An occupational hazard of suggesting that the US, NATO or Ukraine’s own government did things that made Russia’s invasion of Ukraine more likely is that you will be accused of being a “Putin apologist” or “stooge of the Kremlin”.
This is clearly an attempt to win the argument through name-calling (like claiming it’s “racist” to criticise Black Lives Matter). But that hasn’t stopped it becoming a standard debating tactic. Of course, there may be commentators who genuinely support Putin, in which case “Putin apologist” would be an accurate descriptor. But most do not.
The latest example of the ‘compare your opponent to Putin’ tactic is a list of individuals who “promote narratives consonant with Russian propaganda”, compiled by the Ukraine Government’s “Centre for Countering Disinformation”.
This has been described as a “blacklist” by some critics, although so far as I’m aware, it does not call for any sanctions against the individuals listed. It really is just name-calling. Specific quotes written in Ukrainian are listed next to each speaker, but no refutations or counter-arguments are provided.
So who’s included on the list? Although I didn’t recognise most of the names, some were familiar to me: Eric Zemmour, Tulsi Gabbard, Rand Paul, Steve Hanke, Jeffrey Sachs, Glenn Greenwald, John Mearsheimer, and a few others.
Of course, “promoting narratives consonant with Russian propaganda” isn’t necessarily name-calling, since some aspects of Russian propaganda might be true, and most of us want to “promote narratives” that are consonant with the truth. But it’s pretty obvious this isn’t what the compilers of the list hand in mind.
One name is notable by its absence: Pope Francis. He is about as prominent an individual as you get, and has claimed – not once but twice – that NATO may have “provoked” Russia’s invasion. When asked to clarify his remarks, the Pope explained that he is “against reducing complexity to the distinction between good guys and bad guys, without reasoning about roots and interests”.
Pope Francis was presumably left off the list for PR reasons (even though his view seems to be roughly the same as John Mearsheimer’s). There are a lot of Catholics in the countries supporting Ukraine, and they probably wouldn’t appreciate the head of their religion being accused of spreading Russian propaganda.
I can understand why Ukraine’s Government compiled the list. They’re trying to win a war, and they believe (with some justification) that the individuals included on the list make that more difficult. However, the move seems likely to backfire, as it will be seen – even by those who fully support Ukraine – as an attack on the free press.
“The Ukrainians have the absolute right to pursue whatever war policies they want,” wrote Glenn Greenwald (who did not appreciate having been included). “But when they start demanding that my country and my government use its resources to fuel their war effort, then I, along with other Americans, have the absolute right to question that policy or to point out its dangers or risks.”
Rather than compiling a list of supposed Russian propagandists, uploading a document that refutes their arguments would have been far more productive. I, and I suspect many others, would be genuinely interested to read that.
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“Our aim, as always, is to foster inclusivity in our school community, and be a place where children and their families feel safe, welcomed and valued.”
This is just the ideology of the Great Replacement. It’s always the English people who have to adapt, lose their culture, and lose their traditions in the name of the bogus category of “inclusivity”. Why do the English have to be excluded so that outsiders can feel “safe”? Why can’t the English be welcomed in English schools?
I shared this story last week so the Telegraph are a bit slow on the uptake. But this illustrates the point further that it’s not even the colonizing-obsessed ‘incomers’ that are our biggest threat. The enemy lies within, and always has done. Those who actively subordinate themselves for the conquering masses deserve nothing but our contempt. For it’s only with their input and considerable effort that victory for those who despise us will be possible;
“If I had but one bullet and were faced by both an enemy and a traitor, I would let the traitor have it.” Corneliu Zelea Codreanu
The enemy lies within
This is our situation, isn’t it? An enemy political party has been able to form an enemy government.
We’re getting screwed over by our own kind, Jeff. Across all contexts, not just when it comes to immigration and the erasure of our culture, history and race. Of course, history is littered with examples of similar. The scamdemic years being a very recent ( and terrifying, as far as wake-up calls and the effectiveness of PsyOps go ) illustration of just how quickly and efficiently many people, including those we thought we knew well personally, can be weaponised and turned against us. But I think weak people have always been weaponised by those that seek to oppress, conquer and control, haven’t they? Citizens turn on their fellow countrymen in a heartbeat. A tale as old as time. Obviously women trampling all over women’s rights in support of the trans agenda is another very big issue and example of just how treacherous people can behave ( with catastrophic consequences ) when they become members of a cult. So yes, ‘enemy within’, cuts it because can we ever win as long as we have these betrayers to contend with?
Enough is enough. Put your foot down. It really is easy.
Evil is the word, WEF puppets in charge in the Uk. Now the Uk is no longer a free country. It is being destroyed, decimated. Ask any farmer, ask any older person who worked all their life, raised a famIly and paid their taxes. The UK is being destroyed by your own Gov’t.
And yet even a goodly amount of those that are aware of being screwed still vote for establishment parties.
school and teachers are in the majority Marxists, many of them don’t even realise it, they see their role as one of indoctrination into the religion of Marxism ann not a role to educate in academic or classical subjects, after all they are white supremecist, Colonial and bad
And as Marxism ( and by default, the woke mind virus ) has infiltrated all higher education establishments how on earth does one break this cycle? As far as I know it’s not possible to become a qualified teacher without going to university, and so we have a very toxic feedback loop and vicious circle. As older teachers gradually retire, who came before the wokeness was really a thing and took a firm hold of education, we are left with a load of Lefty Woketard automatons teaching our kids. What does the future hold, in this realistic and depressing scenario?
Actually it is not so hard there are hardly any children left.
So we can machine gun all the teachers, no problem.
Spot on Mogs.
The message from the school should be…”we are an English school and celebrating Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ, is an integral part of our way of life. All children will attend the pantomime in the knowledge that this fosters inclusivity. There will be NO exceptions.”
That should sort it.
DEI like woke is dead. Please pass it on. Do not expose your children to the sick ways so certain people. You know what is honorable, and true. Stick you your beliefs.
“Ho no we dont”
“Ho yes we will ”
If your offended by the word Christmas, DON’T COME!
and sack that so called head teacher!!
Sums it up, I’d say. It’s called ”tolerance”, and it’s a two-way street;
https://x.com/DaveAtherton20/status/1859179569472790936
Top comment;
”I’ve said it since forever…
My wife and I (same sex) can’t go to Damascus and build a church. And that’s fine. It’s why we wouldn’t try.
But equally, don’t come over here, Mohamed, and tell me I’m a sinner.”
The words on the poster seem eminently reasonable to me.
Presumably when this head teacher and her family go on holiday to Turkey, she in turn demands all local minarets be covered with industrial sheeting and all calls to prayer are delivered through wireless headphones.
Is this idiotic dhimmi teacher able to tell us what is ‘unsafe’ about holding a pantomime that dares to mention Christmas in ( once ) Great Britain?? I swear to god, these traitors incense me. Insulting as hell, this attitude, and I’m not even a Christian. Could it be that the spineless muppet has pledged her allegiance to the likes of this godawful woman, Zara Mohammed and her ilk? Well we know that white people and Christians aren’t allowed to possess any victim cards. Not with a certain demographic hogging them all so as to remain a protected class of people with seemingly V.I.P status that are evidently above the law in many instances. What would Richard the Lionheart say, or my great-grandad, come to that?
”There’s nothing racist about being sick to the back teeth of violent Islamism. Ask Sikhs. Ask Jews. Ask the child victims of your grooming gangs.
Question: What would it take for you to understand that the problem is not the British people, but with Islam?
Answer: You understand alright. You know full well. Your relentless desire to dominate and bully with false information and emotional blackmail is just another head of the monster. You’re part of the problem.
God help us, we’re the most tolerant country on earth. We need to learn how not to be. Pretty damn quick.”
https://x.com/KiszelyPhilip/status/1858792540180254723
Then the answer is this head teacher should not have anything in the school related to Christmas as clearly the Christian religion is offensive to her and her staff, BUT on that premise she cannot allow any other mentions associations or celebrations of other Religious festivals, this would include Muslim, Hindu,Jewish, Budhist, Catholic etc. ALL must be banned.
Personally if my child was at such a frankly discriminatory, woke school I would remove them as clearly its a very bad influence on a normal childs development.
As parents might notice when their kids inform them that there are 70 different genders.
Inclusivity = Christians not welcome
Diversity = Anybody except Christians
So much for the season of good will to all.
I wonder what all the good Christians feel about it. Might they feel a little excluded by being told that their religious festivals are not to be celebrated.
However Divali is fine and Eid is a cause for celebration.
Yes. The offence is taken by the secular left, not members of other religions.
Well, I though Diversity, Equity and Inclusion encompassed multi-culturalism… Why is this “multi-culturalism” not allowed include references to our culture in a pantomime?
Where I teach we have an annual ‘festival of culture’. What this means in effect is a celebration of all cultures except for the majority one…
Is there anything more stupid than people avoiding “religion” and then referring to the Winter Holidays, which literally means the Winter Holy Days – you know, Christmas? Like Common Era, which is based on the birth of Christ….These people are educationally subnormal and subverted.
So according to the head: The school takes pride in its “commitment to celebrating Christmas with traditional festivities”. In the name of consistency (and inclusivity), surely these should be removed as well?
I used to live as a British ex-patriate in Malaysia. I’m trying to envisage a scenario where references to Islam were removed at all times of year apart from the holy month of Ramadan, to make the white expatriates and non-Islamic residents feel “safe and valued”!
Our aim, as always, is to foster inclusivity in our school community, and be a place where children and their families feel safe, welcomed and valued.
Which part of a festival to celebrate God’s universal love for mankind despite of its sinfulness, as symbolized by the birth of his very own son, endangers anybody’s safety? Jesus also plays an important path in islamic faith (as son of God who will the separate man into good and evil on judgement day from the mosque in Damascus), BTW.
Anything but Ms Ovendon atheistic sensibilities which cannot tolerate the notion of a saviour God as that would be at odds with geriatric post-communists saving the planet from climate change?
I have done Jack and the Beanstalk twice and there is no mention of Christmas in it. It is not a nativity play which I assume are long gone from any schools these days. In fact none of the pantomimes I have done over a 15 year career have any mention of Christmas.
Does this mean we wont have to ‘Celebrate Eid’.
No surer way to foment resentment than to take offence on behalf of people who aren’t actually offended (but who are rarely consulted).
Children will feel safe and valued – but only the selected few.
Simple solution: parents don’t go, and keep the children away from school.
In my entire life (72) in no circumstances – work place, with friends, at social events – have I ever heard a non-Christian expressing they felt unsafe and not valued at Christmas or other Christian feasts such as Easter.
In fact Jews, Hindu, Muslims in my experience are enthusiastic participants in festivities and celebrations.
Our business received Christmas cards from our distributors in Muslim Countries and Israel.
I think we can safely be sure this loathsome p.o.s woman will have thoroughly celebrated diwali and eid.
But living in a nominally Christian country she can’t mention Christmas?
Seriously these people are fucking mental.
Who could possibly be offended?
Presumably tall people might be offended by the depiction of the giant. Also, what about the trans community?
The Christmas spirit disappeared in 1986 and you aren’t going to get it back even with fly agaric mushrooms. It was in deep antiquity a very deep time of scrying. There was beer fermented with hallucinogenic mushrooms and two pints of this stuff would have you in a serious state of reverie and the after-effects would linger forever. In deepest winter in parts of Siberia there are towns that rely on supplies being brought in. In some of these towns the delivery men very promptly off-load the goods and disappear because they know that the whole town is deep in the depths of an alcohol binge and it would be unwise to encounter them.
Cheer up.
Just remember that a great Profit will come to the land.
Or more precisely, to all our Beloved Leaders of the land.
It would be lovely if the indigenous British Population felt “safe, welcome and valued” for once.
Get your kid out of that school and place them in a school with similar values to yours.
Of course the children should feel safe and welcome, but we are in England and in England we celebrate Christmas. End of discussion. (And I am not even religious!)
Practising exclusivity this year Jack?