That's interesting. I have had a mental note running about some stolen nook material that was purportedly going to Israel.

The Golan Heights would have been perfect for hiding it.

I also agree that Assad out of the country means something bad is going to happen, probably a partitioning, whereby Turkey, Israel et al. will claim pieces, just as Ukraine is going to be divided up. Note that Israel has plans to broaden their buffer-zone around the Golan Heights, almost as if they were trying to prevent someone from stealing their precious <speculation.

But Assad always strove to keep Syria together, and secular. He cannot be blamed. And that is interesting, in terms of what happens next. He does have Putin's friendly hand.

Ukraine is definitely part of the greater picture, however. Think of it as Greater Israel (Part Zero, i.e. before 1947): 20% of Israelis speak Russian. Ukraine is where they lived and brewed up new ways to get even, because Bolsheviks were persona non-grata - just a little too brutal - killing the Romanovs for example... When the Nazis came to Ukraine, they welcomed them with open arms as liberators from ebil Stalin. Of course, the Red Army did the thing they were best at. But then there were the subversive elements left behind, still living in the USSR. One of Stalin's prolly not great propositions was to move Jews (Bolsheviks) from Ukraine, which was very much like Syria, in that it was a patchwork of populations. It was a form of ethnic cleansing, I suppose, but there was so much killing at the time, that noone cared anymore. One could easily compare it with a drive to get criminals off the streets.

There was one Oblast in Eastern Siberia where Jews could go, or they could just leave, 'escape' to the West, or be taken prisoner and be sent to Gulags.

So a bunch of them moved to the newly formed Israel. Not saying that all of those Jews were Bolsheviks - in fact prolly the Russian-speakers are the saner ones in Israel, now.

Well that's interesting. I have had a mental note running about some stolen nook material that was purportedly going to Israel.

The Golan Heights would have been perfect for hiding it.

I also agree that Assad out of the country means something bad is going to happen, probably a partitioning, whereby Turkey, Israel et al. will claim pieces, just as Ukraine is going to be divided up. Note that Israel has plans to broaden their buffer-zone around the Golan Heights, almost as if they were trying to prevent someone from stealing their precious <speculation.

But Assad always strove to keep Syria together, and secular. He cannot be blamed. And that is interesting, in terms of what happens next. He does have Putin's friendly hand.

Ukraine is definitely part of the greater picture, however. Think of it as Greater Israel (Part Zero, i.e. before 1947): 20% of Israelis speak Russian. Ukraine is where they lived and brewed up new ways to get even, because Bolsheviks were persona non-grata - just a little too brutal - killing the Romanovs for example... When the Nazis came to Ukraine, they welcomed them with open arms as liberators from ebil Stalin. Of course, the Red Army did the thing they were best at. But then there were the subversive elements left behind, still living in the USSR. One of Stalin's prolly not great propositions was to move Jews (Bolsheviks) from Ukraine, which was very much like Syria, in that it was a patchwork of populations. It was a form of ethnic cleansing, I suppose, but there was so much killing at the time, that noone cared anymore. One could easily compare it with a drive to get criminals off the streets.

There was one Oblast in Eastern Siberia where Jews could go, or they could just leave, 'escape' to the West, or be taken prisoner and be sent to Gulags.

So a bunch of them moved to the newly formed Israel. Not saying that all of those Jews were Bolsheviks - in fact prolly the Russian-speakers are the saner ones in Israel, now.

Well that's interesting. I have had a mental note running about some stolen nook material that was purportedly going to Israel.

The Golan Heights would have been perfect for hiding it.

I also agree that Assad out of the country means something bad is going to happen, probably a partitioning, whereby Turkey, Israel et al. will claim pieces, just as Ukraine is going to be divided up. Note that Israel has plans to broaden their buffer-zone around the Golan Heights, almost as if they were trying to prevent someone from stealing their precious <speculation.

But Assad always strove to keep Syria together, and secular. He cannot be blamed. And that is interesting, in terms of what happens next. He does have Putin's friendly hand.

Ukraine is definitely part of the greater picture, however. Think of it as Greater Israel (Part Zero, i.e. before 1947): 20% of Israelis speak Russian. Ukraine is where they lived and brewed up new ways to get even, because Bolsheviks were persona non-grata - just a little too brutal - killing the Romanovs for example... When the Nazis came to Ukraine, they welcomed them with open arms as liberators from ebil Stalin. Of course, the Red Army did the thing they were best at. But then there were the subversive elements left behind, still living in the USSR. One of Stalin's prolly not great propositions was to move Jews (Bolsheviks) from Ukraine, which was very much like Syria, in that it was a patchwork of populations. It was a form of ethnic cleansing, I suppose, but there was so much killing at the time, that noone cared anymore. One could easily compare it with a drive to get criminals of the streets.

There was one Oblast in Eastern Siberia where Jews could go, or they could just leave, 'escape' to the West, or be taken prisoner and sent to Gulags.

So a bunch of them moved to the newly formed Israel. Not saying that all of those Jews were Bolsheviks - in fact prolly the Russian-speakers are the saner ones in Israel, now.