Category: HUNGARY

Michael Parenti: Mother Teresa, John Paul II, and the Fast-Track Saints

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

During his 26-year papacy, John Paul II elevated 483 individuals to sainthood, reportedly more saints than any previous pope. One personage he beatified but did not live long enough to canonize was Mother Teresa, the Roman Catholic nun of Albanian origin who had been wined and dined by the world’s rich and famous while hailed as a champion of the poor. The darling of the corporate media and western officialdom, and an object of celebrity adoration, Teresa was for many years the most revered woman on earth, showered with kudos and awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her “humanitarian work” and “spiritual inspiration.”

Michael Parenti: Mother Teresa, John Paul II, and the Fast-Track Saints

How much did the US & EU sink into this campaign?!

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Tusk Gets His Chance to Bring Poland Back From the ‘Dark Side’

Law & Justice turned Poland into a rogue state on a par with Viktor Orban’s Hungary. The Polish government clashed with the EU over rule of law, control of the media and funding, all while weaponizing LGBTQ issues and women’s rights. Support for Ukraine brought Warsaw into line with its main EU partners, but even there the mood has soured after Warsaw imposed restrictions on Ukrainian grain and suggested it might stop weapons shipments.

Highest voter turnout, huh?! “Civil society organizations” 🧐 AKA front organizations?!

Related:

USAID Announces Central Europe Program

US Calls Out Poland for Pre-Election Moves Against Opposition

Hours after President Andrzej Duda approved the creation of a special parliamentary panel to investigate Russia’s meddling in Poland between 2007 and 2022, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the US shares the concerns “expressed by many observers” that the panel “could be used to block the candidacy of opposition politicians without due process.”

[2013] Cultural Exchange and the Cold War: How the West Won

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Cultural Exchange and the Cold War: How the West Won (archived)

There are many theories of why Soviet communism collapsed and the Cold War ended. Here are a few of them to consider:

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That is a claim also made by a former Hungarian ambassador to Washington, Andras Simonyi*, who led a rock band in Budapest during the Cold War. In a talk titled “How Rock Music Helped Bring Down the Iron Curtain,” delivered at the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Simonyi said, ”Rock ‘n roll, culturally speaking, was a decisive element in loosening up communist societies and bring them closer to the world of freedom.”

Related:

*Wikipedia-András Simonyi:

He plays guitar in the rock band, The Coalition of the Willing (est.2003) with top rated U.S. guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter (Steely Dan, Doobie Brothers) which has Secretary of State Tony Blinken (guitar, vocals) as a regular guest.

Blinken picks up guitar for new US music diplomacy push

NATO Keeps Saying Things NATO Doesn’t Let You Say

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

There are two things that go off script and are not allowed to be said. Every official statement or mainstream media article that mentions the war in Ukraine must call it an unprovoked war. You are not allowed to say that NATO expansion east, potentially to Ukraine and right up to Russia’s borders, was a provocation, even if you add that it does not justify the war. And you are not allowed to say that it is time for Ukraine to negotiate with Russia and that conceding territory must be on the table. In the past couple of weeks, top NATO officials have said them both.

NATO Keeps Saying Things NATO Doesn’t Let You Say

[07-2023] Zelensky showing ‘authoritarian traits’, says Swiss intelligence report

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Ukraine is at a “critical point” in its democratic evolution as it heads towards presidential elections in 2024, says a confidential assessment by the Federal Intelligence Service.

Zelensky showing ‘authoritarian traits’, says Swiss intelligence report (archived)

H/T: Emil Cosman / Rand Paul

Related:

[2021] Ukraine’s Accelerating Slide into Authoritarianism

The Maidan Revolution alumni now seem to be trying to devour even some of their own members. In mid‐May, Kiev mayor Vitali Klitschko charged agents of the SBU, Ukraine’s state security agency, had come to his apartment in what he denounced as a continuing attempt by his political rival, Zelensky, to put pressure on him. Earlier in May, the SBU, the state prosecutor’s office, and police carried out large‐scale searches of various units of the Kiev city government, accusing the local authorities of misappropriation of budget funds and tax evasion, among other offenses. Although Klitschko was one of the original leaders of the Maidan demonstrations, Zelensky apparently now regards him as an annoying rival, since the Kiev mayor was a close ally of former president Poroshenko.

[2021] KIIS poll: Every fifth Ukrainian ready to vote for Zelensky in presidential elections

If presidential elections were held soon, incumbent head of state Volodymyr Zelensky would receive about 21.8% of the vote, according to the results of a sociological survey “Social and Political Sentiments of Ukraine” conducted by Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS).

AOC-Led Delegation Can Push for New Approach to Latin America

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

You might not know it by the relatively scant news coverage, but the U.S. congressional delegation, led by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, that visited Brazil, Chile, and Colombia in August marked a big step forward in the development of a new U.S. approach to Latin America and highlighted the important role that the U.S. progressive left has to play in it.

AOC-Led Delegation Can Push for New Approach to Latin America

Related:

AOC urges US to apologize for meddling in Latin America: ‘We’re here to reset relationships’

Asked if the left needs to build a counterweight network, Ocasio-Cortez, whose trip to Latin America was branded “AOC’s socialist sympathy tour” by Rupert Murdoch’s conservative Wall Street Journal newspaper, replied: “I absolutely believe that the battle for democracy must be transnational and it must be global, and it especially must be hemispheric.

Soros Foundation to End Most EU Operations in Radical Shift

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Soros Foundation to End Most EU Operations in Radical Shift

The foundation will also continue to fund initiatives promoting human rights, democracy and accountable government across eastern Europe and central Asia, particularly in non-EU members Ukraine, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, and the Western Balkans, the spokesperson said. The focus of grants in the new model will be determined in the coming months.

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In the EU, OSF financed a wide range of philanthropic programs in the bloc’s eastern former communist members, including Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Romania, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and elsewhere.*

Regime Change coming to Ukraine, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia, and the Western Balkans soon?!

H/T: SDer Friedensstifter

Related:

Soros Foundation to be restructured to focus on non-EU countries

They will also continue to support NGOs in Europe, including groups working on the EU’s foreign policy, the Roma community, and human rights, democracy and accountable governance in the region, and the spokesperson specifically mentioned Ukraine, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan and the Western Balkans here.

*NGOs, “Unions”, & Media Outlets in the Service of Imperialism