s, and presided over the World Zionist Convention in Zurich in 1939. So Zemel’s words carried weight when he told his flock this week on Kol Nidre, the holiest night of the Jewish year, that “the current government of Israel has turned its back on Zionism.”...…A poll for the American Jewish Committee in June found that while 77 percent of Israeli Jews approve of Trump’s handling of the U.S.-Israeli relationship, only 34 percent of American Jews approve. Although Trump is popular in Israel, only 26 percent of American Jews approve of him. Most Jews feel less secure in the United States than they did a year ago…

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/israel-is-driving-jewish-america-farther-and-farther-away/2018/09/21/de2716f8-bdbb-11e8-8792-78719177250f_story.html?utm_term=.efc054250abb&wpisrc=nl_opinions&wpmm=1
 
By Edward Lozansky - - Wednesday, September 26, 2018

ANALYSIS/OPINION:
 During the past six months, the U.S. and Russia came close at least three times to a direct military clash in Syria with unpredictable consequences, including possible use of nuclear weapons. Each time unthinkable disaster was avoided at the last minute, but no one knows if we will be lucky again the next time.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/sep/26/crosstalk-us-russia-play-chicken-syria/

As usually, we have Patrick Armstrong's sound recommendation:

STRATEGIC CULTURE FOUNDATION. Let me put in a plug for this site. It has now acquired quite a stable of writers (myself included) and is a good place to get alternative views to those repeated by the drearily monotonic Western outlets.

https://patrickarmstrong.ca/2018/10/25/russian-federation-sitrep-25-october-2018/

By Daniel J. Mahoney, the author of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: The Ascent from Ideology, on Putin's and Solzhenitsyn's Russia, August 07, 2018

The time has arrived for some moderation and clarity in thinking about contemporary Russia and its relationship to the Western world. Ronald Reagan was not wrong in the 1980s to call the Soviet Union an “evil empire.” Its death in 1991 was a welcome victory for liberty, peace, and political civilization. But post-communist Russia is not the Soviet Union and it cannot reasonably be called an “evil empire.” The continuity between the two political orders is woefully exaggerated in the West, with some on the left hating contemporary Russia, a half-authoritarian autocracy, more than they ever opposed communist totalitarianism.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/08/07/post-communist_russia_is_not_the_soviet_union_137730.html

The Trajan Manifesto By Martin Sieff, Edward Lozansky, James Jatras and Gilbert Doctorow - Tuesday, September 4, 2018

First, the United States should follow the strategic principles executed by the Roman emperor Trajan at the end of the first century AD.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/sep/4/trajan-manifesto/


Finally, a very independent observer,  Ajay Goyal, My life of Zen, on Oct 8, 2018, findsTen reasons Moscow is the best capital city in Europe

Moscow of 2018 is a new city with a rich heritage and history. The city has gone through a massive facelift with new and modern infrastructure and institutions. Here is how it compares with London, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin and other great European cities.

https://medium.com/@ajay.zen/ten-reasons-moscow-is-the-best-capital-city-in-europe-d1a904af9c39
 
Sincerely,
W George Krasnow (http://wiki-org.ru/wiki/Краснов,_Владислав_Георгиевич)
President, RAGA
www.raga.org

Peace and Justice to the World.

​All statements in this report are an opinion of the author. Act at your own risk. Russia & America Goodwill Association (RAGA) is not responsible for the content of the article. Any views or opinions presented in this report are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RAGA. Any liability in respect to this communication remain with the author.

RAGA News
www.RAGA.org​
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WHY I CARE ABOUT AMERICA? Message from a Russian

8/12/2018

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In this video Dmitry Tamoikin shares his thoughts about the United States and Russia, highlighting why everyone must pay close attention to what is happening in these two nuclear superpowers.

All statements in this report are an opinion of the author. Act at your own risk. Russia & America Goodwill Association (RAGA) is not responsible for the content of the article. Any views or opinions presented in this report are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RAGA. Any liability in respect to this communication remain with the author.

RAGA News
www.RAGA.org​
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INTERVIEW w/ Dr. Krasnov: What Does the Media’s Reaction to the Summit Show Us? [AUDIO]

7/29/2018

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Picture
https://sputniknews.com/radio_brave_new_world/201807211066575854-what-does-the-media-reaction-to-the-summit-show-us/
​Excerpts from the press conference of the Trump-Putin summit were displayed in mostly extremely cynical ways all over the western press. This reaction has been so spectacular that it has become an event in its own right. What does this tell us about American politics and press in general?
In this program, Dr. Vladislav Krasnov, former professor and head of Russian studies at Monterey Institute of International Studies, and the President of the Russia & American Goodwill Association expresses his point of view.

Dr. Krasnov starts the program by explaining why America's reaction to the summit did not come as a complete shock to him: "I have been watching the decline of civility in the United States and pretty much in the rest of the western world since 1991. I was a defector for the Soviet Union when it was a totalitarian, ideological monopolistic country, and in order to find out what was going on in the world, I had to defect. I am grateful to the United States that I was given a home, refuge, and an ability to study different sources, to understand different ideologies, different opinions. At that time, the United States was a beacon of hope because there was a plurality of different opinions. But now, since 1991, I look with more and more despair at what is happening to America, particularly as it pertains to be the leader of the western world."

Dr. Krasnov feels that this is happening because America developed a sense of hubris after seeing that the Soviet Union collapsed. It felt that now, it had won. "I think that the Soviet Union collapsed due to internal problems. They [the Americans] became too proud, and you know what happened to Icarus and his father Daedalus when they flew to close to the sun….This hubris has manifest itself into two new words. One is called neoliberalism and the other is called neo-conservatism, and they presume that both are good for the whole world….The issue is not that Russia is doing something wrong. There are many wrong things in Russia, but Russia is not a totalitarian country, it has tendencies which are leaning towards more plurality, whereas in the United States — and I am very grateful to the United States for giving me refuge — but now the tendency in the United States is towards monopoly and monopoly of opinion. The actual power in the United States has probably now shifted to the media. The power of the media is so enormous that it is a kind of totalitarianism…" 

Host John Harrison asks why Jo Biden accused Trump of ‘embracing our No. 1 Enemy' and asks is this what America really thinks, that Russia is America's No. 1 enemy? Dr. Krasnov says that America has decided itself that Russia is an enemy. "I don't think that after 1991 Russia has projected itself as an enemy. If anything, the United States has been more aggressive. The decision to retain NATO was one thing, but when they decided to expand NATO closer to Russia's borders, and thus infringe on Russian sovereignty…it's a natural reaction of any country, whatever the political system, but the people in charge of each country have to take care of the sovereignty of their borders…"

Dr. Krasnov says that a widening gap is opening up between what leaders say and what is reported in the media. "I read the Washington Post every day, I used to when I lived in Washington and I do it now, out of habit, and I know many of the guys who write those things, so I am in touch with both the United States and Russia, and when I watched the event in Helsinki it was apparent that there was one story which is presented by president Trump, and President Putin, and another story which is presented by the media. I also read press releases from the White House; I have to, as President of the Russia America Goodwill Association. I am non-partisan, I am not a political person…my main task is to preserve and strengthen peace which is being severely threatened now throughout the world. The chance of nuclear war and self-annihilation of the whole earth is now higher than ever."

To the question: "how many Americans actually, believe what they read in the press?" Dr. Krasnov answers: ‘Actually many don't believe it. The media is now despondent; they do not know what to do. …I want Americans to try to be decent to one another, including the media people, to try to show some objectivity and for the sake of objectivity, they could downplay their hateful positions towards one politician or another. Let diplomacy win against emotionalism, both leaders have the strong points and weak points, let them negotiate, and essentially I think that the former US Ambassador to Russia, Jack Matlock, who I respect very highly, the one who served in Russia, just before the Soviet Union collapsed, he said that we should go not only back to the classics, to Plato and Aristotle, but also to our own sixth President of the United States — John Quincy Adams. He suggested that the United States should not go abroad in search of monsters to try and destroy them, it should protect its own liberty and not try and impose their notion of liberty on other people…"

Dr. Krasnov referred to the British political theorist and philosopher Edmund Burke who insisted that each country, including the fledgling United States of America (at the time), has the right to go it alone, that each country has the right to choose its own form of government. "We need more democracy in Russia and in the United States", Dr. Krasnov says, "but the moment we say that the whole world has to be democratic, we are undermining the whole basis of civility."
​
We'd love to get your feedback at radio@sputniknews.com

https://sputniknews.com/radio_brave_new_world/201807211066575854-what-does-the-media-reaction-to-the-summit-show-us/


​All statements in this report are an opinion of the author. Act at your own risk. Russia & America Goodwill Association (RAGA) is not responsible for the content of the article. Any views or opinions presented in this report are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RAGA. Any liability in respect to this communication remain with the author.

RAGA News
www.RAGA.org​
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Donbass in Springtime - by Captain Ron

6/20/2018

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This may end up being a blog about my planned trip to Donetsk this coming spring:

I'm assuming that anyone reading this blog is probably already keenly aware of the situation in Ukraine, and the current power-play between The US and Russia over dominance of former Warsaw Pact countries. There are obviously two sides to every story, but based on my experience witnessing the actions of my own government in the area of foreign policy over the last 25 years, I find the Russian / NovoRussian side of the story more believable.

Credibility is a major player here. Blind patriotism seems to be the rule of the day for many Americans. This combined with lack of information and the constant barrage of propaganda and fake news from the Deep State and corporate media, along with the general lack or concern thereof by most regarding global politics, has led to an acceptance or indifference to the effect it has on future destructive geo-political outcomes. Unlike many, if not most Americans, I have had a keen interest in US Foreign Policy for many years, going all the way back to the Cold War days. There was a time when I accepted, without question, the propaganda from Washington and the Main-stream Media. As I have grown older, and as I have had access to more information (thanks to the internet) I have become far more skeptical.

For me the big turning point was around the beginning of George W Bush's second term. At this point we were closing in on 4 years of war in Iraq without any significant evidence of a WMD program being found. I had initially been somewhat unenthusiastic about the prospect of war with Iraq, but became convinced (mostly by Colin Powell) that there was a significant national interest in putting an end to the Saddam regime. I bought hook-line and sinker the whole hidden WMD program lie, underground chemical weapons factories and all. However, as the war dragged on, and the body count rose, without any discoveries of the promised hidden weapons or weapons factories, I began to grow more and more skeptical as to the real reason for the war. It became apparent that the initial criticism to the war had in fact, been correct. This really WAS a war about oil, no-bid contracts and above all else Israel!

Meanwhile, while Washington was racking up TRILLIONS of dollars in additional debt to fund this war, our own country was under full-scale invasion from the Southern border. We had plenty of money and resources to protect borders thousand of miles away, but it was somehow impossible or even immoral to protect our own. It was at this point that I was heavily involved in the grass-roots movement "the Minutemen." I spent a considerable amount of my own money and time attending rallies and even doing border watch during this period. Then George W Bush made the unfortunate statement calling us "vigilantes". For me whatever favor I had for Bush was now completely gone and further, my allegiance / respect for the Washington regime was forever changed. It was then I began to refuse to say the pledge.

I was now aware of the significance of the oligarchical control of the deep-state (although I didn't call it that at the time), and understood that it was not likely that things could be changed significantly within the system using the democratic process. Through a more critical examination of history, I came to the conclusion that while the US began with a truly exceptional ideology and form of government, it took a wrong turn almost from the beginning by adopting a Hamiltonian vs Jeffersonian path forward. This reached a crescendo during the war 1861-65 where unfortunately, the wrong side won. At this point the "manifest destiny" of the US was complete. It was not long after this that the focus began on projecting power globally, and joining the rest of the major global players in becoming a major imperial force. Then in 1898 with the sinking of the Maine in Havana Harbor, the US began a pattern of a long series of lies as incitement to war with the slogan "Remember the Maine".

The Obama administration was nothing more than a continuation of the Bush administration for the most part, with the NeoCon Zionist ideology running the show. Let's look at the "Arab Spring" specifically Egypt. There is absolutely no question that the US instigated the overthrow of Mubarak who had been a fairly benign secular leader since the assassination of Anwar Sadat. A big part of the NeoCon's professed ideology was "spreading democracy" throughout the middle east. This idea that somehow that inside every Muslim Fanatic, there was an American trying to get out.
Lo and behold, when given the opportunity to vote, they voted in the fanatic Islamic group the Muslim Brotherhood. Well this, of course, was an undesired outcome so once again, the US forced a coup and put in place the military government that runs Egypt to this day. Haven't heard much about that lately have we?

Next was Libya using the same tried and true tactic of the US government: Identify an opposition force within the country of desired exploitation, then finance / arm said group and voila civil war.
Never mind that Gaddafi had essential been a "good boy" for years and voluntarily abandoned his weapons of mass destruction program. Never mind that Libya was a secular government with one of
the highest standards of living on the African continent. For reasons that are not entirely clear to me, the neocons decided to once again try to force the same policy in Libya that had already proven to be a failure in Egypt. What resulted was not only the murder of Gadaffi, but also the elimination of a state that had provided some sense of stability to the region and more importantly, a barrier between sub-Saharan Africans and Europe. Once Gadaffi was gone, a mass flood of Africans into the European continent began.

Next came Syria. Bashar Al Assad was the next target of the Neo-Cons. Again, same tactic, find an opposing force within the country, arm and finance them, encourage civil war. It does not hurt to make up stories about supposed WMD and "atrocities" of the regime that is to be overthrown BTW. Never mind that the Assad regime was another example of a secular and fairly moderate government that protected Christians. The motivation behind this? Who knows, however a distinct pattern is starting to emerge. Additionally, there was an unfortunate side-effect of CIA intervention in Syria (surprise surprise), the "opposition" force that the US had funded ended up evolving into ISIS. Yes, there is no question about it, the US created ISIS just like the US created the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Unfortunately for the Neo-Cons, they had underestimated the resolve of another major player on the world stage when it came to the situation in Syria, the Russian Federation. Russia has long been an ally of Syria, and has a strategic national interest there as it is the location of it's Mediterranean naval base in Tartus. Putin could not stand by and watch as the CIA sponsored juggernaut threatened to turn Syria into yet another chaotic failed state (Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya). Russia had too much to lose here. This is when Russia (rightfully so) began aiding the Syrian forces in opposing the US created ISIS rebels.

Let's take a quick look at Eastern Europe. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw pact, 13 former Warsaw Pact countries have joined NATO, several of which directly border Russia.
Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova are a few of the last holdouts. There is no question that the US and NATO has designs on Ukraine and was, no doubt a driving force in the Euro-Maidan and subsequent civil war. There is also no question that the US was directly involved in the coup that overthrew Yanukovych and placed the NATO, EU friendly puppet Poroshenko in power. As I write this there are currently US advisers in Ukraine training Ukraine forces to kill ethnic Russian separatists in Donbass.
After all the events in RECENT history I point out above, the US propagandists have the unmitigated gall to proclaim Russia the "aggressor"! This is just an example of American hubris and the crazy notion that no matter what the US does, and no matter how many hundreds of thousands (or millions) of innocent people have to die, America is always right. After all, we are "exceptional" right?
According to US propaganda the Russian Federation "invaded" Crimea. There was no "invasion" of Crimea period. After the US sponsored coup in Kiev, and the start of the civil war, the people of Crimea overwhelmingly voted to join Russia. There was not a single shot fired during the "invasion" and the Ukrainian forces were allowed to get on buses and leave peacefully. Additionally, while there were some volunteers from the Russian Federation fighting on the side of the Donbass seperatists, there were no Russian regular forces there. No massive tank columns ever entered Donbass from Russia and photographic "evidence" of this that was paraded around on main-stream US propaganda outlets, were file photos of Russian training maneuvers that had happened years before Euro-Maidan.

Fast forward to 2016 and the election of Donald Trump. Prior to the 2016 campaign I had essentially given up on the idea of using the political process to change anything in Washington. I had come to believe that only violent overthrow, a second civil war, secession of Texas or a complete financial collapse (or some combination of all those things) would accomplish anything meaningful. Trump gave me hope.
He was saying all the right things. First off, he expressed that the war in Iraq had been a mistake (true). He stated he wanted to end the policy of being the world's policeman and nation building. He wanted to focus on domestic policy, "America First", to protect the border with a wall. And very importantly, he wanted to establish a more friendly relationship with Russia and even indicated that NATO may in fact be obsolete. These are all positions I enthusiastically support. Finally, he said he would "drain the swamp". Unfortunately, this "swamp" appears to be far deeper than he had anticipated.

While it is difficult to justify any military adventure involving the US since the end of WW2, the situation in Donbass is far more serious than any of the previous unfortunate American military adventures of late, as now we are not killing innocent Muslims, who are basically defenseless, but Russians. Yes, the people of Donbass ARE Russian! Think for a moment how the average Russian national feels about this. Not only is the US placing forces directly on the Russian border, they are indirectly involved in the killing of Russian people! Unfortunately, the average American is completely brainwashed by the constant barrage of anti-Russian propaganda and falsely believe Russia to be the aggressor. This could not be further from the truth. Vladimir Putin has shown incredible restraint and patience in the face of the unrestrained unilateral aggression of America! Russia and the Russian heros in Donbass have drawn the line against further US/Zionist/Neo-Con expansionism and the eventual desire of the globalists to enslave all of us under a one world government. Russia is a force of good and the bulwark against this. This is why they are now the "enemy".

In spite of how bad things may look at this time (WW3 looming thanks to America's reckless aggression), I still have some hope. My mission to Donbass is part of a last ditch effort I'm personally making to hopefully, in my own small way, at least TRY to make a difference. At considerable personal risk and expense I will be one, providing humanitarian aid to the people of Donetsk (specifically, orphaned children, sick and wounded) and will also participate in an anti-propaganda information campaign on YouTube. One of the largest Russian YouTube bloggers, Sergey Baklykov of the Real Russia Channel has offered to help and will accompany me on this mission. I realize this may be futile and insignificant, but I for one can no longer stand idle as my government continues down it's illegal and immoral path towards WW3.
​Mon Apr 09, 2018 3:29 pm
​
Well the time is approaching, coming close to zero hour. I'm on round two of trying to obtain my Russian visa, first time shot down due to minor technicalities. Sooo, hopefully, by the 17th or so I should have it in hand and will be on my way to SVO. A couple days in Moscow, maybe a side-trip to St Pete then down to Rostov for the trip to Donetsk. Russell Bentley has agreed to meet us at the border to help me get in, my friend Sergey should have no problem since he is Russian. May be a bit of an ordeal for me. We are looking at 2-3 days there to do some documentation that we plan to put on Sergey's channel on YouTube (Real Russia Channel).

Seems like we are on the verge of WW3 with the Zionist republicrats spoiling for war with Russia. I am embarrassed and ashamed to be an American. What a horrible time.
​Fri May 18, 2018 12:48 pm

Okay, just got back from 23 days in Russia and had a very successful trip which included meeting Russell Bentley in Donetsk and Vladislav in Moscow! Really, all want very well considering how many chances there were for things to go wrong. I would have never gotten into DPR had it not been for the help of Russell Bentley BTW. Had long conversations with FSB both going in and coming back out. Luckily, I had been pre-cleared going in or else I never would have made it. We made several good videos which I'll include here:
​All statements in this report are an opinion of the author. Act at your own risk. Russia & America Goodwill Association (RAGA) is not responsible for the content of the article. Any views or opinions presented in this report are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RAGA. Any liability in respect to this communication remain with the author.

RAGA News
www.RAGA.org​
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Antiwar RAGA Antidote 44: Petition Trump, Lozansky, Peace Prize, Moscow Nights Song, Brother Nathanael, Phillip Hathaway, Elephant Rescue, Baltimore classical music, Veterans Today Jim Dean on Putin

5/29/2018

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Picture
PictureProf. Vladislav Krasnov
Dear friends of the Russia & America Good Will Association (www.raga.org) and antiwar colleagues! 

Urgent matters first:

1. My friend and RAGA associate James George Jatras sent the following appeal:  

Dear Friends:
The petition below was posted on the White House website today. It is self-explanatory.  Please go to the link to sign. Distribute widely via email and social media.  Thanks, Jim

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/president-donald-trump-should-hold-early-summit-russian-president-vladimir-putin

I signed it myself and posted it on RAGA facebook. I suggest you do likewise.2. CONGRATS to Ed and Tatiana Lozansky, RAGA's old-time peace-loving friends !

Read about them Celebrating 1982: A Pivotal Year
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/may/21/celebrating-1982-pivotal-year/
or here https://www.facebook.com/RAGAforPeace/

3. Ed Lozansky's persistent efforts to promote US-Russia friendship do not go without resistance. Smear campaign against Ed Lozansky continues unabated. This time Ksenia Kirillova, a Russian journalist living in the USA, suggests that it was Lozansky who had formulated the Kremlin's strategy of undermining American democracy. One would think that Radio Svoboda's (Freedom!) task should not be contrary to any peace-promoting efforts. The link is in Russian, but I am sure much of the same stuff Kirillova says one can find in any US paper. https://www.svoboda.org/a/29229380.html

4. RAGA also joins in supporting 2018 PEACE PRIZE NOMINEES
<<We are pleased to announce that our Founding Members have nominated seven outstanding Americans to be considered for the Foundation's 2018 Peace Prize. They are Daniel Ellsberg, Nancy Mancias, Colman McCarthy, David Swanson, Sharon Tennison, Sally-Alice Thompson, and S. Brian Willson.>> https://mailchi.mp/uspeacememorial/2018-peace-prize-nominees?e=1b14d9bd2d

About half of the nominees have been quoted either in RAGA Antidotes or in my own writings. All deserve recognition!

5. When I was a student at the University of Moscow, around 1957, there appeared a very mellow, romantic, and totally unpolitical song, Moscow Nights,which soon became very popular in the USSR and world-wide. Since the song is about relaxing Summer time, I hope you'd enjoy it right now, performed by Dmitry Hvorostovsky, a world-renown opera singer who recently passed away, and Anna Netrebko, likewise a famed opera singer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8D_UepJMizs) Moscow Nights - Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Anna Netrebko | Russian Songs with English Subtitles:
I said the song became world-famous. It continues to be so. At least, with Brother Nathanael (Kappner), RAGA's associate and old friend who has contributed to RAGA Antidote his analysis of US vs Russia schemes. Now offers his own rendition of the "Moscow Nights" in English! http://www.realjewnews.com/?p=1294

Brother Nathanael
May 24, 2018 @ 5:47 pm
Text -Text- Text

<<I had such a dream just the other night
Dreamt I was on tour in famed Red Square;
Then three men appeared wearing spiteful sneers
In this most beautiful Moscow night.

Then three men appeared wearing spiteful sneers
In this most beautiful Moscow night.

As I ventured forth I recognized those men
Graham, McCain, and Marco Rubio;
Gave me such a start under a waxing moon
In this night that could not end too soon....>>

Of course, it is a political spoof, but one cannot deny Brother Nathanael's compelling stage presences. As long as his satire serves the cause of peace, Brother Nathanael is right on the target. http://www.realjewnews.com/?p=1294 

​6. Recently RAGA got a number of positive news. One of the best was we formed "an alliance" with Elephant Rescue.net

First, its founder and director Phillip Hathaway asked RAGA to publish  this "Letter to Russia and the USA" http://www.raga.org/news/letter-to-russia-and-the-usa-phillip-hathaway

4/4/2018 It starts: 
<<While visiting the beautiful Kremlin with its splendid architecture and gold-gilded churches, I met a young Russian soldier who was on duty in uniform posted near the enormous Tsar Cannon. He had, apparently, been instructed to politely answer questions and give directions to visitors. He may have wondered why I was so delighted to meet him. Of course, it was because as a former member of the United States Army, I had been told that we would fight the Russians someday. 
    Yet, there I stood shaking hands with a Russian soldier in an expression friendship that I hope will be repeated many times.>>
Read more:
http://www.raga.org/news/letter-to-russia-and-the-usa-phillip-hathaway

A few days later Mr. Hathaway asked us to publish this "Letter to President Trump", and we gladly obliged:

​4/15/2018
Dear Mr. President,

On October 26, 2016, while campaigning against Hillary Clinton in the general election, you discussed the importance of not intervening in Syria. “What we should do is focus on ISIS. We should not be focusing on Syria. You’re going to end up in World War Three over Syria if we listen to Hillary Clinton. You’re not fighting Syria any more, you’re fighting Syria, Russia and Iran, all right? Russia is a nuclear country, but a country where the nukes work as opposed to other countries that talk.”


That was a direct quote from Trump the candidate. Read more 
http://www.raga.org/news/letter-to-president-trump-about-syria-from-phillip-hathaway 

LETTER TO PRESIDENT TRUMP about Syria from Phillip Hathaway

Since 1980, more than 850,000 elephants have been slaughtered for tasks and hides business. Now 350,000 remain
If you want to help the Elephants, write to


Phillip Hathaway, MLA
Founder and Chairman
ElephantRescue.net
7122 South Sheridan Road,Suite 2-122
Tulsa, OK 74133 USA
(918) 619-9007
http://elephantrescue.net/
https://twitter.com/elephantplan
http://elephantrescue.net/tulsa-people-magazine-saving-a-species/

Phillip Hathaway - Home | Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/thephilliphathaway

7. Finally, if you live near Baltimore, I recommend you dive into the world of classical music which knows no religious, racial or political divisions.

FESTIVAL BALTIMORE, June 3-17, 2018:
CONCERTS |12 DAYS OF MASTERCLASSES
UNIQUE LISTENING AND LEARNING EXPERIENCE
 AT UMBC's AWARD-WINNING
EARL AND DARIELLE LINEHAN CONCERT HALL!
https://www.festivalbaltimore.com
ASIYA KOREPANOVA, piano
DMITRII NILOV, percussion
MARIA SUMAREVA, piano
TCHAIKOVSKY: COMPLETE STRING QUARTETS

Don't be surprised that about 50% of composers and performers have exotic, even  BAROQUE, Russian names. All are approved by TSA

Petition Trump, once again,
Ronald Reagan famously said: “A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought. The only value in our two nations possessing nuclear weapons is to make sure they will never be used.” Unfortunately, today a new Cold War between the US and Russia again poses an existential threat to the people of both nations and to the whole world. Therefore, we urge President Trump to follow in the steps of Ronald Reagan and to start a direct dialogue with President Putin in search of solid and verified security arrangements.
 
Needs 99,422 signatures by June 20, 2018 to get a response from the White House https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/president-donald-trump-should-hold-early-summit-russian-president-vladimir-putin

Speaking of Putin, the news just came in about extraordinary success of St. Petersburg Economic forum IN SPITE of all sanctions.Is Russia becoming the Free Trade forum for the Universe?
By Jim W. Dean, Managing Editor - May 26, 2018
Macron’s St. Petersburg mission: Keep Russia in the European family
 
[ Editor’s Note: Some high stakes geopolitical poker has been going on at the Saint Petersburg Forum, where once again Putin is holding the stage as ground zero for free trade and a multi-polar world.
Putin came up with the elephant in the living room by asking how one deals with an international partner who assumes that all past international agreements are up for renegotiation after every US national election.

https://www.veteranstoday.com/2018/05/26/is-russia-becoming-the-free-trade-forum-for-the-universe/

If you missed Antidote 43,  the link is below (other issues are online too)
http://www.raga.org/news/peace-raga-antidote-43-israel-palestine-shamir-jon-utley-rabbi-alissa-wise-gideon-levy-norman-finkelstein-lozansky-brennertennison-brownfeld-brown-lord-west-realrussia-ray-mcgovern-jimmy-carter-paul-craig-roberts

Sincerely,
W George Krasnow (http://wiki-org.ru/wiki/Краснов,_Владислав_Георгиевич)
President, RAGA
www.raga.org
Facebook

Peace and Justice to the World. 
миру мир и благоволение в сердцах

 From RAGA site:
"We are an association of Americans who believe it is in the U.S. national interests to foster friendship with Russia on the basis of mutual Good Will and non-interference in each other's affairs. RAGA is a gathering of people who share common interests in Russia's history, culture, religion, economy, politics and the way of life. We feel that Russian people have made outstanding contributions to humankind and are capable of greater achievements. We envision Russia as a strong, independent, proud and free nation and as a partner in achieving peace in the world."

​All statements in this report are an opinion of the author. Act at your own risk. Russia & America Goodwill Association (RAGA) is not responsible for the content of the article. Any views or opinions presented in this report are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RAGA. Any liability in respect to this communication remain with the author.

RAGA News
www.RAGA.org​
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PEACE RAGA Antidote 43 : Israel, Palestine, Shamir, Jon Utley, Rabbi Alissa Wise, Gideon Levy, Norman Finkelstein, Lozansky, Brenner,Tennison, Brownfeld, Brown, Lord West, RealRussia, Ray McGovern, Jimmy Carter, Paul Craig Roberts

5/22/2018

0 Comments

 
PictureProf. Vladislav Krasnov
An urgent announcement from Ed Lozansky, my friend and RAGA ally since last Millennium:38th Annual U.S. - Russia Forum

Monday, May 21, 2019 from 6.00 to 8.00 PM 
1800 Connecticut Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20008

To discuss the current state of U.S. - Russia relations and the text of the appeal for the urgent summit between presidents Trump and Putin to find the way out of the most dangerous security crisis facing both nations and the world. 

Opening of the International Chess Club at the Russia House. to offer chess lessons for the children during the day and place for the chess games, tournaments and socializing for adults after6.00 PM. 

No registration fee. Free hors d'oeuvres. Cash Bar. 
​www.RussiaHouse.org/wrf.php See more announcemends at the end.

Extraordinary world events happened since the last RAGA Antidote 42 newsletter of March 27, 2018. 

Patrick Armstrong, a former Canadian diplomat, does a good job of keeping track of them 

https://patrickarmstrong.ca/2018/05/17/russian-federation-sitrep-17-may-2018/                           

VICTORY DAY. Red Square parade. Immortal Regiment in Moscow, St Petersburg, Sevastopol, Surgut, KERCH BRIDGE. Putin formally opened the road part. The “country that doesn’t make anything” has completed the longest bridge in Europe in two years. Newsweek, NYT and the Atlantic Council assure us it will fail and some random neocon wants Kiev to destroy it. Moscow has already thought of that. 

https://patrickarmstrong.ca/2018/05/17/russian-federation-sitrep-17-may-2018/

Russia vs USA relations are best understood in their global dimension. Israel Shamir, RAGA long-time associate and my friend makes it clear that the linchpin of those relations is Israel. His thinking is truly eschatological. 
​  
"The Messiah Is Here"   http://www.unz.com/ishamir/the-messiah-is-here/

​ISRAEL SHAMIR • MAY 20, 2018
 
<<Perhaps the Jewish Messiah is already here...? All Jewish dreams and desires were fulfilled this mid-May. Well, almost all. Two great world power leaders competed in their benevolence to Jews, while ordinary Israelis had fun and exhilarating soft target practice shooting unarmed Gazans or at least cheering the sharpshooters. Iranians gnashed their teeth but did nothing. The US Congress deemed that the Poles should pay the Jews $300 billion in tribute. And an exceedingly obnoxious Jewish wench got the crown of the European art scene, accidentally ensuring that the new capital of Israel, Jerusalem, will be the location of a prominent international gathering next year.

 If you think that some of this benevolence should drip to you and that your lot should be somewhat better, think again. Nobody promised you a rose garden. The Jewish Messiah is good for the Jews, while non-Jews should just work harder and prepare for divine vengeance>>. Read more http://www.unz.com/ishamir/the-messiah-is-here/

Shamir is a former Soviet dissident who made aliyah to Israel. He is well versed in both Russian and Israeli affairs, though some may see him "tarnished" by his conversion to Christianity. But then let us hear "real Jews", American to boot.

<<Dear W George--What an awful week. I will never get the juxtaposition of these two images out of my head - Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner et al “celebrating” the new US Embassy while the Israeli military kills 60 people in Gaza and wounds thousands. It’s never been more clear that change in US Israel/Palestine policy is only going to come from the grassroots. And it’s going to take a massive change right here in the US. We have to build a movement here to end the blank check the US gives Israel - militarily, economically, and diplomatically. >>

The above letter to me (Vladislav Krasnov aka W George Krasnow) was signed by Rabbi Alissa Wise,  Deputy Director of the Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP. org), a grass-root organization of American Jews opposed if not the state of Israel than to the racist wing of its current Zionist leadership. I am glad to recommend the JVP for all Americans, including non-Jews.

Jewish Voice for Peace is a national membership organization inspired by Jewish tradition to work for the justice, equality, and dignity of all the people of Israel/Palestine. Become a JVP Member today.

Now let us hear Gideon Levy, an Israeli citizen, on the emergence of a neo-Nazi Israel  19/05/2018

The Israeli society has surrounded itself with shields, with walls, not only physical walls but also mental walls. I don’t want to get into it because it’s another lecture. But I’ll just give the three principles which enable us Israelis to live so easily with this brutal reality. Most of the Israelis, if not all of them, deeply believe that we are the chosen people. And if we are the chosen people, we have the right to do whatever we want.

http://www.defenddemocracy.press/gideon-levy-on-the-emergence-of-a-neo-nazi-israel/ 

Now a short, good perspective on US culpability in the Palestinian Genocide perpetrated by the Jewish State of Israel (as they prefer to call themselves) from Professor Norman Finkelstein, the author of  The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering. Norman was denied a tenure for speaking truth to the power of "Holocaust industrialists".  Now Norman Finkelstein came up with the new book, “Gaza: An Inquest into Its Martyrdom.” The book has just been published as Israel is facing a possible International Criminal Court war crimes probe over its 2014 assault on Gaza, which killed more than 2,100 Palestinians, including over 500 children. Here he also challenges Israel's supporter Senator Chuck Schumer. 

Norman Finkelstein: The “Big Lie” about Gaza Is That The Palestinians Have Been the Aggressors

https://youtu.be/BtZKxFvf488
As to Jerusalem becoming an undivided capital of Israel, you may want to read my 2012 article "The World for Israel, or Jews for the World?" It was about a forum in Washington dedicated to the legacy of Rabbi Elmer Berger, one of the early American anti-Zionists. By W. George Krasnow, it published January 09, 2012 on the Antiwar site

http://original.antiwar.com/krasnow/2012/01/08/the-world-for-israel/ 

There I wrote in 2011: "Zionist claims on Jerusalem as an exclusive capital of Israel have inflamed anti-Israeli and anti-American passions in all Muslim countries. It has helped the fanatical jihadists win the hearts and minds of millions of Muslims who came to mistrust their moderate and secular politicians for their failure to defend Muslim rights to Jerusalem, or Al-Quds, as sacred to their cultural tradition". 

I suggested it then and say it now that Jerusalem literally belongs to all humankind as the birthplace of the world's three major religions. It should be put under the jurisdiction of the United Nations, administered as a cultural treasure of the world, a place where Jews, Christians, and Muslims could live in peace, harmony, and brotherhood and thus inspire the rest of mankind to religious, racial, ethnic and cultural co-existence and co-operation.

​This article is also available in Russian "Израиль играет судьбой мира, иудаизма и еврейства. Памяти раввина Элмера Бергера". Автор: Владислав Краснов
http://perevodika.ru/articles/20787.html?sphrase_id=3249777&ELEMENT_ID=20787%3Fsphrase_id%3D3249777&PAGEN_7=2


Ambassador Chas W. Freeman, Jr. (USFS, Ret.) Senior Fellow, Watson Institute for International & Public Affairs, Brown University, made very sensible speech "U.S. Policy and the Geopolitical Dynamics of the Middle East"
http://www.raga.org/news/us-policy-and-the-geopolitical-dynamics-of-the-middle-east-chas-freeman


I immediately translated it into Russian for the benefit of Russian policy makers: "Политика США и геополитическая динамика Ближнего Востока. Наши прошлые ошибки и видение будущего" - Автор: Charles W. Freeman, Jr. Переводчик: Владислав Краснов (W. GeorgeKrasnow)
http://www.raga.org/novosti/-charles-w-freeman-jr


Another favorite American journalist of mine is Allan C. Brownfeld who in early l980s served as a member of President Ronald Reagan's transition team and made policy recommendations. I have admired his writing since the Old Cold War. Like myself, Allan has been a contributor to The Fitzgerald Griffin Foundation site (http://www.fgfbooks.com/AllanBrownfeld/aBrownfeld-bio.html).

In fact, I have translated a number of his articles for the benefit of Russian readers, most recently the one on the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration.http://perevodika.ru/articles/1196711.html

Brownfeld also runs the ISSUES magazine of the American Council for Judaism. (http://www.acjna.org/acjna/articles_author.aspx). He just emailed to me his latest article that has not yet been posted.ISRAEL AT 70:  A GROWING DILEMMA FOR AMERICAN JEWS .  BY  ALLAN C. BROWNFELD.
Below are its most striking passages:

<<As Israel celebrated its 70th anniversary in April, and American Jews wished it well, the fact is that it has become a divisive force in the community, repeatedly proclaiming itself a "Jewish state, while its 50-year occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem and its blockade and isolation of millions of Palestinians in Gaza, shows it acting in a way that violates Jewish moral and ethical values.>> 

<<It is ironic that Jews, who have suffered oppression in many places at many times, would find themselves in the position of denying Palestinians basic political and human rights. Many in Israel are conscious of the dilemma they face.  Bradley Burston, writing in Haaretz (April 4, 2018). declared, "In the case of Zionism, can the victims of anti-Semitism come to acknowledge their---our---own bigotry, our own ingrained prejudices, our own sense of superiority and entitlement, our own history of injustice to the minorities in their midst?"

Israel at 70, Burston points out, is seeing the dramatic growth of racism and intolerance:  "This is a country which...demeans and dismisses and conflates Palestinian lives...In Israel at 70, Zionism means a government of the racist, by the racist, for the racist".>>

Brownfeld's attitude toward Israel is similar to those of Gideon Levy, Norman Finkelstein, Israel Shamir, Ambassador Freeman or Rabbi Alissa Wise.

Jon Utley is the publisher of "The American Conservative" magazine. He has been RAGA ally and my antiwar friend since last Millennium. I am proud to have helped him find the grave of his father, a Russian Jew, summarily executed as a "Trotskyite" (he was not!) in Stalin's purges.

"Clever Lies to Promote War"
by Jon Basil Utley, May 11, 2018
<<...Most recently we had cable news inundating us with stories of a new poison gas attack in Syria. The American Conservative has published a detailed analysis by former arms inspector Scott Ritter questioning the evidence, or lack of it, that the Assad regime initiated the attack.>>
http://fgfbooks.com/Utley/2018/Utley180503.html

The FGF is a basically Catholic site devoted to the preservation of Western values, and I am proud to be one of its authors. Scott Ritter is also my friend since about 2004 when he exposed the hoax about Saddam Hussein's WMD and I wrote about him in RAGA newsletters.

A few words of wisdom written in 2016 by Michael Brenner, Emeritus Professor, the University of Pittsburgh; a Senior Fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations, SAIS-Johns Hopkins (Washington, D.C.), about the decline of intellectual standards of US political elite who have surrendered to fantasies in their view of the world:

<<"We can expect that whoever winds up in senior policy positions in a Trump administration ... will be encouraged by the tradition of self-delusion that has become a feature of American thinking about its place in the world. Think of the Middle East where just about everything that we have been doing since 2001 has been guided by a fantastic view of the region – from Iraq, to Syria, to Yemen, to Afghanistan and Pakistan, to the Gulf, to Turkey, to Palestine and Israel. This tendency to divorce ourselves from reality so as to perpetuate myths of American omnipotence and superiority is also witnessed at the operational level". >> 

Now disturbing News from ZeroHedge Janitor

Published on May 9, 2018
Ret. CIA Analyst Ray McGovern Brutalized By Police At Haspel Confirmation
Ray has also been my friend and RAGA associate since I posted a story on the Veterans Today site in 2011 when security guards used illegal man-handling techniques on Ray when he peacefully protested against Hillary Clinton's war-like speech.

Now let "The Washington Post" get out of its usual russophobic mode and say something sensible.

"How did the end of the Cold War become today’s dangerous tensions with Russia?"

By Archie Brown May 4, 2018  

Archie Brown is emeritus professor of politics at the University of Oxford and author, most recently, of “The Rise and Fall of Communism” and of “The Myth of the Strong Leader: Political Leadership in the Modern Age.”

<<...For Michael McFaul, in his vigorously argued political memoir, “From Cold War to Hot Peace: An American Ambassador in Putin’s Russia,” there is a “new ideological struggle . . . between Russia and the West, not between communism and capitalism but between democracy and autocracy.” As a generalization, that is unconvincing...it is hard to agree that the contemporary ideological struggle with Russia is one between democracy and autocracy. Russia has become substantially more authoritarian in the post-Soviet era than it was in the last years of the Soviet Union, but it retains far more freedom and elements of pluralism than were to be found in the pre-perestroika U.S.S.R.>>

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/how-did-the-end-of-the-cold-war-become-todays-dangerous-tensions-with-russia/2 

Newsweek attacks Ed Lozansky (and deserves the badge of honor from me)

Lozansky, a former nuclear physicist who emigrated from the Soviet Union in 1976, is known in Russia policy circles as a mysterious, conservative figure. With analysts warning of a new Cold War, and as the Department of Justice and Congress investigate Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election, Lozansky’s efforts to promote Russia in Washington have drawn scrutiny from analysts and even allegations that he is spreading propaganda for the Kremlin.

http://www.newsweek.com/russia-house-washington-dc-edward-lozansky-forum-899928 

Sharon Tennison, another RAGA ally, reports that
“Bottom-Up Diplomacy” is Working!!!April 20, 2018
https://ccisf.org/bottom-up-diplomacy-is-working/

BBC News. Published on Apr 16, 2018
​
Here is Lord West, former First Sea Lord, speaking to the BBC this morning, his thoughts on why he thinks the chemical weapons attack on Douma was a false flag.
"Jimmy Carter Just Issued A Chilling Warning To Trump About Syria"
by Tyler Durden/Fri, 04/13/2018 - 10:44

Former President Jimmy Carter urges President Donald Trump to refrain from launching an illegal military attack on Syria, warning of the serious dangers - including nuclear conflagration - that could result.

"I pray that he would keep our country at peace and not exaggerate or exacerbate the challenges that come up with North Korea, in Russia, or in Syria," Carter told The Associated Press about Trump's recent threats.

"I hope he realizes very profoundly as I did, and as other presidents have done," Carter continued, "that any nuclear exchange could involve catastrophe for all human beings."
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-13/jimmy-carter-just-issued-chilling-warning-trump-about-syria

Even  Paul Craig Roberts is alarmed
"America Has No Unifying Moral Culture - It Will Lose a War with Russia", he wrote on Apr 5, 2018
"A country without a unifying moral culture is no longer a country. Yet, what pretends to be a country, the US, is being led into war against Russia, a real country. There is no chance whatsoever of the US prevailing in the oncoming war."
https://russia-insider.com/en/america-has-no-unifying-moral-culture-it-will-lose-war-russia/ri22982?ct=t(Russia_Insider_Daily_Headlines11_21_2014)&mc_cid=d89a40f5e8&mc_eid=73f16282b9

"A recent poll of Americans showed that “74% think America is a dictatorship; only 21% think it’s not.” Perhaps Americans are more realistic about the government than about the ‘news’ media."
http://theduran.com/russias-v-americas-records-on-democracy-and-on-whistleblowers-safety/

Which calls us back to Shamir's article: 
"Since that fateful May 9th day (when Netanyahu was just about the only foreign leader to stand next to Putin during the Red Square parade), Russian media has been treating Israel very cautiously", --observes Shamir. "Even the Gaza massacre didn’t bring many condemnations in the Russian media, though the Russian Foreign Office condemned this brutal act. The official state agency RIA reported that Israeli soldiers shot at “especially aggressive individuals”. The second (largest) state news agency TASS minimized its reporting about the massacre". 
   
  Concludes Shamir with a powerful crescendo: "In short, the Jews overcame their problems by mid-May 2018, and emerged as a leading polity on the planet Earth, in perfect rapport with both superpowers and in control over mind of billions. The massacre of Gaza furnished the proof they can kill with impunity."

Notice "control over minds of billions". It refers to the same phenomenon that Russia-Insider's Charles Bausman described in his article "It's time we drop the Jew Taboo" (http://www.raga.org/news/drop-the-jew-taboo). If we take into account that the number of people who read Russian has greatly diminished since the Old Cold War and is certainly many times smaller than those who use English, US MEGA Media has a field day to manipulate not just US government, but also the public opinion in the world. ​

Prof. Vladislav Krasnov ​

​

​All statements in this report are an opinion of the author. Act at your own risk. Russia & America Goodwill Association (RAGA) is not responsible for the content of the article. Any views or opinions presented in this report are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RAGA. Any liability in respect to this communication remain with the author.

RAGA News
www.RAGA.org​
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Wladislaw “George” Krasnow's letter to President Donald Trump

4/17/2018

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PictureWladislaw “George” Krasnow
President Donald Trump
The White House, Washington DC
 
Dear Mr. President:
Enclosed is the 5th and 6th issue of 2017 of the Russian analytical magazine “Predstavitelnaya vlast’” (Representative power at www.vlast.ru) featuring you on the front cover. During my latest stay in Moscow, the magazine’s editor-in-chief, Professor Aleksey Lyubimov, asked me to pass this copy to you. I am glad to do so.

The magazine features an article “Fenomen Donalda Trampa, ili kak Trampu peretrampit’ sebya”(pp. 44-54) by Mr. Ismail Gasanov, a Russian political analyst, about your presidency. It can also be found at the link http://pvlast.ru/archive/index.1201.php

Neither the Russia & America Good Will Association nor I take a stand on the thrust of the article. I am sending it to you as a gesture of Good Will consistent with RAGA’s non-partisan philosophy as is evident in the Open Letter to you written by Professor Rudolf J. Siebert of Western Michigan University, which RAGA posted earlier.
http://www.raga.org/news/open-letter-to-president-trump
​
I wish you success in carrying out the best intentions of your presidency.  I do so in the belief that the betterment of US-Russia mutual understanding is the cornerstone for World Peace.
Sincerely,

Wladislaw “George” Krasnow
President, RAGA www.raga.org
president92@gmail.com
 
P.S. Aleksey Lyubimov participated in Dr. James Billington’s Open World program in the USA and now is professor at the Russian Diplomatic Academy. Read more http://a-tsm.ru/docs/lyubimov.pdf and http://www.pvlast.ru/glavred/

​
All statements in this report are an opinion of the author. Act at your own risk. Russia & America Goodwill Association (RAGA) is not responsible for the content of the article. Any views or opinions presented in this report are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RAGA. Any liability in respect to this communication remain with the author.

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UNITED STATES & RUSSIA MUST BE FRIENDS & ALLIES!

4/11/2018

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"If the United States and the Russian Federation were to join forces and become strong military allies, as well as close economic partners, the people of our two great nations would be so rich, strong and safe - your head will spin!" - Dmitry Tamoikin | CEO of ESDC

​
All statements in this report are an opinion of the author. Act at your own risk. Russia & America Goodwill Association (RAGA) is not responsible for the content of the article. Any views or opinions presented in this report are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RAGA. Any liability in respect to this communication remain with the author.

RAGA News
www.RAGA.org​
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Tucker Carlson on FOX: Would war against Assad make US safer AND why is Washington united behind a war in Syria? MUST WATCH VIDEOS

4/11/2018

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"That ought to make you nervous. Universal bipartisan agreement on anything is usually the first sign that something deeply unwise is about to happen if only because there is nobody left to ask skeptical questions. And we should be skeptical of this, starting with the poison gas attack itself." - Tucker Carlson
"Virtually all of official Washington, Republicans and Democrats, have united behind the idea that the United States has a moral obligation to go deeper into war in Syria after a suspected gas attack. Yet, our merely asking obvious questions, we are told to shut up and just obey." - Tucker Carlson 

​All statements in this report are an opinion of the author. Act at your own risk. Russia & America Goodwill Association (RAGA) is not responsible for the content of the article. Any views or opinions presented in this report are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RAGA. Any liability in respect to this communication remain with the author.

RAGA News
www.RAGA.org​
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RAGA Antidote 42: Charles Mills, Seraphim Hanish, Doctorow, Mary Dejevsky, Israel Shamir, Ed Lozansky, Karen DeYoung,PATRICK LAWRENCE, Brother Nathanael, James Dean, Dmitry Orlov

3/28/2018

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PictureBy Vladislav Krasnov Ph.D.
Dear friends of the Russia & America Good Will Association (www.raga.org) and antiwar colleagues! 

Let me start by congratulating Vladimir Putin on being re-elected for another 6-year presidential term and wishing him that he carries out all the promises he made to his electorate. He got over 76% of the vote in a contested election. Clearly, the russophobic anti-Putin propaganda campaign that US mega media has conducted in the hope to drive a wedge among Russians by issuing hurtful sanctions back-fired. Putin's share actually increased considerably, at the cost of pro-Western liberal opposition. Putin's numbers were the highest in the Crimea.

Sending congratulations is a matter of courtesy, not politics.  RAGA has sent Open Letter to Obama and congratulated Trump (http://www.raga.org/news/raga-newsletter-antidote-31-merry-christmas-donald-trump-open-letter-to-obama-obamas-response-and-krasnovs-rebuttal-happy-holidays-william-brumfields-photographs).

​Later, RAGA carried an open letter to President Trump written by Professor of Religious Studies Rudolf Siebert http://www.raga.org/news/open-letter-to-president-trump. Our mission remains the same, PEACE.

Now take a look what RAGA friends and associates, mostly Americans, have to say about the dangerously rising tensions between the super powers.

(1) Russia is Not the Soviet Union/ By Charles G. Mills, March 2, 2018
The Soviet Union was a dogmatically atheist regime. Today’s Russia, in contrast, is a Christian country. Vladimir Putin is a faithful Russian Orthodox Christian with a personal confessor. http://www.fgfbooks.com/Mills-Charles/2018/Mills180302.html

Charles is a lawyer of the conservative Fitzgerald Griffin Foundation in DC, dedicated to the preservation of Western civilization. I am proud to be FGF contributor. In previous Antidote letters I have pointed out a rapid rise of Christian and other religious values in Former Soviet Union. For comparison with the negative dynamic in the US, take a look at the two "boxers" on RAGA's front page. http://www.raga.org If that is not enough, read:

(2) Resurgence of Christianity in Russia as new Orthodox churches open across the nation. 24 new churches opened in Moscow in 2017 with another 21 set to be opened this year, as Russia rebuilds and strengthens its Christian foundations.

By  Seraphim Hanisch
Russia is know throughout the world for the Russian Orthodox Church, and its beauty, its music, and its unique architecture, especially that of its ancient churches. In the years right before the Communist Revolution, there were nearly 86,000 churches and chapels, and more than one thousand monasteries throughout the Russian Empire. Under Communism, almost all of these were destroyed, with the number of churches falling to fewer than 500. Between 14 and 22 million Christians perished in the most horrific Christian persecution in recorded history.
http://russiafeed.com/resurgence-christianity-russia-new-churches-open-everywhere/

Of course, Russia remains a secular country with freedom of religion and conscience for all, including Muslims, Jews, Buddhists and Atheists. All the more, it's a shame that the two most-powerful nuclear-armed Christian countries cannot figure out how to get along with each other--for the sake of Mother Earth! 

(3)  About the Skripal poisoning affair read The Washington Times
By Edward Lozansky - - Tuesday, March 20, 2018
So, Vladimir Putin did it again or did he?
<<I leave it to legal and linguistic professionals to decide whether “highly likely” terminology is acceptable in any independent court of law, but many politicians and experts, including those in the know, express serious doubts that it was Mr. Putin’s handiwork.>>
www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/mar/20/crosstalk-how-prevent-british-drama-turning-traged/ 

What about Putin’s presentation of Russia’s new weapons systems during his Address to the Federal Assembly on 1 March? Listen to his explanation to MegynKelly:

(4) ‘Why would we want a world without Russia?’ 
Putin on Moscow’s nuclear doctrine
Published time: 7 Mar, 2018 14:05

Putin told NBC’s “Megyn Kelly Today” that a new arms race has been started by Washington when it decided to withdraw from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM Treaty) back in 2002. The US then proceeded with a massive arms build-up right on Russia’s doorstep. In the following years, the US has virtually encircled Russia with its missile defense installations, in particular by stationing them in Romania and Poland. It also, for the first time, deployed a battery of Patriot long-range anti-aircraft systems to Lithuania for war games.
https://www.rt.com/news/420715-putin-world-russia-nuclear/ 

(5) Israel Shamir, a former Soviet dissident and my friend. Israel became Zionist,emigrated to Israel, turned against Zionism and converted to Christianity. He contributes to The Unz Review: ISRAEL SHAMIR • MARCH 11, 2018  

Putin’s Missiles: Deterring an American Attack?

Putin’s March 1st presentation of new Russian weapons has been greatly misunderstood as a declaration of strategic parity or triumphalism. There was a much more urgent need, namely, to prevent an imminent strike. This danger is not over yet, for a week later, on March, 7, President Putin emphasized his readiness to employ the nuclear weapons for retaliation purposes. “Certainly, it would be a global disaster for humanity; a disaster for the entire world,” Putin said, “but, as a citizen of Russia and the head of the Russian state I must ask myself: Why would we want a world without Russia?” http://www.unz.com/ishamir/putins-weapons/

(6)  Shamir was seconded by Mary Dejevsky of UK/
Putin's speech wasn’t aggressive – it was a plea to the US to start talking again

The military half of Putin’s address was not only – or perhaps even primarily – directed at the Russian audience. This message of new, and world-beating, defence prowess surely had another intended recipient: the United States/ By Mary Dejevsky Thursday 1 March 2018
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/russia-putin-trump-us-speech-weapons-wasnt-aggressive-plea-to-start-talking-a8235356.html

(7) Dr. Gilbert Doctorow, a pre-eminent US Russia scholar, based in Brussels, thinks that
"U.S. Raises the White Flag, Calls for Talks with Russia over the New Arms Race"

One can say with certainty that it has elicited the desired response from its target audience in Washington, D.C. http://usforeignpolicy.blogs.lalibre.be/archive/2018/03/21/u-s-raises-the-white-flag-calls-for-talks-with-russia-over-t-1164493.html

(8) The US establishment's Washington Post let Karen DeYoung elaborate: It may still be far from the depths of the Cold War, but Russian President Vladi­mir Putin’sThursday speech, outlining new, “invincible” weapons to overcome U.S. defenses, lowered the already chilly temperature of the relationship by several degrees.

Few experts on either side believe that the new weapons, assuming they actually exist and are ever deployed, would change the balance of power between two nations that already have the ability to destroy each other many times over. At the same time, there is widespread agreement that the rhetorical attacks, stalled diplomacy and military escalation that increasingly characterize U.S.-Russia relations are counterproductive to global security.

“The tension level is high, higher now than it was several months ago, in part because the Russians have gotten past the phase where they thought with President Trump they would be able to move the relationship in a different direction,” said Thomas Graham, senior director for Russia on the George W. Bush National Security Council staff and now managing director at Kissinger Associates Inc.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/putin-speech-adds-to-freeze-in-us-russia-relations/2018/03/01/ffab9174-1d8d-11e8-ae5a-16e60e4605f3_story.html?undefined=&utm_term=.280e2420111b&wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1

(9) PATRICK LAWRENCE of the liberal SALON magazine assesses the overall situation: Washington can’t adjust to losing its role as global sheriff, and the entire world must bear the consequences

If the first few weeks of 2018 are any guide, it is going to be a tumultuous, confrontational year for America’s foreign relations...To say what we are likely to see is going to beunpretty is to put the point far too mildly.... Finally, and related to the above, the “sole superpower” phase of the post–Cold War era is slipping with accumulating momentum into the past. Maintaining unipolarity, to put the point another way, becomes an ever more forlorn endeavor. It cannot hold, and one mourns Washington’s inability to grasp this reality.

https://www.salon.com/2018/01/28/now-the-u-s-is-playing-spoiler-role-in-korea-syria-and-elsewhere-but-why/#.Wm4D_Ue0Kkw.twitter

The recent appointment of John Bolton as Trump's National Security Adviser bodes no good. Even George Will, a Washington Post observer denounces of "the second most dangerous man".

(10) Jim W. Dean, Managing Editor of Veterans Today, a site where I am a contributor, says "Bolton’s record is beyond horrible on where he stood on policy and his total inability to acknowledge what a disaster Iraq was." 

https://www.veteranstoday.com/2018/03/25/foreign-policy-magazine-john-bolton-poses-a-threat-to-us-national-security/

(11) Brother Nathanael explains why on March 20, 2018 in his timely video
Tillerson Out, Neocons In!

http://www.realjewnews.com/?p=1279

<<I mean, when neocon Jews and their shills lie, we’re not really upset, and nobody bats an eye.>>

His reference to "neocon Jews" is pointed because Bolton was among the 1997 founders of the PNAC, the Project for the New American Century, originally designed to encourage Israel to dominate the Middle East and then re-designed for the US to take the burden of world domination.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Clean_Break:_A_New_Strategy_for_Securing_the_Realm

Several of the founders were former Trotskiytes used to think in terms of global domination.  https://www.proudprimate.com/Resources/PNAC%20Background.htm

(12) James George Jatras, a former Congressional operative, admirer of Solzhenitsyn and my friend, thinks.

We're Sliding Towards a Nuclear 1914 - Can We Save Ourselves?

He sees The spooky similarities between 1914 and today
What was unthinkable in the old Cold War has become all-too-thinkable in the new one between the US and Russia. As described by veteran arms control inspector Scott Ritter, in analyzing a draft of the 2018 US Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), the US threshold for the use of nuclear weapons has become dangerously low

http://russia-insider.com/en/were-sliding-towards-nuclear-1914-can-we-save-ourselves/ri22451

(13) Let now the best known statesman of the 1990s speak up about the current  downturn in US-Russia relations

Mikhail Gorbachev: The U.S. and Russia Must Stop the Race to Nuclear War

We must remind the leaders of all nuclear powers of their commitment under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to negotiate reductions and eventually the elimination of nuclear weapons. Their predecessors signed that obligation, and it was ratified by the highest levels of their government. A world without nuclear weapons: There can be no other final goal.

However dismal the current situation, however depressing and hopeless the atmosphere may seem, we must act to prevent the ultimate catastrophe. What we need is not the race to the abyss but a common victory over the demons of war.

http://time.com/5191433/mikhail-gorbachev-nuclear-weapons-trump-putin-russia/

Finally, two articles on the topic of Jew Taboo that dominated the previous issue RAGA antidote 41. http://www.raga.org/news/raga-antiwar-antidote-41-bausman-solzhenitsyn-karl-marx-putin-karlin-doctorow-makow-tennison-ira-helfand-brett-abrams-tsar-michael-ii-roulston

(14) First, is Dmitry Orlov's article
"Never, Ever Listen to What American Jews Have to Say About Russia". 

http://www.raga.org/news/never-listen-to-what-american-jews-have-to-say-about-russia

Orlov is as contentious as Charles Bausman who brought up the Jew Taboo issue. But he deserves to be heard. First, Orlov is one of the better-known thinkers The NewYorker has dubbed 'The Dystopians', along with James Howard Kunstler, another RI contributor.These theorists believe that modern society is headed for a jarring and painful crack-up. Second, Orlov came to the USA in a massive Soviet Jewish immigration during the 1970s and 1980s. It was a deal worked out by Kissinger and Brezhnev to let Soviet Jews immigrate to Israel for "family re-unification", but the majority (over 300,000) chose the USA. For Soviet authorities the deal was useful as they wanted to get rid of dissidents as well criminals. A popular Soviet joke then was in the form of Radio Moscow "You ask/We answer" session. A listener asks: "What does the word Jewishmean, ethnicity or religion?" Radio Moscow answers: "Neither. After doing research across the USSR, we found out that the word Jewish is most frequently used to designate the surest method of immigration to the USA".      

Soon the news of "Russian mafia" came to dominate Brighton Beach and other places where the immigrants were settled, usually on welfare. The Congress of Russian Americans (CRA), of which I was a board member, protested the defamation of ethnic Russian community, usually assimilated,Christian and patriotic US citizens. We suggested that these criminals be called "former Soviet Jews". Nobody listened, until Robert Friedman wrote a book "Red Mafiya: How the Russian Mob Has Invaded America". Of course, the criminals spoke Russian and some of them may have been ethnic Russians, but at least Friedman tied the crime to  its Soviet origin, even though the Jew Taboo was still observed.

(15) In the wake of Bausman's article
The SPLC Attacks Russia Insider, Gilbert Doctorow Responds. 

I will not go into the other numerous confused attempts by Reid Ross to pigeon-hole me either as facilitator of Right-Left coalitions or as a rightist, pure and simple.  He willfully misses the point. My political and authorial activities have had only one purpose: to facilitate public discussion of the reckless and ignorant foreign policy originating in Washington and followed slavishly in Europe which is leading us to nuclear Armageddon.
https://russia-insider.com/en/splc-attacks-russia-insider-our-contributor-gilbert-doctorow-responds/ri22497

Diverse News:
Russia's Biggest Bank Is 2nd Most Valuable in Europe After HSBC (Sberbank)
With 127 million retail customers and 16,000 branches, it also is one of the largest financial players in many Eastern European markets. Investors also see it as a way to get exposure to the growing Russian economy and growing Russian middle class.
https://russia-insider.com/en/russias-biggest-bank-2nd-most-valuable-europe-after-hsbc-
​Oxford-Perm Sister Cities Association, January 2013 newsletter
David Roulston reviews Donald Crowford, The Last Tsar: Emperor Michael II
​
Last Tsar Emperor Michael II Donald Crawford, Publ. Murray McLellan, Edinburgh, 2012. This book contains much material from an earlier work ‘Michael and Natasha’ published in 1997 and reviewed by Vladislav Krasnov in our Perm Newsletter October 2008. The new book is considerably shorter, more focused on Michael. It starts with interesting details of Michael’s and Natasha’s backgrounds and describes how in 1912 they managed to avoid the Okhrana to have a secret marriage in Vienna; then their exile from Gatchina in Russia, living in England at Knebworth House near Stevenage until war broke out in 1914 when they returned to Russia. Joining the army, Michael led a top division of horsemen in the Caucasus, and was awarded Russia’s top award for gallantry. The chapters covering the events of March 1917 make fascinating reading and are written mainly as they affected Michael and of course his brother Nicholas. From his temporary apartment on Millionnaya Street in St Petersburg, with his brother Nicholas stuck on trains between his military headquarters at Mogilev, Pskov (from where he could communicate with St Petersburg) and Tsarskoe Selo, the sequence of events evolves with a proposed manifesto (which could stop the revolution) coming too late, and demands from the people and the Duma for the abdication of Nicholas in favour of the Tsar’s young son, with Michael as Regent. Within 24 hours Nicholas had changed his views (not to be separated from his son) and offered his abdication in favour of Michael as Emperor. This was opposed by the ever more powerful Soviet; Kerensky visited Michael in Millionnaya Street to persuade Michael to abdicate (although this word was not in fact used in the signed document). Crawford’s description of the meetings is vivid and ends with the signing of a new manifesto by Michael handing power over to the provisional government until the formation of a democratically elected Constitutional Assembly expressing the will of the people. The next day 4th March he returns to Gatchina where he lives with Natasha (in comparative freedom compared to his brother) until he is arrested in June, finally being exiled by the Bolsheviks to Perm where he lived before being killed in June 1918 by the Motovilikha Perm Cheka. Natasha returned to England but eventually died in 1952, a pauper in Paris where she has her grave in Passy. Crawford’s book is an illuminating and at time moving account of early Russian 20th century history and a gripping story of one man’s struggles with a rapidly changing system, from being ruled by a Tsar (or his wife Alexandra and adviser Rasputin) to Kerensky’s government and overthrow of the evolving constituent assembly signed into place by Michael during his one day rule.

By David Roulston
http://www.oxfordperm-assoc.org/members- only/news-Jan13.pdf
​All statements in this report are an opinion of the author. Act at your own risk. Russia & America Goodwill Association (RAGA) is not responsible for the content of the article. Any views or opinions presented in this report are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RAGA. Any liability in respect to this communication remain with the author.

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