Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?
And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
Luke 10:36, the story of the Good Samaritan
Dear Readers:
Among all human cultures there is the concept of hospitality. Which means a kind, inclusive, and welcoming attitude towards a guest or stranger. Laying down your finest silverware, feeding him your best food, even when food is scarce. Or, at the very least, if you can’t manage that, not stealing all his shit, then leaving him by the side of the road without money or a place to spend the night.
Irina’s Worst Nightmare
It was the 29th of August (2023). Midnight. Still flush from her victory at the dog show in Geneva, Irina Belyaeva was driving her “Dogmobile” along the German Autobahn to start her return trip back to St. Petersburg, Russia. Irina’s four dogs were tied securely to the front and back seats, using special leashes. It had been a long week, but there were only 74 kilometers left before arriving at the port city of Travemünde, whence she could take just one ferryboat directly to Helsinki. This was a shorter route, as she had figured out, instead of the more convoluted series of ferries that she had taken to get to Geneva. Then her nightmare began.
Irina: “I was pulled over by a police car. It made me follow it and pull over to the side and into a little forested area, where more patrol cars were waiting for us. Ten police cars surrounded my vehicle. I get out of the car with my hands in the air. The cops bark out commands: Leave the dogs where they are. Any alcohol? Narcotics? How much money are you carrying? I reply: 300 Euros. They: We need to search your vehicle. They had with them a Labrador police dog, and you can just imagine how my dogs started going nuts while their mongrel was sniffing around the car. I thought my dogs were going to break out, but fortunately the leashes held. Where are you coming from? the cops demand. From an international dog show. Usually people react positively and even congratulate me, but no reaction from these guys. When did you purchase this car? In 2017. Where have you driven it to? To shows in England, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland… And so on for half an hour, them peppering me with questions.”
Irina is a diabetic, her blood pressure had already jumped up to just below 220. The ferryboat for which she had pre-purchased tickets, had departed long ago, she knew. She understood at that moment that she could literally die if she didn’t get something to eat soon.
“But I just stood stoically and showed no tears or emotions, I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction. I wasn’t even thinking about myself, only about my dogs. I pulled out my phone and started to take some pictures. One of the cops dashed forward and warned me: Put the phone away, or we’ll take it from you. They didn’t speak English, and my German isn’t all that good, the dogs were barking, I was in a state of shock…”
Finally, an officer with a carefully-combed Hitler forelock (!) handed Irina some official document. They were confiscating her vehicle. It stated that the law on embargos prohibits Russian citizens from bringing personal automobiles into the country. Irina pleaded with him: “It’s just 70 kilometers, and I’ll be out of Germany, in just half an hour I’ll be out of your hair. Please let me go.”
“We understand, we’re just doing our job.”
Irina started to feel like she was in the middle of an old WWII movie, with Nazis acting like Nazis. The cops gave her 10 minutes to collect her things and get out of her car. They watched her, without even trying to help, as she struggled to dismount the chairs and leashes. In the hustle and confusion, Irina didn’t realize at the time, being in a state of shock, that she left her house keys behind in the car. A flatbed soon arrived, loaded her car, and left. (She never saw it again.) Then the cops left too. Irina was left alone with her dogs and luggage, on the side of the street, in the middle of the night.
“I didn’t even know exactly where I was. My phone was getting low on battery. What saved me is that I have a patient who lives in Hamburg, and he actually picked up when I called him. Which is unusual: Germans don’t usually pick up the phone in the middle of the night. Thank God! He picked up the phone. He sent his friend to find me. The latter found us on the side of the road, and loaded up his car with our luggage. I didn’t want to burden him with myself and my dogs, so I tried to call a taxi, but there were no cab companies that would agree to take dogs. Nor were any hotels willing to take us on. We ended up spending the night in the flat of some acquaintances in the center of Hamburg.”
These acquaintances proved that there are good Germans in the world. Not just good, these were very good people, at the Good Samaritan level of good: They took Irina in, bought her new tickets for the ferryboats. (Since she didn’t have enough Euros left to buy new tickets.) They even took her dogs to the vet to get fresh shots, without which the animals would not be allowed on the boat. And then they helped her load all her stuff onto the boat.
The ticket for the Travemünde-Helsinki ferry costs 900 Euros. Then the transfer from Helsinki to St. Petersburg another 800 Euros. Recall that Irina had told the German cops she only had 300 Euros on her, which was the truth. Hence, even though they didn’t confiscate her money, these cops knew damned well that she would not be able to afford new ferry tickets after they had detained her so long that she missed the one for which she did have tickets.
Well, the reader might ask, why didn’t she just use a credit card? The answer is that her Russian credit card is not accepted anywhere in Europe, due to the sanctions. The conclusion is obvious: These German cops knowingly and maliciously left a middle-aged woman stranded in the middle of their country without the needed funds to extricate herself. If it were not for her loyal friends, she probably would have died out there on the German road, surrounded by her helpless animals. Do these people not have a heart? No, obviously they don’t.
But the German authorities were not the only uncaring bureaucrats. Ever since the incident began, Irina was busy on her phone, calling and texting the Russian Embassy in Hamburg. Around noon the following day she received a reply from Attache A.D. Panteleev: “We sent an inquiry to German customs in Hamburg [regarding your automobile]. There have been similar incidents, but unfortunately German customs have been ignoring our inquiries.”
Translating into plain Russian: There is nothing we can do.
In fairness, though, the consulate is correct: There is nothing they can do to influence EU laws. Euro-Council decree #833/2014 with the supplement from 7 October 2022, truly does forbid Russian citizens to bring any personal property into the EU: Cars, phones, shoes, computers, etc. So, in a way, Irina was lucky that they left her with her phone and luggage. In theory they could have taken everything away from her. Maybe even the dogs!
These laws have existed on the books, but the part about seizing cars with Russian license plates wasn’t really enforced until just recently, maybe just this past spring. Since then, roughly a dozen Russians have been robbed of their automobiles while traveling in Germany. [yalensis: Maybe they need to start using fake license plates.] After Irina’s story came out, there have been several more such incidents reported.
Irina, for her part, does not intend to take this lying down. She has hired an attorney and is on a crusade to get her “dogmobile” back from the German highway robbers. She intends to launch a massive lawsuit, claiming personal injury, lost wages, cost for renting a new car, psychological pain and suffering, the works. She believes that she can win an amount sufficient to purchase a brand new Merdeces V-Class!
“But Irina,” the reporter protests, “Surely you knew that there was a risk of having your car confiscated?”
Irina confesses: “I knew. But I never thought they would actually do it. I thought, the worst that would happen is, they would not let me into the country, that they would turn me back at the border when I got off the ferryboat. But they didn’t do that, they let me in. Maybe the whole thing was a trap.”
yalensis: I have a different theory. I know nothing about dog-shows, but I know something about the figure-skating subculture. I recall how Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva was set to win a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics (2022), when, out of the blue, the IOC suddenly hit her with a bogus doping scandal. They claimed to have some dirt on her from the previous season, but they held this information in reserve, picked their time to play this dirty card. [Since then Kamila has been exonerated of the doping charge, but the damage was already done.] Had Kamila tanked early in the games, I am pretty sure these Western toadies would have left her alone. They did what they did to prevent her from winning, and to punish Russia for producing champions. Hence, my theory is that the German government didn’t care so much about Irina crossing their borders, until her dog won at the show. And then they set about to punish and humiliate her, by siccing the cops on her.
Irina currently advises people on the internet, how to deal with such situations. People share travel tips: For example, it seems perfectly safe to travel through Munich, nobody has ever been stopped there or had their vehicle confiscated. [yalensis: Er, what about my idea of manufacturing fake license plates?]
Meanwhile, the pro-Ukrainian blogosphere are having a field day mocking Irina and other Russians caught up in such ordeals: “You just sit and stew in your own swamp, Russians, you’re not allowed in our beautiful West.”
Irina responds furiously: “I am a free human being! I have the right to travel wherever I please.”
The reporter tries to reason with her: “Why, Irina, why? If the Germans decide to behave like fascists, if they have decided it’s okay to start robbing another people of their property, as they have done in the past, but this time it’s Russians [not Jews], I mean, isn’t it better to just stay away from them? Aren’t we better off just keeping our distance from people like that?”
“But in March they are going to have the Dog Show Worlds in Zagreb!” Irina exclaims. “I have to be there. Maybe something will change by then… If not, I’ll think of something…”
yalensis: That’s the end of Irina’s story. At least, for now. There are similar stories in the Russian press, even horror stories about Russian travelers having items of personal hygiene confiscated. If you truly want to degrade a fellow human being and turn them into a filthy animal, then by all means take away their soap, toilet paper, shaving razors, and deodorant. Not to mention tampons and other unmentionable but necessary things. The EU laws not only permit this, but demand it.
In the comment sections of the various newspapers, Russian commenters respond with an almost perfect uniformity: Their main suggestion being that Russians should continue driving into EU countries. But not in automobiles. In tanks. Just as a friendly reminder of good times from the past.
[Post-erratum correction: I have corrected a mistake in the translation above, as to Irina’s blood pressure going up, not down. Apologies…]
Awful Avalanche 
Terrible story. But what is the Russian leadership going to do about it? The West will NEVER stop their evil ways unless they hit a wall. Nevertheless Russia still sells huge amounts of oil and gas to Germany (via India). They still try to mend fences, or rather bridges, to please the West. And most of all they let the West continue their military and personal attacks on Russians both in Ukraine and Russia. And this goes on in every part of the world and on every level of society where they encounter Russians. Just like the German Nazis would have killed a billion Jews/undesirables if they had been able to, the new Western Nazis will rob and harm every single Russian and Russia-supporter if they can. As Mercouris always says: They have no reverse gear.
Maybe Russia’s doing everything right and they’re just biding their time (Sun Tzu’s “Appear weak when you are strong, etc.”). We simply cannot know with so limited knowledge. My point is just that we should not expect any change from the West until Russia actually does something. (However, the day they can’t harm Russians they will scale up the terror against their own citizens.)
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Sometimes I feel that Stalin really should have drove all the way to France…
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Terrible story. What an ordeal Irina had to live through.
“Russian commenters respond with an almost perfect uniformity: Their main suggestion being that Russians should continue driving into EU countries. But not in automobiles. In tanks.”
In other words, they feel as “charitable” as I do.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I know two wrongs don’t make a right. Irina’s case shows that her German friends in Hamburg certainly acted as good samaritans. I cannot imagine how as a practising dentist in Petersburg, she had clients in that German city in the first place. Fellow doggy lovers? And she seems incredibly resourceful, and her SIM card worked in Germany, etc.
So can we say as a general rule that Germany’s cops are outliers compared to an average German’s attitude towards Russians? No, I think not. No data. Official Germany seems beyond the pale, and no doubt other EU governments are just as dumb. Boy, does the US have official Europe under its thumb or what?. Frightened little masochistic puppets supposedly in charge of their countries seem to have succumbed to the US jackboot. They need to grow a spine, but the US has them hemmed in with the SWIFT system. Their future does not seem bright.
And what German court is going to entertain Irina’s lawsuit? I’d guess none. Nothing vey fair about it, but that seems to be the reality of our near combined future.
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“I knew. But I never thought they would actually do it. I thought, the worst that would happen is, they would not let me into the country,”
She clearly does not understand German bureaucracy, German bureaucrats, and the current crop of Russophobe arseholes reigning in Europe.
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Yes. I would have to say that Irina probably has an “optimistic” type personality. Exactly the opposite of me. I would have assumed the worst from the very start.
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“We understand, we’re just doing our job..
The same excuse everywhere and when. It is not that long of a road from the ladies plight, because she is Russian, to that:
….said the guard at the concentration camp, loading cyclon B into the hole in the ceiling of the gas chamber….”
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Dog show 1933
https://www.mediastorehouse.com/p/164/delf-defiance-dog-32250416.jpg.webp
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Cute!
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“I was only following orders…”
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“Hence, my theory is that the German government didn’t care so much about Irina crossing their borders, until her dog won at the show. And then they set about to punish and humiliate her, by siccing the cops on her.”
I think that is rather unlikely, since dog shows are a rather fringe thing, or at least were, when I left Germany for Canada (another country circling the plughole).
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Maybe you’re right. Dog shows are certainly more fringe than, say, international figure skating competitions.
On the other hand, the EU did make a point of banning Russian cats from international cat shows, so there is that…
Another clue is that when Irina told the cops she had come from a dog show, they showed no reaction instead of the usual interest that invokes. As if they already knew who she was and where she has been?
I realize I am just theorizing…
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“I have to be there”
Fuck no, you don’t, lady.
If you want to fight idiots, you DO NOT bring yourself into a situation to fight against the law in a country you are not a citizen of.
You will never win, you will waste your money, your health and check this out:
https://cjhopkins.substack.com/p/the-criminalization-of-dissent-continued
Tilting against windmills is nothing in comparison to fighting against the combination of EU directives and German bureaucracy.
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I agree. It’s just not worth it. Maybe Russia can sponsor an ALT-dog show and only invite friendly nations like China, India, North Korea, Iran, etc.?
I have been arguing for a while that Russia needs to bring back the Friendship Games as an alternative to the Olympics.
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Don’t know about Nazis, but I take exception to minimizing and relativizing Brownstone institute. The wonderful people who gave us “herd immunity”. They are on their way to killing more people than the Nazis.
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Unfortunately, Raccoon, the mass of the population luuuuuvs them the Brownnose (sic) Institute and the Great Eugenicton Declaration. The reason the “herd immunity” lie works so well is because people are lazy and can’t be arsed to protect themselves. So they willingly believe that getting a disease that slowly chews up their blood vessels (and other organs) from the inside is just great. It’s easier that way, in the short term, to blithely ignore the danger of Long Covid. If the Great Barrington BS went against society’s mindset, it would have failed. But since it dovetailed with what people WANTED to do, let ‘er rip!
Stay safe out there. Try not to catch it, and if you already have, try not to get it again and again. Eventually, enough people in society will be crippled by the Mass Disabling Event that is Covid, and the few of us who are still healthy can beat them up and take their lunch money.
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Aha, someone else who gets it. The global elite sees it is going down and wants to take everything down with it. Spreading a deadly disease, then sabotaging the response to it is a perfect mechanism for doing so.
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Ok, let’s check your hypothesis. Could Irina Belyaeva have snatched a victory while leaving a vengeful German with connections to police in Schleswig Holstein or around Hamburg and/or Lübeck behind?
*******
Let’s see: there is the Czech, a Check surfaces in our story, Johana Bricicova, who actually won with a puppy. We do have a Czech in our story of whatever age.
And then there are two Russian ladies among the owners of such dogs Elena Zenkova and A. Butovo you think she brought to Geneva. Scroll down to “American Cocker Spaniels” the first entry at the bottom, 62 seem to have been present at the World Dog Show 2023 in Geneva. Unfortunately, our lady is not listed.
https://www.onlinedogshows.eu/en/ShowResults/FciGroup/2548?groupId=8
Now there is the Russian Natalia Trots too, who won with this beauty:
https://www.onlinedogshows.eu/en/ShowResults/FciGroup/2548?groupId=10
As best of Group 10. A Borsoi. Was she clever and did not cross Germany or took a plane with the dog in the luggage space in a cage? Big dog that is.
Last but not least, there is also another Russian lady called Irina Golubeva? She is the winner in Group 6 with a Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen.
https://www.onlinedogshows.eu/en/ShowResults/FciGroup/2548?groupId=6
So the blue price label (or whatever) our heavily mistreated Irina holds in your picture above is from another year’s competition? It seems this year, in 2023, all these, how to call them round-things-with-a-tail, were apparently red. If no one manipulated the photos of this year’s winners to trick me.
Whatever I do, I can’t find any Irina Belyaeva among the winners who could have made whatever German mad. Neither can I find her listed as the owner of such dogs.
она держит американских кокер-спаниелей, почти каждый из которых является чемпионом и победителем всемирных выставок, и редчайшего кламбер-спаниеля; собаки занимаются танцами и аджилити, то есть прохождением полосы препятствий, у них есть собственная няня…
“кламбер-спаниеля”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clumber_Spaniel
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ooomgrmgh:
A Czech is a Czech it Tscheche in German.
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Thanks, moon, this is very good reporting. Now she DID say that Marmelade won though! (In the Junior division, maybe that’s a lesser prize, I don’t know.)
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Oh wait! I found Marmelade. His full name is
Vanillaicecream Marmalade With Mandarin (5902).
Do a string search on that, and you will find him listed twice in the show, once as “Excellent”, or “Reserve CAC”, I have no idea what those titles mean, but obviously Irina was ecstatic about his showing.
Here is the interesting thing: Marmelade’s owner is listed as Karpets Karpets, Eric, under the flag of
Spain; and now I realize that Irina must have showed her dogs under someone else’s name and flag. This was probably still another of her international friends, doing her a favor.
So, yes, I have to retract my theory about any German officials knowing, or caring, that her dog won some minor prize at an event! You win, moon. You win by becoming a real reporter!
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P.P.S. – on the other hand, I proved that Marmelade was actually there, and it was the 2023 show, so that photo of Irina with the blue ribbon had to be from that show.
Recall that Marmelade is only 15 months old, so he could not possibly have competed earlier than this, being such a young pup.
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Even if it’s not relevant in this case, I still think the foundations of your theory are sound.
Nearly everywhere the West could ban Russian sportsmen, it has done so (soccer, olympics, track and field championship…). It hates Russian champions because they contradict the narrative of the barbaric backwards Russian people (The entirely illegal invasion of Iraq has not seen a single U.S. athlete banned from any competition).
For me, the most iconic example is not a Russian athlete, but a Serbian one (not Russian, but similar enough in the western mindset). In 2022, as he was on his way of beating the grand slam Men’s tennis record, Novak Djokovic was refused participation to the Australian Open, despite a court ruling in his favor, and this, due to a direct intervention of Australia’s immigration minister, leaving the way open for the ugly little Spaniard to get a significant lead (Djokovic being Djokovic, he has since regained all the lost ground and smashed the record, probably for a long time).
I don’t much care about sports (especially commercial sports on tv), but I’m now always glad when Djokovic wins (or whenever I’m aware of any Russian or Belarussian sports win – a little light in my heart blinks briefly, but warmly – it doesn’t change much but it – stupidly – makes me happy for a moment)
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Wonderful comment, Jean, and thank you. I agree that these European fascists will do anything to keep the citizens of “ostracized” nations like Russia and Serbia, from competing; and especially from winning. And this started long before the current sitrep.
In a word (or 3 words):
2002 Winter Olympics
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Some things about this story do not make sense. First of all, what is so incredibly important about a freaking dog show?
If I was Russian, I would forget about things like dog shows and travel outside of friendly counties, for the duration.
It seems most of her problem came form insisting on going by road. It seems Russians who traveled by air had no problem.
As for confrontations with asshole police and other types of bureaucrats, it is an extremely difficult thing for most people to do, but the only thing to do is call their bluff. I have been in this situation a few times.
You answer nothing. They answer you. “Identify yourself. What is your justification for bothering me? Get away from me. Now!”
This would be especially difficult if you are not in your own country. A good reason to travel in groups.
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> First of all, what is so incredibly important about a freaking dog show?
It’s a subjective matter. For most people it’s not important. But for her, and for many other dog enthusiasts, it’s crucial. Why some people place such great importance on their hobbies is a separate matter, but it’s far from rare.
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Bow wow!
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Well put, Aule. Part of being human is having “enthusiasms”, having hobbies, being part of a subculture. For many people it’s the most important thing in the world. It’s what gives joy and even meaning to our lives. Be it dog shows, cat shows, hamster shows, child beauty pageants, extreme frisbee, poetry slams, adult hockey tournaments, amateur theater, Star Trek conventions, or whatever. He who has no hobby is a dull person indeed. And he who has a hobby knows that people will do anything and go anywhere to satisfy their need.
Raccoon is being a fuddy-duddy here, and he should also look at it this way: Irina’s hobby might have gotten her into trouble, but it is also what saved her. Because it allowed her to make friends. Really good friends. Because these hobbies and enthusiasms also lead to people making tons of friends around the world. Each hobby has its own subculture, and its own network of enthusiasts. They bring people together in a completely benevolent way.
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Yes, I am a big fuddy duddy. I still say it is not a good time for Russians to be traveling around Europe. Just like I am going to stay away form Russia and China for awhile.
However, this situation will change. I think in a few years people will be eager to have Russians and Chinese visit them, bringing lots of Rubles and Ren.
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“It seems most of her problem came form insisting on going by road. It seems Russians who traveled by air had no problem.”
The law does not discriminate depending on which mode of transportation. It will be applied to air travelers, rest assured.
And travelling with dogs in a plane is a risky adventure, as the animals above a certain size have to travel in the cargo bay. Not a good place for an animal to be
https://www.petsthattravel.com/dogs-in-cargo/
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I think this is precisely the reason why Irina has fitted out her “dogmobile” for road travel.
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As I read through this story I was thinking of Martin Niemöller’s poem:
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because…
I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because…
I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me and…
there was no one left to speak for me.
The came the line “but this time it’s Russians not Jews” to which I would add, this time it’s all of Europe not just Germans.
The whole thing disgusts me, the lack of empathy shown to Russians, even in some of the comments above. The west has become a totalitarian state [singular intended].
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Disgusting, do you have an English language link to this story, I can’t open ria, here unfortunately ?
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Hi, Nicola, You can’t open this link?
It’s Komsomolskaya Pravda, are you not allowed to read that where you live?
I was going to say, maybe try to put it through google translate, but that obviously won’t work if you can’t open it in the first place.
Can anyone out there help nicola? The piece is too long for me to translate in full, although I did do most of it, but left out a few paragraphs here and there for purposes of time… If somebody has an app that can run a whole article through computer translation?
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I wonder what could *possibly* be the legal justification for allowing people entry but forbidding them from bringing personal possessions. And on the basis of nationality. Pretty obvious multiple human rights violations. Gotta love dem Western Values.
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They would have to walk in on foot, wearing rags.
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“I wonder what could *possibly* be the legal justification for allowing people entry but forbidding them from bringing personal possessions.”
A bit naive, aren’t you?:
Steeling a countries gold reserves
Steeling a countries foreign reserves
Jailing journalists and treating them as criminals for publishing facts
Depriving citizens of their citizenship despite agreed upon rules
Prohibiting athletes from participating in events
Prohibiting access to foreign news
Prosecuting artists with spurious arguments and deprive them of the means of publishing their opinions because their opinions are undesirable
Prohibiting artists to perform and cancelling their contracts because of their nationality
Confiscating (theft) assets of foreign nationals without legal recourse
Just off the top of my head
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It’s the so-called “Rules Based Order”. In which pigs make the rules, and everybody else has to follow their orders.
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“Irina is a diabetic, her blood pressure had already dipped well below 220.”
First off, some medical geekery here. (Yes, it’s borderline obsessive-compulsive on my part when I see clinical numbers that don’t make sense.) A systolic blood pressure (the top number in the two-part BP reading everybody gets) that’s 220 would be cause for alarm and probably IV infusion of medication if someone was in hospital. Life-threateningly high! If it was a diastolic BP level, the person would be dead. So I wonder if that’s a misprint. Plus, how would her BP have been measured in a police hassle along the side of the road. If it was her blood glucose number (since diabetes was mentioned) 220 is also not good. But it’s way too HIGH — she’d want it to dip way lower than that if they used the American scale, in which the normal range is 80 to 120. (In Australia, there’s a completely different measuring reference, mmol pr dl — millimols per decilitre, but that’s getting into the medical weeds.) Maybe they have a different scale in Europe, too. Diabetics frequently check their blood sugar with the finger-pricking device, especially when stressed, so I could envision her getting an accurate reading at the roadside. Anyway, just a number casually tossed off by a reporter who’s probably not medically trained, and you’re only translating what they wrote. Still, it annoys me!
More importantly, this gets into the whole issue of “civil asset forfeiture.” A common practice in the U.S., where pigs can steal anything they want from a person “because we suspect this property is connected with CRIME!!!!!” You have a lot of money on you? Pigs steal it because they decide you’re going to buy illegal drugs, or you MADE the money from a dope deal. You’re driving a car that it doesn’t look like you can afford? Pigs can steal it from you because maybe you stole it, or used drug money to buy it. You don’t like that, Mr. or Ms. American Citizen? You can fight the pig department for several years in court, trying to get your stuff back, in front of judges who like to side with the pigs.
So it seems they are getting the same “highway robbery” modus operandi in not-at-all-Nazi neoGermany. Only when it applies to Russians, though. For now. Will it spread to Turks, or people with dark skin, or the latest disfavoured minority? Wait for it…
Civil asset forfeiture — i.e. cops being robbers — is part of the reason why I detest the police. They have “the state’s monopoly on authorised violence” backing them up. Pigs can use force against you without penalty. They want to shoot you, bash you, rip you off? Who’s gonna stop ’em? If you live through it, you can spend years in court, etc. as I whinged above. As The Collapse gathers speed, and civil order breaks down, the police will be the biggest enemy that citizens have to face. Violent thugs in official uniform will be America’s future.
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I double-checked the passage, here is the Russian:
Ирина диабетик, давление у нее скакнуло под 220, паром, на который были куплены билеты, давно ушел. Женщина понимала: она в любой момент может умереть, ей надо что-то съесть:
Sorry, I had mistranslated, that was too-quick reading, my eyes saw the word под 220 (“under 220”) and I raced to translate as “dipped below 220”, it should have been “jumped up to just below 220. The key verb here being скакнуло (“jumped up”), which my eyes tore past in haste.
Huge apologies, I will go back into the article and correct that erratum.
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Mistranslation has been corrected in update to the post.
In other words, it my MY mistake, not the reporter’s. As to the issue, how did she measure herself on the side of the road? I am guessing she grabbed some device out of her purse and monitored herself while the cops were doing their coppy thing.
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A battery operated BP meter sets you back about 40 to 100 Euro and fits in your glove compartment. I have to use one to control my BP.
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Makes sense! 220 is bad. German schwein coulda killed her with stress.
(Easier for me to post now because I broke down and updated my Firefox browser. No point being stubbornly recalcitrant forever)
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And if they had killed her, they wouldn’t have cared. Because those German cops are heartless beasts.
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A German friend of mine got into trouble with the German military draft for being out of the country when they came calling. His succinct advice
“It is not wise to attract the attention of the German state.”
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Hi Yalensis, thank you, I’ve put it through yandex, much appreciated 😊
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The EU seems (as Bukko pointed out) to have adopted American-style ‘civil asset forfeiture,’ a modern domestic twist on the long Anglo Saxon tradition of state-sponsored piracy aka ‘privateering.’ Remember Sir Francis Drake?
You can trace the tradition all the way back to the Viking Age and earlier, when successive waves of our ancestors swept out of Northern Europe to plunder, then settle Britain and Ireland, using them as bases for further raids all over Europe and the Mediterranean. Within a few centuries, armed British seafarers had built on the tradition of state piracy to establish the basis of their later worldwide empire.
It’s interesting that Rurik’s descendants seem not to have inherited that mindset, perhaps because of being assimilated among the Slavs. Anyway I wonder how long it will be before western navies start preying on Russian commercial ships, yet another provocation that could spark WW3?
I had the same knee jerk reaction to this tale that Russians did: Keep driving into the EU, only in tanks.
I’ve always scoffed at the neocon talking points about Russia gearing up to ‘restore the USSR’ or ‘restore the Russian empire.’ Why on Earth would Russia want to shoulder the burden of annexing and supporting half (or more) of the EU’s slowly failing statelets?
But as western governments (and their corporate masters) become more and more openly sociopathic, I wonder whether it wouldn’t make good strategic sense for Russia basically to restore the old Iron Curtain and secure itself a large Eastern European buffer zone. This one would differ from the previous one by incorporating Finland. Also there would be no effort to keep the locals in, they would be encouraged to flee to the west, so that adventurous young Russians could homestead these newly open territories.
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