SEP 2016. Moscow welcomes the (would-be) sovereign nations of California and Texas:

The speaker was calling for California’s independence from the United States.

Alexei Gavrilko nodded approvingly. A burly, bearded, camouflage-wearing separatist from eastern Ukraine, he said he had come to the posh Moscow hotel just outside the Kremlin to “communicate with colleagues” representing separatist and secessionist groups from the United States, Europe, the Middle East and the former Soviet Union.

During a conference dubbed the Dialogue of Nations, Gavrilko listened carefully to Louis Marinelli, head of the Yes California group that is determined to hold the Golden State’s “independence referendum” in 2019.

“For the first time in history, we, the people of California, who were conquered and annexed by the American military about 170 years ago, will have a chance to express our voice to either remain a state in the American union, or instead, to pursue a path toward a nationhood,” Marinelli said solemnly.

Gavrilko, who is from the unrecognized but de facto independent Donetsk region, and the entire separatist crowd cheered and applauded. They did it again, louder, when Nate Smith, a self-proclaimed “foreign minister” of the Texas Nationalist Movement, promised that one day, the independent Lone Star state “can formally exchange ambassadors with your free and independent countries.”

The arrival of Californian, Texan, Puerto Rican, Northern Irish, Catalan, Italian and Lebanese secessionists to mingle with activists from several unrecognized separatist territories in former Soviet republics is becoming a tradition as Moscow turns to belligerent, anti-Western nationalism coupled with a readiness to take up arms against its former Soviet vassals.

Moscow uses these gatherings to promote its political agenda, gain more political leverage in the West and push for the lifting of Western sanctions imposed on Moscow after its 2014 annexation of Crimea and support of the separatists in eastern Ukraine, a former lawmaker with the ruling United Russia party said.

“The more the West is disunited, the more beneficial it is to Russia,” Sergei Markov said, adding that the secession of California and Texas — a prospect that would appear to be something of a long shot — would “undoubtedly benefit” the Kremlin.

http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-russia-separatists-snap-story.html

SEP 2016 Moscow welcomes the (would-be) sovereign nations of California and Texas

The speaker was calling for California’s independence from the United States.

Alexei Gavrilko nodded approvingly. A burly, bearded, camouflage-wearing separatist from eastern Ukraine, he said he had come to the posh Moscow hotel just outside the Kremlin to “communicate with colleagues” representing separatist and secessionist groups from the United States, Europe, the Middle East and the former Soviet Union.

During a conference dubbed the Dialogue of Nations, Gavrilko listened carefully to Louis Marinelli, head of the Yes California group that is determined to hold the Golden State’s “independence referendum” in 2019.

“For the first time in history, we, the people of California, who were conquered and annexed by the American military about 170 years ago, will have a chance to express our voice to either remain a state in the American union, or instead, to pursue a path toward a nationhood,” Marinelli said solemnly.

Gavrilko, who is from the unrecognized but de facto independent Donetsk region, and the entire separatist crowd cheered and applauded. They did it again, louder, when Nate Smith, a self-proclaimed “foreign minister” of the Texas Nationalist Movement, promised that one day, the independent Lone Star state “can formally exchange ambassadors with your free and independent countries.”

The arrival of Californian, Texan, Puerto Rican, Northern Irish, Catalan, Italian and Lebanese secessionists to mingle with activists from several unrecognized separatist territories in former Soviet republics is becoming a tradition as Moscow turns to belligerent, anti-Western nationalism coupled with a readiness to take up arms against its former Soviet vassals.

Moscow uses these gatherings to promote its political agenda, gain more political leverage in the West and push for the lifting of Western sanctions imposed on Moscow after its 2014 annexation of Crimea and support of the separatists in eastern Ukraine, a former lawmaker with the ruling United Russia party said.

“The more the West is disunited, the more beneficial it is to Russia,” Sergei Markov said, adding that the secession of California and Texas — a prospect that would appear to be something of a long shot — would “undoubtedly benefit” the Kremlin.

http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-russia-separatists-snap-story.html

From His Home in Russia, #Calexit Leader Plots California Secession

On paper, the leader of the California secession movement lives in an apartment complex near San Diego’s Golden Hill neighborhood. But in reality, the Calexit campaign is being run by a 30-year-old who lives and works in a city on the edge of Siberia.

Louis Marinelli heads the secessionist group Yes California. Following the election of Donald Trump to the presidency, the organization has gone from an unknown fringe group to one discussed seriously in mainstream media.

What has not been discussed as prominently is Marinelli’s deep ties to Russia.

A former right-wing activist from Buffalo, New York, Marinelli first moved to Russia almost a decade ago. He studied at St. Petersburg State University, the alma mater of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He returned to the United States to campaign against LGBTQ rights as part of the National Organization for Marriage.

Marinelli then returned to Russia. He would marry a Russian citizen, and the couple moved to San Diego, where Marinelli launched a political career based on a platform of California secession.

“I immigrated to California, and I consider myself to be a Californian,” Marinelli says from his apartment in Yekaterinburg, a city of about 1.4 million just east of the Ural Mountains and about 1,000 miles from Moscow.

In an interview with The California Report, Marinelli confirms he’s living and working in Russia as a teacher.

More in link plus audio: http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2016/12/13/from-his-home-in-russia-calexit-leader-plots-california-secession/

From His Home in Russia, #Calexit Leader Plots California Secession:

From His Home in Russia, #Calexit Leader Plots California Secession


On paper, the leader of the California secession movement lives in an apartment complex near San Diego’s Golden Hill neighborhood. But in reality, the Calexit campaign is being run by a 30-year-old who lives and works in a city on the edge of Siberia.

Louis Marinelli heads the secessionist group Yes California. Following the election of Donald Trump to the presidency, the organization has gone from an unknown fringe group to one discussed seriously in mainstream media.

What has not been discussed as prominently is Marinelli’s deep ties to Russia.

A former right-wing activist from Buffalo, New York, Marinelli first moved to Russia almost a decade ago. He studied at St. Petersburg State University, the alma mater of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He returned to the United States to campaign against LGBTQ rights as part of the National Organization for Marriage.

Marinelli then returned to Russia. He would marry a Russian citizen, and the couple moved to San Diego, where Marinelli launched a political career based on a platform of California secession.

“I immigrated to California, and I consider myself to be a Californian,” Marinelli says from his apartment in Yekaterinburg, a city of about 1.4 million just east of the Ural Mountains and about 1,000 miles from Moscow.

In an interview with The California Report, Marinelli confirms he’s living and working in Russia as a teacher.

More in link plus audio: http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2016/12/13/from-his-home-in-russia-calexit-leader-plots-california-secession/

Here's what the biggest police union wants from Trump: Racial profiling, deport immigrigants

Many electors are now stating those concerned should call the DOJ at (202) 514-2000, to delay d vote

Many electors are now stating those concerned should call the DOJ at (202) 514-2000, to delay the vote

I called already.


Matthew Chapman ?@fawfulfan 11h11 hours ago

IMPORTANT. Many electors are now stating those concerned should call the DOJ at (202) 514-2000, to delay the vote for an intel briefing.


Also posted here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/12512661233

It starts at 10 AM ET: Today the Electoral College will seal our fates.

The Real-Life Hunger Games Is Coming to Russian Television. God Help Us All.

Source: The Daily Beast

An upcoming reality series called Game2: Winter will reportedly drop 30 male and female contestants into the Siberian wildernessand bills itself as allowing rape and murder.

Having won their last game, the American election, Russia is moving on to Game2: Winter. Set to premiere exclusively online next July and run through April 1, 2018, the 24/7 reality TV experience will chronicle 30 male and female contestants dropped in the middle of the Siberian wilderness. The weather? -40 degrees Celsius. The prize? $1.65 million. The bears? Abundant. Also, everything is allowed including rape and murder, according to show rules. Apparently, Westworld isn't just the prestige TV show you kept meaning to finishits also our new reality!

If this premise sounds familiar, thats because its more or less the dystopian YA series The Hunger Gamesyoure welcome, kids. In a plot line thats directly cribbed from the books, participants will be able to request specific items from viewers, who can donate to the cause via the Game2: Winter website. Speaking of dystopias, its hard not to draw a parallel between our reality TV president-elect and Russias latest big league entertainment idea. Donald Trump is a man whos so attached to the medium of pseudo-reality that hes controversially decided to remain an executive producer on Celebrity Apprentice, marking the first instance of an American president with financial ties to a reality TV show.

SNIP/

The brainchild of 35-year-old “entrepreneur” Yevgeny Pyatkovsky, Game2: Winter is set to air in English, French, German, Spanish, Chinese and Arabic, courting a global market of insomniacs and psychopaths. In an interview last month, Pyatkovsky explained that all potential contestants have to sign waivers, which acknowledge that they could be raped or killed over the course of filming. He also confirmed that as of November 18, 32 people had already signed up to be stranded and tortured in the Siberian wilderness, including one American. So far, applicants include professional rescuers, dedicated travelers, entrepreneurs, photographers, jewelers and psychologists. Contestants have to be mentally sane—whatever that means in this context—and at least 18 years old. The lucky men and women who make it to Siberia will be armed with survival training skills, courtesy of Russia’s elite former GRU Spetsnaz operatives. They will be permitted knives, but no guns.

But don’t we live in a civil society, governed by laws? Great question. Technically, Siberia is under Russian jurisdiction, and subject to the laws of the Russian Federation, meaning that contestants can be arrested for committing televised crimes. “You must understand that the police will come and take you away,” the rules state. “We are on the territory of Russia, and obey the laws of the Russian Federation.

Read more: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/12/17/the-real-life-hunger-games-is-coming-to-russian-television-god-help-us-all.html?via=desktop&source=twitter

Has Your DU TIME been SWITCHED to GMT Time? but without YOU changing the time?

It's 2:30pm here in the east coast. What is wrong with DU's times???

Posts are showing the wrong time. Like five hours later?