******************** POSTING RULES & NOTES ******************** #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. *****************************************************************
Uhh, excuse me, why is MarxMail being used to send out fascist/Neo-Nazi propaganda? This is straight from Svoboda, the far-right Ukrainian party. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svoboda_(political_party)#Allegations_of_neo-nazism_and_political_extremism - Amith On Fri, Jun 12, 2015 at 2:54 PM, Andrew Pollack via Marxism < [email protected]> wrote: > ******************** POSTING RULES & NOTES ******************** > #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. > #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. > #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. > ***************************************************************** > > A hero indeed! We should post and tweet his photo, preferably one with the > Ukraine t-shirt, and pair it with our own heroes (i.e. resisters to US > wars). > Wear it to your next UNAC/IAC event! > > On Fri, Jun 12, 2015 at 4:38 AM, Thomas Campbell via Marxism < > [email protected]> wrote: > > > ******************** POSTING RULES & NOTES ******************** > > #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. > > #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. > > #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. > > ***************************************************************** > > > > > > > https://therussianreader.wordpress.com/2015/06/12/vlad-kolesnikov-a-real-russian-hero-for-russia-day/ > > > > “At the military enlistment office, I turned on the Ukrainian national > > anthem”: 17-year-old Vlad Kolesnikov talks about his decision to combat > > Putin’s propaganda > > Dmitry Volchek > > June 10, 2015 > > svoboda.org > > > > Hundreds of people have been writing to Vlad Kolesnikov, a 17-year-old > > technical college student from Podolsk. They have been writing with > offers > > of assistance and shelter, and to thank him and advise him to be more > > careful. > > > > “I cannot express in words the emotions I feel reading Facebook,” says > > Vlad, his voice trembling with emotion. “There has been so much support > > from strangers, it is simply incredible.” > > > > Vlad has acquired a lot of friends on the Internet, but his own > > grandfather, a former KGB officer, has condemned him. At the technical > > college where he studied he was assaulted. (Vlad asked not to write that > he > > had been beaten up: “It was only a split lip, a couple of bruises, a > couple > > of blows to the head, and three drops of blood.”) And now the police have > > taken an interest in him. > > > > And all because Vlad Kolesnikov not only does not hide his political > views > > but has also decided to declare them openly. > > > > Vlad Kolesnikov: Putin sits with his pack of criminals and runs the > country > > with the aid of powerful propaganda. This is my subjective opinion. > Maybe I > > am wrong, but I believe it is true. You know the Russian media have been > > vigorously promoting the image of khokhly [a Russian term of abuse for > > Ukrainians] and pindosy [a Russian term of abuse for Americans] as > enemies. > > I also supported this until I watched a video on YouTube. It was 2014, > and > > I will probably never forget it, because the video changed my life. The > > content of the video was completely banal. It was just an American > family. > > The wife is Russian, the husband, American. He gives her a gift, they go > to > > a shooting range. And instead of the propaganda we get—that it is a > fascist > > regime where everyone is obsessed with sex and money, and everyone > betrays > > each other—I saw people like myself. The only difference was that they > > smiled more. Since then I have been digging more, looking for different > > kinds of information, and reading the western press. I have realized the > > Russian media makes lots of mistakes, exaggerates, and in most cases just > > blatantly lies. > > > > Radio Svoboda: And your relations with your relatives have been > complicated > > because of the fact they do not share your views? > > > > Vlad Kolesnikov: Yes. And not only my relations with relatives, but with > > everyone, you could say. I know only two people who more or less share my > > views: my friend Nikolai Podgornov and one other person whom I won’t > name. > > But all the people I know—my whole college, all my relatives—they are all > > against me. It is just Nikolai and me, > > > > Radio Svoboda: You and Nikolai decided to hang up a banner in Podolsk > that > > read, “Fuck the war”? > > > > Vlad Kolesnikov: Yes, it all started when I was at the military > enlistment > > commission and told them I did not want to serve in the army and did not > > want to fight against my brethren. Maybe that sounds sentimental, but > that > > is the way it is. We decided we could not tolerate it anymore and would > > voice it openly. First, we wanted to hang a banner in Moscow, but then we > > thought it would be torn down quickly, and so we looked for a good place > in > > Podolsk. We walked around for a long time and found a building with an > > accessible rooftop in the middle of town and decided to hang the banner > > there. We went to a fabrics shop. We bought a five-meter-long piece of > > cloth. We spent a long time picking out cloth that would be sturdier. We > > bought paint. This is expensive for a college student, but it was worth > it. > > We spent all night making the banner and sitting on the rooftop. We > > fastened the banner to iron cables so that it would hang longer, and we > > locked the door [to the rooftop] so that it would take the police longer > to > > get in. They had to summon the Emergency Situations Ministry guys. I > think > > we gained two or three hours more time on them that way. > > > > Radio Svoboda: You told the military enlistment commission straight out > > that you did not want to fight? > > > > Vlad Kolesnikov: I don’t have very good eyesight, so I am not fit for > > military service. I went through the medical examination, and there was I > > before the draft board. There were tables shaped like the letter П set up > > there, and the people who did the assessments were seated at these > tables. > > I had the Ukrainian national anthem recorded on my telephone. I don’t > like > > the Russian national anthem, because I consider it mendacious. Everything > > it says about freedom and so on is just pure rubbish. Before entering the > > room I decided to turn on the Ukrainian anthem, because I do not support > > the Russian army at all and consider serving in it disgraceful. So I > turned > > on the Ukrainian anthem and said, “Guys, I’m not going to fight in the > > Russian army.” > > > > Radio Svoboda: Vlad, you would agree that you are a very unusual young > man. > > You are immune to propaganda, and are fearless to boot. > > > > Vlad Kolesnikov: In fact, I was just lucky. I just did not have a TV > for a > > certain time, and I did not watch the news. And when I got a TV, I turned > > it on and saw the nonsense that was going on there. I turned right to > that > > program where [TV journalist Dmitry] Kiselyov fiercely argued that the > > hearts of gays should be burned. I was sitting there and thinking, Is > this > > a comedy show? Then I realized that a new kind of news had emerged in > > Russia. It is hardcore, and produced in keeping with all of Goebbels’s > > principles of propaganda: enemies surround us, the country has been > > occupied. Total drivel. > > > > Radio Svoboda: So, you turned on the Ukrainian national anthem at the > > military enlistment commission. The members of the draft board were > > probably stunned when they heard it, no? > > > > Vlad Kolesnikov: It was something incredible. Some people were > dumfounded. > > Others jumped up and shouted, “What are you doing? Do you know where you > > are?” After a while, a man came running in. He took me to a separate room > > and laid two certificates in front of me. One said that I had problems > with > > my eyesight, which is true. The other said that I had a personality > > disorder and something else. In short, the military enlistment commission > > had assigned me to the loonies, because I had gone in there playing the > > Ukrainian anthem and expressed my opinion. That was a turning point. When > > that certificate was put in front of me, I realized I would not put up > with > > this anymore. I had simply gone in there, and I was immediately > classified > > as a loony. > > > > Radio Svoboda: And there is your latest feat. You came to school in a > > t-shirt with the Ukrainian flag on it. > > > > Vlad Kolesnikov: Yes. I had voiced my political views earlier at the > > college, and had often argued with the teachers on this score. As you can > > imagine, nothing good had come of this, but neither did anything super > bad, > > except lowered marks and other trifles. But then it got fun. Near the > > college, I immediately met the class teacher. At our college, they are > > called professional masters. I will never forget that look. At first, he > > looked at me like a normal, decent person. Then he saw what I had on my > > t-shirt. He looked up at me, and I saw this hatred! Then I went upstairs > > and walked into the classroom. Within five minutes, the people sitting in > > front of me turned around (I was sitting in the back row) and said, > > “Kolesnikov, should we smash your face in now or later?” Well, just you > > try, I said. As you know, they kept their promises, not that day, > however, > > but a few days later, after I had published my posts, when they had > heard a > > lot of interesting things about themselves. I can argue my position, why > I > > think Crimea was annexed, why Donbas was occupied. I have arguments, I > have > > facts, and I know people who served there. On TV, they say there are no > > Russian troops there. In reality, of course, it is the other way round. > > They could not come up with convincing arguments. It all came down to my > > being a disgrace to the country, and I should tear the flag from my > shirt. > > It is an interesting policy, actually. It turns out if you express your > > opinion you are disgrace to the country. > > > > The inscription on the flag reads, “Give Crimea Back!” > > > > Vlad Kolesnikov was forced to leave college (he was immediately expelled) > > and leave Podolsk. His grandfather, with whom he lived, also did not > share > > his political views and sent his grandson to his father in Zhigulyovsk. > It > > was just in time. Kolesnikov called his grandfather to say he had arrived > > safely and heard the disturbing news that two police officers had come > and > > asked where he had got the Ukrainian flag and where his t-shirt was now. > > > > “All democrats in Russia were sent into exile, and that is how I feel > now, > > as if I am in exile. Many people are now advising me to go to Kiev. But > > that is the most extreme option. If someone thinks I will sit this out, > get > > a foreign travel passport, leave for Ukraine, and that will be the end of > > it, they are mistaken. For now, I am planning after Zhigulyovsk to return > > to Moscow and do a couple of protest pickets,” promises fearless Vlad > > Kolesnikov. > > > > * * * * * * > > > > Russia Day (Russian: День России, Den’ Rossii) is the national holiday of > > the Russian Federation, celebrated on June 12. It has been celebrated > every > > year since 1992. The First Congress of People’s Deputies of the Russian > > Federation adopted the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Russian > > Soviet Federative Socialist Republic on June 12, 1990. > > _________________________________________________________ > > Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm > > Set your options at: > > http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/acpollack2%40gmail.com > _________________________________________________________ > Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm > Set your options at: > http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/amithrgupta%40gmail.com > _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
