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  1. #301
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    So a Democracy is overthrown by violent revolution, a Parliamentary republic that was a part of that former, now dissolved Democracy calls a Parliamentary Referendum, and it's citizens overwhelmingly vote to re-unite with Russia. Hardly surprising, because they are overwhelmingly Russian, speak read and write Russian, spend Russian rubles, and their Crimean economy is totally dependant on Russia. Furthermore Crimea was a part of Russia for centuries, before a bureaucratic decision was made in the old USSR to switch it's status to to that of a Republic in the Ukrainian SSR in the late 1950's- totally over the heads of the people there.

    And you call that an invasion? You have absolutely no regard for Democracy, do you? That is just Propaganda.
    You can't just invade a foreign country and annex a chunk that happens to suit your purposes.

    That would be like India invading Harlow, you fucking moron.

  2. #302
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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    it's citizens overwhelmingly vote to re-unite with Russia.




    You idiot.

  3. #303
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    You ferkin' brainwashed morons. Oh well, there you have it.

  4. #304
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    you can't just invade a foreign country and annex a chunk that happens to suit your purposes.
    carved in stone...

  5. #305
    Thailand Expat misskit's Avatar
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    Russia's rising poverty fuels political discontent


    Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, crowds have grown at the Martha and Mary Convent in central Moscow.


    The white-walled women's monastery houses one of Russia's best known charities that gives out free food parcels, among other projects.


    "Before the pandemic we had around 30 to 40 people a day," Yelena Timoshchuk, a social worker at Miloserdie (Mercy) told AFP, leaning against a table loaded with bottles of sunflower oil.

    "Now we get about 50 to 60 people daily. It's a heavy workload."


    Many of the visitors who queue for packages containing buckwheat, sugar, and tea are retired but there are also those who have lost their jobs or had their salaries cut.


    The coronavirus pandemic has delivered a new blow to Russia's stagnating economy, which was already chafing under Western sanctions, low oil prices and weak corporate investment.


    Observers say that rising poverty, falling incomes and lack of tangible government support during the pandemic are fuelling discontent with President Vladimir Putin's two-decade rule and strengthening the opposition.


    Answering the jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny's call, tens of thousands of people have protested across Russia over the past few weeks, and his team plans more protests ahead of parliamentary elections in September.


    Russians' real disposable incomes have been falling for the past half-decade, and contracted by 3.5 percent in 2020, while the cost of basic foodstuffs surged.


    Aware of growing anger over falling living standards, Putin in December ordered ministers to introduce emergency measures to cap prices.


    Despite government efforts to rein in inflation, the cost of sugar was 64-percent higher in January than it was a year earlier.


    Wearing a red cap over long braids, 66-year-old Sandra said she had stopped going shopping and instead turned to Miloserdie's free food parcels.


    "You can't buy anything anymore," said the pensioner, who did not give her last name. "Before I could afford to feed the birds but now even grain is expensive."


    - 'Risks have increased' -


    "From the point of view of political consequences, the current situation does not look good," said Igor Nikolayev, head of strategic analysis at FBK Grant Thornton.


    "The risks for the authorities have increased."


    Older Russians were particularly "very sensitive" about rising prices because they brought to mind runaway inflation that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Nikolayev said.


    He suggested the Russian government might unveil a new economic package to dampen social discontent ahead of the parliamentary polls.


    "They have to do something," added Nikolayev.


    According to a recent poll by the independent Levada Centre, 43 percent of Russians do not rule out protests motivated by economic demands, a level last seen in 1998.


    The study also found that 17 percent of respondents were ready to take part in those protests themselves.


    Denis Volkov, deputy director at Levada, said recent protests showed that anger at the authorities was no longer limited to the marginalised opposition and that many demonstrators were motivated by economic hardship.


    The protesters wanted to "express their disappointment with the authorities, concern over a lack of prospects and the dead end in which our country has found itself according to them," Volkov wrote in the Russian edition of Forbes last month.


    "Authorities have nothing to offer to those who are unhappy over their policies," he added, pointing to "ostentatious wealth" of the Russian elites and growing divisions in society.


    Eighteen-year-old Yekaterina Nikiforova, who joined pro-Navalny rallies in the Pacific port of Vladivostok, said the country was stagnating.


    The political science student told AFP she could not see "any prospects of economic and political development" in Russia.


    Arseny Dmitriyev, 22, who rallied on the other side of the country in the second city Saint Petersburg, struck a similar note.


    The sociology graduate said he understood "how things are going for the county".


    "Just looking at the statistics I understand that real disposable incomes are falling and the quality of life is not improving".

    Russia's rising poverty fuels political discontent - France 24

  6. #306
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    "Just looking at the statistics I understand that real disposable incomes are falling and the quality of life is not improving".
    I'm sure hoohoo will be along with some nice figures from RT or some such crap telling him how wrong he is, and that Vladdy hasn't just been sucking the fucking place dry since he took charge.

  7. #307
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    A failed state that can't afford their military, yet keep on rolling down a cliff . . .

  8. #308
    Thailand Expat russellsimpson's Avatar
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    Just out of interest does anyone here have access to RT Television? Is it worth checking out from a political science point of view.

    I could sign on for five bucks a month. I like a collection of international news channels including BBC , Aljazeera, and NDTV, the Indian national broadcaster. Unfortunately in North America we have nothing in terms of mainstream broadcasters who can be bothered broadcasting any world news.

    Some will argue that all these stations are shit, and they may well be . Al Jazeera is doing the best job on Myanmar imo.
    A true diplomat is a person who can tell you to go to hell in such a manner that you will be asking for directions.

  9. #309
    Thailand Expat Backspin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by russellsimpson View Post
    Just out of interest does anyone here have access to RT Television? Is it worth checking out from a political science point of view.

    I could sign on for five bucks a month. I like a collection of international news channels including BBC , Aljazeera, and NDTV, the Indian national broadcaster. Unfortunately in North America we have nothing in terms of mainstream broadcasters who can be bothered broadcasting any world news.

    Some will argue that all these stations are shit, and they may well be . Al Jazeera is doing the best job on Myanmar imo.
    RT is great. RT is free online

  10. #310
    Thailand Expat Backspin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by panama hat View Post
    A failed state that can't afford their military, yet keep on rolling down a cliff . . .
    Yep. A failed state with the 5th most foreign exchange reserves in the world and the lowest debt in the G20.

    From the Moscow Times. An anti Putin paper

    Russia's Net Public Debt Falls to Zero - The Moscow Times

  11. #311
    Thailand Expat Backspin's Avatar
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    During the boom years Putin signed off on former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin’s plan to ring fence several reserve funds that amazingly were kept away from greedy oligarchs and profligate Duma deputies.

    This February Putin crowed in his state of the nation speech that Russia’s cash reserves had grown so big the country can now cover its external debt dollar-for-dollar with cash as Russia’s gross international reserves (GIR) overtook the external debt for the first time ever.

  12. #312
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    When one compares government debt levels of Russia and the USA, how on earth do you infer that it is Russia that cannot afford it's military?

    Anyway, after the stratospheric level it reached during and after the Maidan revolution and Crimean secession, Putins popularity levels have indeed come down- but are still higher than any western governments. I can see absolutely no credible threat to Putins grip on power right now.

  13. #313
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    RT, China Daily, & Press TV are all free on the web.

  14. #314
    Thailand Expat Backspin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    When one compares government debt levels of Russia and the USA, how on earth do you infer that it is Russia that cannot afford it's military?

    Anyway, after the stratospheric level it reached during and after the Maidan revolution and Crimean secession, Putins popularity levels have indeed come down- but are still higher than any western governments. I can see absolutely no credible threat to Putins grip on power right now.
    Putin is one part Merkel (no other palatable candidates out there) and part Lee Kuan Yew. Putin is the father of the new Russian state in the way that mr. Yew was the father of modern Singapore. Asking when Putin is going to "lose his grip" on power is the wrong question.

    We seen a similar thing in Malaysia. The Putin of Malaysia stepped away and the state started to fall apart. And he had to come back to steady it again.

  15. #315
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    Well his 'grip on power' comes from the popular vote, not the Red Army.

  16. #316
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    Quote Originally Posted by Backspin View Post
    We seen a similar thing in Malaysia. The Putin of Malaysia stepped away and the state started to fall apart. And he had to come back to steady it again.
    What are you talking about?

    Seriously, just stick to hookers and Pattaya.




    Quote Originally Posted by Backspin View Post
    Putin is one part Merkel (no other palatable candidates out there) and part Lee Kuan Yew
    Again . . . what re you talking about? He is neither, your comparisons are, as usual, bullshit.

  17. #317
    Thailand Expat russellsimpson's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    RT, China Daily, & Press TV are all free on the web.
    Thanks sabang. I did sign up on RT, four bucks a month. Unfortunately the very seductively voiced lady on the other end of the line talked me into a sixty dollar a month upgrade on my internet. Easy come and easy go on the money.

    Getting back to the topic at hand,



    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    I can see absolutely no credible threat to Putins grip on power right now.
    I strongly agree.

  18. #318
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    Oh my. The numpties are all flustered.

    How dare anyone question the god that is Putin.

  19. #319
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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    Wow, they were normal people too- nice actually.
    Who is saying that they are not normal people? You and that other numpty have dragged this thread off-topic trying to distort what myself and the hat are posting here. It went from Navalny and the corrupt Russian leadership to you lot posting puff video pieces acting like you are the ambassadors of the Russian people.

    Give me a break.

  20. #320
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    So back to Navalny (phew!). He poses no threat to Putin, and has been thoroughly implicated in corruption himself. Nevertheless I guess he is quite useful to the West as the Julian Assange of Russia. But someone who would attract 3-5% of the Russian vote is hardly an existential threat to Vlad.

  21. #321
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    So back to Navalny (phew!). He poses no threat to Putin,
    Of course he does, why do you think they are harrassing him you idiot?

    and has been thoroughly implicated in corruption himself.
    By a kangaroo court of Putin lackies you moron.

  22. #322
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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    But someone who would attract 3-5% of the Russian vote is hardly an existential threat to Vlad.
    Vlad has made sure of that...

    Russia’s rigged elections look nothing like the US election – they have immediate, unquestioned results there

    The 2020 election, in which Joe Biden is the projected winner, is not what a rigged election looks like.

    Rigged elections are organized. Vote counts certainly don’t play out in front of the country on television screens. When it’s a decentralized, sprawling affair that is broadcast for many days and nights, you can be pretty sure it’s democracy.

    If you want to know what stolen elections look like, look at Russia, where we have studied elections and the media for decades.

    The early heyday of Russian democracy was very messy. Just after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the Kremlin poured money and resources into a Western-looking pro-market party called Russia’s Choice. Despite the money and help it got, the party failed spectacularly in the 1993 election. Meanwhile, nationalists and Communists, parties with strong connections to voters and their beliefs, won their way into power through the elections. But outcomes were unpredictable and the campaigns were chaotic.

    How to steal an election, Russian-style

    Over time, the Putin regime systematically consolidated its domination over politics, turning elections from a democratic contest into a controlled system that delivered regime victories.

    Russian elections are now state-directed performances that eliminate opposition. Random targeted arrests and violence – especially against those who try to lead alternative political movements – are common. Alexei Navalny, leader of a reform movement and now recovering from a poisoning, could tell us a lot about that. So could Yegor Zhukov, a student blogger who was arrested and convicted of extremism and then beaten outside of his home for his political actions.

    Even eliminating viable opposition can’t ensure certain victories at the polls. To eliminate all risk, as Russia demonstrates, autocrats must take four additional steps:


    1. Dominate the media message by controlling major news outlets through ownership, creating laws that stifle press freedom and repressing outspoken journalists.
    2. Assert control over local government officials who then ensure that voters turn out to support the regime.
    3. Build a vote tabulation process that allows ballot stuffing and falsified vote counts.
    4. Declare victory immediately and allow no questioning of the results.


    Emerging from a decade of economic and political chaos in 2000, President Vladimir Putin honed his electoral machine to do just that. The Kremlin used its media control to project a dominant narrative in support of Putin. He never campaigned for votes. He appeared nightly on state television delivering new technology to hospitals or dedicating new monuments to Russia’s World War II victory. All this creates the image of an unassailable leader and inevitable winner.

    Together with legislative allies, the Kremlin changed electoral laws at every election to maintain the dominance of the pro-Kremlin party.

    Government officials, including governors and mayors who rely on the Kremlin to keep their jobs, also have developed informal practices to deliver victories. For example, local officials demand that state workers in factories, hospitals and schools turn out to vote. It’s common to insist that employees bring other voters with them or face losing their jobs. These officials also put paid loyalists on buses to vote at several polling stations in a single day.

    There is an unwritten regulation that poll workers must be members of the pro-Kremlin party, United Russia. And they count behind closed doors, padding the vote as they go.

    Kremlin tactics not possible in US

    How Russia’s leaders have rigged their elections is the opposite of the transparent and accountable vote tabulation that played out online and on television across the U.S. That open and deliberate process, both of counting and reporting the results, underscored that widespread electoral fraud is not feasible in the U.S.

    In the United States, the opposition is protected by constitutional rights and strong democratic norms. President Donald Trump is mostly limited to name-calling and slurs – inelegant, but not illegal. Trump also must work within the legal system, filing lawsuits that have been largely unsuccessful so far.

    The country’s democratic institutions held, regardless of the partisan tenor of the states or localities in which votes were being counted. Despite pressure from the White House and the president’s vocal supporters, elected and appointed officials stood strong and played by the rules.

    The failure of electoral disinformation

    Even in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, Republican-led legislatures in some swing states refused to allow early counting of an anticipated record number of mail-in ballots. The extended post-Election Day counting that turned the vote from Trump to Biden gave the president an opening to call the results into question.

    Yet, as numerous court cases have shown, the votes were carefully counted under the watch of observers from both parties and shown nationally on livestream feeds.

    At the same time, media organizations made tough decisions to support electoral integrity, largely by not calling the election until the result was clear – despite growing pressure to do so.
    Some networks switched off live coverage when a presidential press conference devolved into propaganda about fraud. That deprived the presidential narrative of air. Both steps are impossible in authoritarian states.

    So when President Trump makes claims about falsified ballots and a rigged election, we can imagine observers in the Kremlin shaking their heads and musing that Trump wouldn’t even know where to start with that.

    The difference in the two systems is stark. Rigged elections in Russia rely on a system of management honed over years. In 2020, the decentralized, 50-state electoral process in the U.S. worked in the face of challenges to democracy.

    This is what a democratic election looks like – big and fat and a bit of a mess.

    https://theconversation.com/russias-...s-there-149710

  23. #323
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    Well it goes like this you juvenile imbecile-

    Crimea is part of Russia again
    The people of Crimea are happy about that
    Ukraine is a mess
    Putin has a higher approval rating than any western leader
    Navalny poses no threat to Putin in Russia
    Putins Russia made your country look like idiots in Syria. Terrorist supporting idiots.

    And you are Butthurt about all of that. So enjoy.

  24. #324
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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    Well it goes like this you juvenile imbecile-
    The truth hurts doesn't it?

    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    The people of Crimea are happy about that


    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    Putin has a higher approval rating than any western leader
    Apparently you failed to read the article posted above.

    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    Navalny poses no threat to Putin in Russia
    Putin does not see it that way. Once again see above article you brainwashed numpty.

  25. #325
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    So when do you think good ole' Nav will become President of Russia?

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