The In-Laws and Propaganda

[OlgaH]

No, she just watches too much Russian television and listens to too much Russian radio.

What so interesting my mother and grandmother also watch too much Russian television and listen to too much Russian radio and also read Russian newspapers, because they don't have any English channels  however I never heard from them nothing like this as your MIL "informed" your wife 

Maybe your MIL spends to much time with other MILs on the bench near house discussing political issues especially in loose interpretation 

[BC]

No, she just watches too much Russian television and listens to too much Russian radio.

Misha,

Words can be said and interpreted differently by those watching.

I watch a good bit of RU news and am not interpreting what is said as your MIL does.

We could of course be watching different channels.

I'm kind of open minded though and have found 'taboo' news sources such as Al Jazeera often more objective than some western media.  Surprisingly, they are often listed on news.google.com

[wxman]

Well, now the gas crisis was the fault of the US according to the Putin Caeser. What a nutcase. Yep. Mother Russia can never be at fault. So it has to be the fault of Bush.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aDXcPgxAoH3s&refer=home

[BC]

Well, now the gas crisis was the fault of the US according to the Putin Caeser. What a nutcase. Yep. Mother Russia can never be at fault. So it has to be the fault of Bush.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aDXcPgxAoH3s&refer=home

Indirectly he might be right.

It was a part of the poker game.. that the west would come to the rescue.

Georgia was lucky to get a billion out of the deal, UA was not.

[OlgaH]

Well, now the gas crisis was the fault of the US according to the Putin Caeser. What a nutcase. Yep. Mother Russia can never be at fault. So it has to be the fault of Bush.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aDXcPgxAoH3s&refer=home

Sorry I could not find Putin's "US is guilty in gas crisis" 

What he said is: “What happened in recent years in Ukraine is the result, to a significant extent, of the activities of the previous U.S. administration and the European Union, which supported it”   

Agree with BC.

[wxman]

Typical Putin. Putin nor his Russian government have any responsibility for the strained relations between Russia and Ukraine. Nope, the strained relations are the sole fault of Ukraine,  the US and Georgia.  Might as well as add Iceland, Jamaica, and any other government Putin wants to blame. Putin's credo...diversion baby, diversion. All is well in the motherland, all is well.

[BC]

What he said is: “What happened in recent years in Ukraine is the result, to a significant extent, of the activities of the previous U.S. administration and the European Union, which supported it”   

Olga.. as far as western media goes it's all about reading, hearing or watching.. last on the list is sadly comprehension.

[OlgaH]

Olga.. as far as western media goes it's all about reading, hearing or watching.. last on the list is sadly comprehension.

Putin saying about the influence of  "the activities of the previous U.S. administration" on Ukraine policy said nothing new,  it was already said by Odessa Public association «Edinoe otechestvo» in 2006 on their website. http://www.otechestvo.org.ua/main/20066/2226.htm

http://www.stratagema.org/issledovaniya.php?nws=dly3n8569549643
in 2006 the most part of  Ukrainians was against NATO some of the reasons were the worsening of relations with Russia and Belarus, aggravation of the tension in Ukraine society and loss of political independence of Ukraine.

[TheOldMan]

My MIL read the news about our economy and wanted to send us money.  My wife finally convinced her that things aren't that bad here and we are doing better than ever.  I think my MIL had visions of soup lines and beggars on the streets.  She had just visited here last fall but all the bad news has come out since then.

[mendeleyev]

Misha, not only reports but heard it myself. 



Just a sampling....



09 Jun 2008
Daily Telegraph (London)
Dmitry Medvedev delivered the most anti-American speech of his presidency last weekend when he claimed that US selfishness had led the world into its worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Slamming the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund for their failure to end the world's problems, Mr Medvedev suggested that Russia should instead take charge of redirecting global economic policy.





MOSCOW, October 1 (RIA Novosti) - The United States failed to take adequate steps in response to the global financial crisis, the Russian prime minister said Wednesday.

"What is happening today, and it is known to have started in the United States in the sphere of economics and finances, is due not to the irresponsibility of certain people, but the irresponsibility of a system that claimed to be the leader," Vladimir Putin told a government meeting.




Putin Blames U.S. For Financial Woes
02 October 2008  Moscow Times
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that U.S. "irresponsibility" led to the global financial crisis and discredited its claims to world leadership, as his finance minister moved to link domestic woes to the broader downturn.

"We see an inability to take appropriate decisions," Putin said at a Cabinet meeting. "This isn't the irresponsibility of particular individuals, it is the irresponsibility of a system that, as we know, had claims to leadership."

Troubles in the U.S. financial sector have spilled over into Russian markets, hitting banking shares and stocks more broadly, and making it virtually impossible for highly leveraged companies to secure funds abroad to refinance debts.






Pravda 
29 January 2009
The leaders of both Russian and China slammed the U.S. economic system, blaming it for leading the world into the current financial crisis.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao both expressed their desire for cooperation with President Obama but attacked the capitalism of Wall Street.

In blunt language, Putin said it was "dangerous" for the world to rely on the U.S. dollar.



02 February 2009
India News
Battling to insulate former Communist nation's nascent economy from the global financial meltdown, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has blamed the US for showing "irresponsibility" while managing the crisis.

"We see an inability to take appropriate decisions in the United States."

[mendeleyev]

Further agreeing with you Misha, a person living in Russia and not being aware of a financial crisis would be like a Ruskie Rip van Winkle.


Rents are down all over the country, including Moscow. 

For the first time since the 90's and early 2000's, salaries in some sectors are running 60 to 90 days behind.

Hospitals are sending patients home early to avoid lengthy stays which can be a drain on the government health system.

Even with the signs of growing trouble, opinion polls show that 57 per cent believe the economy is still flourishing but also told pollsters they fear that the USA crisis will effect Russia adversely.

In December the Prime Minister's office ordered all radio and television stations to ban the use of words such as "crisis", "decline" and "devaluation".

Although the Russian stock market has dropped by 75 per cent since last August, most radio and television outlets no longer do stock market reports.

 
Mr Putin, a mid-level KGB Colonel, did not rise to power without permission.  One of those giving permission was one of the wealthiest men in the world, Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov who as of late has been feuding with the current government, including in November his very public challenge to the Kremlin policy of appointing governors (Moscow is a federal city/region and the mayor is a defacto governor).  One only needs to remember that it was Luzkhov who stepped in to end the Gorbachev era by snatching a table napkin and writing out Mr Gorbachev's resignation before then tersely handing it back across a restaurant lunch table.  Soon afterward Mr Gorbachev was gone.

In the final months of 2008, Luzhkov's FM radio station "Business FM" refused to toe the Kremlin line and was taken off the air by federal authorities. Today it's back on and you may listen to Russia's Business FM here.

[OlgaH]

mendeleyev,

Did Putin or Medvedev tell something new?    Why Such agiotage is about Putin's words, but not for example Merkel's 

LONDON, Oct. 9, 2008
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was quick to point the finger last week. "This problem started in America. They have got to sort it out," he said then.

Today, Brown admitted the United Kingdom shared responsibility for the financial crisis.

On Sept. 25, German finance minister Peer Steinbrück echoed earlier comments made by the country's chancellor, Angela Merkel, saying: "The United States is solely to be blamed for the financial crisis. They are the cause for the crisis, and it is not Europe and it is not the Federal Republic of Germany."
http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=5987055

Friday, 10 October 2008
Many papers express a sense of fatalism and blame western leaders, calling the crisis an "inevitable" outcome of their policies.

Some voice disillusionment with American-style capitalism and consumer culture and wonder if a different global trend will emerge.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7662897.stm

[OlgaH]

Pravda 
29 January 2009
The leaders of both Russian and China slammed the U.S. economic system, blaming it for leading the world into the current financial crisis.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao both expressed their desire for cooperation with President Obama but attacked the capitalism of Wall Street.

In blunt language, Putin said it was "dangerous" for the world to rely on the U.S. dollar.

Here is a full text of Putin's speech in Davos
http://www.russiatoday.com/news/news/36554

Regarding the Putin's word  "dangerous" 

Thirdly, the excessive dependence on what is basically the only reserve currency is dangerous for the world economy. So it would be reasonable to stimulate a process of getting a number of strong reserve currencies in the future. It is time to start a specific dialogue on how to make the transition into a new model - smooth and irreversible.

About the Wall Street Capitalism you can find also in his speech   

Obama blames Wall Street crisis on Republican policy
http://www.mlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2008/09/obama_blames_wall_street_crisi.html

[mendeleyev]

Olga, Misha's question wasn't about Gordon Brown or I'd have included him!   

[Diplomacy]

IMO, Putin stated facts.  Although it would have been funny, if Putin said the following.  "It seams as though American Banking, has involved with business more like Russia."