- Velshi, MSNBC, protest for insulting racialized communities, continues to grow louder -
And rather than address his comments - if you ain't white, and if you ain't Christian ... - directly, and hopefully honestly, MSNBC and Velshi have chosen to respond to the mounting criticism, and it continues and will continue to grow, by cutting and airing new promotional videos.
The first espousing Velshi's steadfast adherence to democratic principles, which while interesting, in no way responds to the issues his comments have raised.
After watching the second new video, one could rightfully be inspired to believe that Velshi's father was, in fact, Mahatma Gandhi, who actually stood up to the system in South Africa, while others, sharing Velshi's exact demographics, sought the distinction of 'honorary white', and were prone, not to oppose, but to assist in administering the South African system of apartheid.
Some of those who failed to gain the 'honorary white' distinction, emigrated to other countries.
Lofty videos, and other distractions, Ali Velshi, are not going to calm the rising tempest. _ _ _ _
... when all else is said and done, the question remains, why did Putin invade the Ukraine?
read the answer to that question, by clicking - here -
Putin's planned four to 6-day war, enters its eighth month, as civilian death tolls rise, US 'Putin' Republicans, and Canadian Conservatives act as a fifth column, Russian media provided wall-to-wall coverage of the mob violence, & there were as many Russian reporters at mob violence event as Canadians, go figure.
Fox News presenter, Carlson, broadcasts pro-Putin invasion message on Russian state media.
And, the height of hypocrisy is illustrated by the Jake Tapper, CNN, interview with President Zelensky, remembering that it was pro-Trump CNN's, Fareed Zakaria, that was going to air a program on which, Zelensky was to announce, under pressure from the pro-Putin Trump administration, an investigation into the Biden's.
E LaMont Gregory MSc Oxon
Putin invades the Ukraine, 24 February 2022, and will ultimately stand trial before an international tribunal, for war crimes and crimes against humanity
... the - Milosevich principle - places Putin in violation of war crimes, and crimes against humanity **
Ali Velshi, a Canadian newsreader on MSNBC, interjected his own brand of North American high racial resentment into the Ukraine invasion and forced migration story. While, standing on Moldavan soil, Velshi stated that 'if you ain't white, and you ain't Christian, you are not getting into Moldova'. Begs, the question, how he got in.
Velshi's statement, if verified, would place Moldova in violation of the Conventions on Refugees and Asylum, among others, to which Moldova has been a signatory since 2002.
This author has written the head of state of Moldova and the relevant UN Secretariat, asking for clarification, with a copy of those messages sent to PM Trudeau.
There are three distinct possibilities here, two of which two are worthy of a public airing; either, Velshi has uncovered violations of international legal agreements that are concerning, or Velshi and by implication, MSNBC, have defamed the people and government of Moldova, and racialized communities worldwide.
In either case, pending an exhaustive investigation, Velshi must be taken off the airways. His comments fall into the same category as Chis Hayes, still trying to make his book, a colony within a nation, relevant, stating during one of his evening broadcasts, that the richest African American, was worst off than the poorest Caucasian American. Is there no shame, at MSNBC?
Alternatively, one can continue to dwell in the right-leaning, Conservative/Republican largely, world of Fox News, Ingraham and Hannity; little-Fox news (CNN), Blitzer and Tapper; or sly-Fox news (MSNBC), with Wallace and O'Donnell: Fox News-like Canada (CTV), Cathy from Ottawa, & sly-Fox News Canada (CBC), Barton & co.
There is no comfort to found in the fact that the new CNN chief, Chris Licht, has given guidance to his newsreaders to move beyond 'the Big Lie'. It merely confirms that the largely Republican group of CNN newsreaders pandered to it, that is, keeping the false narrative alive, as was the case under the departing chief, Jeff Zucker.
It is worth noting, that it was Zucker, while at NBC, who reached out to racist Donald Trump and structured the Apprentice program. And then moved to CNN when that station decided that the Fox News format of opinion rather than news was more profitable.
Jeff Zucker will now fade away into his preferred home of nationalists and supremacists.
Licht has a lot of house cleaning to do at CNN.
Not the least of which concerns the debacle of Chris Cuomo, one of Zucker's darlings, who used airtime to suggest that the Trump that we know now, was not the same Donald Trump with which the Cuomo family had been decades-long friends.
And, the Keilar/McCabe highly imaginative reporting of the Nashville Christmas Day bomber, and least we forget that Zucker was playing a prominent role in trying to be the station on which Zelensky would announce a probe into the Biden's, in line with another Trump election plot.
... either, Velshi has uncovered a violation of Conventions that are concerning, or Velshi and by implication, MSNBC, have defamed the people and government of Moldova
And, on the subject of European unity, it should noted that, ... while EU leaders met, to agree sanctions against Russia, and aid for the Ukraine, the Dutch leader is hiding one of Putin's daughter in Holland, and the entourage of Russian financial interests that surround her, the Dutch people shocked by the revelation, have called for her deportation
... the - Milosevich principle - places Putin in violation of war crimes, and crimes against humanity **
... 10 April 2022, Putin's deadly folly continues, after sham vote on sham republics, Russian forces consolidate Donetsk & Luhansk, and advance on Kiev & Odessa, anti-war protests spread in Russia & prompt mass arrests, The recent attacks and the occupation of Mariupol, including firing on civilian protestors and reported deportations of Ukrainian citizens from eastern Ukraine, mirror the crimes for which Milosevic was indicted in the former Yugoslavia.
- Invasion -
At the time it appeared to be an important step forward, but there was no agreement on Crimea, making the measures called for in the letter to PM Justin Trudeau - below - necessary and urgent.
the central element the West, in general, got wrong was an inability to see the need for constant engagement with the Ukraine, not less engagement, and now, all is not lost, but it will take leadership and resolve
Interference in Crimea is contrary to the principle of state sovereignty. Support for secessionists in Eastern Ukraine violates the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other states. The blockade of Ukrainian shipping lanes, is an act of war. Downing a Ukrainian civilian aircraft, an attack on non-combatants by Russian ally Iran, constitutes a crime against humanity.
All of these acts are war crimes. And, it is high time to constrain President Putin, that is, Russia's direct aggression, and the senseless loss of life that that aggression has wreaked upon Ukraine, and the world community.
The silence of Washington cannot be justification for the silence of Ottawa.
In a democracy, it is the right, and the duty of citizens to set the agenda for governmental action, and not the other way around.
And as such, please read the letter to PM Justin Trudeau below, and click on his email address at the bottom of the letter, and let the Prime Minister know that we stand with the people of Ukraine, and support President Zelensky addressing the Parliament of Canada.
This gives each of us an opportunity to send a message to President Putin and the citizens of the Russian Federation that their flagrant, and horrific disregard for the rule of law and the sanctity of human life will no longer be tolerated.
Please, take a moment and write Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
... the tragedy of Ukrainian Airlines Flight 752 reminds us all that there is no safety in distant thunder
8 March 2022
although the Paris agreement called for a cessation of hostilities and disengagement of forces in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of eastern Ukraine, Putin refused to discuss the fate of the Ukrainian Peninsula, Crimea
And now, the candidate that ran on a platform to - Make Russia Great Again - has coerced his parliament into a sham recognition of the breakaway eastern regions of the Ukraine, Donetsk and Luhansk, pictured in orange in map above on the right.
And thus, Putin's folly continues. But it has not distracted the Russian people from a myriad of domestic woes, such as, despite public protests, Putin signed into law a pension reform bill, which increases the retirement age, formerly 55 for women and 60 for men, to age 60 and 65, respectively.
This is the same blowhard, chief of KGB headquarters in East Berlin when the wall fell, and crowds surrounded the KGB building, Putin was discovered, after two days, curled up in a fetal position, in a crawl space, mumbling something about he felt like he was drowning, before he was whisked away, under the cover of darkness, back to mother Russia to recuperate.
This helps to explain Putin's readily observable irrational, in fact, over-the-top reaction to any kind of spontaneous public demonstrations, which is why Putin should be met with mass demonstrations, whenever and wherever he travels. _ _ _ _ _ _
Open letter to PM Justin Trudeau
The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau PC MP Prime Minister of Canada Ottawa justin.trudeau@parl.gc.ca
Sir,
... why are Canadian troops in Latvia?
Why are Canadian troops in Latvia, German troops in Lithuania and British troops in Estonia?
Canadian troops are in Latvia as part of a NATO mission to deter aggression from Russia.
If, the goal is to deter aggression from Russia, the question becomes:
What is the best way to achieve that objective?
The best way to deter acts of aggression, is to halt current acts of aggression, reverse past acts of aggression, and to undertake measures to prevent future acts of aggression.
As a result of the Paris Summit agreements, the first objective, i.e., bringing current hostilities to an end by the end of 2019, and disengagement of forces by mid-January, may have been achieved, ostensibly. Given the fact that hundreds and hundreds have died in the fighting in the eastern Ukraine, and more than one million people have been internally displaced, this is an important step forward.
The circumstances of Crimea, however, stand in the way of the second objective to deter future aggression, and that is to reverse past acts of aggression.
Therefore, it should aid greatly the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, in the ongoing negotiations with the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, if a clear and unequivocal message were to be sent to the Russian President, on behalf of the People and the sovereign Government of Canada, calling on Russia, to maintain peace, stability and the harmonious relations among and between nations, to cease and desist all activities in the eastern Donbass region of Ukraine and to withdraw forthwith all Russian troops from Crimea.
Thereby, returning Ukraine to the status quo, internationally-recognized borders, as they existed prior to the Russian incursion into Crimea in 2014, which encouraged ethnic Russians in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of eastern Ukraine to undertake, by force, and with resources supplied by Russia, the attempted secession of those regions from Ukraine proper.
Further, in aid of the ongoing negotiations, between Ukraine, Russia, France, and Germany, each of the other members of NATO, other Europe states, and the Commonwealth of Nations ought to be encouraged to do likewise.
And, as Prime Minister of Canada, it should be highly advantageous to encourage the aforementioned sovereign states to join with Canada in this effort.
It is necessary, to safeguard against future aggression that the message to the Russian president should be earnest and from a very wide audience.
If, the people's representatives do not act, the people, the citizens of this great, sovereign and peaceful nation, ought to send a message to Vladimir Putin and the people of the Russian Federation, through the Embassy of Russia in Ottawa and by other means, expressing their resolve for Russia to honor the Paris Summit agreements, calling for the cessation of hostilities in eastern Ukraine. And, stating the resolve of the Canadian people that a withdrawal of Russian troops from Crimea, is a matter the Russian president cannot unilaterally decide not to discuss.
Crimea is part of the discussion.
In addition, a resolution from the Parliament of Canada, expressing the will of the Canadian People and its government is in order.
This is not the first time Canada has been called upon to play an important role in Ukrainian affairs. In 2008, the Government of Canada recognised the Holodomor as an act of Genocide against the Ukrainian people, and established the 4th Saturday of November as National Ukrainian Famine and Genocide Memorial Day.
The Canadian journalist Rhea Clyman dedicated herself to bringing the deliberate nature of the Holodomor to the world's attention.
On the 23rd of November 2019, Canadians commemorated the 86th Anniversary of the Holodomor. The word Holodomor, is a porte-manteau of the Ukrainian words - moryty holodom - which means to inflict death by hunger, starvation, or exhausting work.
During the Holodomor, 1932 - 1933, millions of Ukrainians were murdered systematically by the Soviet regime under Stalin, as stated by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, "... because of the Ukrainian people's aspiration for independence, their desire to maintain their traditions and speak their language."
For the past six years Ukraine has been under relentless and brutal attack, and they need you to act, Mr Prime Minister.
Rest assured, Mr Prime Minister, the people of Canada are well aware that Canadian - Russian relations are outwardly complex. At the same time, although contentious, there is engagement on Arctic issues, there is also the Russian threat of unspecified retaliation against Canada for its passage of the Magnitsky anti-corruption legislation.
Relations further complicated by Canadian - European interactions, as well as, Canada's commitments to NATO.
The Canadian people are also aware of warnings of Russian interference in Canadian elections, and if, Russia was not involved in the Canadian version of Brexit, Wexit, it would be the only such movement on this planet that Russia was not involved in, in some meaningful way.
And naturally, we look forward to the day President Zelensky addresses the Parliament of Canada, and when a Prime Minister of Canada, in a show of solidarity, addresses the Verkhovna Rada, the legislative assembly of Ukraine.
Whereas, the introductory statement identifies Canadian, German and British troops deployed in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, respectively, it is understood that there are four such deployments in that region, which include troops from seven NATO allies. In fact, in Latvia, Italian forces work with their Canadian counterparts to form a deterrent force.
It is clearly not in the best interest of regional security and stability for Ukraine to disintegrate into ethnic and linguistic enclaves, as did the Former Yugoslavia. In that case, the failure to engage in the enforcement of the border agreements resulted in a long and costly conflict. It is perhaps, one of the most significant strategic dilemmas of our age that Ukraine and Georgia, as well as, the Baltic states, should find themselves interlaced within the geopolitical legacy of Russia and Europe. Because of Russia’s perceived need to protect itself from the possibility of being invaded from the West, and Europe’s fear of aggression from the East.
It is high time for Europe and Russia to negotiate a 'no first strike' accord, that is, each shall undertake not to be the first to initiate a strike, an attack against the other, an end to the possibility of conflict. Thereupon, the people of Ukraine, Georgia, and the Baltics generally, can determine and be secure in their independence, in their neutrality, and in their chosen alliances. With that said, it my fervent hope, Mr Prime Minister, that you will do all that you can to support Ukraine in negotiations with Russia, and to convey the will of Canadians for a cessation to all hostilities as agreed to at the Paris Summit, and the withdrawal of Russian troops from Crimea. The Russian Naval base in Crimea must become a matter of contractual relations between an independent Ukraine and an independent Russia.
Thanking you in advance for your thoughtful consideration of these matters.
I anticipate your response.
It is clearly not in the best interest of regional security and stability for Ukraine to disintegrate into ethnic and linguistic enclaves, as did the Former Yugoslavia.
... we are not, helpless, and yet, the St Louis is still out to sea
Best Regards,
E LaMont Gregory MSc Oxon
- - - - - - Please, take a moment and write Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Note from the author:
The response to this letter to PM Justin Trudeau concerning Ukraine, has been inspiring. Most importantly, it illustrates that people are aware of the circumstances of the Ukraine and that they care about Ukrainians. There are 1.4 million Canadians who identify themselves as Ukrainian or of Ukrainian origin, and slightly more than a million members of the Ukrainian diaspora in the United States, but the response to this letter shows much wider interest.
There is, however, one common theme, and that is that Russian aggression must be kept in check, and Ukraine requires our best efforts in that regard.
The tragedy of Ukrainian Airlines Flight 752 reminds us all that there is no safety in distant thunder.
This letter to PM Trudeau was first published on the 9th of December 2019, and after a plethora of comments from readers suggesting that there is a positive role for the Prime Minister of Canada to play in support of Ukraine, this author is of the opinion that those comments ought to be sent to PM Justin Trudeau, directly, which can be done by clicking or copying Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's email address below.