Has Russia Become a Pariah State?

 

I’ll be upfront and honest, I’ve never been a great lover of the ex-communist state of Russia even though my wife was born and brought up in that country before moving to Estonia in her teens. So, today we have Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine that has basically upended his country’s international and domestic affairs. In recent days we’ve heard of concerns about the invasion that are growing within the Kremlin. One Kremlin insider this week stated, "It's suicidal what Putin is doing to his country and our standing in the world."

The tyrant, Putin, is facing increasing animosity both abroad and at home as his war in Ukraine, which he reckoned would be over in a matter of days, approaches two full months. Experts cite strategy failures, mounting military losses, and the dire economic consequences of Western sanctions blamed almost entirely on Putin as evidence of painting a bleak picture of Russia's future. The ex-KGB’s decisions on the Ukraine invasion face rising scrutiny as a small but growing number of Kremlin insiders have started to express doubts about the war.

Ten Kremlin sources (who wished to remain nameless - for obvious reasons) who have direct knowledge of the conflict, conveyed their concerns to the American finance company, Bloomberg last week, saying they regarded the invasion as a catastrophic mistake that had set the country back decades. The report described the critics as spread across senior positions in government and state-run businesses.

As far as I am concerned, Putin's crazy foray into Ukraine had already proved more costly for Russia than the Soviet Union's nearly 10-year war in Afghanistan in the 1980s. Back then the USSR lost around 15,000-plus soldiers in Afghanistan in a decade of fighting." Now, 40 years later, Putin has lost close to that amount in one month! Putin’s regime acknowledged in late March that 1,351 of its troops had been killed and 3,825 others wounded in the invasion. NATO estimates put the likely death toll closer to 15,000, while Ukraine says it has killed nearly 20,000 Russian troops.

So, we now know that ordinary Russians are beginning to feel the economic pinch of tough Western sanctions. Putin has conceded that sanctions have started to upset the country's energy industry but has publicly maintained that Russia's economy has not been undermined as a result. What a liar! This dictator just doesn’t give a damn about his people, the economy or the future financial status of his country. The head of Russia's central bank, however, warned that the full impact of sanctions had not yet been felt, and that Moscow's mayor said this week that around 200,000 residents could lose their jobs with Western companies pulling out of the country en masse. By the end of this week, I would suggest that Russia has lost closer to one million jobs since the beginning of Putin’s genocidal invasion of Ukraine.

I would end this piece by simply stating that Russia will be a pariah state in the eyes of many countries and people possibly for the next 50 years. Until Putin goes, Russia will continue to be a pariah state. When he eventually goes six feet under this will be the legacy he takes to Hell!!

Is Reincarnation Real or an Illusion?

 

I would have been about six or seven years old when, one beautiful sunny Sunday many years ago, my mum and dad took me and my brother on a trip to the Trossachs. The Trossachs is an area of wooded glens, braes, and lochs lying to the east of Ben Lomond in Stirlingshire, Central Scotland. At that time I lived in the small village of Larbert where the late great James Finlayson (Oliver and Hardie 'third man') was born and brought up. I actually didn't know this fact until about six months ago!

Anyway, the drive on this blisteringly hot summer's day took about an hour. The scenery as we approached the Trossachs I always recall as being absolutely dazzling, that took my breath away. The narrow road twisted and turned and I noticed the woods, a river and a mix of mature deciduous trees, rich in wildlife: all sorts of birds, the odd deer, and rabbit. At that point, I never knew for one minute that these memories would last but somewhere away deep down inside they did. Even at that young age, something happened inside. Then we all got out of the car which we parked next to Loch Lomond . . . and then the sweet aroma of the scenery - awesome - just gorgeous. But still, something resonated inside.

So I aged, matured, and by 1972 I was playing in a rock band - I was the drummer - and don't ask me why, but back then I discovered Buddhism. Of course one of the most important teachings is that of reincarnation or rebirth. Of all the teachings of the Buddha, this was the one that absorbed my consciousness. Was I/had I been here before?

Anyway, in 2003 I went off to India. After 1972 I became interested in everything Indian; the people, the great cities and rivers, the culture, the food (curries of course) and religion and so I made my first visit. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. So I returned the following year. So, I flew out to this 'sub-continent' and spent a couple of days in New Delhi. My plan was to eventually go up to Himachal Pradesh and visit McLeod Ganj (home of the Dalai Lama) and Dharamsala where the exiled Tibetan government is located. That day I got a hotel driver to take me to the Indira Gandhi Airport which is about a half-hour's drive from the capital. From there I caught an early morning flight to Pathankot Airport in Punjab Province and I must admit I was excited, over the moon even, that I would be visiting one of the most famous places in India that housed the vast majority of Tibetans who fled their country after the invasion and takeover of their country by China in the 50s.

The flight landed on time at Pathankot Airport and I jumped into a taxi and within 45 minutes, was on my way to Dharamsala. I recall the sometimes perilous journey getting close to taking three hours. However, my mind was still calm although the road was as bumpy and pothole-ridden as I had never previously experienced. And then . . . I was staring out the side window at the incredible scenery; yes these were the foothills of the Himalayas . . . the rolling hills, the river, the woods and shrubs. There were several deer and macaque monkeys by the side of the road, so many birds of whose nature I didn't know . . . and then . . . I asked the driver to stop. I got out of the car and breathed in. Suddenly I was taken back about 45 years; the little boy who thought he'd seen this all before. I stood there for about five minutes, eyes closed, in meditation, recalling that day in the Trossachs. My mind kept asking itself, where's the connection? And then it suddenly sprung to mind. Little Ian Oliver, on observing the beauty of the Scottish woodland and Loch Lomond was, in fact, seeing something in a previous life: the foothills of the Himalayas!

On getting back into the taxi, I closed the door, and smiled and it was then that I knew that reincarnation or, as we call it in Buddhism, rebirth, was a reality! I’d been there, done it, seen it, and experienced it! What was the Trossachs, were the foothills of the Himalayas, and vice versa. Looking back at my life I have experienced and seen many other scenarios that could only be explained by only one thing: reincarnation.

Russian Orthodox Leader Kirill - the Devil in Disguise

 

When I saw this disgusting figure on the news the other day I couldn’t believe this was a religious leader. I mean he came across more like a clown all dressed up like a jester as if he was just about to take part in a comedy movie. But after pronouncing his support for Putin and the war in Ukraine, maybe it should have been a horror movie!

This buffoon, Patriarch Kirill, is the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church in Russia and a fervent supporter of that other devilish clown, Vladimir Putin, that goes back many years. But his vociferous support of the invasion of Ukraine has drawn strong rebukes from religious leaders inside Russia who say he has forsaken Christian teachings by Jesus supporting the Kremlin’s destructive campaign. As I’ve said on many occasions, you just couldn’t make it up!

I’m a Buddhist and have great respect for all world religions: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism and everything else in between. But the rumblings and rants from this guy, as far as I am concerned, are anything but religious. In a speech last week he stated: "If humanity accepts that sin is not a violation of God's law, if humanity accepts that sin is a variation of human behaviour, the human civilisation will end there." What? He also said that: "We have entered into a struggle that has not a physical, but a metaphysical significance," And lastly, "If we see violations of God's law, we will never put up with those who destroy this law, blurring the line between holiness and sin, and even more so with those who promote sin as an example or as one of the models of human behaviour." 

So these are the words of a man who was a member of the KGB spy agency who now supports everything Putin is doing in Ukraine - basically war crimes. By giving support to the evil tyrant, Putin, he is misrepresenting his words mentioned above. Or am I seeing it wrong? So IT IS NOT a sin to send tanks into Ukrainian towns and cities and destroy them? It’s not a sin to target innocent men, women and children and kill them indiscriminately? It’s not a sin to blow up hospitals? It is not a sin to rape women and mothers in front of their children? And yet, this evil wretch thinks it’s okay? He seems to look at Adolf Putin with huge respect and blesses him in a church - of God? 

As those who know a thing or two about Buddhism, you will know there is no God. The Buddha is not a Jesus figure but a normal human being who became enlightened and discovered the hidden truths about life, humanity and the Universe. He wished peace and happiness to all peoples and regarded war as part of human suffering. I can only guess what the Buddha would think, if he was alive today, not so much about the war but about the devilish and destructive mentality of Adolf Putin and this pseudo-religious maniac, Kirill. 

Karma will eventually come back to haunt both of these vermin!

Russia's War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity

 

Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse in Ukraine and then yesterday I think we all saw that horrific footage of dead Ukrainians of the town of Bucha, and with their hands tied behind their backs, shot in the head. These utter monstrosities lie at the front door of Putin’s office. He is absolutely responsible for these crimes against humanity just as Hitler's attempted genocide against the Jews during 1939 - to 1945! Last week there was the story of gang rapes, assaults against Ukrainian women taking place at gunpoint, and what is most hellish, rapes of mothers in front of their children. And at the end of the day, Vlad the Mad Putin is ultimately responsible for these barbarous atrocities. Which is why the West needs to gather all circumstantial evidence and officially report it to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. When it eventually reaches the court, God knows what would happen next, but one thing’s for sure, the insane Russian leader will ignore it. What should happen next?

I won’t go into specific details but a criminal action against someone - in this case Putin - would cover preliminary examinations where the case against Putin would be put. This would be followed by more investigations, a pre-trial stage, a trial stage and then enforcement of the sentence. When looking at the ICC, it seems to mirror the Nuremberg trials which were held by the Allies after World War II against representatives of defeated Nazi Germany. This was for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries and other crimes, including the Holocaust. Hitler - Putin, two peas in the same pod! And the outcome of the trials? Some of the defendants were given life sentences in prison and others were hanged. I ask myself which sentence would I opt for Putin? Definitely by hanging!

I’ll end this blog by reporting on the BBC journalist in Ukraine, Jeremy Bowen. In his latest report that I watched this morning, he interviewed this old lady who had lost her son after Russian soldiers burst into her house and shot dead her 27-year-old son. This was in a small village close to Kyiv but it was the small pile of remains of food and drink that caught my eye. And within the small pile of garbage, there was rotten food, empty cigarette packs and empty bottles of vodka and Jack Daniel’s whisky. I would imagine the Russian animals were pissed out of their heads on alcohol before the killing. And knowing how much the Russians love alcohol, I just wonder how many more of been pissed drunk whilst carrying out shootings and cold-blooded murder!