More Bad News for Russia

[mendeleyev]

Varying perspectives on the border issue with Russia and China, each with valid points for consideration:

[calmissile]

Thanks for posting Mendy.  I will watch the whole thing after work.  Looks very interesting.

[fathertime]

Varying perspectives on the border issue with Russia and China, each with valid points for consideration:

Thanks,
Much better than your earlier 'Crapping their pants' synopsis.  Watched 3 of the shorter ones, still doesn't seem to me like there is an impending crisis.Imperfect, but par for the course. 


Fathertime!

[Brasscasing]

Contrary to what one so-called dissenter would have you believe, it's Russia's reputation that's in the sh*tter not the U.S.

Russia, Putin Held in Low Regard around the World

Russia’s Image Trails U.S. across All Regions

Outside its own borders, neither Russia nor its president, Vladimir Putin, receives much respect or support, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. A median of only 30% see Russia favorably in the nations outside of Russia. Its image trails that of the United States in nearly every region of the world. At the same time, a median of only 24% in the countries surveyed have confidence in Putin to do the right thing in world affairs, and there is far less faith in the Russian leader than there is in U.S. President Barack Obama.



http://www.pewglobal.org/2015/08/05/russia-putin-held-in-low-regard-around-the-world/

Brass

[Brasscasing]

Putin is actually in serious trouble

Are little green men about to appear on the North Pole?

Russia's claim last week, using an extremely creative interpretation of international law, to exclusive economic rights to nearly half a million square miles of the Arctic Sea, was certainly a head scratcher.

Sure the territory is valuable due to its untapped reserves of fossil fuels and for the shipping lanes that will open as Arctic ice melts. But the claim is likely to ultimately be rejected by the United Nations.

At the same time, sparking a manufactured international crisis over the Arctic, one that pits Russia against the United States and Canada, might be just what the doctor ordered.

Why? Because Vladimir Putin badly needs to make a new action movie to distract his people.

The Kremlin leader is boxed in on so many fronts right now that he badly needs to change the subject.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/putin-is-actually-in-serious-trouble-2015-8#ixzz3iZcKHYXx


Good article. It sums up how the criminals occupying the Kremlin are leading Russia and it's people straight to the slaughter.

Brass

[JayH]

Putin is actually in serious trouble

Are little green men about to appear on the North Pole?

Russia's claim last week, using an extremely creative interpretation of international law, to exclusive economic rights to nearly half a million square miles of the Arctic Sea, was certainly a head scratcher.

Sure the territory is valuable due to its untapped reserves of fossil fuels and for the shipping lanes that will open as Arctic ice melts. But the claim is likely to ultimately be rejected by the United Nations.

At the same time, sparking a manufactured international crisis over the Arctic, one that pits Russia against the United States and Canada, might be just what the doctor ordered.

Why? Because Vladimir Putin badly needs to make a new action movie to distract his people.

The Kremlin leader is boxed in on so many fronts right now that he badly needs to change the subject.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/putin-is-actually-in-serious-trouble-2015-8#ixzz3iZcKHYXx


Good article. It sums up how the criminals occupying the Kremlin are leading Russia and it's people straight to the slaughter.

Brass

Posted by: JayH
« on: Yesterday at 09:48:42 PM » Insert Quote
In posts above in this thread the idea of the breakup of the Russian federation was countenanced. Guessing at where Putin goes next in creating his diversions from the internal reality of a failed corrupt Russian system  is the possibility thrown up in the article below--  given the west hast not taken the bait to escalate in Ukraine--is Putin really that stupid to try and confront the west directly?

But sparking a manufactured international crisis over the Arctic, one that pits Russia against the United States and Canada, might be just what the doctor ordered.

Why? Because Vladimir Putin badly needs to make a new action movie to distract his people.

The Kremlin leader is boxed in on so many fronts right now that he badly needs to change the subject.



Why Putin Is Losing

Are little green men about to appear on the North Pole?

Russia's claim last week, using an extremely creative interpretation of international law, to exclusive economic rights to nearly half a million square miles of the Arctic Sea, was certainly a head scratcher.

Sure the territory is valuable due to its untapped reserves of fossil fuels and for the shipping lanes that will open as Arctic ice melts. But the claim is likely to ultimately be rejected by the United Nations.

But sparking a manufactured international crisis over the Arctic, one that pits Russia against the United States and Canada, might be just what the doctor ordered.

Why? Because Vladimir Putin badly needs to make a new action movie to distract his people.

The Kremlin leader is boxed in on so many fronts right now that he badly needs to change the subject.

[Brasscasing]

Posted by: JayH
« on: Yesterday at 09:48:42 PM » Insert Quote
In posts above in this thread the idea of the breakup of the Russian federation was countenanced. Guessing at where Putin goes next in creating his diversions from the internal reality of a failed corrupt Russian system  is the possibility thrown up in the article below--  given the west hast not taken the bait to escalate in Ukraine--is Putin really that stupid to try and confront the west directly?

But sparking a manufactured international crisis over the Arctic, one that pits Russia against the United States and Canada, might be just what the doctor ordered.

Why? Because Vladimir Putin badly needs to make a new action movie to distract his people.

The Kremlin leader is boxed in on so many fronts right now that he badly needs to change the subject.



Why Putin Is Losing

Are little green men about to appear on the North Pole?

Russia's claim last week, using an extremely creative interpretation of international law, to exclusive economic rights to nearly half a million square miles of the Arctic Sea, was certainly a head scratcher.

Sure the territory is valuable due to its untapped reserves of fossil fuels and for the shipping lanes that will open as Arctic ice melts. But the claim is likely to ultimately be rejected by the United Nations.

But sparking a manufactured international crisis over the Arctic, one that pits Russia against the United States and Canada, might be just what the doctor ordered.

Why? Because Vladimir Putin badly needs to make a new action movie to distract his people.

The Kremlin leader is boxed in on so many fronts right now that he badly needs to change the subject.

Yes, you did post that yesterday, Jay. My bad.

Brass

[JayH]

Yes, you did post that yesterday, Jay. My bad.

Brass

Actually I came across the bones of that story in some many different places it was amazing-- as your previous post on how untrustworthy the world sees Putin as  was  also the basis of many different articles.
The biggest point I am marvelling at is how  truth and right has  come out so far ahead of the Kremlins attempts to spread disinformation around the world. The same mediums the Kremlin sought to use to mislead-- have also been the same sources and methods  used to expose Russia & Putin .
What is needed now is for people in Russia to "get it"!!

[mendeleyev]

Much better than your earlier 'Crapping their pants' synopsis.

You have obviously never sat in a session of the Duma. The name "Duma" comes from the Russian word думать, meaning "to think." However, upon news of the aforementioned war monument, several MP were running around to gather support for a local governor who, in their words, was "shitting his pants" over the issue. I watched as they grew more animated, and quickly came to the conclusion that one governor out east was not the only one in Russia who was "shitting his pants" over the situation.

Until you become more versed on the region, your opinion on it carries about as much weight as the governor's pants.

[fathertime]

You have obviously never sat in a session of the Duma. The name "Duma" comes from the Russian word думать, meaning "to think." However, upon news of the aforementioned war monument, several MP were running around to gather support for a local governor who, in their words, was "shitting his pants" over the issue. I watched as they grew more animated, and quickly came to the conclusion that one governor out east was not the only one in Russia who was "shitting his pants" over the situation.

Until you become more versed on the region, your opinion on it carries about as much weight as the governor's pants.

yes, yes....but it twas you making outrageous statements here.  I merely drew some attention to them.  You stated that China is going to be 'tearing off chunks of Russia'.   That still seems like more wishful thinking on your part, rather than it will be a fact.  You made your prediction, now time will tell.


So some guy characterized some local governor as 'shitting his pants', and now you are recharacterizing others to be doing the same....just seems like a bunch of silly exaggerations. 


Fathertime! 

[Brasscasing]

Actually I came across the bones of that story in some many different places it was amazing-- as your previous post on how untrustworthy the world sees Putin as  was  also the basis of many different articles.
The biggest point I am marvelling at is how  truth and right has  come out so far ahead of the Kremlins attempts to spread disinformation around the world. The same mediums the Kremlin sought to use to mislead-- have also been the same sources and methods  used to expose Russia & Putin .
What is needed now is for people in Russia to "get it"!!

Personally, I hope the mini madman does try and usurp the pole. It would force NATO, NORAD and whatever western acronyms are left to finally get in this fight for real.

It's becoming clear Putin's vastly over rated military machine can't even handle an invasion of a neighboring country determined to resist. Imagine the military disaster the criminals occupying the Kremlin would face if they ever decided to go toe to toe with Canada and/or the US.

Quite frankly, this sort of blunder is exactly what's needed to finally put an end to Putin's rendition of the thousand year Reich.

Brass

[jone]

I daresay that if Russia wanted to Blitzkrieg Ukraine, it could do so in two to three weeks.  Keep in mind that the current forces brought to bear do not include the superior air power that Russia enjoys over Ukraine.  The US or Canada would be a completely different story.

[AkMike]

Since Russia is a one trick pony, and with oil predicted to fall $10 USD by next year, It won't be able to pay attention yet alone pay for such a claim to fame.

[2tallbill]

Yes, you did post that yesterday, Jay. My bad.

Brass

I finally scooped Brass!

« Reply #229 on: August 07, 2015, 09:22:48 AM »
Quote
Putin tries to claim the North Pole
Russia has petitioned the United Nations for exclusive control
over almost half a million square miles of the Arctic.

[mendeleyev]

Neville:

.but it twas you making outrageous statements here.  I merely drew some attention to them.  You stated that China is going to be 'tearing off chunks of Russia'.   That still seems like more wishful thinking on your part, rather than it will be a fact.  You made your prediction, now time will tell.

I believe that patterns tell a story. Given the continual history of border disputes between the two, the fact that the Chinese population across the border outpaces the Russian population several times over, and given the fact that China would like to have those energy resources, I am sticking with Vladimir Putin on this one. He is not taking any chances, so if you don't mind, I'll go with his instincts over yours.

So some guy characterized some local governor as 'shitting his pants', and now you are recharacterizing others to be doing the same....just seems like a bunch of silly exaggerations. 

So, given your vast knowledge into that day, what did you see differently?

[sleepycat]

Do we have to buy tickets to watch Neville getting educated each day, or is this free entertainment?

 

[fathertime]

Neville:

I believe that patterns tell a story. Given the continual history of border disputes between the two, the fact that the Chinese population across the border outpaces the Russian population several times over, and given the fact that China would like to have those energy resources, I am sticking with Vladimir Putin on this one. He is not taking any chances, so if you don't mind, I'll go with his instincts over yours.

You aren't making sense now, pitting Putin against me now. 

You have stated unequivocally that China will rip off pieces of Russia. I have said that I don't that is going to happen. 

So, given your vast knowledge into that day, what did you see differently?

It was YOUR day, not mine...YOU are the one characterizing everybody as 'crapping their pants'.  Based on what you have said, I think it is an exaggeration.


Fathertime!   

[msmobyone]

You have stated unequivocally that China will rip off pieces of Russia. I have said that I don't that is going to happen. 

Watching how China is behaving re the Spratley Islands http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spratly_Islands_dispute and the lengths they seem to go to to gain access to energy- it seems that the friendliness of Russia and China is more a case of the latter picking it's fights where it knows it can win.





 

[JayH]

From the article--

"And this all makes the coming months a dangerous period indeed."

And that is all to true.


Panic In The Kremlin

You know things are getting really bad when Sergei Lavrov blows his cool.

The Russian foreign minister is usually smooth as silk in public, shamelessly and effortlessly twisting, spinning, distorting, and lying on behalf of Vladimir Putin's regime.

But this week, Lavrov was caught on camera -- and on mic -- sputtering a string of expletives during a joint press conference with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir.

It's unclear what sparked Lavrov's odd outburst -- and it doesn't really matter. The fact that it happened is a sign of the times.

The past couple weeks have witnessed a series of incidents that suggest that all is not well in the Kremlin elite.

Russian customs and health officials have staged quasi-ritualistic burnings of European cheese and other foodstuffs, as well as of Dutch flowers.

Its parliamentary speaker, Sergei Naryshkin, has penned an article in the official government daily Rossiiskaya Gazeta accusing the United States of "zombifying" its European allies and plotting a major provocation against Moscow.

Naryshkin has also called for an international tribunal on the United States' use of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

And Russia has submitted a formal claim to the North Pole at the United Nations.

Did I miss anything? Perhaps. The weird and wacky has been so fast and furious lately that it would be easy to do so.

"There is panic at the top of the Kremlin," political analyst Andrei Piontkovsky wrote in a recent article in Apostrof. "This is evident in Naryshkin’s article, in the burning of foodstuffs at the border, and in Lavrov’s behavior at the press conference with Saudi officials."


http://www.rferl.org/content/panic-in-the-kremlin/27187665.html

[JayH]

The Russian ruble has hit a new six-month low against the dollar, as Moscow struggles with tumbling oil prices and economic sanctions. The currency plunged 1.3 percent to 65.7 rubles per dollar in the early hours of Aug. 17.
The pressure is rising on Russia-- the Kremlin have continually underestimated the depth of the problems they created in invading Ukraine.
Months ago-- we had forum fools rationalising all things Russian-- and telling us it was all temporary--  it's not looking that way now !


Cheap oil drags down Russia's ruble



London (CNN Money) —  The Russian ruble has hit a new six-month low against the dollar, as Moscow struggles with tumbling oil prices and economic sanctions.

The currency plunged 1.3% to 65.7 rubles per dollar in the early hours of Monday. It has since recovered to 65.5 per dollar.

Russia's central bank stopped buying foreign reserves in July, hoping to prevent the ruble from falling further. But it didn't help — the ruble has dropped 44.8% against the dollar in the last year and 12% in the last month.

The currency has been hit hard by the collapse in oil prices. That's because around half of Russia's government revenue comes from the oil industry. The country's budget is based on the assumption it could sell its oil for $50 per barrel or more. But oil is now trading below $42 a barrel, just a year after reaching $115 last summer.

On top of the oil slump, Russia is also facing pain from Western sanctions, imposed on Moscow over its role in the crisis in Ukraine.

This double hit has pushed Russia into deep recession, its first since 2009. Russia's economy shrunk 4.6% in the second quarter, the biggest drop since the global financial crisis in 2009.

The IMF expects Russian GDP to shrink by 3.4% this year and by more than 1% in 2016, as falling real wages, the higher cost of borrowing and shattered confidence hit domestic demand.

Moscow's retaliatory embargo on Western food has helped drive inflation higher. It reached 16% in July.


http://cnnphilippines.com/business/2015/08/18/cheap-oil-drags-down-russias-ruble.html

[sleepycat]

Oh dear!

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/putin-economy-may-even-worse-120000962.html

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/falling-ruble-leaves-russian-carmakers-nowhere-turn-050130704--business.html

Will they soon coin the new word huiloism to describe total economic incompetence? 

[AkMike]

A quarter century after the fall of the USSR, Kremlinologists sense a putsch in the air, despite Vladimir Putin’s overwhelming approval ratings. The tea leaves say that the Kremlin elite, dubbed by some as Politburo 2.0, is currently deciding whether Putin should go before he makes a bad situation worse. The founder of the respected daily Kommersant predicts that a dramatic change is about to take place and advises Russians who have the means to leave the country for a month or so and take their children with them.


http://www.forbes.com/sites/paulroderickgregory/2015/08/20/is-a-slow-putsch-against-putin-under-way/

[calmissile]

A quarter century after the fall of the USSR, Kremlinologists sense a putsch in the air, despite Vladimir Putin’s overwhelming approval ratings. The tea leaves say that the Kremlin elite, dubbed by some as Politburo 2.0, is currently deciding whether Putin should go before he makes a bad situation worse. The founder of the respected daily Kommersant predicts that a dramatic change is about to take place and advises Russians who have the means to leave the country for a month or so and take their children with them.


http://www.forbes.com/sites/paulroderickgregory/2015/08/20/is-a-slow-putsch-against-putin-under-way/

Good article.  Thanks for posting.

[mendeleyev]

We have had false alarms before. This may be another one, but at least we can now see a path to the end of the Putin regime. We should note that Putin spent the anniversary of the August 19 coup against Mikhail Gorbachev in Crimea. It is also worthy of note that he took with him the four key members of his government who would likely choose his successor. Remember: Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

Hearing and feeling some of the same, although I do not agree that the four who would choose another leader were on this trip. Ivanov might like for that position to come his direction.

I was struck more by the fact that he took these allies with him, but left folk like Igor Sechin back in Moscow.



(Above in Crimea: Mr. Putin, Prime Minister Medvedev, Head of Presidential Administration Sergei Ivanov. Photo: Press Pool/The Mendeleyev Journal)

The cover for the trip was an invitation by the Russian Geographical Society of Crimea to celebrate its 170th anniversary, but in many ways it was a demonstration of who is in charge of Crimea now.

Is it normal for Mr. Putin to take along so many high level officials on a presidential trip? No. Previously Mr. Putin had traveled to Crimea with Defense Minister & General of the Army Sergei Shoygu and Prime Minister Medvedev, but never before with such an important entourage.




(Above left: Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, Prime Minister Medvedev in green, a representative of the Russian Geographical Society of Crimea, and General Shoygu. Photo: Press Pool/The Mendeleyev Journal)



(Laying memorial flowers at WWII monument "Malakhov Kurgan": Prime Minister Medvedev in green and Mr. Putin. Behind them are L-R: General Shoygu, President of the Senate/Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko, and Sergei Ivanov. Photo: Press Pool/The Mendeleyev Journal)




(Receiving a briefing: General Shoygu, Mr. Putin, PM Medvedev, Senate president Valentina Matviyenko, and Sergei Ivanov. Photo: Press pool/The Mendeleyev Journal.)




(L-R: Putin's Envoy to Crimea Oleg Belaventsev, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Vladimir Putin, and Governor of Sevastopol Sergei Menyailo laid flowers at the Eternal Flame, Sevastopol. Photo: Press pool/The Mendeleyev Journal.)

[JayH]

A quarter century after the fall of the USSR, Kremlinologists sense a putsch in the air, despite Vladimir Putin’s overwhelming approval ratings. The tea leaves say that the Kremlin elite, dubbed by some as Politburo 2.0, is currently deciding whether Putin should go before he makes a bad situation worse. The founder of the respected daily Kommersant predicts that a dramatic change is about to take place and advises Russians who have the means to leave the country for a month or so and take their children with them.


http://www.forbes.com/sites/paulroderickgregory/2015/08/20/is-a-slow-putsch-against-putin-under-way/

Putin and the ruble
« Reply #299 on: Today at 02:00:37 AM »
Quote
Numerous times over the last 18 months I have commented on the parlous state of the Russian economy( and a "few" times on why!!). Interestingly enough--more articles are appearing now commenting on the "missing" reserves-- and the resultant crisis it will create.
         Take note-- the critical stage is now here.From the article-- and  some very pertinent observations

"These nine months promise to be not simply interesting; they may turn out to be tragic. The predator who realizes that his death is imminent is capable of any gamble to preserve not only power and money but life as well. We know that from the behavior of Yanukovych. Putin now is in a similar situation. He is a living political and economic corpse. But this corpse holds the military capabilities of a disoriented country in his hands. This is why we must all be on high alert."
http://www.russianwomendiscussion.com/index.php?topic=18729.275