Because, Russia

[Stuart Galbraith]

Schadenfreude I think is the world you are reaching for.

This may come across as overly puritanical, but please, dont cheer the Putin regime in anything it does. They could end world poverty, bring peace on earth and fix climate change, and I still wouldnt give that despotic, mass murdering, venal, corrupt, vengeful short little bastard any credit. Because the moment you do you are conceding their system is better then the 200 years of Democracy you awarded yourself.

I wouldnt even do it in jest . There are posters here who will lap these backhanded compliments up. For all our problems, we are Democracies and respect the rule of law. We arent a kleptocracy, and really shouldnt find anything to praise in those that are.

[urbanoid]

4 hours ago, Stuart Galbraith said:

Schadenfreude I think is the world you are reaching for.

This may come across as overly puritanical, but please, dont cheer the Putin regime in anything it does. They could end world poverty, bring peace on earth and fix climate change, and I still wouldnt give that despotic, mass murdering, venal, corrupt, vengeful short little bastard any credit. Because the moment you do you are conceding their system is better then the 200 years of Democracy you awarded yourself.

I wouldnt even do it in jest . There are posters here who will lap these backhanded compliments up. For all our problems, we are Democracies and respect the rule of law. We arent a kleptocracy, and really shouldnt find anything to praise in those that are.

Feeling satisfaction that a brainwashed, US-hating lefty is imprisoned in Russia is NOT the same as 'cheering Putin regime'.

[Stuart Galbraith]

I dont care if she is a lefty or US hating, and im not even sure if thats true. But If you condone one person being unjustly arrested by the Putin regime, you are in effect condoning all of them, whether you realise it or not. Not least, Trevor Reed or Navalny.

Its kind of like that shit where everyone gave credit to Mussolini for getting the trains running on time, as if that was some kind of excuse for the mass murder of Africans and latterly jews. You shouldnt give these buggers credit for anything, they  just wear it as an excuse.

[urbanoid]

You're arguing with yourself, no one is giving Russia or Putin any credit.

[Tim the Tank Nut]

except that she was justly arrested.  She really did have drugs in her possession.

It turns out her "people" are not a protected class in other parts of the world.  I look forward to LeBron James' diplomatic mission...

[R011]

7 hours ago, Tim the Tank Nut said:

except that she was justly arrested.  She really did have drugs in her possession.

It turns out her "people" are not a protected class in other parts of the world.  I look forward to LeBron James' diplomatic mission...

That assumes there really was any hash residue found.  The FSB is quite capable of making a case against an American athlete up from whole cloth. 

[Stuart Galbraith]

9 hours ago, Tim the Tank Nut said:

except that she was justly arrested.  She really did have drugs in her possession.

It turns out her "people" are not a protected class in other parts of the world.  I look forward to LeBron James' diplomatic mission...

Its Russia. What is just, is purely down to set dressing. We know this from Navalny and Trevor Reed.

2 hours ago, R011 said:

That assumes there really was any hash residue found.  The FSB is quite capable of making a case against an American athlete up from whole cloth. 

Exactly.

Personally, I wouldnt trust them if Vladimir Putin pointed out that the sky was blue.

[R011]

Mind you, it's entirely likely that as an American celebrity sports star, Greiner thought she was invulnerable and didn't clean out her vape thing.

[Stuart Galbraith]

She might well be guilty, absolutely. But I have absolutely no trust in believing it just because the Russian Government said it.

It is after all, fairly remarkable coincidence in timing, and im always suspicious of coincidences. After all, she is black, she is seemingly a fairly well known athlete, she is a Lesbian, she is married to another woman. it pretty much ticks every single box for the Kremlin propaganda machine. They wouldnt have done better if they picked up Caitlyn Jenner.

[DB]

If you're keen on democracy and equal treatment, why should a lefty, PoC, lesbian be treated any differently from the average person you might call "normal"?

The entire course of her arrest, temporary disappearance and extended period of captivity is a glaring example of her arrest being exploited for political purposes, and that's not "equal under the law", is it?

[Stuart Galbraith]

Its like the broken clock argument, yes, maybe twice a day the Russian clock will point to something I could agree with. But thats not the same as saying the clock isnt broken. Every time we praise them for doing something we may see eye to eye with, we are promoting the myth forwarded by the Putin machine that their politics, not to mention their judiciary, are not broken. When of course they are. There isnt a damn thing about the Putin state that isnt bent as a 9 bob note.

I know nobody here is praising Putin, I fully get that. But unwittingly if you approve in principle a lesbian, black, woke athlete being arrested on questionable evidence, you are in effect promotive their narrative, approving of their actions. Even if its the only thing you agree with.

I mean no disrespect to all here, im just pointing out what I think, is all.

[Roman Alymov]

For Rus speakers - interesting lection on how USSR was killed by what is now called quantitative easing

 

[Ivanhoe]

On the Griner thing, two observations:

- American counter-cultural black mores being what they are*, high probability she did in fact import and consume

some form of cannabis;

- a predominantly white nation arresting a black woman for cannabis possession feeds right into the strategy of maintaining American interracial strife, Russia dusting off its 1920s-1930s playbook.

My current conclusion; both parties guilty.

 

* If you're not familiar with the genre, you might not realize how emotionally potent the topic of weed is to American blacks.

[Ivanhoe]

On the economics front, Russia's notional conversion to a gold-backed ruble is interesting. I'm just now trying to dig into the topic a little, as gold is a traditional inflation hedge but the spot price has been acting unusual.

Some assertions I've run into this morning:

- PRC has been buying gold in large amounts in the background, possibly so they can make a splashy announcement at some point in the future (to accomplish some foreign policy goal, no doubt);

- pegging the ruble to gold helps the ruble in the short run, but as things are now Russians will be using goldrubles (aurubles?) to buy foreign goods resulting in increasing trade deficits if Russia doesn't get it's domestic act together;

- unexpected activity in the western gold markets during gold spot price run-ups makes it look like someone is trying to make gold look like a bad investment (have not found a prediction for who someone is), either to punish Russia or to keep American individual investors from heading towards a bunker mindset.

Some interesting thoughts here;

https://bullionexchanges.com/blog/russia-eyes-golden-ruble-stablecoin/

especially in the year 2022, Russia is the wrong salesman for a stable-gold-coin infrastructure to replace Bretton Woods. But they're not wrong, in theory. Central banks have made a hash of things, which is what they always do. The problem is that the WEF/Davos types are in political ascendancy right now, any globally-approved stable-gold-coin will somehow be used to keep the poor poor and drive the middle classes to poverty.

[Ssnake]

Gold isn't an investment. You may speculate on commodity price fluctuations. But its primary function (other than industrial use and appealing to Donald Trump's aesthetic sense) is as a hedge against economy-wide black swan events.

[Roman Alymov]

7 hours ago, Ssnake said:

Gold isn't an investment. You may speculate on commodity price fluctuations. But its primary function (other than industrial use and appealing to Donald Trump's aesthetic sense) is as a hedge against economy-wide black swan events.

Well, seems like China is getting ready for one.....

[JWB]

Tensions high between Israel, Russia over looming ban of Jewish Agency.

Tensions high between Israel, Russia over looming ban of Jewish Agency (msn.com)

[Stuart Galbraith]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/russia-s-artillery-is-wearing-out-and-blowing-up/ar-AAZWBRO?cvid=e2b0494bce574bf98575fa466be926ec

[JWB]

Another Russian energy boss has died in mysterious circumstances after "falling overboard" from a boat, according to local media reports.

 

Born in 1983, Pechorin is the second KRDV executive to die unexpectedly this year, adding to an ever-expanding roster of Russian businessman and oligarch deaths. 

In February, the same firm announced the death of its general director, Igor Nosov. The 43-year-old died of a stroke, Newsweek reported. 

At least eight other oligarchs with connections to the energy industry have also died in mysterious circumstances in 2022.

https://www.businessinsider.com/russian-executive-falls-off-boat-in-latest-mystery-businessman-death-2022-9

[sunday]

Like Epstein?

[MiloMorai]

Assassination or strange coincidence? At least 11 high-ranking Russians have died suddenly (msn.com)

[JWB]

A Kremlin ally died falling down the stairs, report says — the latest in a series of unexplained deaths among prominent Russians (msn.com)

[Ivanhoe]

https://nypost.com/2022/09/26/uk-man-captured-by-russians-forced-to-listen-to-abba-on-repeat/

[sunday]

2 hours ago, Ivanhoe said:

https://nypost.com/2022/09/26/uk-man-captured-by-russians-forced-to-listen-to-abba-on-repeat/

Captured in Mariupol? He should have known he was fighting alongside Nazis.

Foreign combatants captured in the Spanish Civil War, by both sides, used to be shot. If captured by the Reds, tortured then shot.

[DB]

Could have been far worse, like Las Ketchup, or Tatu.