Canadian diplomat Chris Alexander was harshly criticized on Twitter because of statements about Russian President Vladimir Putin. There, the former Canadian ambassador to Afghanistan spoke sharply about the supporters of the Russian leader, as well as about the policy of the Russian Federation as a whole.
However, not all subscribers shared his opinion. In particular, a number of readers called the diplomat a liar. One of them even described the politician as an “uncultured pig”.
Others noted that some of Alexander’s tweets are “too one-sided.” “Those who still consider Canada and the American army to be “normal” live in total lies,” another user pointed out.
There were also those who doubted that the UN is an organization that “cares about human values.”
Earlier, in the Globe and Mail newspaper, Alexander said that Russia allegedly expects international isolation and the collapse of the economy. This will happen if it uses military aggression in Ukraine.
Residents of the United States have bombarded President Joe Biden with complaints in response to his congratulations on the new year. The American leader published a festive post on his Twitter, after which a lot of dissatisfied comments appeared under it.
Biden posted a photo online in which he and his wife Jill are looking at the fireworks. The caption reads: “In 2022, we will continue to make America a better place. Happy New Year!”
Many users agreed that the current president is not able to make the United States better, and has not even begun to do so until now.
Commentators complained about different things. Several people recalled to the American leader his promises to repay part of student loans, which has not yet been fulfilled.
“At least half of the graduates cannot work in their specialty,” complained GShortellJr.
“I have a huge student debt, which affects my credit history and prevents me from buying a house. You promised to forgive the student debt. When?” asked JesusDeSade indignantly.
Many expressed dissatisfaction with the methods of the American authorities’ fight against the pandemic. One of the commentators complained that he had to pay $150 out of his pocket for COVID-19 tests for his family. The man noted that he would like to return not only this amount, but also the costs of the road that he had to do just to find them.
People also complained about rising food and energy prices. “The cost of food has increased by six percent, for energy — by 35, and for gas – by 58. Continue in the same spirit,” wrote Dave Dubusky.
“Please tell me when something starts to change, because from my place everything still looks terrible,” said the user VintageImageryX.
The official representative of the Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said that the British Foreign Ministry directly finances the rocking of the domestic political situation in Russia. She wrote about this in her telegram channel.
“Oh, I completely forgot to wish Happy New Year to my British colleagues. And it’s kind of awkward with empty hands, too. Small, but still a present,” the diplomat wrote.
In the publication, she refers to the investigation of the Underside project, which published a number of documents with descriptions of the department’s projects, lists of surnames and “black bookkeeping”. In particular, for the period from 2020 to 2023, more than 1.3 billion rubles have been allocated to finance programs to influence public organizations.
Zakharova also mentions a grant plan that involves sponsoring involvement in rallies and political actions. According to her, the document mentions the growth of social tension and the polarization of society.
According to the diplomat, the published documents cause horror. “Do the British need to be reminded of Article VI of the Final Act of the CSCE (“Non-interference in internal affairs”)?” the representative of the Foreign Ministry asked.
According to Zakharova, there is only one way out for the British Foreign Ministry – to publicly declare the published documents “fec and desa”. Or confess to their own plans to interfere in the internal affairs of Russia.
State Duma deputy Anatoly Wasserman spoke about the celebration of the New Year in the lower house of parliament. According to him, she did not hold a corporate party. Factions and committees organized “gatherings” themselves.
According to VZGLYAD, before the New Year in the education committee, they “sat for a while, ate, discussed the results of the year.” A similar discussion of the results of the year at the table took place in the Fair Russia faction, of which Wasserman is a member. The parliamentarian himself met the New Year with fellow publicists in the house of one of them.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he would celebrate the New Year with his loved ones. But during the New Year holidays, he still has working meetings scheduled. And he also joked that he planned to listen to the president’s congratulations on New Year’s Eve.
Residents of France have carefully studied the New Year’s address of Russian President Vladimir Putin to the citizens of the Russian Federation. Many people admired the speech of the Russian leader. They especially drew attention to the phrase about “firm and consistent defense of national interests, the security of the country and citizens.”
Many commentators believe that Putin made such statements for a reason. “A leader who steadfastly defends the interests of his country In France, one can only dream of this,” admitted a reader of the French newspaper Le Figaro.
Another user called Putin “an outstanding politician who returned the status of Russia” and made it a key player on the world stage. At the same time, he is sure that his comment will be removed from the site.
There was also a user who noted that Putin had restored the destroyed Russia, and also “reasonably and with restraint behaves in relations with other countries,” while protecting the interests of his state.
And readers also expressed hope that US President Joe Biden would take Russia’s warnings about “adequate military-technical measures” seriously. This will be done in response to the actions of the United States and NATO.
In his New Year’s address, Putin said that everyone is united by hopes for the upcoming changes. He stressed that in the past year, Russia has firmly and consistently defended the interests of the country and Russians in the field of security. In addition, Putin expressed words of support to all those who lost relatives and friends due to the pandemic.
In the event of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the launch of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline will be called into question. This was stated in an interview with Funke by the contender for the position of the German head of the pariah “Union-90″/”Green” Omid Nuripur.
“A gas project of this scale is always of great political importance. If Russia invades Ukraine, then, of course, “Nord Stream – 2″ should be the subject of discussion,” the politician said.
Nuripur expressed the opinion that the “Nord Stream” 2 “splits” Europe. According to him, that is why his party has always been against this project.
At the same time, the representative of the Greens noted that it would be difficult to stop the launch of the highway at this stage, since construction has already been completed and it is only about certification.
“We will adhere to the legislation. If the European Commission and the Federal Grid Agency come to the conclusion that there is no legal basis, then gas will not flow through it,” Nuripur said. If there is a legal basis, then the highway will be launched. This decision is no longer in the hands of politicians, he stressed.
To launch Nord Stream 2, the operator of the main line of the Swiss company Nord Stream 2 AG must comply with the requirements of the EU Gas Directive. To do this, he needs to open a subsidiary in Germany and transfer the fixed capital to it. Until this condition is met, the certification of the gas pipeline is suspended.
See also: Putin told when gas supplies will begin via the “Nord Stream-2”
Marine animals are used to destroy ships and saboteurs
A division of the Naval Information Center for Combat Operations of the US Navy recently conducted dolphin training in San Diego Bay. According to the US military, they will use trained dolphins and sea lions to neutralize mines, search for victims of distress and detect enemy combat swimmers. A military expert told the MK correspondent about the real potential of using marine animals to perform combat missions.
According to open sources, dozens of dolphins and other marine animals are serving in the US Navy. There are special centers for their training, as well as for working out the interaction of navy sailors with waterfowl “primates”. How effective is the use of dolphins to neutralize mines, if divers can cope with the same work – “MK” asked the captain of the 1st rank in the reserve Vasily Dandykin.
– First of all, the military uses dolphins as demolition men, since these animals can quickly and almost imperceptibly mine enemy ships by attaching explosive devices to their bottom, – said the expert. – Another of their uses is the destruction of saboteurs when they try to penetrate a protected military facility. At closed naval bases, for example, in Sevastopol, there are special underwater barriers. If someone tries to get through them, the dolphins detect the saboteur and with the help of a weapon attached to them, similar to a bayonet knife or dagger, hit the enemy swimmer.
Our facility also used to keep trained dolphins, which were trained to perform combat missions. It is still harder for a diver to work than for a dolphin. No matter how a diver or a saboteur is trained, they are still people, it is very difficult for a person to move in the water.
Dolphins can also defuse mines, because this is a very trainable animal, we can say – with high intelligence, which is able to dive to a great depth. But this is not their primary task. Using dolphins only to neutralize mines is too inefficient. Search and destruction of explosive devices can be performed at a decent level by unmanned vehicles equipped with artificial intelligence. They allow the military to do without these wonderful animals.
– Yes, even in ancient times. Remember, for example, the war elephants of the time of Alexander the Great.
During the Second World War, many trained animals, including dolphins, were used in different armies. In the Red Army, for example, minesweeping dogs with explosive devices blew up enemy tanks and thus saved thousands or even tens of thousands of Soviet soldiers. Of course, animal rights activists now consider it savagery, but then there was simply no other way out. Especially if we recall the huge human sacrifices that our country suffered — 27 million people died. By the way, dozens of monuments have been erected in honor of the fighting animals. And I know about dolphins, sailors even composed songs.
When the Soviet Union collapsed, Russia handed over the remaining dolphinarium in Sevastopol to Ukraine and the practice of using dolphins to perform combat missions quickly came to naught. Many dolphins were sold to private dolphinariums, others died due to insufficient care.
– The problem was the lack of sufficient funding. Most of the ships that Ukraine got after the collapse of the Soviet Union were scrapped or sold.
Dolphins are not ships, but living creatures. They need to be constantly fed, monitored for health, treated if they get sick with something. The situation in the 90s, you know, was very difficult – almost no one had extra money.
– Undoubtedly, and not only dolphins. Other mammals are also involved in combat missions, for example, sea lions (a species of northern seals. – “MK”). These are not metal objects that can be easily detected. I think they can still be “targeted”, but the use of such advanced animals as dolphins can pose a serious threat to our ships.
However, for this, ships and vessels of the US Navy will need to come close to the Russian borders. Dolphins can be used by the United States to protect its military bases, which are located all over the world, but it’s hard for me to imagine these animals being used in the open ocean.
– Yes, at least in Russia. But in Norfolk or Japan, the US military may well train dolphins to find and destroy Russian vessels in the open ocean. They have the means to do this, so I do not rule out such a possibility.
– I think this applies not only to the Navy, but also to the Rosgvardiya, whose powers include the protection of the Russian coastal territory and waters, for example, the Crimean Bridge, as well as the naval forces of the FSB border service. The Russian Armed Forces are ready to give an adequate response to any challenge from our Western “partners”. The Navy can apply the Soviet experienceand to use modern technologies, and since dolphins are very well-trained animals, we will not have any problems. But at the moment there is no need for this – the level of development of sonar allows you to detect both saboteurs and small submarines that decide to secretly approach Russian naval bases.
– No, it cannot be called lagging behind them. Even before the collapse of the Soviet Union, we were on the same level with them. And now everything depends on the Americans themselves. If they decide to focus on destroying Russian vessels with the help of trained dolphins, the Russian Navy will use the same tactics as soon as possible or develop countermeasures against this threat. It’s about the same with hypersonic missiles, but on the contrary: we are ahead, and they are doing everything to catch up with us. So far, fortunately, they are not succeeding.
The representative of the German Ministry of Economy, Suzanne Ungrad, speaking to reporters, could not announce the exact timing of the completion of the certification process and the launch of the Nord Stream -2 gas pipeline.
Photo of pxhere
According to the German official, permission to operate the gas pipeline has already been received. Currently we are talking about certification.
“The Federal Network Agency is responsible for this . All questions about the deadline for the end of certification should be sent there,” Ungrad evaded the answer, quoted by RIA Novosti.
Earlier, the German regulator suspended the approval procedure due to the need to create a subsidiary company for Nord Stream 2 AG in Germany within the framework of EU legislation and submit a new application for certification as an operator on its behalf.
As the leadership of the State Council of the Republic explains, this is not an easy task, and as if it were not number one
The State Council of Tatarstan will amend the republican Constitution, renaming the president as the head of the republic, next year. But it is not known exactly when. This was stated at the final press conference by the Chairman of the State Council Farid Mukhametshin.
Photo: president.tatarstan.ru
The change, which the leadership of the republic has long resisted, should be adopted in compliance with the new federal law on the organization of public power in the regions. But Farid Mukhametshin, without at all questioning this fact, nevertheless stated, speaking about the timing of amendments to the republican legislation:
– I cannot say today: we will finish in June, we will finish in May. In general, the work will be serious.
At the same time, he clarified that questions about the president will be considered among all others, despite the fact that the adopted federal law “will require big and serious changes from Tatarstan.” And this big work has already been started promptly: “the process of forming an interdepartmental working group has already started, which will have to deal with changes.” More Moreover, the group already has a leader – this is deputy chairman of the State Council Marat Akhmetov.
Whether in this case we are really talking about solving some complex technical problems, or the game around the abolition of the post of the last republican president in Russia has simply moved into a new phase, we asked the head of the “Political Expert Group” Konstantin Kalachev. And, judging by his answer, no less than a six-month “transition period”, which is hinted at in Kazan, really did not appear for nothing. Here’s what the expert said:
– For Farid Mukhametshin and everyone else, this is a story not so much technical as related to the preservation of one’s own face, about how to eat a fish and not soak one’s feet. And to comply with the law on the organization of public power, and to show everyone that Tatarstan still has certain privileges. The point is that I want to satisfy the federal center, preserving my face as people who defend, say, the remnants The sovereignty gained by Tatarstan in the 90s is a special place of Tatarstan in the Russian Federation. And about taking a transitional time to move from the tough opposition to the position of power, to show off, showing: we were against, now we are for, but during this time the federal center gave us this, gave that. That is, six months have passed, and during this time we have given this, but we have received this, and the republic has risen thanks to our wisdom and integrity.
If anything, the budget of the 22nd year in the republic is in short supply. And now, in six months, it can be proved that in fact federal programs work in relation to Tatarstan in a way that they do not work in relation to any other region, that “we are actually successful lobbyists and defenders of the interests of the republic, drivers of its development, therefore, by surrendering one position, we get another.”
The enemy is outside, and we are perfectly suited to his role
“- What a difficult year!
Everyone fell silent. And Zinochka said, as always, out of place:
– Do you know why? Because it’s a leap year. The next one will be happy, you’ll see!
The next one was nineteen forty-one.” (B.Vasiliev. “There was a war tomorrow”).
Photo: dvidshub.net
This ending year is not a leap year at all, but what a hard year. Will the next one be happy? Is there a feeling that a kind, cheerful, ruddy Santa Claus is standing on the threshold, smiling slyly in his beard, promising happiness and peace?
No. From the window cut through to Europe, it pulls fear, gunpowder, the exhaust of tank engines. On the top of the Christmas tree, a star is filled with blood, and under the lower branches you can see the worn butt of a kalash and a green box with cartridges …
An alcoholic who has not drunk for a long time has a spring inside him, he knows that he can die if he drinks. But the strength to live this life is no longer there, and he drinks, risking death, just to let go. The world on both sides of the red lines is dead tired. And there are no more forces left to look for a way out, maneuver between interests, negotiate. I want to switch to black and white mode and kill, just to let go.
About what is happening there, on the other side, Putin said: “The existing model of capitalism, and today it is the basis of the social structure in the vast majority of countries, has exhausted itself. Within its framework, there is no longer a way out of the tangle of increasingly complicated contradictions.” This means that the enemy is outside, and we are perfectly suited to his role. They say Russia wants war.
What we have, from this side, we see. We have enemies everywhere. From the outside they approach our borders, from the inside they want to destroy.
In a year, the “fifth column” was demolished at the root, there was not even a memorial left. We deal with those who sing the wrong songs or joke the wrong way. Movies and games are declared harmful to our values. In our country, “paid hires of the West” are revealed in batches, immediately receiving the designation of a foreign agent. Is Russia concentrating? Rather, it is brought to a common denominator, cemented to make a monolith that cannot be broken from the inside.
For some reason, right now they accept GOST for mass graves — where to dig a hole outside the village, how, at what distance from each other horizontally and vertically to stack bodies, to shift them with brushwood or soil, how many corpse bags, coffins and lime to stock.
Right now, the Judicial Department of the Supreme Court of Russia is preparing regulations on how the mobilization work of judges will take place — how and where to go to military field trials.
Why does a quote from the book of the head of the Constitutional Court Zorkin appear again now, in which he admits the possibility of lifting the moratorium on the death penalty in force in Russia?
We also have a tangle of “increasingly complicated contradictions.” The good news is that we have reached the bottom, which means that it will not be worse – in rising prices, in negative income growth, in demography, in the stratification of society into billionaires and beggars. But, then, society can ask a question — well, let’slet’s push off and finally begin to implement the promises of the party and the government. Before that, something prevented improvement all the time — defaults, global economic crises, sanctions. But how can they be carried out if they have raking paws up there? And the war will write everything off…
Zinochka made a mistake in the bad side. I really want to make a mistake in a good one.
