Russia ready to negotiate despite Zelensky's 'legitimacy problems,' Kremlin spox claims

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov reiterated Russia's claim that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is illegitimate on Feb. 5 but said Moscow remains open to negotiations.

Peskov's comments follow Zelensky's statement in an interview with U.K. journalist Piers Morgan that he was willing to sit at the negotiating table with Russian President Vladimir Putin if it was the only way to end the war.

"Mr. Zelensky has big problems de jure in terms of his legitimacy, but even so, the Russian side remains open to negotiations," Peskov claimed. The spokesperson also called Zelensky's recent comments on negotiations "empty words," adding that they must be based on an actual "readiness and desire."

Russia has widely used the claim of Zelensky's alleged illegitimacy as part of its propaganda campaign to discredit Ukraine's government, arguing that Zelensky has served past his five-year term without holding new elections.

Ukrainian legal experts and officials have dismissed the narrative as false and unfounded, pointing to the fact that Ukraine's constitution does not permit elections under martial law and that a significant portion of the Ukrainian population is under occupation and, therefore, cannot vote.

Putin previously claimed that Zelensky had no right to sign any peace agreements, referencing the Ukrainian president's decree on Sept. 30, 2022, which banned negotiations with the Russian leader in response to Moscow's annexation of four Ukrainian regions.

Zelensky clarified on Jan. 26 that the decree only applied to other Ukrainian officials, not himself.

https://www.butterjournal.com/butter-history/

Butter Journal
The History of Butter

Floris van Schooten, Breakfast, Collection Kröller-Müller Museum, the Netherlands

Butter is as old as Western civilization. In ancient Rome, it was medicinal—swallowed for coughs or spread on aching joints. In India, Hindus have been offering Lord Krishna tins full of ghee —luscious, clarified butter —for at least 3,000 years. And in the Bible, butter is a food for celebration, first mentioned when Abraham and Sarah offer three visiting angels a feast of meat, milk and the creamy yellow spread.

Butter’s origins are likely more humble, though. Rumor has it a nomad made the first batch by accident. He probably tied a sheepskin bag of milk to his horse and, after a day of jostling, discovered the handy transformation so many generations have noticed and learned to apply: Churned milk fat solidifies into something amazing. The oldest known butter-making technique still in use today is remarkably similar: Farmers in Syria skin a goat, tie the hide up tight, then fill it with milk and begin shaking.

Although some of the earliest records of butter consumption come from Roman and Arabian sources, Mediterranean people have always favored oil in their cooking. Butter, it seems, was the fat of choice for the tribes of northern Europe — so much so that Anaxandrides, the Greek poet, derisively referred to barbarians from the north as “butter-eaters.” Climate likely played a key role in regional tastes, as the cool weather at northern latitudes allowed people to store butter longer than Mediterranean cultures could. By the 12th century, the butter business was booming across northern Europe. Records show that Scandinavian merchants exported tremendous amounts each year, making the spread a central part of their economy. Butter was so essential to life in Norway, for example, that the King demanded a full bucket every year as a tax.

By the Middle Ages, eaters across much of Europe were hooked. Butter was popular among peasants as a cheap source of nourishment and prized by nobility for the richness it added to cooked meats and vegetables. For one month out of each year, however, the mostly-Christian Europeans made due without their favorite fat. Until the 1600s, butter-eating was banned during Lent. For northern Europeans without access to cooking oils, meal-making could be a struggle during the weeks before Easter. Butter proved so necessary to cooking, in fact, that the wealthy often paid the Church a hefty tithe for permission to eat the fat during the month of self-denial. Demand for this perk was so high that in Rouen, in northwestern France, the Cathedral’s Tour de Beurre — or Butter Tower — was financed and built with such tithes.

View fullsize

Motte de Beurre, Antoine Vollon, c.1880, National Gallery of Art

Across the English Channel in Ireland, butter was so critical to the Irish economy that merchants opened a Butter Exchange in Cork to help regulate the trade. Today, barrels of ancient Irish butter, which were traditionally buried in bogs for aging, are among the most common archeological finds in the Emerald Isle. In France, butter was in such high demand by the 19th century that Emperor Napoleon III offered a large prize for anyone who could manufacture a substitute. In 1869, a French chemist won the award for a new spread made of rendered beef fat and flavored with milk. He called it “oleomargarine,” later shortened to just margarine.

Across the Atlantic, butter consumption started with the pilgrims, who packed several barrels for their journey on the Mayflower. During the next three centuries, butter became a staple of the American farm. At the turn of the 20th century, Americans’ annual consumption was an astonishing 18 pounds of butter per capita—nearly a stick and a half per person per week!

The Great Depression and World War II challenged America’s love affair with butter. The turmoil brought shortages and rationing, and margarine — now made with vegetable oil and yellow food coloring — became a cheaper option for American families. Butter consumption took a nosedive. In addition, dieticians and the USDA began promoting a low-fat diet in the 1980s, and butter became déclassé. By 1997, consumption had fallen to 4.1 pounds per capita per year.

Since then, however, butter has staged a comeback. Researchers have discovered that the ingredients in old-style margarine are significantly worse for heart health than the saturated fats found in natural butter. The news has lured more and more Americans back to their buttery traditions. The passion for delectable cuisine is bolstering consumption once again as artisanal butters appear in chilled grocery cases across the country. And at top restaurants around the globe, chefs are doing extraordinary things with this millennia-old food, creating an exciting new page in the history of butter.

Popcorn Time!

The Russian media has reportedly been ordered by the Kremlin not to cover Donald Trump positively because his agenda is seen by ordinary Russians as better aligned with their own interests and values than that of Vladimir Putin.

The VChK-OGPU Telegram channel reports what a source has told it about a new directive suppressing Russian media coverage of Trump:

“If the policy of the previous US administration easily created an image of an enemy for the average Russian citizen in terms of values, then now Trump, as president, meets the demands of Russian citizens better than Putin himself:

“– a family man with an open large family, information about which is not classified by special services (although the security issues of the Trump family are no less acute than those of his Russian colleague);

“– firmly defends the interests of US citizens in matters of migrant crime and relations with their countries of origin (the recent case of Colombia with Trump’s strong rhetoric and Russia’s unconvincing cases with Azerbaijan and Tajikistan);

“– promotes tax cuts for its own citizens and businesses while imposing tariffs and duties on foreign countries.

“Whereas Russia is increasing taxes (on profits, VAT, personal income tax, scrappage fees, tariffs of state monopolies in housing and communal services) for its own citizens and businesses, and constant concessions, forgiveness of debts,…

…reduction of supply prices of resources for foreign countries.

The domestic policy of the United States now absolutely coincides with the values that the Kremlin previously made “unique” for Russians.

“A strict command has been given to all media outlets to stop any material on the positive aspects of Trump’s domestic policy, and to reduce all news items from the US only to the growth of domestic national and class tensions.

“It is obvious to the Kremlin that Moscow will no longer be able to compete in the field of traditional values with Washington; the mainstream in the Russian media must urgently be changed.

“As one participant in a meeting of a government working group joked: we can lift the ban on LGBT and start supporting transgender politics by introducing it into Russian culture…

… in order to maintain the agenda of global confrontation and an “alternative path” against the Americans.

“Against this background, it is increasingly difficult to explain to Russians why their ‘friends’ are Turkey, Iran, North Korea and China, which have completely different and in many ways unacceptable cultural values for Russians…

…(and the latter country is also taking advantage of the situation by sucking all the profit margins from Russia into its economy)”.

https://t.me/vchkogpu/54574

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.