What To Do? What To Do?

HAPPENING NOW: Putin Officially Declares Nuclear War On ISIS After They Shoot Down Russian Plane

I'm of two minds on this. Will Canada be drawn into this or will Baby Trudeau sit this one out? Either way, that's not good. If nukes rain down on the Middle East, a lot of innocent people are going to die. On the other hand if we don't stop the radicals, we are doomed.

Tsar Putin...

...is in a wee bit of a pickle:

Vladimir Putin’s Russia is treading water in a sea of red ink

Time for another revolution?

Good Grief!

Russia opposition politician Boris Nemtsov shot dead

"A leading Russian opposition politician, former Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov, has been shot dead in Moscow, Russian officials say.

An unidentified attacker in a car shot Mr Nemtsov four times in the back as he crossed a bridge in view of the Kremlin, police say.

He died hours after appealing for support for a march on Sunday in Moscow against the war in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has condemned the murder, the Kremlin says.

In a recent interview, Mr Nemtsov had said he feared Mr Putin would have him killed because of his opposition to the war in Ukraine."

Boris Nemtsov, Russian opposition leader, shot dead in Moscow

"Boris Nemtsov, a Russian opposition leader and sharp critic of President Vladimir Putin, was gunned down Saturday near the Kremlin, officials said. Nemtsov was killed just a day before a protest planned against Putin's rule.

The death of Nemtsov, a 55-year-old former deputy prime minister, ignited a fury among opposition figures who assailed the Kremlin for creating an atmosphere of intolerance of any dissent. Putin quickly offered his condolences and called the murder a provocation.

Putin ordered Russia's law enforcement chiefs to oversee the probe. "Putin noted that this cruel murder has all the makings of a contract hit and is extremely provocative," presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in remarks carried by Russian news agencies."

Yah. We believe you Vlad.

Vlad's biography: Putin's Long Shadow

What did I Tell Ya'?

Canadian fighter jets intercept two Russian bombers off the northwestern coast

We need to secure our northern border.

(Must be retaliation for Harper telling Putin the get out of Ukraine.)

Hmmmmmm.

Among other things, Vlad was also criticized for the downing of flight MH17. And when he gets home, he's faced with this:

Work starts in Ukraine to collect wreckage of MH17

"Recovery workers in rebel-controlled eastern Ukraine began to collect debris from the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 on Sunday, four months after the plane was brought down.

The operation is being carried out under the supervision of Dutch investigators and officials from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The recovered fragments will be loaded onto trains and ferried to the government-controlled eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. The investigation into the cause of the crash is being conducted there and in the Netherlands."

Geeze. Can't a tyrant get a break?

Puttin' The Boots To Putin

Putin leaves G20 after Harper and other leaders press him on actions in Ukraine

Putin to leave G-20 Summit early; doesn't like being criticized over Ukraine

Is there such a thing as a tantrum in international politics? If there is, I think we've just witnessed one.

What The Hell...

...is Putin trying to do?

Russia angers the Aussies

Gorbi Weighs In...

...and confirms what I've been thinking for some time:

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev warns world ‘on brink of new Cold War’

Thanks Putin.

Ah, Poor Vlad /sarc

Russia's Currency Is Plummeting and Putin's Billionaires Are Cannibalizing Each Other

He must be longing for the days of the centrally planned economy handled by the politburo.

"The ruble has been nosediving for weeks, despite the fact that the Russian Central Bank has spent some $40 billion over the last two months to prop it up. In January, you would have to shell out 32.86 rubles to buy one U.S. dollar. Through October, that number edged higher and higher into the thirties, prompting nervous jokes from Russians as they watched their national currency lose value before their eyes. By November 1, a Russian would need to scrape together over 43 rubles to buy one U.S. dollar, a drop of over 30 percent.

Every day since November 1 has brought new lows for the ruble. By Wednesday, the Russian Central Bank, which had been spending billions of its reserve dollars every day to prop up the Russian currency, announced it was no longer going to do so. It was going to let the ruble float. (Technically speaking, it said that it would “only” spend $350 million a day to prop up the ruble.)

The ruble promptly nosedived."

[---]

"On Friday, the exchange rate was being tracked not by the day, but by the minute. The ruble had collapsed to a historic low: nearly 49 rubles to the dollar, nearly 60 rubles to the Euro."

[---]

"This isn’t a theoretical currency game. Much of what you see in Russia is imported, especially what the Russian middle class eats, drives, and wears. And the weaker the ruble, the fewer dollar-denominated iPhones you can buy with it. A crashing ruble makes prices do the opposite. According to the Russian government, projected inflation will hit somewhere between nine and 9.5 percent. Last year, it was 6.5 percent. In the U.S., for comparison, inflation is just 1.7 percent."

[---]

"There are several factors that have caused the ruble to disintegrate before our eyes.

One is the ongoing stagnation of the Russian economy, whose growth rate has been hovering near zero for a year. And before that, it was already in decline.

Second is the falling price of oil for reasons that have nothing to do with Russia(Emphasis mine): OPEC trying to undercut its American competition. This is a problem for Russia, which is so heavily dependent on oil that every year’s federal budget is pegged to an oil price.(Emphasis mine) This year’s was $97 a barrel. Next year’s will be $96. Meanwhile, oil prices have been far lower than that, hovering in the low eighties.

Third is Russia’s Ukraine adventure and Western sanctions. “Sanctions closed access to foreign capital for five or six Russian companies, but the result is that it’s now closed for everyone,” says Sergey Aleksashenko, a former Russian deputy minister of finance. The result is that, to pay off their debts, Russian companies now have to buy a large amount of dollars to fork over to their creditors. And with that comes the psychological factor: panic."

So...what if Canada's Energy East pipeline is meant to do what I think it's meant to do - steal Russia's oil market from under their feet? Better have our northern border well guarded.

RTWT

The Empire Strikes Back

Without Realizing It, Russian Soldiers Are Proving Vladimir Putin Is Lying About Eastern Ukraine

Vladimir Putin ‘wants to regain Finland’ for Russia, adviser says

What's next, I wonder? Latvia? Estonia? Lithuania? East Germany? He seems to be pining for the good old days of the USSR.

About That Malaysian Airliner Shot Down...

...over Ukraine, I wonder who was on board that Putin wanted dead? Reminds me of the Korean Airlines disaster. Who said the Cold War was over?

Harper Makes Life...

...difficult for Putin.

Stephen Harper says Russia’s Vladimir Putin sees himself as a ‘rival of the Western world’

Putin should be dumped from G8: Harper

Shamelessly Stolen From Snoopy The Goon's Blog...

...Simply Jews. (Which is a mighty fine blog, too, I might add.  It's in my sidebar.)  This joke was originally about Putin, but as Snoopy suggests, it is versatile. It can be used for just about any leader you wish.

"A journalist (J) is interviewing a farmer (F).

J: So, Mr ..., what can you tell me about the last year on your farm?
F. Well, all in all it was not a bad year. The grain harvest was good and we'll not want for bread this winter. And potatoes... the potatoes definitely surprised - we have a full cellar. And the old sow of ours, she farrowed, again a surprise...
J: And don't you think it fitting to thank the President for this good year?
F: Why? I have plowed the fields myself, harvested myself, all we have I done myself.. why would I thank...
J (in a harsher tone): Why? Think again why.
F (after considering the issue some): Well, upon a second thought, grains and potatoes - it is purely my work from start to finish. As for the sow... I can't rightly say, anything could have happened..."

Frankly, I Don't Believe It

It was this, this, this, this and especially this. (You'll notice the "thumbs up". Mrs Putin didn't like that. She didn't like this, either.)

No doubt about it, though. Journalists and editors like it. (And one or two bloggers ;-))

What Do You Do...

..if you're an important world leader and a bevy of bare-breasted ladies come prancing in front of you?

Why, you watch it of course.  I mean, what else would you do?



Such is the life of a president of a powerful nation. Sigh.

H/T Snoopy the Goon

And what red-blooded security guard wouldn't want that job?

Another Roundup

The Robocalls saga limps on

"Hamilton [Ed. Conservative Party Lawyer] said it speaks volumes that no Canadian voters have come forward to swear out an affidavit claiming their trips to the ballot box were thwarted by robocalls.

He notes casting a ballot is a very public activity and seems unlikely that someone who was unable to vote would have kept silent.

"Nobody should have difficulty coming and very publicly saying 'I wanted to vote and I was stopped from voting,'" Hamilton said.

"Because that's the type of evidence that's being sought if somebody wants to overturn any of these six election results, it should be not at all difficult to find those people.""

[---]

""There is a fundamental disrespect right now for the intuitiveness of the Canadian voter," Hamilton said.

"The Canadian electorate is very intuitive and they are very careful. They take their franchise seriously and that is why, happily, some of these ham-fisted attempts at suppression don't work."

[---]

"Eight Canadians — bankrolled by the left-leaning Council of Canadians — have launched a legal bid to overturn the results of the last federal election in six ridings. They allege a far-reaching campaign of voter-suppression tactics may have kept some people from voting, which may have had some bearing on the outcomes.

None of the eight applicants were actually prevented from voting." [Ed. Emphasis, mine]

Not looking too good, is it Maude?

Kenney to name 'safe countries' in refugee system overhaul

I really hope this man becomes Prime Minister some day. He's doing everything I think should be done. And as usual, his lefty critics have their heads in the sand. RTWT

Pravda issues a retraction:


Russia backtracks on stance over embattled Syria

Putin must have been talking with Ahmadinejad.

Who said the Cold War was over? Did I say that??? I must issue a retraction.

More on Russia's rush backwards:

Russia opens second criminal case against opposition leader

Back to the future. Plus ca change....

Bummer!

Best we can hope for is The One will approve the Keystone XL fairly quickly, so as not to damage the Dems hopes for the next cycle. Employed people will be happier with the status quo. And Putin is happy. We already know, the Mullah's are down with this. What more could we want?

Mr. President...

...heal thyself:

Russia: Dispute Over Head Scarves

"President Vladimir V. Putin spoke out on Thursday against the wearing of head scarves in Russian schools in his first public comment on a potentially explosive issue."

And how many times has Putin stuck his nose into the Muslim world in support of their brutal rulers?

So. God Gave The North Pole...

...to the Russians...it seems. I wonder what the Russians feel about global warming? I wonder what Putin does to Russia's AGW freaks?

Next thing you know, they'll be holding Santa hostage. :-(

Hip! Hip! Rah! Rah!

Way to go Britain!!!

"The MV Alaed had its insurance withdrawn by The Standard Club in London while it was about 50 miles (80.4km) off Scotland's north coast.

The insurer said it had sought more information on the boat's cargo."

[---]

""We were informed on Friday evening that the ship might be carrying weapons, in particular attack helicopters, missiles and non-specific munitions, and we are making inquiries to establish what their side of the story is.

"There are exclusion clauses in our cover and, for anyone involved in improper or unlawful trade, we can cancel cover.

"We are investigating whether or not to do so in this case.""

Those Ruskies have been looking for greater access to southern ports, one way or another, since forever. With so much of its empire now independent nations, the search continues. That, and who said the Cold War was over?