Even Victoria Nuland has confirmed that there is an Illegal US bio-weapons program in Ukraine

Robert Chernenko wrote:

I have absolutely no interest in rebutting what the Bulgarian "journalist" Dilyana Gaytandzhieva, who pushes anti-Western pro-Kremlin lies has to say in a blog. Why would anyone? As Brandolinis Law notes, "the amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude larger than to produce it."

In order to show to me that Dilyana Gaytandzhieva is not as authoritative as I believe her to be then, surely you only need find one specific claim somewhere in one of her articles and produce evidence that refutes that claim. How would require, on your part, more than a small fraction of the effort Dilyana put into writing any one of her articles, let alone an "order of magnitude" more? The fact that you have not shows me that either your grasp of science is insufficient to understand her articles or that you have not been able to find in her articles even one claim that you are able to debunk.

Regarding Vladimir Putin, presumably you preferred Russia the way it was, when it was ruled by Boris Yeltsin. I will deal with your smearing of Vladimir Putin some other time.

On JFK, I am curious to whether or not you believe that Lee Harvey Oswald killed JFK with his 'magic bullet' on 22 November 1963.

Subject was: Response to Robert Chernenko on Ukraine nuclear etc - Ed

Robert Chernenko wrote above recently

[...]. Biolabs are everywhere. Australia has thousands of them. I've worked in crop research biolabs. Obviously many biolabs work on animal, plant and human pathogens that have security protocols that could be disrupted by war, as well as proprietary information. 

He ignored the fact that the United States has for decades refused any independent investigation of the biolabs it funds, which makes them illegal. He shows no curiosity or alarm at the detailed and documented reports of bio-weapon designs and projects in Ukraine and many other countries, nor, for example, their funding in Ukraine by the United States President's son, Hunter Biden - which we have noted here: https://www.candobetter.net/admin/blog/6335/illegal-us-bio-weapons-programs-ukraine-georgia-and-elsewhere-evidence-given-un. See also https://www.candobetter.net/taxonomy/term/6017. 

So, without dealing with the alarming context of these biolabs, he changes tactic and says that Russia does not place a high value on safety, then quotes an article in The Guardian, dated 1 May 2022. That paper simply reported what it had heard from the Ukrainians, without balancing it with the Russian response.

However, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report, dated 24 February – 28 April 2022, says that, "On 4 March, Ukraine informed the IAEA that Russian forces had taken control of the Zaporizhzhya NPP site. Ukraine reported that the facility’s training centre — located a few hundred metres from the reactor units — had been hit by a projectile and a localized fire had broken out that was later extinguished." (Source: IAEA Summary Report by the Director General 24 February – 28 April 2022.) What the report avoids saying is that the Russians reported that Ukrainian soldiers had caused the fire.  There is also an allusion to a laboratory having been trashed, but another report by the Russians shows that no vital equipment was damaged and it looked as if the sabotage had been mainly cosmetic, in order to try to implicate the Russians.  That report has to stand until the west finds evidence to the contrary. 

A later version of the Guardian article (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/01/russians-fled-chernobyl-with-radiation-sickness-says-ukraine-as-iaea-investigates) of the same date, was balanced with some  comments from the IAEA Director General Grossi. In the IAEA report on the matter, it says that the IAEA was unable to confirm reports of high radiation doses to Russian soldiers. 

Robert wrote:

It is clear the Russians don't place a high value on safety.  The Russians didn't bother with safety issues when they occupied the damaged Chernobyl plant and subjected the Ukrainian workers and their own soldiers to health risks.  Radiation sickness is now a problem for their soldiers.   See for instance www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/apr/01/first-thing-russians-flee-chernobyl-with-radiation-sickness-says-ukraine

Robert's above statement and conclusions are contradicted by the IAEA report:

"Radiation monitoring: Radiation monitoring data from the Chornobyl site, regularly provided through the online radiation monitoring system, have not been received through the International Radiation Monitoring Information System (IRMIS) since 24 February. However, the SNRIU has reported some radiation measurements from the Chornobyl site. Some of these measurements from the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone indicated an increase in the gamma dose rates that was attributed to the displacement of soil due to heavy machinery movements in the area. Based on these data, the IAEA assessed radiation levels as low and within the operational range measured in the exclusion zone since it was established, and therefore considered that they posed no hazard to the public. In the absence of relevant data or observations, the IAEA has not been able to confirm reports of Russian forces receiving high doses of radiation while being in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone. "

The Director General of the IAEA has taken an apparently very pro-Ukrainian approach, and has even been seen shaking hands with the Ukraine President Zelensky.  Whilst he implies that Ukrainians did all the work, nevertheless, his reports admit that the Russians withdrew and left management of the plants to their Ukrainian teams, having restored power to Ukraine, leaving no pressing nuclear problems or safety issues.

Robert wrote:

What I find far more convincing is the dozens of fact checks by groups like NPR that clearly refute and give background on the Russian claim of US bioweapon labs in Ukraine:  wwwDOTtheguardianDOTcom/us-news/2022/apr/01/first-thing-russians-flee-chernobyl-with-radiation-sickness-says-ukraine  

Unfortunately Robert has given the Guardian story about 'radiation sickness' again, instead of the reference he wanted to give.  However we cannot take what the US National Public Radio (NPR) says for gospel, just because it is the NPR, or because it may quote some 'authorative' figure. One has to carefully examine the statements, the evidence, the logic, and whether the opinion of the other side has been sought and reported. From what I have seen, the NPR is in war-mode like the rest of the US press and reports all Russian perspectives as if they were laughable, and attacks anyone prominent who doesn't. This is not serious journalism.

Robert wrote:

 

I have absolutely no interest in rebutting what the Bulgarian "journalist" Dilyana Gaytandzhieva, who pushes anti-Western pro-Kremlin lies has to say in a blog. Why would anyone?

Robert should look at what Dilyana Gaytandzhieva actually writes and says before he cancels her, instead of just doubting her on the say-so of western propaganda. The fact that there are professional character assassination pieces all over the web about Dilyana Gaytandzhieva means one should look very carefully at what she is saying, because the purpose of those attacks is to make you look away from what she is saying.  She is being seriously attacked because she has seriously documented US provision of arms to terrorists in Syria, for instance. This is not news to anyone who has talked with Syrians in Syria and, if people look at our site, they will see that we have been covering Syria for some time, and with local reporting as well.  Anyone who exposes US war-crimes gets that kind of treatment if they are at all successful.  Look at what the United States and the UK are doing to Julian Assange.  That should be enough to make anyone severely doubt the honour of your government and of the western press.

Robert wrote:

As Brandolinis Law notes, "the amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude larger than to produce it."  

Yes, I can relate to that here.

Robert wrote:

I note, however, that Gaytandzhieva has been called out by moderate centre left sources like the "The Guardian" for pushing Kremlin narratives.  

So, if the Guardian says it, you automatically believe it?

Robert wrote:

[...] Vladimir Putin is a violent murderous war-mongering criminal who has nipped Russia's budding democracy in the bud, waged war against his neighbours and killed, poisoned, murdered and chased out of Russia nearly all independent voices, including the press. What is wrong with you? Why does this blog lionise far-right dictators like Putin and fascist politicians like Marine Le Pen? 

The west says that Putin has poisoned the Skripals, brought down MH17, poisoned Navalny, censored the news, waged war against his neighbours, etc etc.  Somehow the western press and the leaders whose opinions it reports all know immediately what poisons were used, who administered them, who shot planes down, almost before these things happen.  They never allow Russia to participate in their investigations, and they use these confected incidents as fodder for continuous anti-Russia propaganda.  Much of the time, they imply that Russia is actually the same as the [defunct] USSR.  And when Robert talks about Russia invading its neighbours, I suspect he also thinks that.

The west uses and abuses international sport and international commemorations of WW2 to drum this propaganda in. It is so ridiculous, anyone awake has to be suspicious. 

And what is the motive of US-NATO in this propaganda? It is so they can say, to anyone who criticises the west's own serial invasions and continuous warmongering, that this is all Russian 'disinformation'.  They imprisoned Julian Assange for telling the truth.  Yet Australians are supposed to believe that Russia just invaded Ukraine for no reason at all.  And to put up with blanket censorship to back the lies up.

Even the Pope questions the narrative:

"Pope Francis has said that NATO’s eastward expansion may have provoked Russian President Vladimir Putin into launching an attack against Ukraine. In an interview published on Tuesday by Italian daily Corriere Della Sera, the pontiff speculated that “the barking of NATO at Russia’s door” could have driven Putin into launching the military campaign on February 24. “I can’t say if it was provoked, but perhaps, yes,” he said.  (Original Italian:
"La preoccupazione di papa Francesco è che Putin, per il momento, non si fermerà. Tenta anche di ragionare sulle radici di questo comportamento, sulle motivazioni che lo spingono a una guerra così brutale. Forse «l’abbaiare della Nato alla porta della Russia» ha indotto il capo del Cremlino a reagire male e a scatenare il conflitto. «Un’ira che non so dire se sia stata provocata — si interroga —, ma facilitata forse sì». "(Source: Intervista a Papa Francesco: «Putin non si ferma, voglio incontrarlo a Mosca. Ora non vado a Kiev», Corriere del sera, 3 March 2022, https://www.corriere.it/cronache/22_maggio_03/intervista-papa-francesco-putin-694c35f0-ca57-11ec-829f-386f144a5eff.shtml)

Whilst Russia may have committed crimes, I cannot take those reported by our press seriously, because they make so little sense.  The crimes of the west, however, have been very carefully investigated by people who have had to flee for their lives or have faced prison - Daniel Ellsberg, Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning, and many others - see for instance https://www.employmentlawgroup.com/timeline-us-whistleblowing/ I did not wake up one day and decide I wanted to embrace Russia, or Syria, but I did come to realise, decades ago, that most of what I read in the paper/saw on TV and heard from politicians was seriously limited and distorted, and reflected very little of what people actually thought or cared about.  I read more than one language and look at various media outlets from all over the world - something that is actually possible these days with the internet, but which US-NATO and allied governments have been trying to prevent.