Beauty and the Beast

Hollywood and Ramzan Kadyrov
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Just recently Hilary Swank attended a birthday bash for a tyrant. She flew halfway around the world to perform her services to the dictator Ramzan Kadyrov. Don't know who this guy is? Well there is a good chance that Miss Swank doesn't really know either. But that didn't stop her from offering her support to a brutal savage that tortures, murders, and kidnaps his own countrymen.
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After the "little war" Putin launched back in 1999, a war that was used by Putin to gain the Russian Presidency, Ramzan's father was put into power in Chechnya. This move was calculated by Putin, a dictator in his own right, to put down the separatist movement in Chechnya. However the move failed when the Chechen rebels killed Ramzan's father with a bomb attack in 2004. Thus Putin allowed Ramzan Kadyrov to gain power with the backing of Moscow.
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The son of the first beast made the name of the Chechen capitol city his personal motto... Grozny translates to "terrible". He has used brutal police force to chase out or kill off his political opposition. Any publicly spoken dissent for Kadyrov leads to being abducted or having your door busted down in the middle of the night. Women who dare to venture out without the "proper Islamic clothing" are taken away and often raped by Kadyrov's men. Other women are simply beaten and if lucky, killed.
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Kadyrov's abuses have led countless human rights organizations to condemn the tyrant. Ironically Putin claims that Kadyrov is the only man standing between the Islamic terrorist and "peace" in the Northern Caucasus. And yet it is Putin who wants to hold the next Olympic games, after 2012, in an area of the Caucasus where Russia committed a genocide they still deny. But we are asked to remember that Kadyrov is the bad guy here... not Putin.
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And thus we get a Hollywood star, mind numbingly stupid one at that, going half way around the world to celebrate Putin's puppet. It wasn't till returning home that Swank decided she might have done something wrong. It wasn't till the American media started to point out just how bad Kadyrov and his regime is that Hilary Swank decided to weasel her way out of the situation.
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That is why, and that is the only reason why, Hilary Swank is now saying that she will donate all proceeds to charity. But does any charity really want blood money? Sadly probably so. Mainly because the charities Swank knows about don't really care who they hurt as long as they feel good when they lay their heads down at night.
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So I must ask in closing just how do we reach a point in American history where we have American citizens flying around the world to pat killers on the back? We have gotten to this particular case due to the fact that celebrities in Hollywood view Russian dictators as liberators. Their love affair with the old Soviets has blinded them to the atrocities committed by Moscow. And thus we have Hilary Swank going over to Chechnya to lavish praise upon a cold blooded killer due to his association with Putin and Moscow. It is the politics of the liberals in Hollywood that allows them to be blind to the human rights violations their politics endorse.
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Source Documents, Note that not all documents used are listed below.
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The Moscow Times
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/swank-will-donate-money-from-grozny-bash-to-charity/445546.html
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The Daily Mail
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2048798/Hilary-Swank-apologises-attending-Chechen-president-Ramzan-Kadyrovs-birthday.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
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Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/13/us-russia-chechnya-putin-idUSTRE79C2E020111013
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MSNBC Today
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44857630/ns/today-entertainment/
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CBS News
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/10/12/earlyshow/leisure/celebspot/main20119106.shtml
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Racial Tensions Still Rising

Romani Still Targeted By "Ethnic Majority"
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As local police struggle to push back the hordes of racially charged "ethnic Bulgarians" and "White Czechs" the special police units are pulling out. The petrol bombs may have stopped flying for the time being but the racist crowds have not stopped massing. And it is this fact that has many Roma in Northern Bohemia worried.
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In the Czech Republic local "ethnically Czech" peoples have resorted to finding new ways to drive the Roma out of Bohemia. Some have pooled their money together to purchase the homes of Roma without the consent of the Roma themselves. Others have begun trying to push legislation to make public bans on Roma living in their select villages. All in all, the sounds echoing out of Bohemia are starting to sound more and more like the Nazi era.
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In Bulgaria the white population has still refused to stop their assault on Roma. Burning and torching of Roma homes continues as police fight to keep the assailants at bay. When out in public the Bulgarian Roma now have to fear random style attacks by neo-Nazi inspired youth. These same attacks have been used for years in Russia to target Islamic immigrants from former USSR held territories. It is a tactic used by the Russian neo-Nazi movement.
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The only good news coming out of the region is that some action is being taken to combat the rise of ethnic violence. In the Czech Republic today 14 Czechs face charges for assaulting Roma for racial reasons. This sort of action is finally starting to become the normal reaction in the Czech Republic instead of the old reaction of doing nothing.
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In Bulgaria however the news is still sour at best. Journalist who show any sympathy for the Roma or even fairness in their reporting are called "Jews". The use of the old scapegoat as an insult shows just how far Bulgaria has fallen. They are now bathing in the Nazi doctrine. And there isn't any sign of hope for their revival any time soon.
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Source Documents, please note not all documents used are shown below.
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The Prauge Post
http://www.praguepost.com/news/10461-police-pull-back-in-north-bohemia.html
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Romea.cz
http://www.romea.cz/english/index.php?id=detail&detail=2007_2908
http://www.romea.cz/english/index.php?id=detail&detail=2007_2909
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Prauge Daily Monitor
http://praguemonitor.com/2011/10/25/fourteen-czechs-face-racism-charges-assaulting-roma
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The Guardian (blog)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2011/oct/24/bulgaria-press-freedom?newsfeed=true
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Novinite.com
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=132646

Genocide and the Olympics

The Czar's Genocide

As Russia marched into the Caucasus it couldn't help but get its hands covered in blood. Every ethnic group that Russia came across it found new reasons to kill, subjugate, or deport. For the Circassians this new ruler would be one to which they could not bow. So they, like many others, were deported.

Pushing the Circassian population south, the Czar made certain the bold Muslims would never return to the Russian Empire again. And for hundreds of years this decision proved to work out for the Russians. So much so that the Russians didn't seem to think twice about asking to hold the 2014 Olympics in the exact region they had exiled the Circassians to.

The Circassian diaspora claims that around 1.5 million of their ancestors died in the region of Sochi. Russia claims that the number is around 300,000 or so. But both sides do agree that there was a sizable number of Circassians killed in Sochi through starvation, exposure to the elements, and outright slaughter by Russian forces.

Of course Russia claims the acts were an acceptable extension of war with a violent rebellious ethnic group. They claim that the Circassians brought about the deportations by simply not accepting the harsh rule of Russian Czars. And that the actions were in no way "genocide".

The Circassians however, and Alder's Ledge, know that the actions taken by Russia constitute genocide. There was an obvious attempt made by Russia to destroy, in part or in whole, a distinct ethnic group. Worse yet, the attempt was not a sudden decision made in the fog of war. Russia had already planned on what ethnic groups could be cleared out or killed off to make room for ethic Russian settlers and Germans brought in from the Prussian wilderness. This was the same idea Hitler had for making "living space".

Most Circassians are only asking that Russia admit to acts of genocide in the Caucasus. Others however want an independent state in the Caucasus for the Circassians to live free in their traditional homeland. While an even more extreme element would like to team up with rebels in Chechnya to help form an Islamic state in the Caucasus.

Alder's Ledge sides with the majority of Circassians who simply want an apology and for Russia to accept the fact that it committed genocide against the Circassians. And until this happens there should be no Olympic games in Russia. Let alone holding the games in Sochi where the Circassians were slaughtered for Russian gains.

(Of the nearly 8 million Circassians world wide barely half a million live within Russia)

Want to learn more about the Circassian Genocide? 

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Source Documents
(note not all sources are listed below)

Caucasus Regional News (Blog)
http://dailygeonews.blogspot.com/2010/11/to-recognize-sochi-as-symbol-of.html

Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/13/us-russia-caucasus-olympics-idUSTRE79C2ST20111013

Flower Power?

Roma Showing Civility While Facing Ethnic Violence

"We are here to prove that stirring ethnic hatred makes no sense; let other people tell what should and should not be displayed in society," Mariana Vankova from the Bulgarian National Network for Children.

Despite being faced with violence the Roma of Sofia, Bulgaria are showing up for a "Roma Pride" parade. The event was planned long before the ethnic violence broke the peace in Bulgaria. But now it is being used to show that the "ethnics" and the Roma can exist side-by-side in peace.

At nearly every intersection in the capitol city, Sofia, young Roma children were seen handing out flowers and smiling at passersby. Their goal was simple. Heap kindness upon thine enemies' head.

It is to early to tell if the parade or the flowers helped in any way. It is clear however that at least some "ethnic" Bulgarians found repentance in the act of solidarity shown by the Roma. Large numbers of Bulgarians showed up to participate and show their hope for peace.

It is true however that many on both sides of the fight have refused to join in and drop their ethnic hatred. Protest organized around the said racial motives are still present in Bulgaria. However now the police are arresting many of those who cross the line from talk to violence. And the attacks on innocent Roma are finally being addressed by the politicians and police alike.


Elsewhere in Europe the Roma Pride demonstrations occurred without as much scrutiny. On Saturday, October Second, hundreds of Roma took to the streets in Paris to display the colorful Roma culture and to show how the French government has recently attacked it. In Romania's capitol of Bucharest around three hundred Roma turned out for celebrations of the Roma culture. And according to Agence-France Presse even more Roma Pride events occurred in Denmark, Italy, Norway, and Turkey.

"Many Roma are afraid or ashamed to openly recognize their ethnicity because they are concerned about discrimination," Marian Mandache of the Romani Criss organization told Agence-France Presse. The demonstrators in Bucharest wore t-shirts that said "I am Romani" in the Romani language.

So all this leaves me to ask why fight back with flowers and not guns? It is hard to imagine a life where a simple display of your music, language, and dance is considered historic... historic in a place you have called home for generations upon generations. How do they continue to smile?



Galina Trefil.
 
"When violence is directed against us, without exception, we are blamed for it. Why? We did not “assimilate.” My grandfather once taught at Karelova University in Prague. Most anyone would have considered that assimilated enough, but he was still a Rom and, thusly, he was shot at with a machine gun and saw his children butchered. His life was destroyed. Roma families all have slaughter stories from the war though. To be Romani, one expects and has to find a way to accept hatred from birth. So, from that perspective, that Neo-Nazis would march and cry for our murder yet again is a frontal assault; not a surprise at all.

Where my own family has felt intense betrayal is that so many were destroyed by the original Nazis that, collectively, many Holocaust-survivor families today say, “Things changed. They got better. And we can take comfort in that.” I and others in my family proudly display the photographs of the Romani-American soldiers of World War II—men who volunteered for the army, eager to be part of that change; eager to bring justice and freedom to their brethren and other ethnic groups besides across the ocean. Risking their lives, these men returned to America with medals, proving not just their valor in battle, but their commitment to the idea of genocide being wiped out.

In 1959, my father made a gesture of standing up to a government that does not protect its citizens, but instead forces them to suffer. He swam a river and risked his life in order, just for a moment, to stand in his father’s homeland with pride. Even if it was only a gesture, sometimes gesture are necessary.

My father, a retired psychiatrist and surgeon, still loves the Czech Republic. This is an all-encompassing and devoted love that will not, no matter how many vicious mobs arise, ever change. No matter how many police refuse to arrest citizens bent on murder, he will never blame the Czech people as a whole, but rather the government which is failing to protect its non-Czech citizens. He considers those who Czechs who did not stand up to and or prosecute the mob as shameful to their own race and sympathizes with the many decent, ethical Czechs who are shamed by the escalating violence that they did not take part in."

Take what you will from her story. An explanation? I don't know for sure. It seems impossible to explain the resolve of the Roma people. It is hard to understand from this American mind how they still want to be part of a place and people who continue to hate them. And how they assimilate only to be rejected.

As for the flowers and smiles... we here at Alder's Ledge applaud the Roma who took part in the Roma Pride activities throughout Europe. And we will continue to cover your attempts to live in peace by writing about them here on Alder's Ledge. G-d bless you all.

Want to contact Alder's Ledge?

Follow us on Twitter: @alders_ledge

Source Documents (note that not all sources are listed below)

noinvite.com
Sofia News Agency
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=132582

Romea.cz
http://www.romea.cz/english/index.php?id=detail&detail=2007_2866

Infoshop News
http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=20111001151904175

Bulgarian Right Wing Rearing Its Ugly Head

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Roma Targeted Once Again.
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In much of the European Union it doesn't take much to spark an anti-Roma campaign. A civil feud can easily become a national debate. And in Bulgaria that means the neo-Nazis rise to power once again.
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Their goal is simple. Keep the hate flowing. Keep the people fixated upon the target. And keep the message loud and constant.
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Now that the jackboots have hit the pavement their isn't much stopping the Bulgarians from outright attacking Roma citizens. Their blood is boiling and the fascist are readily stoking the flames. The death of one "ethnic" Bulgarian could prove merit enough for countless Roma deaths.
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"The hate speech that has been fuelling the anti-Roma protests in Bulgaria is of great concern," Rupert Colville, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). "We call on Bulgarian authorities at the highest political level to publicly restate this principle of individual criminal responsibility."
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And yet the Bulgarian authorities are doing nothing. Instead they simply stand back and wait. Wait for the "ethnic" Bulgarians to take matters into their own hands. Then once the blood has been spilled and the good citizens of Bulgaria have had their fun... then Bulgarian authorities will have a reason to expel the countries Roma population.
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After all, France did it. Why wouldn't Bulgaria?
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They have already taken their aggression to a level not seen in France. The racist protesters have the backing of a national political party, Ataka. A common uniform is showing up amongst the hate filled "ethnics". All their missing is a short fat Austrian with a funny mustache.
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So where is the EU or the UN? Doing what they do best in this sort of situation. Waiting till the storm blows over and then apologizing afterward. They did it with the Czechs recently. They did it with the French for years now. So why should we trust them with a clearly Nazi style protest as this one?
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And if you watched both videos you can see that the "ethnics" can't even keep their stories straight. First it was a "Roma clan" in a "Roma van". Next it is a "Roma national leader" in a "Roma bus". The only fact they do have here is that a Bulgarian citizen ran over another Bulgarian citizen.
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In any case we here at Alder's Ledge will continue to follow this story and update you all as events occur.
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Source Documents. (Note that not all are listed below.)
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The Sofia Echoe
http://www.sofiaecho.com/2011/10/05/1168911_un-human-rights-commission-speaks-out-against-targeting-of-roma-in-bulgaria
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http://www.sofiaecho.com/2011/10/07/1170776_extremists-in-bulgaria-trying-to-exploit-ethnic-tensions-after-katounitsa
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/28/world/europe/anti-roma-demonstrations-spread-across-bulgaria.html
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BBC World News
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15093839
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