The Kremlin is burning?

[JWB]

 

[Roman Alymov]

7 minutes ago, Stefan Kotsch said:

They didn't come as colonial masters. You invited them to Russia and you gave them a warm welcome.

You who? Our corrupt elite? I do not remember inviting foreigners here as masters. Actually soviet people were of high opinion of people from West and, when USSR collapsed of internal problems, this warm feelings were exploited by close cooperation of our local crooks and their Western friends, under political cover of Western powers. So, guys, sorry but hardlyu any warm feelings left in wide population of Russia.

11 minutes ago, Stefan Kotsch said:

Russia was well on its way. We have achieved a lot together and much more could have been achieved. Russia has everything it needs to be a successful, rich industrial state. Good education, good skilled workers, a developed industrial base, raw materials. 

Replace "Russia" with "USSR" here. Education in Russia was ruined by attempts to follow Western examples (and Western advisors), industry became the shade of Soviet one, skilled workers were thrown out tio the streets, raw materials looted by "Democracy champions" like Khodarkovsky or Berezovsky or "businessmen" like Browder. Luckily, Western politicians were too incompetent and arrogant to maintain this situation for long, and even their compradoe friends in Russia (aka "collective Putin") were forced to turn against them (but, as usual, in "two steps forward  - one step backward" manner, pleading for old good time of "cooperation" to be returned).

 

[JWB]

16 minutes ago, Roman Alymov said:

.......... raw materials looted ..............

Same in the USA. for most of history. Open economy. Come and take what you want.

[mkenny]

1 hour ago, Stefan Kotsch said:

A major destructive factor of the current period are.......................(insert doom, gloom and the mistaken  belief only items sourced from 'the west' are any good................................   

You should have leaned your lesson from that brief glorious moment when you thought Wagner  were going to take Moscow.

I recommend Times Radio on YouTube. They have been pumping out 'Moscow is on the verge of collapse' propaganda for  over 2 years.

This is their latest fantasy  from an 'expert' with 50 years of experience.:

Headline   'Putin simply can't do it' as Kharkiv collapse leads to Russian 'retreat' in Crimea

 

 

[Stefan Kotsch]

9 minutes ago, mkenny said:

I recommend Times Radio on YouTube

I prefer Russian media. 😉

[Josh]

6 hours ago, Stefan Kotsch said:

They didn't come as colonial masters. You invited them to Russia and you gave them a warm welcome.

Russia was well on its way. We have achieved a lot together and much more could have been achieved. Russia has everything it needs to be a successful, rich industrial state. Good education, good skilled workers, a developed industrial base, raw materials. But Putin stood in front of the map and dreamed of a 1,000-year Reich. And you happily waved the colorful flags and pennants.

It was your wish that it would happen the way it did.

I always thought if Russia had joined the EU it would be running Europe by now.

[Ssnake]

I don't think you understand the EU at all.

To "run Europe", you need a political culture of finding a compromise, as the Britons found out. No, most likely, Russia would have itself isolated like Hungary because cooperation, compromise, and rule by consensus are derided by Kremlin kleptocrats. And if there's one thing that all the midget nations in the European Unition relish more than anything, it's being told what to do by one of the large nations.

Germany gets along with the rest of the EU, if barely so, because most of the time our politicians are smart enough to avoid falling into that very trap. France less so, but I guess their imperial ambitions are seen as political folklore, not an actual threat to the sovereignity of the others.

[Stefan Kotsch]

The Russians would have easily turned the EU into COMECON. 🙃

(But as Ssnake writes, that doesn't work. That's why Russia never didn't want to become a member of the EU) 

[Roman Alymov]

48 minutes ago, Ssnake said:

I don't think you understand the EU at all.

To "run Europe", you need a political culture of finding a compromise, as the Britons found out.

  That is nonsence because, first and foremost, Russian ruling elite is not interested in  "run Europe", at all - they were actually interested in Europe in two ways:

1) As safe haven to their assets looted from Russian people, the comfortable place to keep their families away from Russian law etc.

2) As a place for most active and demanding elements of Russian society could leave to for good or just on vacation, instead of demanding social and political changes/improvements in Russia - that's why "collective Putin" was so focused on visa-free travel for Russian citizens to EU.

   That is all. Comprador elites of Russia were more or less happy with EU policy before 2014 (or, actually, before Sochi Olimpics when they have discovered that, despite of all their efforts to please West, they will not be accepted even as junior parthners). 

     Now this people are forced to drift by the wind. For example, below is Soloyov, citizen of Israel and owner of two luxury villas in Italy, clamping down on strictness of Russian gun laws, saying "Are we afraid of our people?" What a surprise! Yes you are afraid, and with a good reasons - do not think that puting USSR coat of arms patch on your sleeve is making people forget what you have done for 30 years before this

https://t.me/lobaev_vlad/7442

 

[Roman Alymov]

And as illustration:

"Alexey Lapushkin: In the conditions of SVO, the rules for the departure of secret carriers abroad should be tightened

Deputy Nikolai Kolomeitsev said at a meeting of the State Duma that Russian special services should ensure that state secret carriers do not leave Russia and do not give out classified information. According to him, the former prime minister, 11 first deputy prime ministers, 28 governors and not only "are already behind the cordon."

Alexey Lapushkin, Secretary of the Federal Council of the Party of Business, Candidate of Economic Sciences, said on the air of the program "Dry Residue" with Yuri Pronko, (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2KtNhAxrCxk ) that the mass departure of such persons abroad really poses a significant threat to Russia's national security.

"The problem that Nikolai Vasilyevich Kolomeitsev identified is very serious. Especially in light of the fact that information appeared on the Internet that Mikhail Lesin, who died in Washington, the former Minister of the press, collaborated with the American special services. The departure of secret carriers in the context of conducting a special military operation, in the context of unprecedented external sanctions pressure on our country, this, of course, poses a serious danger. The rules of travel for secret carriers abroad should be tightened," the politician stressed." ( https://t.me/Vladimir_Orlov1977/14460 )

   As we see, untill recently (if not now) Russian Federation was governed by people who are directly or indirectly foreign powers agents.

 

 

Edited July 6, 2024 by Roman Alymov

[Ssnake]

In one word, Alcohol:

 

Yes, yes, yes... Absolut is a Swedish brand owned by the French - just roll with it.

[urbanoid]

1 hour ago, Ssnake said:

In one word, Alcohol:

 

Yes, yes, yes... Absolut is a Swedish brand owned by the French - just roll with it.

Third minute of the video and we learn that Soviet Union's population peaked in the 1980s at almost... 149 million. Yeah, I know the guy meant RSFSR because I learned this and that.

Graphs like that imply that Russian population fell from almost a billion:

 

[Tim the Tank Nut]

I've pointed out before and shall do so again.  The error is Roman's thinking is that it is somehow different in the West as he remembers events in USSR/Russia.

Using machine tools as a case in point.  Old Soviet era lathes were built to last forever.  They were plenty good enough for most tasks.  Maybe precision Western lathes were better for certain jobs but only in a matter of degree.  The Soviets/Russians could make whatever they set out to make.  Now they use Chinese machine tools and are greatly surprised that they are "average" tools at best.  It's just like that here, we can buy Chinese made products that on their best day are barely good enough to get the job done.  Once in a while there will be an above average product because that is how averages work (mean, median, average).  The same metality that Roman decries in Western thought has permeated Western thought (to no surprise).  Things that are GOOD rather than good enough are no longer readily avaialble, at least not at reasonable pricing).  

The idea that it's somehow different is where the thinking is flawed.  East or West there are always people who exercise bad judgment and somehow those people find positions of power (lack of moral character helps).

[Stefan Kotsch]

An interesting article on the medical post war treatment of Russian soldiers:

https://warontherocks.com/2024/07/wounded-veterans-wounded-economy-the-personnel-costs-of-russias-war/

[Roman Alymov]

22 hours ago, Tim the Tank Nut said:

I've pointed out before and shall do so again.  The error is Roman's thinking is that it is somehow different in the West as he remembers events in USSR/Russia.

Using machine tools as a case in point.  Old Soviet era lathes were built to last forever.  They were plenty good enough for most tasks.  Maybe precision Western lathes were better for certain jobs but only in a matter of degree.  The Soviets/Russians could make whatever they set out to make.  Now they use Chinese machine tools and are greatly surprised that they are "average" tools at best.  It's just like that here, we can buy Chinese made products that on their best day are barely good enough to get the job done.  Once in a while there will be an above average product because that is how averages work (mean, median, average).  The same metality that Roman decries in Western thought has permeated Western thought (to no surprise).  Things that are GOOD rather than good enough are no longer readily avaialble, at least not at reasonable pricing).  

The idea that it's somehow different is where the thinking is flawed.  East or West there are always people who exercise bad judgment and somehow those people find positions of power (lack of moral character helps).

Note i am trying to keep some distance from judging events in "West" (or "East". or "Global South" etc.) as i am surely not competent enough to argue with locals on what they know better.   Some things are more or less obvious from regular economical laws - for example, it is next to impossible for any real production to compete against printing money, but real world is for sure more complex than such simplistic schemes.

     Yes old Soviet machine tools were good by modern standards (some people in modern Russia are even making their living by finding old Soviet machine tools, sometimes from scrap metal, and refurbishing them with new bearings etc., sometimes even electronics, sonverting them in de-facto modern machine tools that are better than at least significant part of what is awailable on the market, mostly Made-in-China products). It is debatable if "Western" ones were better (probably it depends on many factors, not to mention what is "better" definition). But it was result of careful production (for example allowing frames/base plates/foundations of machine tools, not sure what is correct term in English, to lay outdoors for about a year after being cast, to get rid of internal stress and deformations, and only then making machine tools out of them). I doubt it is done by modern producers.

 

[JWB]

 

[JWB]

I thought Stalinism was dead?

 

[Tim the Tank Nut]

I'd call that process "curing".  There are lots of chemical ways to speed it up nut the natural way works well.

Regarding the political thing; I'm saying that things aren't as different as you imagine.  People are roughly the same everywhere.  Any country with a moderate level of civilization has a population with essentially the same wants and needs.  That population gets abused by the people in power all over.  The differences are simply of degree.  To find a serious difference in how people behave you'd have to go to a very archaic society where the difference in needs forces a difference in behavior.

People supporting "Climate Change" initiatives in the West have ideas that would terrify Putin, or even Hitler (not Mao or Pol Pot, though).  There are actual calls for the culling of beef cattle.  Think about that for a moment.

If you could go back to Soviet times and conditions it wouldn't be quite as you remember it anyway.

[seahawk]

12 hours ago, JWB said:

I thought Stalinism was dead?

 

Good, it is time to punish any form of activity that is destroying the conservative society.

[Stefan Kotsch]

What happened there?  It certainly wasn't planned that way. 😙

https://www.moscowtimes.ru/2024/07/09/putin-imodi-neozhidanno-otmenili-finalnii-raund-peregovorov-vmoskve-a136275

 

[mkenny]

India can not afford to pay for all the oil it is getting. Perhaps Modi thought he was in a position to get a further  price-reduction and was disappointed.

Edited July 10, 2024 by mkenny

[Stuart Galbraith]

Its really very simple, India has a sweet deal with Russia. Russia sells oil, India buys it in Rupees, Rupees moreover that Russia cannot take out of the country, so must invest in the Indian economy.

Its conceivable that Modi wanted a sweeter deal than that, though I think its inconceivable that it should ever find one.

[ink]

1 hour ago, Stefan Kotsch said:

What happened there?  It certainly wasn't planned that way. 😙

https://www.moscowtimes.ru/2024/07/09/putin-imodi-neozhidanno-otmenili-finalnii-raund-peregovorov-vmoskve-a136275

 

Can we have an actual news source for Modi leaving early please?

[Stefan Kotsch]

Moscow. July 9th. INTERFAX.RU – Negotiations between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an expanded format will not take place, ...

https://www.interfax.ru/russia/970001

[Stefan Kotsch]

The trade imbalance has become a significant issue from New Delhi’s perspective. Of the total trade of $65 billion, India’s exports constitute less than $5 billion. This kind of imbalance is unsustainable in the long term. Russia should buy more products from India and invest more in the country. Exploring new areas of joint production can ease the burden on India. Further, a growing Indian concern is whether Russia can fulfil its defence commitments, given the Western sanctions on the supply of semiconductor chips to Russia. India would expect a definite answer and time-bound delivery from the Russian side. A timely supply of defence spare parts and S-400s will alleviate India’s concerns.

https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/pm-modi-russia-putin-ukraine-9444156/