The Ukrainian crisis is becoming worse - violence leads to greater violence

Protesters are those folks who gather publicly to speak out against something they don't like or feel is wrong.  Protests can be peaceful or violent. When protesters attacked police in the city of Kiev, earlier this year, and illegally took over government buildings, the US government did not demand that the protesters give back the buildings and wait for elections that were going to occur in under one year.

Now that protesters in the eastern part of Ukraine have done the same thing as the protesters in Kiev, the US government is demanding that these folks leave the government buildings. This is called a 'double standard.' A double standard is when you expect certain people to behave in one way, in a situation, but then expect other people to act differently in the same situation.

Indeed, the US government, basically, encouraged illegal and violent activities in Kiev, which led to the removal of an elected president within one year of presidential elections.  This was done purely because the Obama administration believes it is necessary to engage in Cold War era politics in a post-Cold War world.  To Obama, Russia is still the chief 'enemy' of the United States.

The refusal of the US government to support democratic processes in Ukraine and the decision to support protesters who merely wanted to remove an elected president have led to a continually violent and escalating (rising) situation.  

Now the un-elected government in Kiev is threatening to attack the protesters in the eastern part of Ukraine and Russia is threatening to invade the eastern part of Ukraine in order to protect these folks from Ukrainian aggression and violence.

If the folks in Kiev had shown good judgment and merely waited for the elections that were coming up later this year, none of this nonsense would be occurring now. Basically, this is what happens when you throw democracy down the toilet and resort to violence.  You create a vicious cycle of more and more violence.

An article about the situation in Ukraine:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27138300?ocid=global_bbccom_email_24042014_top+news+stories

Vocabulary to help you understand the article:

exercises - military exercises are drills or large-scale activities by military units to, basically, practice fighting in a real war

to move on - to attack.  Many 'western' news sources are anti-Russian.  This 'journalist' uses the term 'to move on' as a nice way of saying 'to attack.'

separatists - people who wish to separate from one group or area to join another group or area or to be independent

commandos - special soldiers who are trained to act quickly and forcefully

a stronghold - a place which is powerfully controlled

to defy - to refuse to do what one is told to do

manoeuvres - practice drills or practice actions by the military

blackmail - this is when you threaten to harm someone if the person doesn't do what you want him to do

to spin out of control - if a situation spins out of control, it can no longer be controlled and becomes wild and unpredictable.  Unfortunately, this situation began to spin out of control a long time ago. Ban Ki Moon should have tried to resolve this situation months ago and should have called for peaceful action and democratic processes.  Basically, he has failed at his job of peace-keeper.

to tee something up - this is a term from the sport of golf.  If you tee up the ball, you place the ball in a position to be hit.  To tee something up means to get something ready.  Obama is threatening more 'sanctions' - economic punishments against Russia.

the outskirts - the outer areas

a checkpoint - a place in the road where soldiers try to stop traffic from coming through

to oust someone - to remove someone or get rid of someone

militants - fighters.  In kiev the militants were called 'protesters' but the Russian protesters are being called 'militants'

an armed contingent - a group with weapons

a regime - an illegal government. The current government in Kiev was not elected by the people and only took control after violent action taken to remove the elected president

flouting a deal - openly refusing to follow up on a deal or an agreement.  Of course, in Kiev the current regime flouted several deals with the elected government and continually resorted to violence.

to foster - to encourage

abducted - taken, kidnapped

Putin's Russia throws Greenpeace activists in jail

Greenpeace is an organization that was founded in the early 1970s to help protect the environment from harm.  The first action Greenpeace took was, in fact, in 1971 near a small island off the coast of Alaska, where the US government wanted to conduct an underground nuclear explosion.

Although Greenpeace was not able to stop that nuclear test, they caused so much negative publicity that no further tests were scheduled at the island.  The island is now, in fact, a bird sanctuary.

{publicity - basically this means news, or information about an event that is widely spread.}
{a bird sanctuary - a safe place for birds to live.}

Recently Greenpeace protested the fact that Russia is drilling for oil in the Arctic.  (The Arctic region is around the North Pole. Drilling means they are using technology to penetrate the ocean bottom to obtain oil. )  Greenpeace felt that such drilling was very dangerous and that it could cause an environmental disaster - especially an oil spill which might not be easily controlled.

{a protest - this is when one or more people openly complain about a situation which they feel is wrong.)

In response to the protest, Russia arrested everyone from Greenpeace, as well as two journalists, and the Russian government has thrown all of these people in jail.

Here is an article about this:

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/russian-court-ruling-greenpeace-activists-20409836

Vocabulary to help you understand the article:

an activist - someone who feels something is wrong and who takes action to stop that wrong thing

no leniency - no mercy; the court was very severe with the 30 members of Greenpeace

to be detained - to be held by the police; detained is similar to arrested

a marathon court session - a very, very long court session.  A marathon is a very long foot race.

it stretched late into the night - it continued late into the night

no charges have been brought against them - they have not been formally accused of any type of crime.

a prosecutor - this is a lawyer for the government who attempts to bring charges and find individuals to be guilty of various crimes.

piracy - the prosecutor is claiming that the Greenpeace members are pirates.

offenses - crimes

pending the investigation - while the investigation is happening and depending on what the results of the investigation are

to disrupt - to interrupt, to interfere with, to stop

The Coast Guard - every country with access to the sea has a Coast Guard - they act as police on the sea near the country.

to scale an offshore platform - to climb up a platform (piece of equipment) offshore (in the water)

to seize - to capture, to take

to tow a ship - when one ship pulls another ship

hostile - showing a sense of bad will

bombed the Rainbow Warrior - this was a ship which was, apparently, blown up by the French government because the ship was protesting French nuclear tests.

a deckhand - someone who works on the ship

a subsidiary - a branch, a smaller part of a larger company

an offshore rig - a giant piece of technology from which oil can be drilled in the ocean

to be deployed - to be sent somewhere to be used

its launch - its first use

Putin's response to Obama's decision to send weapons to Muslim extremists in Syria

Putin makes a good point.  The rebels seem worse than the dictator. When Putin states that some of the rebels eat 'human flesh,' he is referring to videos of rebel soldiers literally eating the bodies of Syrian army soldiers they have killed.

It seems that Obama is sending weapons to the rebels for political reasons, not to try to stop the violent deaths in Syria. I never thought I would agree with Vladimir Putin.

Here is one video showing a rebel eating a human heart.

The article:

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/06/16/18989838-putin-west-arming-syrian-rebels-who-eat-human-flesh?lite

Should Russian NGOs Register as Foreign Agents If They Receive US Donations?

Last year the US Congress passed a law preventing Russian lawmakers from coming to the USA if the lawmakers are considered to have engaged in "human rights" violations.  The law is called The Magnitsky Act.  Magnitsky was a Russian businessman who died in a Russian jail in 2009.

The Russian Government has accused the US Congress and President Obama of merely playing politics and not showing a concern for human rights.  In retaliation (revenge, as a consequence) Vladimir Putin passed a law preventing US families from adopting Russian babies.

The diplomatic situation between Russia and the USA does not seem to be getting better.

Recently the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, traveled to Russia and spoke to individuals who were involved with Russian NGOs (non-governmental organizations).  Usually such organizations do charitable or social-service work in a country.

The Russian government has passed a law requiring Russian NGOs to register with the state as "foreign agents" if the NGOs receive foreign money and if the NGOs are involved in political activities (and not purely charitable activities).

Apparently many organizations from the USA donate to Russian NGOs and therefore Kerry visited with these NGOs and met with officials from the Russian government, apparently to try to resolve any difficulties.

The Russian government does not believe that foreign countries should be allowed to influence Russian politics, while Kerry and the NGOs seem to be arguing that the Russian government just wants to stop political opponents from gaining power. 

Is the USA trying to secretly influence Russian politics or is Vladimir Putin trying to stop organizations that oppose his policies from gaining power?

The article:

http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-05-08/world/39104213_1_ngos-pavel-chikov-agora

Vocabulary from the article:

a crackdown - this is when a government begins to take serious action against something they feel is illegal or wrong.

to mount - to increase.  Mounting pressure means increasing pressure.  A Mounting crackdown means increasing action by the government to stop something.

controversial - a controversial topic is something people like to argue about.

an activist - someone who tries to change something for the better in his society.

to assure someone - to make it clear to someone that you care and will try to help them. To reassure. To try to convince someone that something will happen. i.e. I assure you that I will be able to meet you at 3pm tomorrow.  Please don't worry!

legal pressure - legal pressure is legal force being applied to these organizations.

a civil war - a war within a country.

to enforce - to make sure that the laws are obeyed and that people who break the laws will be punished.

vaguely defined political activities -  not clearly defined.  So the author of the article is trying to make it seem as if the Russian government has not established a clear definition of what a political activity might be.

to register - to declare that you are doing something to the government; to fill out a form stating you are doing something.

foreign agents - people who work for a foreign government or source; people who are assisting some foreign source.

to recall - to remember, to remind

Soviet-era propaganda -  propaganda is information provided by a government to make the government look good or to make the government's enemies look bad.  To be honest, this article looks like propaganda to make the US government look good and the Russian government look bad.  Sometimes US news stories are 'biased' (prejudiced) toward the US government (they make the US government look good).  I don't know the complete truth about this situation, but I do know that the US government has gotten involved in the politics of many foreign countries in the past.

to cast suspicion on s/o- if you are suspicious of a person, you do not trust the person.  To cast suspicion on someone means to indicate you are suspicious of that person or organization.

undermining their credibility - to destroy their credibility.  To make it seem as if they are not believable.

interpretation - what a person believes or the conclusions a person draws from reading or seeing something.

a spy - someone who gathers information illegally for a foreign government.

to accuse s/o of s/t - to claim or state that someone did something wrong.

a front - a front organization is a 'fake' organization that is really serving a hidden purpose.  Putin claims that many of these NGOs are really just working for the US government.

to meddle in - to get involved in, to interfere in

to raid a group - to invade the group; to suddenly show up and investigate the group without the group's prior (previous) knowledge.

an election monitoring group - a group which tries to make sure that elections are fair.

to be fined - to be punished by being forced to pay a certain amount of money.

to appeal a court decision - to go to a higher court and ask that a decision be overturned (changed).

"Mind your own business!" - You hear this every once in awhile - it means, "Worry about your own things!  Do not worry about what I am doing!"

unduly - unfairly.

revisions - changes.

treason - when someone does something to harm his own society or government.

advocacy - if you advocate for something, you promote something or encourage people to believe or accept something.

a watchdog organization - an organization that watches how the government works and reports on illegal activities or corrupt (dishonest) activities.

a crane sanctuary - a crane is a type of bird with a long neck.  A sanctuary is a place where cranes can safely live.  So the author claims that a crane sanctuary - which is something non-political - was punished according to this new law.

Russia and the US Accuse Each Other of Human Rights Violations

The US Congress is considering a proposal to punish certain Russian officials who were involved in the death of a prominent Russian in a Russian prison. The Congress claims that Russia often violates human rights.

The Russian government, on the other hand, is accusing the US of also being a "human rights violator."  Russia has pointed out that the CIA tortured prisoners and that the US has an illegal prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.  Russia could also point out that the USA has a greater percentage of prisoners in its jails than any other country, and that most of these prisoners come from poor and minority backgrounds.

http://news.yahoo.com/russia-threatens-tough-response-u-back-rights-bill-140111796.html;_ylt=AkCL.v2GjdWue8GD1jI7SpCbCMZ_;_ylu=X3oDMTVxZGxtaHV0BGNjb2RlA2dtcHRvcDEwMDBwb29sd2lraXVwcmVzdARtaXQDQXJ0aWNsZSBNaXhlZCBMaXN0IE5ld3MgZm9yIFlvdSB3aXRoIE1vcmUgTGluawRwa2cDNzc3NWRkZGQtNjRhOC0zNTZkLTg1YmYtMThjYzc2MDUwMjRkBHBvcwM4BHNlYwNuZXdzX2Zvcl95b3UEdmVyA2Q1OTgyZjQwLTJmM2MtMTFlMi1iYmRkLWQxZTUxY2M4NWI3Zg--;_ylg=X3oDMTM1YzI4MzNpBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDYWM5YzJiYTctOGQzYy0zNzFmLWJjYTItYzQyZGQyNGY3YmI1BHBzdGNhdANwb2xpdGljc3x0aGV0aWNrZXQEcHQDc3RvcnlwYWdl;_ylv=3

1)  Is the USA hypocritical in its attacks on other countries' human rights records?  Why or why not?

2)  Does the Congress have the right to criticize the actions of other governments?