Russia’s intervention in Ukraine is not ‘inter-imperialist war’ – imperialism is a system
https://rokfin.com/post/78169/Russias-intervention-in-Ukraine-is-not-interimperialist-war–imperialism-is-a-system
An explanation of how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is not an example of “inter-imperialist war.” Russia is not an imperialist power; imperialism is a global economic system, and Russia is part of the semi-periphery, not the core. Moreover, the US-led NATO imperialist bloc started this crisis in Ukraine by sponsoring a coup in 2014, fueling a civil war in the eastern Donbas region, encircling Russia with Western military bases, arming and training Nazis and other far-right extremists, and flooding Ukraine with billions of dollars of weapons. (This talk was part of an event held on March 6 by the International Manifesto Group.)
Continue reading The West Provoked Ukraine War
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Imperial power
By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
February 28, 2022
When Russian troops invaded Ukraine last week, it set in motion the possibility of another major transformation in the European political and economic order.
Russia launched its attack from Ukraine’s northern border with Belarus, across its eastern frontier with Russia, and in the south from Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula that Russia annexed in 2014. Such a move suggests that more than the annexation of Ukraine is at stake.
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Putin—casualty of his own war
By Raffique Shah
February 28, 2022
I told everybody who asked my opinion on the likelihood of war, of Vladimir Putin’s massive military force positioned close to Russia’s boundaries with Ukraine storming into the latter’s territory in a bid to re-draw the maps for that part of the world, that was unlikely.
Speaking more from my heart than my head, I suppose, I posited that “nobody wants a war”—not now, not ever. Wars are costly, bloody affairs that wipe out of existence entire generations of mostly young people.
Continue reading Putin—casualty of his own war
What You Should Really Know About Russia and Ukraine
Did Putin Have ‘Other Options’ on Ukraine?
By Ray McGovern, May 22, 2023
The attempt at balance – however transparent – is welcome. But are readers not owed some attempt to spell out those “other options”? This is not a marginal quibble; we are talking war. When one glibly asserts, glibly, that that a country that launched hostilities had other options, well, what were they? A statement as lengthy as that published in the NYT might have made room for an attempt to cite one or two of those options
John Mearsheimer Ukraine Salon May 23, 2023
The Biden Administration is engulfed in a staggeringly expensive folly in Ukraine with no forseeable good outcomes. The Committee hosted University of Chicago Professor John Mearsheimer the week after the Russian invasion fourteen months ago. That zoom salon had 1,136,000 views. The Committee has invited John to return — this time in person.
Continue reading What You Should Really Know About Russia and Ukraine
Woman, 2 suspected bandits killed in Westmoorings shootout
By Jensen La Vende Newsday
Two suspected bandits and a woman are dead after a shootout at a home in Westmoorings on Thursday morning.
Continue reading Woman, 2 suspected bandits killed in Westmoorings shootout
Black Lives Matter
By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
February 21, 2022
It is gratifying to see the United States Embassy in Port of Spain flying its flag atop its building together with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) flag in honour of Black History Month.
It has taken the US a long time to recognise the important role blacks have played in the making of its country. An accompanying statement to this event noted: “Raising BLM flags on US embassy and consulate flagpoles throughout the world calls attention to efforts to advance racial equity and access to justice in the US and worldwide.” (Express, February 16.)
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Corruption capital
By Raffique Shah
February 21, 2022
I am convinced that Trinidad and Tobago is the most corrupt country in the world. There is hardly a person who has not witnessed “wid mih own eyes”, as Trinis would say, or otherwise gained knowledge of, at least one act of corruption in his lifetime, and likelier several such illegal transactions. He or she will have said nothing about it by way of reporting the illegal act to anyone with the authority to act on it.
Continue reading Corruption capital
A call for social justice
By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
February 15, 2022
I am not sure that I feel the same angst Ralph Maraj (a fellow columnist), former archbishop Joseph Harris, Raymond Tim Kee (deceased), Ken Gordon and others feel about the debilitating effects that Carnival has on the moral and ethical standards of our people.
Maraj laments: “Our society is threatened when tens of thousands come near to nudity, one step away from copulating on the streets. This corrosive cultural debasement has been eating at the nation’s innards, weakening the social fabric, nurturing generation after generation of young adults who are adrift, driven mainly by pleasure and materialism, so lacking in intellectual and spiritual depth they could fete every day with no commitment whatsoever to society and community.” (Sunday Express, February 6.)
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Eat smart, beat inflation
By Raffique Shah
February 14, 2022
My final focus on food production for now, on cutting back on imports which stand at approximately US$1 billion per year, adds nothing new, nothing that I, and others more qualified than I, have not said before.
In fact, there is hardly anything I can add to this component of the economy since the challenges remain the same they were decades ago, and governments’ responses, likewise, are like a stuck wax record in a digital player—jarring, unintelligible noises that are offensive to the trained ear.
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Probe Coast Guard shooting
Probe Coast Guard shooting Express Editorial
The shooting incident involving the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard which resulted in the killing of a baby and injury to his mother demands a full and independent enquiry.
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Comment from Kian
I am deeply disturbed by the reporting of the Coast Guard actions against the Venezuelan boat that caused the death of an infant.
As a nation, we need to understand our constitution, institutions and the purpose of their existence and operations. The constitution allows a government (run by politicians), the Judiciary (run by qualified judges, magistrates etc), armed services (army, coast guard, police, air & sea support). The armed services are NOT civilian controlled. In the case of the Army and Coast Guard, they represent our line of defense against armed insurrection, enemy invasion and border patrol.
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