Free Republic

Mr Robinson,

May God be with you, sir, in this time of loss.

Thank you for all that you and Mrs Robinson have done,

for us and for our country.

It is all greatly appreciated.

Most humbly and respectfully yours,

Ivan

Dude, you just keep stepping in it deeper.

So, who’s not being provocative by accusing me of offering a biased translation? Never any bias in my translations, friend. I think my bona fides show what relevance I have here. What’s your relevance other than being rude to everyone who tried to set the record straight?

My cocked up words? You mean my translation or what Mr. Putin said? His words, my translation.

You’re the one who brought up women and children again, even after I had made it clear that Putin was speaking of Ukrainians possibly shooting at them, not him using them as shields. Does Putin actually give a damn about any innocents in Crimea or Ukraine? Probably not, but let’s stick to what he actually said, shall we.

When you purposefully ignored my correct translation and continued to use that of Mr. Levin or RT, that was very insulting… and personal. So, you deserved anything you got at that point. Don’t dish it out if you can’t take it. Hope that makes enough sense for you. It did for those I was courteous enough to include in any previous post except for you, apparently.

When you come up with your own translation or have the courtesy to acknowledge mine, which didn’t support your or Mr. Levin’s agenda, and not continue to rely on that of Mr. Levin or RT, which I showed to be incorrect, then you can get back to me about an opposing view. Until then, suck wind, guy. Or should I say, “Mr. Levin”?

FYI, maybe you should give Berlin a break. It seems to have rubbed off on you in a bad way.

Anytime, BF.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said he believes some type of amnesty legislation could pass this year.

TRANSLATION: “The lame-duck congress is doing it the day after the midterm elections.”
__________

Yep. Just like they did in 2010 with Don’t Ask Don’t Tell…

Dems thumbing their noses at the American people and the US military.

Not only is Putin talking about hiding his illegal invading military troops behind women and children... but he is also daring the Ukrainians to shoot them because he would like to see it!

This gets worse the more we understand it...

And really, who talks like this - “women and children and shooting” - in any context?
_______________

Hey, brother, I don’t think you got my message (#56?). Putin was NOT talking about hiding his illegal invading military troops behind women and children and he was NOT daring the Ukrainians to shoot them because he would like to see it.

If anything, it’s just the opposite. He said any Ukes firing at Russian military would also be shooting at women and children, for whom (supposedly in Putin’s mind) the Russians are there for. So, if anyone gave that order, he (Putin) said let them try it. He will look for whoever gives that order. The implication being that he’d have them hunted down to pay for what they’d done, i.e. giving an order to shoot women and children.

Once again, here is EXACTLY what Putin said:

“Listen to me. Listen to me attentively. I want you to understand me unambiguously. If we take such a decision, only for the defense of Ukrainian citizens, and someone tries, one of these servicemen, they are shooting at their own people, for whom we’ll be standing, not (x1 moving?). Let them try to shoot women and children. I shall look for anyone making such an order in the Ukraine.” (End of audio.)

This was only getting worse if you ignored my previous posts or were trying to be provocative, which, FYI, you are coming across as. Or perhaps you’re Mr Levin, the translator at that Biz Review site…

As to who uses the phrase “women and children and shooting” in any context, I did in my original post, saying it’s not unusual for any military (like my former self) to get riled up if their mission is non-combatant evacuation or protection and the bad guys start shooting. At that point, they’re not just shooting at us, but at the innocent women and children.

FYI, there was NOTHING said about using people as human shields, nor was it implied.

If this comes off as my defending Putin, it’s not. I’m trying to defend the truth of what was actually said. As a career US military Russian interpreter, that’s what I did for 25 years.

Peace.
- Ivan

I wonder if it was anything like this (Sol euthanasia scene):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvxpETbsn08

God bless her… and God help us.

“I am as red white and blue as the next guy. I find a lot of WWII posters to be fascinating. Including German and Russian propaganda. Doesn’t make me a nazi or a commie.”
_____

To pile on to Cyber Liberty’s question…

“It’s one thing to put up Communist propaganda posters in your dorm room or your sixth-floor, walk-up flat that you share with your roommate, but there’s something messed up about using that to decorate a family kitchen.”

http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/obama-spokesman-jay-carney-decorates-home-with-soviet-propaganda-posters/

Putin always seemed a little off,

but now he is cracking.
_____

I’m having trouble reconciling that photo with this news story...

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/03/06/pentagon-studying-putins-body-movement-for-clues/6116281/

; )

No problemmo! Glad I could help.

“And Russia Today is funded by the Russian government. You would think that Putin would do something about ensuring that the translations coming out of RT accurately represented what he said.”
_____

You’d be surprised... Nah, they usually do a really good job. But like they say, though, one “uh-oh” kills a hundred “attaboys”!

And as I previously stated, too, simultaneous interpretation is extremely difficult. So, add that to Putin’s speaking even faster than normal due to being angry, slurring a word or two, and you end up with “women and children in front of”, instead of “for whom we’ll be standing”... a mistake which does make some sense in Russian, if not in English.

Cheers!

Ivan

Ha! That’s awesome! Thanks!

I couldn’t really hear past the interpreter’s English, but you could hear that he was interpreting simultaneously (which is very difficult to do), and he kind of skipped over a couple of phrases... (ahem) and he wasn’t quite right on with some of the interpretation, but he did get the overall meaning correct: The Ukrainians shouldn’t be firing at the Russians with the Russians being there amongst the civilians.

I did find this Russian news story about the interview, only about a half-hour. I’ll put ears on it this weekend...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8k2xnYZ20Lg

Cheers!

Ivan

Well, the referenced video clip doesn’t show Putin encouraging them on TV to do so and I’m pretty sure the invading Russian troops aren’t going to do so by force, but otherwise I am in full agreement with you - Putting women and children in front of invading troops, either by force or encouraging them on TV to do so is utterly vile and disgusting!

Cheers!

Ivan

You are absolutely correct, sir, in that the ethnic Russian people in Crimea and eastern Ukraine support what Putin has done and would stand in front of/with Russian forces to show their support. It’s just not what Putin actually said to the reporter... ; )

See my encyclopedia entry above for details.

Your tagline is right on, too, BTW!

Cheers!

Ivan

Please see my note above about the translation quality of the original story. That should be a good enough reply, but I’ll try to make it clearer for you and anyone else looking at this thread.

No one said anything about Ukrainian women and children spontaneously or voluntarily choosing to stand in front of Russian troops or being used as human shields except BizPac Review and Russia Today.

I noted that Putin was pretty angry when he was speaking. We do not know what the reporter said to him before this out-of-context clip was taken, but whatever it was (I believe probably something about the Ukes firing on the invading Russian Army...), it got him pretty mad. So, he was speaking under emotional stress and lost some of his control. He said they, the Russians, would “take a decision for the defense of Ukrainian citizens and if someone tries, if one of these servicemen...”

At that point, he loses some coherence and states “they (implied Ukrainian military) would be shooting at their own people, for which we (the Russians) are there for”.

He then makes an emotional, slightly illogical leap to, “Let them try to shoot women and children.” It’s easy to see why he said that. I’ve served in places where we, the US military, were there to protect civilians and any shooting at us was perceived as a de facto threat against those we were trying to protect.

Nothing about women and children putting themselves into harm’s way to defend any Russians and nothing about Putin threatening to use women and children as human shields was in what Putin said in the clip provided by Ken H.

Putin was projecting equivalence between his Russian troops and (Ukrainian/Crimean) women and children. What is understood by many is that the population of the Crimea is about 60 percent Russian. That’s who is really more equivalent to the Russian troops and is what, I believe honestly, got Putin’s dander up.

The fact that you and anyone else are thinking along the lines of the first very bad translations, and in my view intentionally bad translations, shows that the translators’ goal of influencing you to their way of thinking was successful. Influence Ops 101.

Please don’t take any of this as a defense of Putin on my part. See my other note above for a good video link about him. I just don’t like it that those who would manipulate us into war, would abuse their knowledge of a foreign language to do so. There are other, more important reasons to dislike Putin than what this mis-translation is about.

Cheers from Virginia!

Ivan

There was no mention of a bag over her head...

So, I guess not.

FYI, I posted a correct translation of that Putin quote you might find interesting.

Putin threatens to use Ukrainian women, children, as human shields:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3130559/posts

“You tube of Putin making the remarks. Any Russian speakers here? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMuYucxqiJg";
_____

Here’s what was said by Putin at the video link:

“Listen to me. Listen to me attentively. I want you to understand me unambiguously. If we take such a decision, only for the defense of Ukrainian citizens, and someone tries, one of these servicemen, they are shooting at their own people, for whom we’ll be standing, not (x1 moving?). Let them try to shoot women and children. I shall look for anyone making such an order in the Ukraine.”

Some notes:

1. I’m a Russian speaker of 30+ years, 25 of that as a military interpreter, some in treaty work, some with SOCOM... I think I can hold my own against any Russian or American interpreter any day (as long as it’s consecutive interpreting and not simultaneous!).

As an American patriot, I have no love for Putin. He and Russia are a very real danger to the United States. For more background on Putin, check this out:

The Putin System
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5Rkom1RpKA

2. Putin was very angry at the reporter who had just asked him a question ending, “...in America that...”, when he cuts her off. So, he doesn’t speak fluidly in the clip. He’s very hot under the collar.

3. I find it interesting that both Mr. Levin at BizPac Review and the translators at Russia Today mistranslate what was actually said. They obviously both have an agenda or have never received US military-grade translation and transcription skills...

4. My two cents on the Ukraine situation:

Could it be the start of WW3?
Could be, but I highly doubt it.

Was Russia being a giant ass by invading Ukraine?
Sure, but they did just occupy Russian-speaking Crimea, which had been part of Russia for hundreds of years before the Soviet Union broke up. So, even though I don’t like it, there is some history there that they (NOT ME, flamers), THEY could use in justifying their actions.

Keep in mind the Russian Black Sea Fleet is based in the Crimea. So, I tend to think they’ll stop there and not invade all of eastern Ukraine. But I could be wrong...

And just so everyone can lighten up a little, here’s a gem of a website by a guy who escaped the Soviet Union back in the day:

http://thepeoplescube.com/

Thanks for that YouTube link!

Cheers from Virginia!

- Ivan

I recommend reading the entire article.

###############################

I recommend reading the entire Bible.

###############################

I recommend reading the entire works of Shakespeare.

“To brag unto them, “Thus I did, and thus!”

- Coriolanus, Act 2, Scene 2.