is putin dying?

[Yssup Rider]

How quickly you hijack your own threads...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

[dilbert firestorm]

Originally Posted by The_Waco_Kid

i'm aware of that, the point being his lack of any prior political office made him an unlikely choice for vice president. a cabinet post, sure. vp? does raise some questions.

2 possibilities.

Yeltsin was blackmailed by Putin or Putin's sponsors recommended him or both.

that is the only way to go from a nobody to somebody.

[LexusLover]

is putin dying?

We all are.

[Unique_Carpenter]

“Poppies… Poppies. Poppies will put them to sleep. Sleep. Now they’ll sleep!"

[bambino]

Putins dying from laughing at Biden.

[dilbert firestorm]

Originally Posted by dilbert firestorm

2 possibilities.

Yeltsin was blackmailed by Putin or Putin's sponsors recommended him or both.

that is the only way to go from a nobody to somebody.

It appears that Putin had some connections to get an inside track on a good job. His grandfather worked for Stalin as a cook during WWII and his father worked as a "killer" for Stalin.

what was chilling about this, we were warned about him from a russian who said that "Putin is Stalin". He and his bodyguard died of heart attack a few days later. this guy was Putin's protege. apparently, he said too much.

I think this explains Putins actions and behavior that much more apparent. Putins no stalin, but hes more like Stalin lite.

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/ukra...ll-sarah-wynne

OPINION Published March 8, 2022 2:00pm EST

Ukraine's fighting Cossack spirit – Stalinist Putin won't prevail

To understand the courage of the Ukrainians, look to their history and national anthem

By John O’Neill , Sarah Wynne | Fox News

"There have been tyrants and murderers [throughout history], and for a time they seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it – always." -- Mahatma Gandhi

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began nearly two weeks ago on Feb. 24, people all over the world have watched on their screens the brutal destruction of apartments, supermarkets and city centers. They have also watched the heroic and likely hopeless resistance of the Ukrainian people ranging from farmers fighting tanks with tractors to outgunned, untrained mothers joining the front lines with Molotov cocktails.

Those witnessing the graphic news ask why? Why does Vladimir Putin direct such a horror? Why do the Ukrainians fight so fiercely against fearful odds with such courage? To understand the passionate resistance of the Ukrainian people to the fanatical, brutal assault of Stalinist Putin, look to the history of their national anthem, Ukraine and brutal Putin himself.

As we see the massive overwhelming Russian troops, tanks and planes moving to crush the much smaller Ukraine resistance, an old Ukrainian song is often heard by crowds sheltering with children below ground. The crowds began to spontaneously sing a haunting melody beginning with the words, "Thou art not dead Ukraine … as in the Springtime melts the snow, so shall melt away the foe."

A video of a housewife singing the song while clearing bombing debris became popular on YouTube and is now played all over the world. Written in the 1860s, the Ukrainian national anthem was banned in Stalin times. Humming it would bring a quick death sentence.

For hundreds of years until the Soviet period in the 1920s, Ukraine was a land of small farmers called Kulaks, much like the working farmers of Ohio or Iowa, and roving bands of herdsmen called Cossacks.

The Cossacks were generally considered Europe’s greatest horsemen, fiercest warriors and freest souls. Their songs, much like our Western songs, were played and sung by guitar players known as Kobzars. Their romantic and beautiful ballads sang of great love and fierce war on the steppes (plains) of Ukraine and of the rides of the famous Don Cossacks and explorers. They were the retained history and culture of Ukraine.

The Cossacks became loyal Romanov followers in the 17th and 18th centuries. The last great successful cavalry charges of history were Ukrainian Cossacks led by the so-called Black Baron in World War I, inexplicably breaking the back of modern Austrian machine gun and artillery units through courage and sabers.

Because of their love of freedom, the Ukrainians were enemies of the Soviets from the beginning, particularly Stalin. He levied a terrible revenge. As part of his own 1928-1932 "cultural revolution," Stalin determined to control ideology and culture, banning words like God, killing many thousands of priests, and purging the arts.

In 1931, the Kobzars in Ukraine were summoned to Kyiv to form a union and meet with Soviet leadership. Hundreds were instead shot and dumped into a secret mass grave with their instruments. Their songs and even their instruments were banned on penalty of death. Stalin then began the collectivization of all agriculture in this great breadbasket, seizing all land and forcing the entire population into collective farms owned by the State.

The collectivization experiment was predictability a failure. Stalin’s answer to reduced production was to initiate a slaughter in 1932-1934 sometimes called the Holodomor. Stalin seized most grain, including even the seed stocks required for the next year’s crop. Those who resisted and their families were shot. Wealthier families were sent to be worked and starved to death in notorious projects like the White Sea-Baltic Canal.

At least 6 million Ukrainians and perhaps many more perished by starvation and execution during the Great Famine as it came to be known – the greatest genocide other than the Holocaust in modern European history. Until their freedom from the Soviet Union in 1991, the Ukrainians were a bitter, enslaved people retaining in their hearts, but humming only secretly "thou art not dead, Ukraine."

Putin’s background controls Putin’s actions. His grandfather was Stalin’s cook, and his father a World War II exterminator of humans for Stalin. Putin continued in the family business as a KGB officer who, like Stalin, was a self-made man of steel who avoided all combat but utilized deftness and poison to accelerate his rise and eliminate opponents. Asked about Putin when he became president of Russia in 1999, Putin’s mentor Anatoly Sobchak said, "Putin is Stalin." Several days later, Sobchak and a bodyguard died suddenly of heart attacks without any prior history of coronary disease.

Like his idol Stalin, Putin pursued a dream of a Soviet empire that has graduated from being a retail poisoner of hundreds to mass murderer of many thousands and potentially millions in Ukraine. And like Stalin, Putin may well succeed in his conquest of the physical land of Ukraine through vast numbers and brutal weapons, overcoming courage and homemade Molotov cocktails.

Putin will fail, however, to conquer the souls of the Ukrainian people. Writing the songs is sometimes more important than writing the laws. When the Putin statues, like the Stalin statues, fall, the Ukrainians will again openly sing from their national anthem, "We’ll not spare either our souls or bodies to get freedom," and summon forth from their graves the long-gone Cossack leaders to once again fight for Ukraine’s freedom on the steppes.

John O’Neill, a New York Times bestselling author, and Sarah Wynne are the co-authors of "The Dancer and The Devil" (Regnery, April 26, 2022), a forthcoming account of murders and biowar by Stalin, Putin and Xi.

[HedonistForever]

Putin is dying, he just doesn't know it yet.

[dilbert firestorm]

seems some other people knew who Putin was. this is from 2014. Boone Pickens was one of them.

https://www.cnbc.com/2014/03/11/puti...e-pickens.html

Putin is a ‘young Joe Stalin’: Boone Pickens
Published Tue, Mar 11 2014 9:20 AM EDT | Updated Tue, Mar 11 2014 9:20 AM EDT
Matthew J. Belvedere
@Matt_Belvedere

watch now
https://www.cnbc.com/video/2014/03/1...oe-stalin.html
T. Boone Pickens: ‘Putin is a young Joe Stalin’

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hold the Crimean peninsula in Ukraine could pose a serious energy risk to Europe, oilman T. Boone Pickens told CNBC on Tuesday.

“Putin is, as far as I’m concerned, he’s just a young Joe Stalin, a little smoother. He runs circles around us,” Pickens said in a “Squawk Box” interview.

In a warning last week reminiscent of 2009, Gazprom—Russia’s state-run natural gas company—said it could stop shipping gas to Ukraine over unpaid bills, like it did five years ago. At that time, it led to reductions in supplies of Russian gas to Europe during a cold winter.

In a commentary this week, Pickens described the potential risk:

“Russia is the world’s second-largest supplier of oil and has tremendous power over the market. While America’s oil and natural gas industry has achieved stunning increases in domestic production, this has done nothing to alleviate our vulnerability to foreign oil. ... This dangerous dependence makes us just as vulnerable to state-sponsored energy-terrorism as Ukraine, which is why we can’t liberate Europe from its dependence until we’ve freed ourselves first.”

The U.S. is exploring ways to provide energy assistance to Ukraine and Europe should Russia cut-off supplies, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns told a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing last week.

Pickens agreed that U.S. natural gas should be shipped overseas, but said it won’t be possible for perhaps two more years. “The first big LNG [liquefied natural gas] loads will go out of Lake Charles [Louisiana] I think they say in late 2015. I’d say 2016.”

Exporting natural gas makes sense, Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, told CNBC in a separate interview Tuesday. “I think Boone Pickens is exactly right.”

Portman, a member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said the U.S can immediately help Ukraine with its nuclear power capabilities.

“About 50 percent of their electricity comes from the nuclear side. And they get all their enriched Uranium from Russia. One thing we have in this country is the ability to enrich uranium and also to provide that to the Ukraine so they are not dependent on Russia.”

watch now
https://www.cnbc.com/video/2014/03/1...ergy-plan.html
Boone’s natural gas energy plan

Keystone pipeline

Domestically, the long-delayed Keystone oil pipeline from Alberta, Canada, to Nebraska should be approved, Pickens said.

“We’re nuts not to take it,” he said. “I can’t believe that. Six years you’ve had a Christmas present on the front porch.”

The northern portion would link up to the southern leg from Oklahoma to Texas, which opened in January.

President Barack Obama will have the final say.

In January, the State Department concluded TransCanada’s proposed pipeline would not unduly worsen climate change. Environmentalist have challenged that assertion. Eight different U.S. federal agencies will have a chance to weigh in over the next few months.

Pickens has been pushing his energy independence “Pickens Plan” since 2008. “We tried in Washington to get something done. We are now working at the state level.”

—By CNBC’s Matthew J. Belvedere. Follow him on Twitter @Matt_SquawkCNBC. Reuters contributed to this article.

[dilbert firestorm]

from oliver stones "Putin interviews"

He talks about NATO and Gorbachev's mistake.

2:12 (I couldn't find a youtube version of this twitter video, a link will have to do.)

https://twitter.com/western_bester/s...70167881981964

[dilbert firestorm]

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-...ipped-26514671


Ruthless ex-KGB spy tipped by spooks to take over if Putin is toppled by Kremlin

Top Putin sidekick Alexander Bortnikov, who has fallen out of favour with the Moscow despot over errors in the Ukraine war, is said to be plotting to topple the Russian president

ByMilo BoydNews Reporter

• 23:59, 20 Mar 2022
• Updated17:46, 21 Mar 2022

An ex-KGB agent accused of having a hand in the death of a spy on British soil has been tipped to succeed Vladimir Putin if he is toppled.

As the Russian invasion nears the one month mark, the Ukrainian intelligence service claims to have unearthed a plot devised in the upper reaches of Russian society to dethrone the President.

Among the planned conspiracies against Putin are poisoning or an accident, according to Kyiv sources who claim the cell wants to be rid of the Russian leader as soon as possible.

It is believed their preferred replacement is spy master and once top Putin sidekick Alexander Bortnikov, who has fallen out of favour with the Moscow despot over errors in the Ukraine war.

The elite plotters, according to Ukrainian intelligence, picked out the 70-year-old because they believe he could spearhead the restoration of economic ties with the west.

The Ukrainian intelligence service has claimed that there is a plot within the Russian top brass to topple Putin (Image: TASS via Getty Images)

Bortnikov is head of the domestic FSB spy agency and is believed to have a network of insiders working and living within Ukraine, where he oversaw agents for many years.

The Urals-born ruthless career spy has long been one of Putin’s closest aides.

He also heads the FSB’s economic arm, playing a key role in building Russia ’s post Soviet-era growth - while leading counter-intelligence operations to ensure it was not penetrated by western spies.

It seems that Bortnikov is cut from similar cloth to Putin, who spent his early career as a KGB agent in east Germany, learning the arts of espionage and intelligence gathering.

While working his way up through the ranks of the FSB, Bortnikov allegedly put that experience to use when he oversaw the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, according to the New York Times.

Alexander Bortnikov has been tipped to take over
(Image: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

The former spy had defected and claimed asylum in the UK, where he worked to expose the corrupt practices of the Kremlin before he was fatally poisoned with polonium.

If the plot exposed Bortnikov's aptitude for lethal espionage, then an interview with Russian government newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta Bortnikov offered a glimpse into his political ideology,

In 2017 he came under heavy criticism from more than 30 academics who claimed that he was legitimising the mass purges carried out under Joseph Stalin known as the Great Terror.

Historians estimate about one million people died in the purges in the 1930s.

In the interview he said archives show that "a significant part" of the criminal cases of those killed during that period "had an objective side to them".


Bortnikov is now head of the Federal Security Service
(Image: FSB website / east2west news)

Image: Bortnikov is believed to have a network of insiders working and living within Ukraine (AFP/Getty Images)

He said he did not want to "whitewash anyone" but pointed to "links of coup plotters to foreign security agencies".

Since his promotion to the head of the FSB in 2008, Bortnikov has been one the most powerful people in Russia.

The sprawling security apparatus employs hundreds of thousands of people and is in charge of everything from counter-terrorism to border security, counterintelligence and electronic surveillance.

Terrorizing political opposition, such as the imprisoned Alexei Navalny, and anti-war protesters also falls under his remit.

While Bortnikov is said to have less influence on Putin than fellow insiders Nikolai Patrushev or Sergei Naryshkin, he still sits firmly at the centre of the Russian political elite.

Bortnikov’s son Denis is the deputy president and chairman of the state-run VTB Bank’s management board.

Father and son have been included on international sanctions lists.

Putin's control over the country has seemed to be total for two decades (Image: via REUTERS)

Bortnikov also has a history in the world of state controlled finances which might also strengthen his ability to build a powerbase in the event of a coup.

Around the turn of the millennium, not long after Putin was appointed acting president by Boris Yeltsin, Bortnikov was made head of the Economic Security Service (SEB).

As the central instrument used to control the economy, and one which imbedded its officers in every major company to control and extract information from them, he wielded huge power and leverage.

As one former SEB officer told Russian investigative journalists Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan: “The SEB has enough material to close down any major Russian company and jail any of the company owners whenever they want.”

As well as being steeped in connections, Bortnikov is well decorated.

According to Russian media reports he was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation, the highest honorary title in Russia.

He is also one of a small handful of people to earn the rank of Army General.

None of this would have been possible without the backing of Putin, whose rule in Russia has seemed to be total for the past two decades.

It is now thought Putin is furious with Bortnikov for allowing his military commanders to be wrong-footed by the ferocious Ukrainian defence against the invasion.

Already Russian security council deputy head Dmitry Medvedev has sacked FSB deputy Vyacheslav Ushakov over bungles in intelligence that led to the invasion.

The sacking has also left Bortnikov, who apparently suggested it, in disgrace with Putin.

One Ukrainian intelligence source revealed recently: “It is noteworthy that Bortnikov has recently been disgraced by the Russian dictator.

“The official reason for the disgrace of the FSB leader – fatal miscalculations in the war against Ukraine.

“Bortnikov and his department were responsible for analysing the mood of Ukraine and the ability of the Ukrainian army.”

[Ripmany]

No Putin a health nut but he said Trump could take his spot a look alike.

[dilbert firestorm]

a thyroid doctor has been seen with Putin.

[dilbert firestorm]

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/184021...aitors-insane/

MAD VLAD Vladimir Putin is suffering from early stage Dementia & his paranoia is driving him insane, says former KGB agent

Imogen Braddick

8:02, 2 May 2022 | Updated: 7:43, 3 May 2022

VLADIMIR Putin is likely to be suffering from Parkinson's and early stage Dementia while his paranoia and fear over traitors is driving him insane, a former KGB agent has said.

The Russian tyrant's health has long been the source of speculation, with Western intelligence suggesting he has serious health issues.


Putin at Orthodox Easter mass at the Christ The Saviour Cathedral in Moscow. Credit: Getty

Despite Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov insisting Putin's health is "excellent", his recent public appearances following the shambolic Ukraine invasion have sparked rumours about his physical state.

But ex-Russian spy Boris Karpichkov, 62, said even members of Putin's inner circle would not be told about the state of his health in order to protect his "strongman" image.

The Russian defector, who now lives in the UK, said paranoid Putin views everyone as a "traitor" - and his health was an "especially sensitive issue".

The former double agent told The Sun Online: "He is - or at least acts - insane and obsessed by paranoia ideas.

"He sees literally everyone, including those inside the Russian security services and even inside his close inner circle, to be 'traitors'.

"He is so suspicious and so obsessed with his paranoia ideas that he can be now compared with Stalin tyrant."

Mr Karpichkov said it is likely Mad Vlad is suffering from "numerous" health conditions, such as the early stages of Dementia and Parkinson's.

He said: "I am not a medic myself... but there is a serious concern that Putin is suffering from numerous physical health conditions - possibly from the sport injuries during his younger years.

"This is along with some issues which affect older people - such as Dementia in the early stages.

"But he is well known in his inner circle as a person who 'does not forget anything' and who recalls details of many people he met.

"Another potential issue might be - judging from how he moves - that Putin can is suffering from the initial stages of either Parkinson's, or another serious disorder caused by some form of cancer, brain tumour, for example."

Kremlin officials have always denied there is anything wrong with their leader, who turns 70 in October.

But Putin appeared confused and out of breath as he wheezed his way through his latest speech, threatening the West with nuclear weapons.

The president seemed to struggle to catch his breath and paused several times during the address to politicians, stumbling over his words and looking exhausted.

And last week, during talks with his defence minister Sergey Shoigu, the elderly tyrant was filmed gripping the table and slouching, sparking further rumours he may be suffering from Parkinson's.

Professor Erik Bucy, a body language expert from Texas Tech University, told The Sun Online upon watching the video: "It’s an astonishingly weakened Putin compared to the man we observed even a few years ago.

"An able-bodied president would not need to keep himself propped up with a hand held out for leverage and would not be concerned about keeping both feet planted on the ground."

And the Russian leader's hands trembled violently in a video clip showing him greeting Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko at the Kremlin.


Putin speaks at the Tauride Palace in Saint Petersburg on April 27. Credit: Getty


Putin meets with Mikhail Degtyaryov, governor of the Khabarovsk region, in Moscow. Credit: AFP


Putin speaks during the Council of Lawnmakers at the Tauride Palace. Credit: Getty

The footage showed a frail-looking Putin holding his hand out to greet Lukashenko before retracting and walking around the room.

His knees then buckle as he walks to embrace his Belarusian counterpart in the undated footage.

It's the latest video calling the monster's health into question after recent footage showed Putin biting his lips and fidgeting distractedly at a church service on Sunday further stoked claims the autocrat has a terminal illness.

On Tuesday, a video seemed to show him limp and grimace as he walked during talks in Moscow with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

And in a separate video, a dishevelled Putin was seen gripping a table and tapping his foot in video that Kremlin watchers claimed showed a drastic decline in his physical state.

Experts have also pointed out that he looks "bloated" and "weakened" and has even seen a doctor who specialises in Thyroid cancer.

Putin has long prided himself on his "strongman" image but his dramatic change over the past few years has prompted speculation that he may be suffering from a severe physical illness.

The despot seems to be always surrounded by security, following a detailed programme and only attending a small number of meetings- for a short time.

It appears that every bit of the dictator's life has been carefully planned, only feeding speculations about his health.

And he is believed to be followed by a team of doctors who carefully monitor his health.

[ICU 812]

Regeme-Change: In Russia it is always 1/5.

Just ask Stalin, Khrushchev, Bresniev, Yeltsin and Gorbachev (in approximate order). All either died in office or were forced out by fellow partyt members.

Think of AOC replacing Pelosi as Speaker of the House. That could happen, but I'll bet that Schumer is the one she goes after.

[Why_Yes_I_Do]

Originally Posted by The_Waco_Kid

i'm aware of that, the point being his lack of any prior political office made him an unlikely choice for vice president. a cabinet post, sure. vp? does raise some questions.

Pardon the interruption, but I felt it necessary to race across the carpet of your revere in these hobnail boots to bring these two words to you STAT! as an example of the above: Kamala Harris carry on. Me go now...