. . . or pointing out that the years 1939-1941, in fact, exist.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/rewriting-history-world-war-ii-ominous-warning

Andri Biletski is the founder of the Azov Battalion, which fought heroically against the Russian invasion. It’s now been brought under the control of the Army and part of it has transformed into a social and anti-corruption organization.

Andri Biletski offers a counter-point to the support of the law given by Andri Drozda in the previous post. Biletski argues that it is just Ukrainian Oligarchs enriching themselves and a sell-out of everyday Ukrainians. I sympathize with his stance against unbridled openness and desire to ensure regular Ukrainians benefit from these laws. My hunch is that privatization will better codify land ownership laws and put smaller businesses on more equal footing with the oligarchs whom Biletski fears. But I could be wrong.

In the Russian Federation, there are two groups of people who are referred to as “Cossacks.” The first consists of 3 million-5 million people who trace their ancestors to the 13 Cossack hosts of the imperial period and celebrate their tradition as free men. According to many scholars, their collective name in fact refers to that tradition. These Cossacks consider themselves a distinctive ethnic group with their own culture and language, and they live under leaders (atamans) whom they have elected for themselves. The second (and much smaller) group, perhaps no more than 100,000 in total, have no link to these Cossack traditions besides the name they claim and the fancy uniforms they wear. They take money and orders from the Kremlin, and are little more than armed thugs now routinely used as irregular forces against protesters. Unlike the first group, they have been stripped of any freedom to choose their atamans or the rules their communities will have to live by.

A week ago (July 11), the Russian State Duma (lower chamber of parliament) voted 398 to 0, with one abstention, to give Russian President Vladimir Putin the exclusive right to appoint and remove the ataman of the All-Russian Cossack Society, as well as to require that all subordinate Cossack units follow and obey the procedures of the Cossack units above them. This effectively strips the Cossacks of any democratic procedures, transforming the entire official Cossack establishment into little more than yet another arm of the repressive state, with all officials being appointed by the Kremlin rather than elected by the members of the Cossack community they govern (Nazaccent.ru, July 11).

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Russia is again having problems with the Cossacks and it has become a real back-to-the future moment. Despite 70 years of efforts by the communists to destroy the Cossack community, the Cossacks survived, mainly by concentrating on preserving their culture and not trying to fight the new communist run Soviet Union. By the 1990s there were millions of Russians and Ukrainians who could trace their origins to one of the 13 Cossack “hosts” (tribes) that were recognized by the czars over the centuries.

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It is beyond idiotic for any religion to adopt Marxism, which begin with the apriori assertions of Dialectical materialism, which posits that all thought, philosophy, and action results from people economic class. There is no room left for God, and indeed, Communists killed Christians by the hundreds of thousands.

The Jesuit flagship publication in the United States, America magazine, has published an article defending Marxism and comparing the murderous, atheist ideology to Christianity.

In “The Catholic Case for Communism,” America writer Dean Dettloff says that the militant atheism of Marxist politics is “understandable” because “Christianity has so often been a force allied to the ruling powers that exploit the poor.”

As a number of prospective presidential candidates from the Democrat party are openly donning the mantle of socialism, America took the issue one step further, suggesting that the negative reaction to “Bernie Sanders’s inspiring 2016 primary bid and the electoral success of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib” represents a “revival of socialist hysteria.”

https://www.breitbart.com/faith/2019/07/25/jesuit-magazine-makes-catholic-case-for-communism/

The Swedish government is demanding a decisive international response to online scams in the wake of a media investigation into a fraudulent Ukrainian investment company that stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from vulnerable would-be investors.

A cache of documents handed to the Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter, DN, by a whistleblower at Ukraine-based Milton Group, and shared with the OCCRP, exposed the inner workings of the company’s Kyiv call centre, where staff defrauded up to a thousand people worldwide with sham promises of get-rich-quick investment schemes.

While the company used its offices across several countries to target people as far afield as Ecuador and Australia, many of those worst affected were elderly Swedish citizens. Some were tricked out of more than US$200,000, with one woman forced to sell her home to cover her debts.

During a meeting on Monday with high-level officials in Ukraine, Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde said that fraudulent activity at the company had taken place at an almost industrial level, according to DN.

“It is really upsetting to see how they bluff Swedish retirees who have to leave their homes and live on a minimum subsistence level. And then they sit there, laughing,” she said.

Linde noted that Ukraine has improved its justice system since the election of President Vlodymyr Zelensky, but said that it still has some way to go in reforming the rule of law.

From ubn.news:

The news reports indicate that the ringleaders of the “Milton Group” are David Todua, a Georgian-Israeli, and Jacob Keselman, a Ukrainian-Israeli who styles himself as ‘the Wolf of Kiev’ on his Instagram account. On Monday, Sweden’s Foreign Minister Ann Linde met with ‘high level officials’ in Kyiv and demanded action, reports the Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.

From the Editor of ubn.news, Jim Brooke:

Time for a ‘Maski Show?’ Wednesday after lunch at Kyiv’s Arena entertainment center, three friends and I visited the ‘Milton Group,’ the downtown Kyiv call center ‘fraud factory’ that allegedly bilked millions of dollars from elderly people, largely Scandinavian retirees. In the past, Ukrainian police, faces covered and armed with automatic weapons, burst into Dragon Capital and Sikorsky Airport. No need for this in Mandarin Plaza. Here is how: go to the office tower ground floor. Speak English audibly. The guard will wave you through to the two side elevators. Push 7 on either elevator. When the unmarked office door opens with employees coming and going, go inside and check it out.
Given the millions of dollars that Finland, Norway, Sweden have given Ukraine since 2014, it would be nice if Ukrainian investigators shut down this scam operation, seize all computers, and prosecute all participants. The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project provides a handy road map. After a visit to Kyiv on Monday, Sweden’s Foreign Minister Ann Linde said Tuesday: “It is really upsetting to see how they bluff (con) Swedish retirees who have to leave their homes and live on a minimum subsistence level. And then they sit there, laughing.”

At the Milton Group’s 2020 New Year’s bash in Kyiv, as the company’s hundreds of young staffers drank and danced the night away, some of the most important men in the room slipped away to pose for a photograph together.

Looking almost identical in their dark suits and shaved heads, and surrounded by a cadre of bodyguards, they lined up in front of a backdrop of pine fronds festooned with golden baubles. “Happy New Year! Milton Group,” the festive decoration read.

This image, uploaded to Instagram by at least two participants, was not just a party memento, but an important clue to journalists that Milton’s activities extended far beyond the borders of Ukraine, where it had been orchestrating a boiler-room scam out of a Kyiv mall that duped victims out of their life savings.

https://www.occrp.org/en/fraud-factory/web-of-call-center-scammers-reaches-into-albania-georgia

After persuading a victim to part with an initial investment of around $100, DN said, the salesperson then attempts to persuade the victim to install a program said to assist with financial advice. In fact, it provides Milton’s staff with full control of the host computer. The claims include that “big” loans were taken out in victims’ names without their permission using banking data stolen via the app and ID information that victims were asked to provide.

After initial investments, victims are shown figures suggesting high returns. Yet when they tried to withdraw the funds, the money disappeared, the investigation found.

https://www.coindesk.com/sweden-calls-for-action-over-ukraine-crypto-fraud-factory

The Bulgarian novelist and playwright Georgi Markov was a Communist-era dissident best known outside Bulgaria for being assassinated with a ricin-poisoned device (believed to hidden at the tip of an umbrella). It happened in central London on September 7, 1978. He died four days later, age 49.

The murder was a textbook case of a KGB-style killing and was likely the work of the Bulgarian Communist regime’s secret police. One can read about it at The Forensic Library in books published by the Royal Society of Chemistry and on Wikipedia or watch movies about the case on YouTube here and here. It is known as the infamous “Umbrella Murder.”

To many of us in Bulgaria, Markov is a hero. His closest friend, Dimitar Bochev, aptly stated that it was his “talent” as a writer that got him killed. I’m proud to tell you why as part of this weekly series on FEE.org.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Markov emerged as a prolific author of novels, short stories, and plays, for which he received numerous awards. As he became increasingly and devastatingly critical of communism and socialism, the regime of Todor Zhivkov (long-time Communist dictator of Bulgaria) began keeping an eye on him. The country’s censors blocked the printing of some of his works and banned others altogether, but that didn’t prevent him from becoming a well-known and admired author in his native land.

George Orwell was Markov’s favorite author, and Orwellian themes showed up in much of his writing. Markov’s novel, The Roof, for example, focused on the collapse of the roof of the Lenin Steel Mill and the comical efforts of central planners to rebuild it. It was banned by the government.

“Not to Live by Lies” was Markov’s credo, as much as it was that of fellow writers Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in Russia and Vaclav Havel in Czechoslovakia.

A popular Bulgarian literary fashion of the 1960s involved a small group of extraordinary and original authors, relatively carefree and nonchalant fellows of which Markov was one. For the most part, they were not overt rebels, but they did resent the daily lies imposed upon the Bulgarian people by communism. The characters of their novels were normal humans with doubts and weaknesses, regular people dealing with the challenges of life. Under communism, those challenges were ubiquitous. These writers fostered a quest for normalcy which, twenty years later, helped mightily to topple the regime.

“Not to Live by Lies” was Markov’s credo, as much as it was that of fellow writers Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in Russia and Vaclav Havel in Czechoslovakia. In an essay he wrote comparing communism with the years before 1944, he explained that the most important change was that people were forced to live in fear and lies. Bulgaria, like the other East bloc communist nations, was an Orwellian nightmare come to life.

https://fee.org/articles/georgi-markov-refused-to-be-silent-about-communism-and-paid-with-his-life/

Top 10 Propagandists Who Pushed Russia Collusion Hoax

Here are ten of the top promoters of the narrative:

CNN — CNN first reported that President Trump was briefed on the “pee dossier,” which prompted BuzzFeed to publish the dossier in full. CNN has also given vast amounts of airtime to analysts, former officials, and Democrat lawmakers pushing the Russia collusion narrative. It has also published a number of stories that advanced the narrative, including several that turned out to be false.

BuzzFeed — BuzzFeed first published the “pee dossier” in full — which released to the public unfounded accusations against President Trump, including the unverified claim that he hired prostitutes to urinate on a bed during a visit to Moscow in 2013. At the time of publish, the dossier remained “salacious and unverified,” in then-FBI Director James Comey’s own words.

The Washington Post — The Washington Post was on the forefront of publishing anonymously-sourced stories suggesting collusion between Russia and Trump campaign officials. It published the intelligence leak that former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn discussed sanctions with Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak that led to his firing later. Flynn ended up pleading guilty to one count of lying. There were no collusion charges.

The New York Times — The New York Times published a front-page, top-of-the-page story on Inauguration Day suggesting that President-elect Trump’s associates had been “wiretapped.” Though the report admitted, “It is not clear whether the intercepted communications had anything to do with Mr. Trump’s campaign, or Mr. Trump himself,” it set the very inauguration of President Trump as part of a Russian conspiracy.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) — Schiff, now the House Intelligence Committee chairman, has been the No. 1 pusher of the Russia collusion hoax in Congress. Absent any direct evidence of collusion, Schiff has argued for months that the evidence is “hiding in plain sight.” Schiff has also tried to fundraise off of the hoax.

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) — Lieu has been a close second to Schiff’s promotion of the Russia hoax in Congress. He once called for a pause in the “entire Trump agenda” until an investigation into the collusion ties was completed.

Benjamin Wittes — Wittes, a journalist who is close to former FBI Director James Comey, was a lead inciter on Twitter of the Russia hoax, infamously tweeting cannon gifs every time a new sensational report came out that advanced the Russia collusion narrative.

Louise Mensch — Mensch, a former British parliamentarian, has become a household name among the anti-Trump resistance in the U.S., with her fantastical tweets about “sealed indictments” and grand juries.

Hillary Clinton — Clinton, the day after losing the election to Trump, wanted to promote the idea that Comey’s reopening of the investigation into her emails and Russia led to her defeat, according to the book Shattered. “She wants to make sure all these narratives get spun the right way,” a Clinton ally told the book’s authors.

Robby Mook — Mook was the first Clinton campaign official to go on record suggesting there was collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, during an ABC News interview at the Democratic National Convention in July 2016, shortly after stolen DNC emails were released.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/03/22/top-10-propagandists-who-pushed-russia-collusion-hoax/#