My View from Ukraine

• We spent the day yesterday here in Odessa catching up with work and doing two interviews.  I posted one with Riley Waggaman and the other is still in process.  Today we hope to get back out on the street for some final filming before heading home tomorrow via Istanbul.

• The economy here in Ukraine is crashing.  Yesterday we got an up close and personal view of the new black market economy when we needed to get across town for a meeting.  One of our hosts just stuck out his hand like he was hailing a taxi except ordinary citizens stop and consider if they want to take on transporting us for a small fee - basically $2.  This appears to be a popular way people pick up some extra cash.  In our case the driver had one person already in the car and while driving us back to our hotel he picked up another person. 

• The deal the US and Europe offered Ukraine was if it went forward with the 2014 coup d'etat then they would be given preferential treatment to be included into the European economic market.  The kicker though was they had to first reject economic relations with their neighbor Russia.  But Europe has not come through with their part of the deal and now Ukraine has rejected Russia and even gone to war with her via the attacks on the Donbass region in eastern Ukraine.  Now of course the western corporate elites will come into Ukraine to 'save them' and buy up all national assets for practically nothing.  So Ukraine is being hollowed out and the western goal to create chaos along the Russian border is well underway.

• The Wall Street Journal has reported that NATO is preparing to deploy four battalions -- approximately 4,000 troops -- to Russia's border. The US claims this in response to Russian military exercises near the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.  Here is Washington's logic: Russian military exercises inside their own country are "extraordinarily provocative" but somehow stationing thousands of US and NATO troops along the border with Russia is not at all provocative.  Spiegel (a German weekly news magazine), citing German government sources, writes that Washington is speaking of the necessity of “shunning” Russia and emphasizing the active participation of Germany in the planned deployment of NATO units in the rotations near the Russian border.  Inside Germany there is not consensus on the plan for increased poking of the hornets nest near Russia.  Many German business interests want the sanctions against Russia lifted as they have hugely impacted commerce between the countries - same for France and several other European nations.  Talk about stirring up old wounds - the Russians lost 25 million people when Hitler invaded the former Soviet Union.......US-NATO are playing with fire and contemporary Germany would be wise to show some restraint.

• The sad point though is that Europe continues following the US over the cliff.  The US sponsored wars in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Syria have unleashed the massive refugee crisis that is now overwhelming Europe.  You'd think after awhile that European leadership would wise up and stop turning over their national sovereignty to Washington. I suppose that the US has installed neo-con puppets in 'old' European capitals just as they have in most of the former Soviet bloc capitals of eastern 'new' Europe. 

• How much shit is Russia supposed to eat anyway?  How many times can you kick Moscow in the teeth and expect it not to react.  This is the essential US-NATO strategy today.  Continue blasting Putin as the new Hitler in the western media.  Destroy Ukraine - destabilize Moldova and other countries on or near the Russian border.  Force Russia to react and then demonize Putin again and again.  Eventually the rubber band snaps and the hot war begins.  The US wants regime change in Moscow but how did such a venture go in Iraq or Libya?  If the US-NATO can't handle Iraq how can they dream of taking on Russia? 

• This is the view from Ukraine as I sit here in Odessa.  Most Americans have no clue and few would give a damn.  Even some in the 'peace movement' think I've gone over to the other side and have been 'Putinized'.  My view though is that even many so-called peaceniks in the west have swallowed western media propaganda hook, line, and sinker. All I can say at this point is put your ear to the railroad tracks and hear the train coming.....