#open a company in ukraine

[unitsukraine]

Company Registration in Ukraine

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[dancerdiaries]

So apparently the lady running the warm-up classes for the performance this weekend asked about me???!!!?!??!? Like, she was really impressed!!??!!?

I guess the moral of this story is, don't be so sure that your audition examiner/master teacher/etc. isn't impressed by you. They may have to look professional on the outside, but you never know what they're really thinking.

[wilwheaton]

Elon Musk’s company SpaceX is a U.S. defense contractor, with billions of dollars in Pentagon contracts. That makes his intervention to thwart Ukrainian military operations a U.S. national security concern, not only because America supports Ukraine’s self-defense against Russia’s invasion, but also because it suggests the U.S. military may have left itself open to similar disruptions. Excerpts from biographer Walter Isaacson’s book, Elon Musk, show Musk denying Ukraine Starlink internet access off the coast of Crimea in Sept. 2022, causing Ukrainian sea drones to stop functioning. A private citizen thwarting an in-progress military operation like this is unprecedented. [...] Congress should exercise its oversight powers and look into both SpaceX’s actions in Ukraine and the extent of American dependence on Musk’s company. At minimum, it’s an information security risk. Isaacson says Musk texted him about the Ukrainian sea drones headed to Crimea as he was trying to decide what to do. No one should be telling journalists about secret military operations as they’re happening. Elon Musk especially shouldn’t be in position to, given his direct contact with foreign officials, and his apparent affinity for online trolls, including contributors to Russian state media outlet RT. He’s free to associate with whomever he wants, and to express his opinions about the war (even if he doesn’t know what he’s talking about and has vast means to spread his thoughts widely). But a defense contractor controlled by one volatile personality, who is at best ignorant of international power politics and susceptible to Russian propaganda, and does not respect that national security decisions are up to governments rather than him personally, is not someone the United States should consider a reliable business partner.

U.S. Government Can’t Allow Elon Musk the Power to Intervene in Wars

[dostoyevsky-official]

this a view of someone who's ignored european developments since 2007, opting for a rosy, outdated view of european politics, i.e. the exact type of american committing the exact type of mistake i'm warning about.

to address this point by point: not only has inflation been a global issue, but the US has consistently enjoyed the lowest inflation of any developed economy. american CPI has remained below the british, polish, and eurozone average numbers. european economies have to deal with fallout from the russian invasion of ukraine that the us can ignore: notably, in energy prices, as the US became self-sufficient in energy (and never imported any from russia to begin with, something squeezing the german economy). america is also not hosting millions of ukrainian refugees.

when discussing european instutions—and "europe" in general—one has to be more specific. do you mean the overarching institutions of the EU, criticized for a democratic deficit that many have pinpointed as one source for euro-skepticism and the rise of the far right? the EU Council, widely ignored and headed by charles michel, an incompetent, blatant nepobaby appointment whom everyone grinds their teeth over? the EU parliament, recently filled with a fresh batch of far-right hooligans, which functions more or less as a rubber stamp for the commission? the EU commission itself, headed by VdL, the latest in a string of failed local politician commissioners (who remembers the alcoholic swindler juncker?) masquerading as technocrats? the ECB, which smothers the monetary (and through the maastricht criteria, the fiscal) policy of eurozone members, thereby fueling resentment, far-right movements, and economic disparity? and all of this held hostage by the veto of one orban or fico, —or the german supreme court, when it decides it's had enough with public investment. those institutions, which remain so opaque that even educated americans—and europeans—aren't entirely aware of their function?

or do we mean the institutions of individual countries, ranging from undemocratic autocracies like hungary to the fief of the jupiter king, who called elections in june, lost them, refused to nominate a prime minister from the winning coalition, didn't name any for over a month, and then appointed a rightwing politician from a party that scored dead last, sidestepping his own centrist party? the UK, where sir keir is handing out five years in jail time to climate protesters, raising tuition fees, relying on private investment companies, and through rachel reeves' plan to fix the alleged budget hole left by hunt before further investment, again enacting austerity? this is all front-page headline news from the last half year.

european countries indeed have cheaper healthcare costs, better pensions, and other public goods that the united states does not. when considering "quality of life," remember, however, that most european countries have unemployment rates considered astronomic in america, especially for under-35s:

to focus again and again on european social democracy is to ignore that it has been steadily eroded since the end of the cold war and especially since the great recession by neoliberal political forces that crush the left and open the door for the far right. in the most blatant example, beside's macron's legislative politricks, the IMF-ECB-EC troika cut off euro cash liquidity flow to greece when syriza was trying to undo austerity under varoufakis. the greek collapse consigned a generation to economic failure, killed seniors, and curtailed possibilities for the youth. this erosion happened even in the nordic model, long imagined by americans as nothing short of a utopia:

In part due to the scrapping of wealth and inheritance taxes and a lower corporate tax than both the U.S. and European averages, Sweden has one of the most unequal distributions of wealth in the world today: on a level with Bahrain and Oman, and worse than the United States. Perhaps most dispiriting for Sanders, Sweden also now hosts the highest proportion of billionaires per capita in the world. Many of the country’s trademark social services are now provided by private firms. Its private schools even benefit from the same level of state subsidy as public schools—a voucher system far more radical than anything in the United States and that Democratic politicians would be crucified for advocating. Both here and there, right-leaning commentators in 2020 decried Sanders’s portrait as little more than what Johan Norberg, Swedish author of The Capitalist Manifesto, has called a 1970s “pipedream.” On this, Swedish observers on the left gloomily agree: despite official rhetoric, the “Nordic welfare model” is now more nostalgic myth than reality. (x)

to problematize further, there's an unadressed first world perspective: who's getting the good quality of life, why are the main economies of the EU so wealthy, and how does the EU continue to enrich itself? there are certainly many living outdoors today, drowning in the mediterranean, or dying of exposure in białowieża. fortress europe is a crime against humanity—and it doesn't beat back the far right. it weakens civic and human rights, undermines legal oversight, and criminalizes humanitarian engagement, allowing an authoritarian creep.

you shouldn't understand the political and the historical as a snapshot in time, but as a moving train. this is the state of europe today. all of the above is necessarily a simplification and an abbreviation, but there's a trajectory you can begin to trace out: given all of the above, where do you think europe is headed?

[shewhoworshipscarlin]

Olga (Ollie) Burgoyne

Olga “Ollie” Burgoyne, also known as Ollie Burgoyne-Calloway, was a singer and dancer specializing in Russian and other ethnic dances. She was also an actress and businesswoman who gained popularity during the Harlem Renaissance and left her mark as one of the most influential African American dancers and choreographers of that time.

Ollie Burgoyne was born in Chicago, Illinois, on June 13, 1879. She was part Russian and part Creole. Ollie’s cousin, Ida Forsain, toured Russia and specialized in Cossack dancing. Influenced by Forsain, Burgoyne debuted at age 17 in John Isham’s Oriental America nightclub in Chicago in 1896. In 1901, at age 22, she embarked on an eight-year tour of Europe (Germany, France, Denmark, Switzerland, Hungary, and Russia) with seven singing and dancing girls known as the Louisiana Amazon Guards.

In 1903, Burgoyne briefly returned to the United States and joined the cast of the operetta In Dahomey, which was the first African American musical to be performed on Broadway. After her performance, Burgoyne formed Duo Eclatant with partner Asher Watts. She also founded the Burgoyne Musical Company.

During her years in Russia (1904-1914), Burgoyne performed in many prestigious venues, including the Krestovskiy Garden Amusement Park (St. Petersburg) and the Aumont Theater (Moscow). She also made side trips to Odessa in what is now Ukraine, Athens, Greece, Istanbul, Turkey, and Cairo, Egypt. She opened the Maison Creole lingerie store in downtown St. Petersburg (Russia), where she employed a staff of 27. In August 1914, while Burgoyne was vacationing in Marienbad, Austria, World War I broke out, and she was unable to return to Russia and thus lost her businesses and properties there.

Between 1914 and 1929, Burgoyne continued to tour mainly in western Europe. Her specialties were Brazilian, Spanish, and Russian dances, which she mastered while traveling. She briefly returned to the United States during this period, where she performed in New York City, Chicago nightclubs, and Harlem’s Lafayette Theater. In 1925, Burgoyne produced two dance revues, Darktown Strutters, and Harlem Strutters, in New York. She also appeared in ten Broadway productions between 1926 and 1937.

In 1931, Ollie Burgoyne was named one of the eight major dancers and choreographers of the Harlem Renaissance, part of an elite group that also included Hemsley Winfield, Edna Guy, Randolph Sawyer, Asadata Dafora, Katherine Dunham, Charles Williams, and Pearl Primus. In April 1936, when Burgoyne was 57 years old, she appeared in the play Mississippi Rainbow, performed at the Lafayette Theater. In the later years of her life, Burgoyne taught dance and worked periodically in the film industry, starring in movies such as Laughing (1930) and The Timid Ghost (1937). With a career spanning nearly 50 years, Ollie Burgoyne died on April 2, 1974, in Oxnard, California, at the age of 95.

[simply-ivanka]

Germany Should Have Listened to Trump

Tuesday 2.27.2024 Wall Street Journal

By Walter Russell Mead

Trump was right about Berlin’s self-defense and risky energy dependence on Russia.

The lower house of Germany’s Parliament voted to legalize the recreational use of cannabis last week. It was a timely move. Germany’s leadership class is going to need all the mellow it can find in a world that isn’t going Germany’s way.

Russian advances in Ukraine and American paralysis over the next aid package are reinforcing the reality that Germany needs to defend itself but lacks the power to do so. So are developments in the Red Sea, where German manufacturers must cope with shipping delays as the Biden administration fails to keep the vital waterway clear.

Forget the 2% of gross domestic product that Germany has repeatedly promised and failed to spend on defense. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius shocked many observers this month when he said that in the new world situation, Germany may have to spend as much as 3.5% of GDP for defense.

The economic news is also grim. Last year Germany’s GDP shrank 0.3%, and last week the government slashed 2024 growth estimates to a pitiful 0.2%. Economists expect negative growth during the first quarter of 2024, placing the country in recession. The outlook for housing is bleak, with business confidence reaching all-time lows. The news in manufacturing is little better. This month the widely followed HCOB German Flash Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 46.1, the eighth month in a row that the index has pointed to decreasing economic activity.

Energy prices are a particular sore spot. The chemical giant BASF announced €1 billion in spending cuts in its German operations, blaming a mix of weak demand in the German market and “structurally higher energy prices.” Enormous U.S. subsidies under the so-called Inflation Reduction Act are leading German companies to look across the Atlantic.

Chinese competition is another massive worry. China long ago passed Germany as the world’s largest car producer. Increasingly, especially in electric vehicles, it is challenging Germany as both a low-cost and high-quality manufacturer. Beijing aims to marginalize German capital goods and automobile companies in China while Chinese exporters challenge German dominance in world markets.

With the associations representing the small and medium-size Mittelstand firms that make up the heart of the German economy warning in a rare joint open letter about Germany’s loss of competitiveness, Economy Minister Robert Habeck isn’t mincing words. The economy is in “rough waters.” The “competitiveness of Germany as an industrial location” is in doubt.

It isn’t all doom and gloom. The outlook for the service sector is brighter than for manufacturing, and as the Journal reported last week, the Ifo Institute’s business-climate index improved slightly this month. The best that can be said for the outlook? “The German economy is stabilizing at a low level,” according to Ifo’s president.

Meanwhile, Germany’s dysfunctional three-party coalition government is paralyzed by internal struggles. The largest party in the coalition, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD), is deeply divided over foreign policy, with many nostalgic for good relations with Russia and allergic to military spending. The SPD also wants Biden-like government spending initiatives to revive the German industrial machine and expand social benefits. The Greens, the next-largest party, are by German standards foreign-policy hawks but continue to press for a rapid energy transition that drives up costs for business and consumers. The third party in the coalition, the Free Democrats, wants to hold the line on government spending. As if this weren’t enough trouble, the conservative opposition parties have a blocking minority in Parliament’s upper house.

This is not where Germans thought they would be. Sixteen months ago, I visited Berlin and heard from a stream of government officials, think tankers and economists that everything was working fine. Russia was failing in Ukraine. The energy transition would boost German competitiveness and employment. Germany’s Mittelstand would handle anything China could throw at it.

Under the circumstances, it’s no surprise that antiestablishment parties are growing in Germany. The far right Alternative for Germany (AfD) currently has more support than any of the governing parties, with one recent poll showing the AfD at 19%, the Social Democrats at 14%, the Greens at 13%, and the Free Democrats at 4%.

The most bitter pill of all for Germany’s establishment may be the realization that on the most important issues facing Germany, Donald Trump was right where they were wrong. Getting in bed with Vladimir Putin for cheap energy was both foolish and deeply disloyal to the West. German defense policy was self-defeating and dangerous. China wasn’t a reliable partner.

“Ich bin ein Berliner,” was President John F. Kennedy’s message to Germany. If Donald Trump returns to the White House, his message will likely be “Das habe ich gleich gesagt,” or “I told you so.”

[dosesofcommonsense]

From BioClandestine on Telegram

If Trump wins 2024, he will halt all funding for Ukraine, negotiate an end to conflict with Putin, thus preventing WW3.

The reason Biden and the Deep State cannot negotiate with Putin, is because Putin wants their heads for crimes against humanity, namely for manufacturing C19.

This is not speculation on my part. Russian MIL literally listed Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and George Soros, as being the main ideologists behind the plot to manufacture coronavirus strains in Ukraine, with US DoD funding, and there is an open source paper trail to back it up. You can debate on whether or not you believe them, but the reality is, Putin wants the “Western Elites” and Xi agrees with him.

It’s not hyperbolic to say that this is life or death for the Deep State actors. If Trump wins and negotiates a settlement with Putin, Russian MIL have already been demanding for activation of Articles V and VI of the Biological Weapons Treaty, which would result in a Security Council investigation and international military tribunals. That’s what Russian MIL have been demanding at the UN for nearly 2 years now. And that’s just the biological stuff, not even accounting for the whole 2014 coup, shelling the Donbas, funding and supporting Ukraine in 2022, Nord Stream, etc.

What do you think Trump is going to say? No? Trump wants to prosecute the exact same people for crimes against humanity! Putin is literally demanding that all of Trump’s enemies trying to imprison him, must be prosecuted by military tribunal… How could Trump say no to that?! He’d be killing multiple birds with one stone. And Trump’s DOJ wouldn’t have to do the prosecuting. It would be a coalition of military judges from different countries around the world. It would be far more legitimate and no way could the Dems cry “partisanship”. It’s international law.

Y’all might think it’s crazy, but this is the trajectory we are headed on if Trump wins, which is why the Biden regime are going to do everything in their power to prevent Trump from winning. If they fail, they will be treated as international war criminals, and will face the ultimate penalty.

Extinction Level Event (for the deep state, for globalism, for all their synvophants in levels of government and the MSM).

Let’s say Russia and China are lying, and the US did not manufacture C19.

Then why would Fauci, Collins, and the US government, put so much effort into covering up the lab origins?

Why are the US and their allies the only ones NOT interested in who caused a global pandemic?

Why did government health agencies and Big Tech censor scientists and journalists who pointed out its lab origins? If someone else created this virus, why are the US government so invested in covering up who is responsible? Over a million Americans died, shouldn’t they be tirelessly trying to find out who killed all those people?

Who benefited from the pandemic? American Pharmaceutical companies, that began the vaccine development BEFORE the pandemic. Who funds the MSM and Deep State politicians? Big Pharma.

If Russia and China are lying, why is it that the US veto every request at the UN Security Council for a joint investigation into the origins of C19?

There are two options. Elements within the US are responsible, or, a different entity is responsible and the US government went out of their way to cover it up.

The paper trail confirms it’s the former, but either way, heads must roll.

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

Universities across the world are facing pressure—from students but also from academic staff—to cut ties with Israeli institutions over the war in Gaza. In the US, a dozen universities have struck agreements with activists and partly conceded to their demands, including divestment from Israeli companies. In Europe, dozens of Spanish universities and five Norwegian universities have resolved to sever all ties with Israeli partners deemed “complicit” in the war in Gaza. Several Belgian universities have now suspended all collaborations with Israeli universities because of their collaborations with the IDF. Even without a formal boycott, pressure from anti-Israel protests and the BDS movement has already led to pervasive exclusion of Israeli scientists and students. In the liberal Israeli newspaper Haaretz, over 60 academics have testified what this amounts to: cancelled invitations to lectures and committees, desk rejections of papers on political grounds, freezing of ongoing collaborations, disrupted guest lectures, and withdrawn co-authorships.Damned in Amsterdam: A Bizarre DeplatformingWe wanted to give a talk on how ideological bias hampers science—and were disinvited because of our politics.QuilletteJerry A. Coyne

What arguments are there for such a boycott? An open letter at Ghent University signed by more than 1500 students and staff, including dozens of professors (mainly from the humanities), denounces the stark “contrast” between the treatment of Israel and that of Russia in the wake of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, when many Western universities cut all ties with Russian universities. According to the signatories, Israel is currently committing a “genocide” in Gaza, and they demand that any cooperation with Israeli universities be suspended “as long as the current war continues.”

However, the “contrast” in reactions to both conflicts is perfectly defensible. Ukraine was brutally invaded by Russia without any prior provocation or military threat, simply because Putin imagines that Ukraine is a “fictional” nation that has no right to exist. If thousands of Ukrainian fighters had committed a gruesome massacre on Russian soil in January 2022, methodically slaughtering 1,200 innocent men, women, and children and taking another 250 hostages, only then would there be any semblance of similarity between both conflicts (as with many open letters from pro-Palestinian protestors, the letter completely ignores the terrorist attack of 7 October). It should also be noted that almost all Russian universities pledged their unequivocal support of the invasion of Ukraine, in a statement released by the Russian Union of Rectors and signed by more than 300 academic institutions.

As for the genocide charge, we believe it is as obscene as it is baseless. The tragic death of civilians as an unwanted side-effect of legitimate military objectives is completely different from the deliberate and methodical killing of civilians. It is perfectly reasonable to criticise Israel’s current military strategies and to question the sufficiency of measures taken to prevent civilian casualties, but it is absurd to pretend that the IDF is pursuing the opposite goal. The only genocidal party in this conflict is Hamas, which in its founding charter fantasises about the killing of the last Jew on earth.

In any event, a call for an “immediate and permanent ceasefire” and a boycott “as long as the war continues,” as the open letter demands, entails that no form of warfare against Hamas is deemed acceptable, which amounts to a de facto denial of Israel’s right to self-defence under the international law of war. No country would tolerate a terrorist group like Hamas at its border, least of all after a pogrom like that of 7 October.

Israel has the right to eliminate Hamas’s military capacity in Gaza, but unfortunately this terrorist entity has been digging hundreds of kilometres of reinforced tunnels for over 17 years (but not a single shelter for its civilian population). Hamas also has a long history of using Palestinian civilians as human shields, and deliberately firing rockets from hospitals, schools, UN buildings, mosques, and in the vicinity of humanitarian zones. All these reprehensible tactics are mainly aimed at getting as many “martyrs” as possible in front of cameras, in order to manipulate Western political opinion and turn it against Israel. Judging by the sentiments prevalent on many college campuses, Hamas’s cynical strategy has been a resounding success.

No one in their right mind would deny that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is horrific, and no one can remain indifferent to the unacceptable suffering of Palestinian children. We would all like to see an end to the violence as soon as possible. Still, to demand that Israel accept a permanent ceasefire without any further conditions (the elimination of Hamas’s military capability and the release of hostages) amounts to an unequivocal choice for Hamas and against Israel.

Urban warfare is always hell, and was no less so in Mosul and Raqqa, when a Western alliance carried out a massive bombing campaign against the Islamic State, with broad support from almost the entire Western world. We now know that thousands of civilians died in Mosul alone, and unlike in Gaza, people had little or no opportunity to evacuate.

How many academics in Europe or the US would adopt the same anti-war attitude if a terrorist group had slaughtered over 1,200 of their compatriots (the equivalent of 13 times the casualties of 9/11 for the US) and proudly live-streamed their atrocities? And not on “occupied” or “colonised” land, but on internationally recognised territory. Many Westerners, accustomed to decades of peace and security, no longer understand what it means to live in a fragile democracy (the only one in the region), which has been under existential threat since its founding and is currently surrounded by multiple terrorist groups committed to wiping it off the map.

[attheexactlyrighttimeandplace]

It has been more than 24 hours since the last massacre of Palestinian civilians organized by the Americans and jewish zionists in Gaza, and Algeria has still not officially reacted to the crimes committed.

No declarations from the usual communication channels which are our Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and the Algerian Press Agency which exclusively represents the voice of our President since last April (he "appropriated" it by decree because the war approaches our borders).

I wonder if this silence is a turning point. The final nail in the coffin on what has been a very turbulent journey to try to change our relationship with the United States.

The journey began with the war in Ukraine in 2022: like all Arab countries, we really angered the United States by refusing to side with the EU against Russia. And we reached the point of open conflict with the United States (they sent their deputy secretary of state in March 2022) when we terminated our energy contract with Spain (we are their main supplier of gas) after the Spanish Prime Minister began supporting Morocco's claims on Western Sahara's land.

But Algeria surprisingly backed down on many points and began to rapidly improve its relations with the United States - Blinken, the US Secretary of State came to Algeria several times, our Foreign Ministry was invited to Washington - to the point that our country, which has been a faithful ally of Russia for 60 years seemed on the verge of joining NATO last April (I think Algeria might become a Major Non Nato Ally but is hidding its true intention for various reasons linked to the international context in North Africa, more precisely in the Sahel where 3 countries have expelled, under the influence of Russia, the American and French military bases from their lands and are openly eyeing the Algerian borders to destabilize us, in addition to the conflict with Morocco).

A few decades ago, the genocide of the Palestinians would have stopped these efforts very quickly, probably leading to a further breakdown in diplomatic relations with the United States.

Not this time: Algeria was still signing massive contracts in fossil fuels and unconventional energy (shale gas) with major American companies like Exxon Mobile and Chevron (although at a slower pace than expected) in May 2024, and our president was invited to the G7 summit which will take place next week in Italy, an invitation designed as a reward for Algeria's support for Europe's energy security and for its fight against illegal immigration which largely benefits Europeans.

This is why the decision of the Algerian mission to the UN to oppose the very important vote scheduled for Friday, June 7 to transform Biden's plan for Gaza into a resolution at the UN Security Council, was the most stupid move ever taken.

Blinken, the US Secretary of State, made a very special call to our Department of Foreign Affairs to obtain our consent to the plan proposed by Biden. This call was heavily promoted as a turning point by the entire US diplomatic network on all social media platforms, including on X: from the US Embassy in Algiers to the US State Department account, and their X account in Arabic for the MENA region.

Algeria obviously adhered to this plan, there is no other way to explain our pure and simple abandonment of the resolution we wrote to implement the latest decision of the ICJ which ordered the end of all operations in Rafah.

It is therefore easy to measure the extent to which Algeria has been incoherent, senseless and dangerous for itself and for Palestine in this context where the United States show no mercy, approve of genocide and have repeatedly rejected our demands during the previous negotiations in the UN Security Council to save more lives - when through the voice of our ambassador to the UN, Algeria gave the feeling of thinking that it could once again stop the vote, and try to negotiate new demands regarding Palestinian prisoners.

This is not surprising when you consider who our ambassador to the UN is: an overly old diplomat who has been unable to include the American point of view in his analysis. His conviction of being right against the rest of the world, his romantic views on resistance and his desire to play the savior of Palestine lead him to demonstrate a lack of humility and a lack of relevance in his analysis (like in his speech on terrorism at the UN where he asked for compassion for terrorists as if we hadn't lost 100,000 people in a civil war because of terrorism (!).

However, I do not believe that it was supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or by our President. We have experienced a lot of management problems in the last 15 days at the highest level of the state, due to keeping the wrong people in important positions for the wrong reasons, to the point that it has had disastrous consequences, with deadly human consequences. Last week, some civil servants were fired and others were forcibly transferred, but explaining that doesn't cover the extent of the problem.

But back to the UN, after a revised version of Biden's plan was presented, we were given a 48-hour period of silence to object. In the end, the vote was to take place on Friday June 7, 2024, but due to Algeria's intervention in the Security Council, it was postponed until next Monday. There is no doubt that Algeria is responsible for the breakdown of consensus on the plan, because China seems to have forgotten the issue and only reacted and opposed it after us, and Russia only followed China!

The next day, the massacre took place in the Nuseirat camp: the latest reports say that there were 274 deads, 814 injured.

I really wonder, given the timing, how it would be possible that Algeria's decision, which comes after a long period of tense disagreements with the United States in the UN Security Council, not only on Palestine but also Africa and the Arab world, might not have triggered the so-called rescue? The United States had known for weeks where the hostages were because English planes had been flying over the area to gather information for weeks as well, so the plan was set and ready to be executed in case it was needed.

Which to me is the decisive proof that this was an American operation from conception to execution, Netanyahu would not have waited a second to take the opportunity to increase his popularity, and could never have carried it out without American support (his genocidal zionist soldiers only know to drop bombs on civilians). On the same day of the Nuseirat massacre, Gantz, a member of Netanyahu's war cabinet and government, was expected to resign. A few weeks ago, at the request of the United States, he issued an ultimatum to Netanyahu to find a solution for Rafah, or to accept his (Gantz) resignation which would have led to new elections that Netanyahu was certain to lose. Yesterday, not knowing what to do after the rescue, Gantz asked the United States what they wanted and the United States' response was that they do not interfere with Israel's internal politics! Algeria probably also ruined this plan indirectly.

My impression is that the United States did not betray Algeria: it did not intend to carry out its rescue mission because it was more concerned about the potential support Algeria could provide in the war against Russia (the Algerian army has been training with live ammunition for weeks, and my theory is that a large Algerian contingent is going to be sent to Ukraine), than they cared about the zionist settlers and zionist soldiers being held hostage by Hamas.

But Algeria's inability to keep its word after Biden's plan was officially accepted by our officials made us truly unreliable, even to be sent to Russia, and even though Algeria is the best card the West has, given the Ukraine's lack of soldiers (Algeria has been Russia's main customer for all types of military contracts for decades and is very familiar with Russian aircraft and equipment, and has conducted joint military exercises with Russia even deep within Russian territory).

If our president decides to save Algeria's commitments to the West: he should really fire our ambassador to the UN, and completely review and change our internal process of opposition to resolutions at the UN (we have a status of non-permanent membership until the end of 2025, which the United States helped us gain).

If he doesn't save it, and doesn't go to the G7 summit, I don't know how we will survive future wars to come: Morocco has expansionist views, and its military capacity is currently being improved by the genocidal Israeli. who are building a drone factory on our borders and launching two satellites for Morocco; Russia, which threw us under the bus because we refused to help Putin in his plan to destroy the EU's energy security, entered Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso and Libya militarily, made them its vassals and now claims a percentage of our oil and gas resources!

I don't know what the future holds for us….

[darkmaga-returns]

Thoughts in the Immediate Election Aftermath

The Prudentialist

Nov 06, 2024

"The demons cunningly withdraw for a time in the hope that we will cease to guard our heart, thinking we have now attained peace; then they suddenly attack our unhappy soul and seize it like a sparrow."

- St. Isaiah the Solitary

As the Associated Press has called the presidential race for Donald Trump, (with Kamala yet to emerge to offer a concession speech, at least at the time of writing this) I’m left with a huge shit-eating grin on my face. However I can’t say it’ll last forever, chasing a high from so many years ago will never be quite the same once you get a hold of it again. I sent my vote for Donald Trump during early voting, and if you include the primaries (and for the sake of disclosure) I have voted for Donald Trump six times now with this election being the last. I had voted for a bull in the china shop in 2016, thinking he would be safer in terms of foreign policy over Hillary Clinton, and my politics moved further to the right as I saw the bureaucracy, the media, big business, etc., rally against him and people who voted for him. 2020 of course happened, but we’ll get into that later on today.

And here we are.

The results as of this morning:

While the Spirit of 2016 crackles through the air like the spirit of radio did in 80s and the glass ceiling still stands without a crack, the nagging feeling of “I’ve been here before” lingers in my mind. Trump and his supporters have been called Hitler, fascists, racists, all the rest, and have seen conservative aligned businesses targeted, and any elite defections have lawfare and the like as Elon Musk and his companies have. Had the economic conditions been better, had the borders not been opened up for millions to pour in and to get better treatment than actual Americans, the constant preference for the foreigner over the citizen, the mandates, the inflation, all of it…this election could potentially have gone a different direction and this isn’t even mentioning the attempts on Trump’s life.

There are some key items as to how we got to here, in no particular order.

Biden dropping out of the race.

Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter (now X.)

Kamala’s poor quality as a candidate

Rampant inflation

Foreign Policy (Shipping Lanes, Israel, Ukraine)

Regime preference for foreigners

Lawlessness/Anarcho-Tyranny (Law and Order)

Open Borders - Every State a Border State

Countless more factors are included, but one thing that I think is really worth mentioning here is just how millennial coded this election was, especially for Kamala’s campaigns. From “Brat” to her appearance on the “Call Her Daddy” Podcast, her staffers going on TikTok to talk their “MAGA Uncles” as if they were literal preschoolers shows us that the mid-thirties schoolmarm schtick wasn’t going to sit well. Kamala was a piss poor candidate in 2020, and was already tied to an unpopular (and illegitimately elected) President Biden, and her lack of policy positions and presupposed “vibes” weren’t going to go far enough when the average person’s quality of life had gone down, costs have gone up, and the worship of lawlessness meant what they did have was very much at risk especially in urban areas. California has opted to be tougher on crime based on the results of Prop 36.

[hussyknee]

Fellas, is it an act of war against a Western European country to hold their citizens prisoner in the open air prison they're carpet bombing?

Lebanon's Hezbollah and Yemen's Houthis have been launching attacks on US military bases in Syria and Iraq and firing missiles at Israel in tandem with Hamas's attacks. All three are funded by Iran.

(I am HEAVING with laughter at Vox and every single one of these propagandist chucklefucks calling them "militias" and "terrorist organisations" and trying to frame this as justification for continuing to fund Israel like. MOTHERFUCKER WHOSE REGION ARE YOU IN EXACTLY?? WHO IS GENOCIDING PEOPLE ON THEIR OWN SOIL??)

"But they're fundie theocratic military states!!!"

*looks at Israel*

*looks at you*

*looks at current state of US*

Oh, ARE they?

US officials have met with the Lebanese caretaker government in an effort to try and prevent the conflict from spreading into Lebanon.

Um. Was this before or after Israel poured white phosphorus on Lebanon? Do y'all even have any control over your dog?

(Btw if you MCU brainrotted Western leftists don't stop trying to pick a Good Guy out of this mess instead of understanding basic geo-politics and the horrific ground realities of the countries the US and its allies have left in tatters, you're frankly just as much of an enemy to the people in those countries as your leaders are. Every one of these people are fascist cunts.)

For those of you who have been BLEATING about Ukraine non-stop, like it's NOT an expendable non-NATO country they're only interested in defending in case Putin gets any bright ideas about Poland, here's an opinion that makes sense to me:

Tell me it wouldn't be perfectly on brand if the US government announced, "Our great democracy bows to the will of the people. We hear you, we see you. We will divest...from Ukraine."

The West has never given one singular shit about protecting ANYONE from genocide. Vulnerability is liability. The only difference between them and Putin is that Putin is greedy megalomaniacal fascist surrounded by self-interested yes-men and the US is run by a committee of greedy egomaniacal fascists surrounded by self-interested yes-men whose end goal is keeping the death machine spinning money rather than even "winning" territories. All they have to do to turn this around is divest from Israel and focus on Ukraine. And no, Israel can't throw in with Putin because it'll be too busy trying to fight off three countries at once without the sugar from its Daddy.

Putin will not stop at Ukraine, for the same reason the US didn't stop at Afghanistan. Empires are built on their military power and militaries need to be fed and kept active and kept active to be fed. The minute you stop, it tries to eat itself. If Putin makes a move on Poland, NATO has to respond, and if the West is also embroiled in an all-out war with the Middle East, well. It looks kinda like a global conflict.

Oh and btw, if this does escalate into another regional war in the Middle East, we're going to be plunged into an oil crisis. Which might actually be the last straw for the UK economy, but it very DEFINITELY will be for the rest of the Global South.

(Also Biden's already auctioned off the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska for oil companies for such an intensive scale of fracking that it's projected to tip the world over the edge of climate collapse. In the event of a war in the ME, the US is going to need that oil soooooo. Good luck stopping it.)

[mariacallous]

In September of 2022, not long after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, officials from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) raided and seized several luxury properties in both New York City and Miami. The average person would have had little idea why these particular properties were special; the official register only listed an anonymous Panamanian shell company, one with a mailing address at Madison Square Garden, as the putative owner. But it was later revealed that the DOJ officials were part of KleptoCapture, a special task force created to seize and freeze the assets of Russian oligarchs, and that the true owner of the $70 million property portfolio was Viktor Vekselberg, a Russian-Cypriot billionaire who had been subject to U.S. sanctions for many years. Even though the authorities eventually pieced together the puzzle and located his gargantuan property portfolio, Vekselberg had managed to fly under the radar for years until that point.

The Vekselberg incident illustrates two alarming facts about American real estate. The first is that offshore investors can easily hide their identity by using opaque corporate ownership structures to keep their name off the register. The second is that, because this practice is so common, offshore investment in the real estate sector is likely far greater than what can be measured with public data.

Real estate has always been considered a risky sector, highly vulnerable to money laundering, tax evasion, and corruption. This is because high-value properties offer both a safe store of wealth and an asset that can easily be flipped for the purposes of laundering. It is also a sector that is very rarely subject to the same level of effective due diligence checks or automatic reporting requirements that financial accounts are. The true amount of money laundered through U.S. real estate is unknown, but recent reports by groups like the Anti-Corruption Data Collective and Global Financial Integrity have uncovered at least $2.6 billion worth of cases through both residential and commercial property in recent years.

These risks are amplified even further when the ownership originates offshore, as foreign authorities will struggle to spot instances of tax evasion or corruption when the wealth is hidden in U.S. real estate, with no public transparency of ownership. But to understand the risks that offshore ownership poses, we first need to understand just how much real estate foreigners own in the U.S.

[ballet-symphonie]

Diana Vishneva... She's always speaking about her love for Vaganova and about the importance of her teacher Ludmila Kovaleva (and she's also the only one to get a perfect score at vaganova). Do you think that D.Vishneva will eventually move to teaching at Vaganova, becoming a new Kovaleva? Or Maybe take Nikolai Tsiskaridze place and become Rector?

I dont know. I don't know if that's actually the life that Vishneva wants, she seems quite content with her current artistic merits and curating all the things related to Context Pro and her foundation. The bigger problem is whether the job will open and whether she can get it. With Valery Gergiev's incredible power at the head of both major theaters and knowing how pro-Putin he is, I can't imagine he will be quick to support any attempts by Vishneva to vie for that position, especially considering Vishenva's pro-Ukraine stance among other 'Western' views she has expressed.

Many people think Tsiskaridze will only leave VBA for the Bolshoi artistic or general director job. He and Gergiev, who is now 'acting general director of both BT and MT' have had a rocky relationship in the past, particularly when they were both working in Moscow. But nowadays, Tsiskaridze is quick to praise Gergiev at any opportunity in the press, calling him a genius in interviewers. Tsiskaridze is both cunning and ambitious, he knows being in Gergiev's good graces is absolutely essential to getting the job he wants. But there are other factors and other opposition to consider. Makhar Vaziev, still the Bolshoi's ballet artistic director is more cunning than Vladimir Urin (the former general BT director) who was tossed out several years before his contract expired. Vaziev managed to keep his post despite all the political pushing in the last few years, as long as he's there, there's no job opening for Tsiskaridze, because we all know Gergiev isn't going anywhere either. (I'd fire Vaziev for the current state of BT under his management, but that's an entirely separate topic).

But it's also not a guarantee that Tsiskardize would even theoretically get the job. Yes, he's powerful and famous...but he's got a lot of enemies as well. There is opposition, younger administrators who could desire the post as well. I'm thinking of people like the incredibly motivated Maxim Sevagin, who became director of MAMT at only 24 years old, Alexey Miroshnichenko currently ballet director at the Perm State Opera, and, Andrey Kuglin who is creating an absolute powerhouse company at Mikhailovsky in collaboration with Nacho Duato.

What's more intriguing to me, is the state of things at MT. Andrian Fadeyev was recently named Artistic Director of MT, and it appears that he's going to continue being the AD at Yakobson as well...which is WILD to me. This is not the same thing as Gergiev just managing both from afar, he is supposed to be on the ground, rehearsing and actively involved in the day-to-day operations of both groups. Yes, they're both in SPB, but just one of those jobs is a job and a half I don't know how he will manage both. Of course, it's possible that he just neglects Yakobson completely, but I wouldn't be surprised if this appointment doesn't last long. If the MT job opens up, does Tsiskaridze want it? Can he get it?

[ukrainenews]

(This situation is very much a developing thing and there's a lot of conflicting and wrong information out there right now. I know I've been absent lately, but I'm keeping an eye on things.)

Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Saturday his Wagner fighters had crossed the border into Russia from Ukraine and were prepared to go "all the way" against Moscow's military, hours after the Kremlin accused him of armed mutiny.

As a long-running standoff between Prigozhin and the military top brass appeared to come to a head, Russia's FSB security service opened a criminal case against him, TASS news agency said. It called on the Wagner private military company forces to ignore his orders and arrest him.

Wagner fighters had entered the southern Russian city of Rostov, Prigozhin said in an audio recording posted on Telegram. He said he and his men would destroy anyone who stood in their way.

Prigozhin earlier said, without providing evidence, that Russia's military leadership had killed a huge number of his troops in an air strike and vowed to punish them.

He said his actions were not a military coup. But in a frenzied series of audio messages, in which the sound of his voice sometimes varied and could not be independently verified, he appeared to suggest that his 25,000-strong militia was en route to oust the leadership of the defence ministry in Moscow.

Security was stepped up on Friday night at government buildings, transport facilities and other key locations in Moscow, TASS reported, citing a source at a security service.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was getting around-the-clock updates, TASS said, while the White House said it was monitoring the situation and would consult with allies.

Kyiv, meanwhile, said the major thrust in its counteroffensive against Moscow's invasion had yet to be launched. "The main blow is still to come," Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar told Ukrainian television.

A top Ukrainian general reported "tangible successes" in advances in the south - one of two main theatres of operations, along with eastern Ukraine.

'OBEY PRESIDENT,' GENERAL SAYS

The deputy commander of Russia's Ukraine campaign, General Sergei Surovikin, told Wagner fighters to obey Putin, accept Moscow's commanders and return to their bases. He said political deterioration would play into the hands of Russia's enemies.

"I urge you to stop," Surovikin said in a video posted on Telegram, his right hand resting on a rifle.

The standoff, many of the details of which remained unclear, looked like the biggest domestic crisis Putin has faced since he sent thousands of troops into Ukraine in February last year.

Prigozhin, a one-time Putin ally, in recent months has carried out an increasingly bitter feud with Moscow. Earlier on Friday, he appeared to cross a new line, saying the Kremlin's rationale for invading Ukraine, which it calls a "special military operation," was based on lies by the army's top brass.

Wagner led Russia's capture of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut last month, Russia's biggest victory in 10 months, and Prigozhin has used its battlefield success to criticise the leadership of the defense ministry with seeming impunity - until now.

For months, he has openly accused Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Russia's top general, Valery Gerasimov, of incompetence.

Army Lieutenant-General Vladimir Alekseyev issued a video appeal in which he asked Prigozhin to reconsider his actions. "Only the president has the right to appoint the top leadership of the armed forces, and you are trying to encroach on his authority," he said.

UKRAINE SAYS MAJOR THRUST AHEAD

On the ground in Ukraine, at least three people were killed in Russian attacks on Friday, including two who died after a trolleybus company came under fire in the city of Kherson, regional officials said.

Addressing the pace of the Ukrainian advances, several senior officials on Friday sent the clearest signal so far that the main part of the counteroffensive has not yet begun.

"I want to say that our main force has not been engaged in fighting yet, and we are now searching, probing for weak places in the enemy defences. Everything is still ahead," the Guardian quoted Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of Ukraine's ground forces, as saying in an interview with the British newspaper.

General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, commander of Ukraine's "Tavria," or southern front, wrote on Telegram: "There have been tangible successes of the Defence Forces and in advances in the Tavria sector."

Tarnavskyi said Russian forces had lost hundreds of men and 51 military vehicles in the past 24 hours, including three tanks and 14 armoured personnel carriers.

Although the advances Ukraine has reported this month are its first substantial gains on the battlefield for seven months, Ukrainian forces have yet to push to the main defensive lines that Russia has had months to prepare.

[forest-faerie-witch]

RIP America

I have been up all night. I've been following the campaign since Harris was at the first DNC. I have hoped and hoped that she would win. But now, as that lunatic is 3 points from winning, my chest is tight and I'm fighting tears.

I've been terrified through this whole thing. Afraid of losing my right to control my own body. Scared of losing my disability income. Worried about my daughter's rights. I'm deeply troubled about our world. What is going to happen to Ukraine now? To our immigrant friends?

There are things I can't wrap my head around. How is it OK for a convicted criminal to not only run for public office, but THE public office? To lead our entire country?! How is this lawful? How did our founding fathers not anticipate this? Did they just think "Well, it's just common sense, right?" They obviously didn't have the foresight to see the state of human beings in this century.

And what happened to separation of church and state? Why are the religious nuts still waving their bibles around at my uterus? How about, it's NONE OF YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS! You wanna believe in your god? Good for you. But don't tell me how to live just because we don't agree. I don't tell you what to do. I don't care. It's a free country, right? Well, apparently not if we are still being held to christian ideals.

This country was NOT based on religion. It was based on the freedom from religious persecution. (Do your homework people). It is NOT one nation under god. That was added to our money and our pledge in the 50s by... you guessed it, the religious right. Look it up. It's fact.

And now women are going to continue to die because of the abortion bans because of that fucking maniac's overturning of Roe v Wade. And once he's in office his MAGAtards are going to feel it's open season on all "other" people. Gays, trans, some of whom I call friends. It's going to be the wild west. Redneck ideology will only be rivaled by the christian right, comingled in most cases.

Haven't we had enough racism? Isn't there enough hate already? You guys - the HALF of our country who thought it was a great idea to put this fucking piece of shit back in the white house - are going to see. Yeah, you think he's so funny. "Oh he just says it like it is, says what's on his mind, etc." Oh yes, so presidential. If I want to talk shit with people, I don't go to the white house for it. I want my commander in chief to be presidential. Not a fucking convicted rapist, cheater, misogynist, lying waste of air.

He is going to pardon himself. All he's wanted through this whole thing was to win so he wouldn't go to prison. You'll see. He does NOT CARE ABOUT YOU! All he cares about is Donald Trump. He surrounds himself with sycophants who lick his arsehole and do his bidding. He'll let all the lunatics out that attacked our capitol. Insurgents. People, wake the fuck up! Think about this. All you who consider yourself "patriots," how would you feel if a group of people attacked the capitol when it wasn't your idea? You'd be furious!

I'm not saying Kamala was perfect. And she did the best she could in the short time she had to run. But at least she had solid plans for furthering our people. Her vision was one of unity, safety, equal rights and building the economy where everyone has a fair shot. I've never heard a single detailed policy from that... thing. All he does is wave his hands around and say don't worry, it's going to be great.

WHAT'S GOING TO BE GREAT?!!!!! Explain it to me. Tell me how you're going to do these things? Oh right. Tariffs. The idiot doesn't even know how tariffs work. Tariffs will cost the AMERICAN PEOPLE! If an exporter has to pay more to export their goods to us, then the companies that buy those goods have to pay more, and in turn, we pay that difference. The man is a moron. It's no wonder all his businesses fail and he filed bankruptcy 6 times.

He has no idea how to run a country. He let 100s of thousands of people die with his deplorable handling of COVID. Inject bleach... how fucking stupid can someone be. He inherited a good economy from Obama and fucked it up. And then has the nerve to further hypnotize his cult followers saying his presidency was the best ever. His economy the best ever. Everything the best ever. When the rest of the world knows he was the least popular president - ever. Was the worst president. He's so deluded by his own ego he believes his own lies and then so do his followers.

I'm old. I have a small income. I can't afford to pack up and try and find another country to live in. And believe me, I've been looking into it. But the only way you can live in another country is if you have MONEY. If you can't contribute to society in another country, good luck moving there. But the prospect of living in a Trump dystopia is terrifying.

Let's hope that I'm wrong. I'm really hoping I am.

[icedbatik]

I always breathe easier when Geno's back in the U.S. ...

From TH, September 5, 2023

The KHL is setting a scary precedent with the handling of Russian prospects who were drafted by NHL teams.

A timeline, to catch you up:

June 2015: Flyers draft goalie Ivan Fedotov in the seventh round. Fedotov develops into one of the top non-NHL goalies in the world.

2021-22 season: Fedotov signs for a year with the KHL club CSKA. CSKA is owned by a Russian state-run oil company.

February 2022: Fedotov says publicly in interview at Olympics that he intends on moving to the NHL

May 7, 2022:  Fedotov signs one-year deal with Flyers

Early June 2022: Fedotov arrested by Russian law enforcement for suspicion of evading military service and sent to remote military base in eastern part of the country

July 1, 2022: Fedotov becomes sick and rushed to hospital. His lawyer said that Fedotov had been given some kind of injections on the base, and that he and Fedotov's family weren't allowed to see him in the hospital. Fedotov is released from the hospital after a couple of days, but misses the entire 2022-23 season while at the military base. His contract with the Flyers slides a year to 2023-24.

July 8, 2023: Fedotov's KHL club CSKA signs him to a two-year extension, giving him two competing and active contracts.

Aug. 14, 2023: The IIHF completes its investigation of the competing contracts and rules in favor of the Flyers, saying that the CSKA contract is invalid. The IIHF gives CSKA a one-year ban on signing  players for international transfers. Fedotov is also suspended from international competitions for four months, which is irrelevant given that Russia isn't competing in national tournaments anytime soon. The IIHF suspended Russia from international play after the invasion of Ukraine. The IIHF suspension of Fedotov doesn't affect his ability to play in the NHL.

Sept. 1, 2023: CSKA has its regular season opener ... and starts Fedotov. KHL president and former Penguin Alexei Morozov releases a statement essentially saying that because they disagree with the IIHF ruling, they're going to do what they want: “The KHL accepted this roster in accordance with our central database, therefore Fedotov can play. Neither the KHL nor the club agree with the IIHF’s decision, which infringes the constitutional rights of a Russian citizen to work. Russia’s prosecutor general spoke in defense of the player, and sent a message to the Russian Hockey Federation, the club and the league about the consequences of violating his right to work and insisting that Fedotov be allowed to take part in the championship.”

Fedotov allowed five goals in a loss in the opener.

That same day, the IIHF fined CSKA 5,000 Swiss Francs (roughly the equivalent $5,600 USD) for playing Fedotov, and says that if Fedotov continues to play, CSKA will be subject to further sanctions. 

Since then, CSKA has played two games. Fedotov has been dressed and listed as the backup for both. Those are still violations, even though he didn't start.

To sum things up: The KHL is going rogue and setting a dangerous precedent. This is the first time the league has totally disobeyed the IIHF, and it'll be interesting to see how the IIHF moves forward here.

The Penguins have three prospects in Russia: Goaltender Sergei Murashov, drafted in the fourth round in 2022 and the Russian junior league's top goaltender last season; forward Kirill Tankov, drafted in the seventh round in 2021 and playing in the Russian second league after missing all of last season with a broken neck; and forward Mikhail Ilyin, drafted in the fifth round this summer and starting the year in the KHL.

NHL signing rights don't expire for players drafted out of Russia because of the lack of a formal transfer agreement between the NHL and Russia. The Penguins hold onto their NHL rights indefinitely.

Russian teams playing dirty to try to keep their top players isn't new. Evgeni Malkin had to escape to get to Pittsburgh in 2006. His club Magnitogorsk convinced him to play one more year in Russia after he was drafted by the Penguins to show his loyalty to the city and country. He did that, but the next summer team officials followed him to his home and coerced him into signing a one-year deal. The team had his passport, so he couldn't leave on his own. Magnitogorsk had an August tournament in Finland to start the year, so Malkin had his passport, and he hid in Finland for a few days until he could get a U.S. visa and flight to Los Angeles.

With Russian teams and the national teams not playing in other countries now because of the bans due to the invasion of Ukraine, prospects like Fedotov don't have the same opportunity to escape while in another country.

As an aside, this whole situation shows why the hope some fans had to ban Russian players from the NHL because of the invasion of Ukraine is totally misguided. ... You have the league and its government-owned teams doing all they can to keep one guy sticking around at home, even sending him to a military base in Siberia for a year. Giving the KHL all their top players back would be a dream for Russia and the KHL.