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Celerity

Celerity's Journal
Celerity's Journal
March 2, 2022

Sweden's government calls for even tougher sanctions on Russia

Sweden's government has called for the European Union to impose tougher and more far-reaching sanctions on Russia, following the latest round announced on Sunday.

https://www.thelocal.se/20220301/swedens-government-calls-for-even-tougher-sanctions-on-russia/


Hans Dahlgren, Sweden's EU minister, makes a call for tougher sanctions against Russia. Photo: Lars Schröder/TT

“This reckless invasion which Russia is now carrying out against Ukraine is a new and dark chapter in Europe’s history,” Hans Dahlgren, Sweden’s EU minister, said at a press conference on Tuesday. The EU had already put in place historic measures to support Ukraine, he said.

“But more is needed. This is about more and tougher sanctions against the Russian leadership, but also targeted support measures directly to Ukraine. They need to hit the Russian elite harder and more broadly,” Sweden, he said, wanted tougher measures against the billionaire oligarchs who give their support to Vladimir Putin, as well as against individuals connected to the Wagner Group, a mercenary organisation connected to the Russian government.

Dahlgren also called for faster action to end the so-called “golden passports and visas” offered by EU countries such as Malta, which allow wealthy Russians to receive citizenship or visas in exchange for inward investment. It was, he said, “a completely reprehensible business”.

Russian participation in international organisations should be further limited, he continues, and Russian competitors should be banned from all international sporting competitions. Sweden’s government is also pushing for Russia to be investigated for crimes against international law. President Putin, Dahlgren said, was responsible for “enormous human suffering”.

snip


Swedish speakers can watch the press conference here:



English summary of this:

Hans Dahlgren: ”Nu behövs skarpare sanktioner och ännu större stöd”

https://www.regeringen.se/artiklar/2022/03/hans-dahlgren-nu-behovs-skarpare-sanktioner-och-annu-storre-stod/ (in Swedish)


Hans Dahlgren: “Tougher sanctions and even greater support are what’s needed now”

Minister for EU Affairs Hans Dahlgren today presented six areas in which Sweden is pushing for the EU to take further decisions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. These would entail additional and tougher sanctions against the Russian leadership and increased direct support to Ukraine.

The Government is working intensively to ensure that the EU takes new measures in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. At a press briefing on Tuesday 1 March, Minister for EU Affairs Hans Dahlgren presented six areas in which Sweden wants the EU to take joint decisions without delay.

“Europe is in an extraordinary situation that requires extraordinary measures. So far, the EU’s response to Russia’s aggression has been powerful and united. Historic, large-scale sanctions have been imposed and now both financial support and defence materiel are being provided to Ukraine. But even more is needed,” says Mr Dahlgren.

In the EU, Sweden is now pushing for the following six measures:

1. Tougher and broader sanctions against Russia’s top leaders. This would include sanctions targeting even more oligarchs who prop up Putin’s regime, and even more people with ties to the ‘Wagner Group’, a Russian mercenary organisation that commits violations and abuses in conflicts around the world.

2. The sale of EU passports to Russian citizens must stop. These so-called golden passports enable Russian oligarchs to become citizens of, and gain access to, the European Union from certain Member States.

3. A joint EU position on excluding all elite athletes from the Russian Federation from all international exchanges.

4. Long-term support to Ukraine to strengthen the country over time. The Government therefore wants the EU to reprioritise existing funds in the EU budget to increase support to Ukraine.

5. Isolate Russia further by restricting its participation in international organisations as done, for example, by the Council of Europe. The EU should now move forward and take another look at what can be done to further isolate Russia within international organisations. A similar inventory will also be taken in Sweden.

6. Initiate investigations into the very serious reports now emerging from Ukraine of widespread violations of international law. The Government will initiate the establishment of an international mechanism to collect facts and investigate alleged crimes so that those responsible can be held accountable.

At the press briefing, Mr Dahlgren emphasised the importance of the EU as Sweden’s most important arena for foreign and security policy cooperation. The scale of sanctions so far adopted by both Sweden and the EU is historic.

“Russia’s brutal war of aggression against Ukraine is a new dark chapter in the history of Europe. But the attack on Ukraine has clearly demonstrated the unity of the EU’s 27 Member States against Russian aggression and for solidarity with the Ukrainian people. Now is the time for even tougher sanctions and even greater support,” said Mr Dahlgren.
March 2, 2022

Was This Black Man 'Executed' by Rogue Bounty Hunters in Houston?

The incident did not involve active-duty police, but still resulted in the shooting death of a Black man under the pretense of law enforcement.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/was-walter-hutchins-of-houston-wrongly-killed-by-bounter-hunters



The night before Walter Hutchins was killed, he surprised his mother with a late-night Uber ride to a family dinner that included his newborn son. ‘He was smiling and said, ‘I surprised you, didn’t I,’” Marilyn Lewis, the 31-year-old’s mother, said at a press conference on Tuesday. “That was the last time I saw my son. I hugged him and kissed him and said goodbye to him at the restaurant.”

Less than 24 hours later, the new father was inside his car outside a barbershop on Liberty Road when at least two men who later told police they were bounty hunters approached him. Details of the Feb. 23 incident are still under investigation, but according to Houston police, the men were hired by a local bail bond company to execute a warrant, and fatally shot Hutchins, a Black man.

But while police have cited bounty hunters insisting Hutchins opened fire first, the family claims video of the incident shows plain-clothed men “ambushing” him before opening fire. The incident has quickly drawn attention to the concept of bounty hunters—essentially paid peace officers—who have often flown under the radar, even as killer cops have faced harsh, sustained scrutiny across the country.

“They murdered my son,” Lewis said in a press conference outside of the Harris County Civil Courthouse on Wednesday, flanked by family members wearing matching powder blue t-shirts with a photo of the 31-year-old and the words “#JusticeForWalterHutchins.”



snip
March 2, 2022

Kremlin Humiliated After 100+ Diplomats Walk Out of Lavrov Speech Justifying Ukraine Invasion

https://www.thedailybeast.com/sergei-lavrov-humiliated-after-100-diplomats-walk-out-of-speech-justifying-ukraine-invasion



Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was ready to justify the invasion of Ukraine to a top UN human-rights forum on Tuesday—but was left humiliated when more than a hundred diplomats abruptly walked out. Lavrov was speaking to the UN Human Rights Council remotely after canceling his planned in-person appearance at the forum in Geneva.

However, Reuters reported that dozens of diplomats from the European Union, the United States, and Britain walked out en masse when Lavrov started speaking. Austrian representative Elisabeth Tichy-Fisslberger posted a video of the walkout and wrote: “This morning in the UN Human Rights Council more than 140 diplomats refused to listen to Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov’s futile attempt to justify unacceptable military aggression.” The diplomats reportedly stood outside the meeting holding a Ukrainian flag.

https://twitter.com/tichy_e/status/1498621337702703106


https://www.reuters.com/world/eu-us-british-envoys-boycott-lavrov-speech-un-rights-forum-2022-03-01/

March 2, 2022

Labour's opportunity: a multi-party government

If the Conservatives are to be defeated at the next Westminster election, Labour must back a coalition alternative.

https://socialeurope.eu/labours-opportunity-a-multi-party-government



It’s the open secret of politics in the United Kingdom: its next government will likely involve more than one party. And recently for the first time progressive party leaders were reported by the Financial Times to have acknowledged what it will take for them to form it—a non-aggression pact.

Yet what in other western-European countries is the norm is still regarded in the UK as a last resort, even shameful. Parties may join hands from Germany to Finland and indeed in Scotland and Wales (and much of local government). But the dominant Westminster politicians still place all their eggs—at least publicly—in the basket of a single-party parliamentary majority.

This is dishonest and a huge missed opportunity for Labour. If it wants to form a government, its best bet is to accept the electoral mathematics and seize the opportunities of inter-party co-operation. As a new paper from Compass demonstrates, while multi-party governments may have signalled a scraping through or loss of face in 2010 and 2017 they now look inevitable.

Even with this new pact the possibility of Labour securing a majority at the next election, scheduled as things stand for May 2024, remains extremely slim. After the worst imaginable spell for the Tories, Labour’s poll lead peaked around 10 per cent and has receded. The party must gain 124 seats and lose none just to win a majority of one; this would require a consistent 12-point advantage.

snip



https://www.compassonline.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Minority-Report_Preparing-for-Multi-party-Government.pdf

March 2, 2022

From shock therapy to Putin's war

Putin is alone responsible for the war in Ukraine but prominent westerners played a key role in Russia’s post-Soviet trajectory.

https://socialeurope.eu/from-shock-therapy-to-putins-war


Yeltsin handing over the ‘presidential’ copy of the constitution to Putin at the end of 1999

As Russian tanks battle through Ukraine on the orders of an authoritarian president, it is worth noting that Ukrainians are not the only ones who crave democracy. Russians, too, have taken to the streets—at great personal risk—to protest against Vladimir Putin’s outrageous act of aggression. But they are fighting an uphill battle in a country which has never been given a chance to become democratic.

When such an opportunity was available, it was subverted not by Putin and his kleptocratic milieu but by the west. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union 30 years ago, American economic advisers convinced Russia’s leaders to focus on economic reforms and put democracy on the back burner—where Putin could easily extinguish it when the time came.

This is no trivial historical contingency. Had Russia become a democracy, there would have been no need to talk about the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and its eastward expansion, no invasion of Ukraine and no debates about whether the west owed Russia’s civilisation greater respect. (As a German, I recoil at that last proposition, which has clear echoes of Adolf Hitler and his self-proclaimed leadership over a ‘civilization’.)

Extraordinary powers

Let us recount the sequence of events. In November 1991, the Russian Supreme Soviet (parliament) gave the then Russian president, Boris Yeltsin, extraordinary powers and a 13-month mandate to launch reforms. Then, in December 1991, the Soviet Union was officially dissolved by the Belovezh accords, which created the Commonwealth of Independent States. Russia, Belarus and Ukraine declared respect for one another’s independence.

snip
March 2, 2022

Key Putin ally admits Russian tactics in Ukraine failed in early days of invasion and calls for more

brutal approach

The Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said Russian tactics were "too slow" in Ukraine.
Kadyrov, a Putin loyalist, said Russia's attack was merely "fiddling" with Ukrainian fighters.


https://www.businessinsider.com/ramzan-kadyrov-russia-too-slow-in-ukraine-calls-brutal-attack-2022-2?r=US&IR=T



A top loyalist of Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that Russia's attack on Ukraine had so far failed and called for a much fiercer onslaught.

Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of Russia's Chechen Republic, said in a lengthy Telegram post that the approach in the first days of the war hadn't worked.

"In my understanding, the chosen tactics in Ukraine are too slow," the post said. "They take a long time and, in my opinion, are not effective."

He complained that Russian forces had been only "fiddling" with the Ukrainian army, which he said was "armed to the teeth with new weapons, ammunition, heavy equipment of the latest generation," a reference to Western military aid.

snip





One of Liverpool's Mo Salah's besties



Mohamed Salah ‘honoured’ with gift of citizenship from Chechen leader

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/jun/23/mo-salah-egypt-liverpool-ramzan-kadyrov-chechnya-russia-world-cup




March 1, 2022

Florida Rep. Ted Deutch joins exodus of retiring House Democrats

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2022/02/28/Florida-Ted-Deutch-joins-exodus-retiring-House-Democrats/8981646082142/

(UPI) -- U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch of Florida announced Monday he will not seek re-election after 12 years in Congress, joining a growing list of Democratic lawmakers who are retiring from their House seats.

With his announcement the day before President Joe Biden is to deliver his State of the Union Address, Deutch became the 31st House Democrat to announce retirement plans as the party fights to retain its narrow House majority in November's mid-term elections.

In a posted statement, Deutch cited his work protecting Social Security and vulnerable seniors, combatting climate change, fighting terrorism and "rogue regimes like Iran" as among his proudest accomplishments during his seven terms in office.

"Public service was instilled in me by my father who earned a Purple Heart in the Battle of the Bulge, and it has been a tremendous privilege to serve the people of Palm Beach and Broward Counties in Congress since 2010," he wrote. "I am incredibly grateful to my constituents for their support and friendship."

snip
March 1, 2022

Joy Division - Singles 1978-80 (Full Vinyl 2LP 2011) Unofficial



Label: Not On Label (Joy Division) – none
Format:
2 x Vinyl, LP, Compilation, Unofficial Release
Country:
Released: 2011
Genre: Rock
Style: New Wave

Double LP released 2011
Pirate copy of the official 2010 7" & CD box-sets
Includes two inserts; a double-sided one and a large 10" sticker.
Country of origin: not known. Possibly UK

Matrix numbers:
JOYDIVLP 001 A-1
JOYDIVLP 001 B-1
JOYDIVLP 001 C-1
JOYDIVLP 001 XXXX[crossed out] D-1

All the songs are from the official 2010 7" & CD box-sets.

A1 Warsaw
A2 Leaders Of Men
A3 No Love Lost
A4 Failures
A5 Digital
A6 Glass

B1 Autosuggestion
B2 From Safety To Where
B3 Transmission
B4 Novelty
B5 Atmosphere

C1 Dead Souls
C2 Komakino
C3 Incubation
C4 Love Will Tear Us Apart
C5 These Days

D1 She's Lost Control (12" Version)
D2 Love Will Tear Us Apart (Pennine Version)
D3 Isolation
D4 Heart And Soul













March 1, 2022

The Isolation of Putin

Joy Division - Isolation









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Gender: Female
Hometown: London
Home country: US/UK/Sweden
Current location: Stockholm, Sweden
Member since: Sun Jul 1, 2018, 07:25 PM
Number of posts: 43,817

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