6 Comments

... you can tell Ruslana that Everton Park is ONE of the parks I'm writing about in a series of childrens' books!

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Israel is currently terrorising the Palestinians again. Regarding Ukrainian "Democracy" I will celebrate it when it happens.

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According to figures gathered by one of BBC's presenters on Wednesday, the estimated amount of money going into Liverpool's local economy generated by hosting the Eurovision Song Contest was only half of the £60 million those 'financial gurus' have been telling us for months to expect. Many would say it is not the money but the huge publicity from being the venue of the event that put Liverpool back under the global positivity spotlight that really matters. Others would say we should shed a tear for those victims of war in Ukraine without the plight of which we would not have benefited. But for people that like all stories to be told from the every beginning would point out that it is the the Americans we should think for getting us the job since they have been working on it since when Obama was president. Even the BBC in 2014, with a few other media outlets have stated that it was the American administration that started the regime-change ball rolling in Ukraine by helping the country's fascist AZOV military to overthrow the government and replace it with an anti-Russia outfit and began their mass persecution of the vast number of Russian-speaking people in the country and destroying properties owned by established Russians in Ukraine's eastern regions by non-stop military attacks that lasted for the next eight year. The then Ukrainian government have even reneged on not one but two peace agreements they have signed with the Kremlin and carried on with the bombing.

After the disbandment of the USSR 1991, the new Russian government and Europe have been steadily building a good relationship on trade and diplomacy. The economy and infrastructure of all European countries were growing at a pace not seen since the end of WWII thanks mostly to the cheap energy products supplied directly from Russia via the various routes and pipelines. The Americans watched and seethed at this relationship getting cosier and cosier and the EU became another one of the US's serious competitors. Since NATO was the only military card the US could play to make the Europeans do what Washington wants, Ukraine was picked as the catalyst to goad the Kremlin to the point where they had to take the action they are taking now to protect their own at all cost, and as they say, the rest is history.

Yes, we should feel sorry for the ordinary Ukrainian citizens, because they were made innocent victims of war instigated by hegemonic war mongers from the other side of the world, the same people also responsible for landing us in this unending cost-of-living crisis.

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Hi Rennie,

This is one narrative but there are many others. I facilitate regular debates with Ukrainians in Dnipro and have attended many debates attended by people from many parts of the world. The main lesson I have learnt is not to be so sure of myself in matters in which I have little first-hand experience. I lived in Moscow for many years and visited Dnipro in August last year and this really helped me to understand the arguments from the point of view of Ukrainians, and the Russians - I was also in Moscow with my family (my wife is Russian and my children half-Russian) on the 24th Feb last year and had to get out pretty quick.

There are many commentators out there, and even very respectable academics like Peter Frankopan, who make sweeping statements that can be very seductive. The key test for me is whether one is willing to make the arguments about the origins of the conflict to a Ukrainian in person. If one is willing to do this then there are plenty of opportunities at our debating society to do this.

I will arrange a debate on the origins of the war in Ukraine at Keith's in the near future and everyone is very welcome to come and join us for a respectful debate, and to hear the best arguments from the other side. And also, thankfully, it's not uncommon for people to change their mind...

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The unbroken chain of Indubitable causal factors that led to events such as the Ukraine conflict cannot be perverted using debates nor change its outcome. We have seen often, governments and media bodies with bias leanings would cherry-pick specific pieces of facts to bolster their own argument. I am sure you have seen that at many a debate. As i mentioned in my comment, it was not up to the ordinary Ukrainian, Russian or even American to decide on whatever action should be taken before, during and even after the conflict. This is a deliberate flaw built into the so-called democratic system from day one. No wonder the Greeks ditched it only two hundred years after inventing it. They were doing alright without democracy for the rest of the two and a half thousand year while governments in other countries picked the system up to use it on their unsuspecting subjects. The Greeks did not touch it again until 1975 and went bankrupt not long after.

With Britain's NATO connection, it means many members in our government are merely performing under Washington 's orders. We will need a lot more than debates to get us out of this geopolitical rut.

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Great article. Pity that we have a warmongering theme running right through the contest and all things associated with it. The only body to act belatedly with any pretence at honor was the Eurovision organizers who refused to let Zelenskiy continue his propaganda by appealing for more death dealing weapons. But the Ukraine warmongers need not worry, the programme was riddled with war like references and pro 🇺🇦 images. I'm sure lots of kids and not so young had a 'good time'. Eurovision has always been politicized, anti Brit, anti Russian, pro Zionist, etc but this panto capped a year of Nato propaganda. A good read of the history of this brutal tribal war between Western/Polish/anti Russian Ukrainians versus Eastern /Ukrainian/pro Russian Ukrainians, over 100+years would help.

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