Voices from Russia

Tuesday, 30 September 2014

30 September 2014. A View from the East… Economic Recovery? (Luo Jie/China Daily)

00 Luo Jie. Economic Recovery. 2014

______________________________

The Republicans knackered economic recovery in three major ways:

  • expenditures on useless wars in the Middle East and Central Asia not affecting critical American strategic interests
  • tax cuts to the Affluent Effluent
  • opposition to infrastructure spending and healthcare reform

Because of this, the American economy is really too weak to sustain the military burdens placed on it by the warmongering GOP. Something will have to give, and soon… the Republicans are anti-patriots in sending American jobs abroad… for, you see, there’s no such thing as a post-industrial economy… the oligarchs simply moved the industry to compliant Third World countries, where they could exploit the workers and ignore civilised labour and safety laws. It’s not a “world economy”… it’s a SLAVE ECONOMY… that’s why all decent people will oppose the oligarchs and their GOP bitches.

If you’re an ordinary Joe who draws a salary and votes Republican, you’re a thrice-damned fool, and I say this to your face. Wake up before it’s too late!

BMD

Advertisement

Thursday, 9 May 2013

Bangladesh Building Collapse Death Toll Rises

00.00k Politics Through a Cartoonist's Eyes 09.11.11

THIS was the ultimate cause of the building collapse… spit when you pass the next McMansion or the country club. The Apostle said that the love of money is the root of all evil, and he was right. That’s the basis of the American Republican Party… we shouldn’t ally Christ’s Church with such depravity, should we? Think on it…

______________________________

On Thursday, sources in the military and police told international news agencies that they believe that about 900 people died in the factory collapse in Bangladesh. Media reports said that military sources put the figure at 912, whilst police officials say that they recovered 892 bodies from the building. Previous reports put the number of dead at 803. The Rana Plaza building in Savar, an industrial suburb of Dhakacollapsed on 24 April. Over 3,000 people are thought to have been working in the building at the time.

On Wednesday, the authorities in Bangladesh ordered 18 textile factories to close over health and safety concerns, and, earlier in the week, they set up a commission to check the 4,500 factories in the region. Preliminary information from the government inquiry indicates that vibrations from four powerful generators, installed in the building in breach of regulations, caused the tragedy. The building’s architect told the media that he designed it to house offices, not a garment factory. Investigators confirmed that the building’s intended purpose was “commercial use”. Local officials told the media that first-responders rescued over 2,400 of those working in the factory at the time of its collapse. Survivors told the media that they’d noticed worrying cracks in the building a day before the incident, but that management convinced them to return to work. The building owner is one of those arrested over the tragedy.

9 May 2013

RIA-Novosti

http://en.rian.ru/world/20130509/181047449/Bangladesh-Building-Collapse-Death-Toll-Rises.html

Editor’s Note:

The American Right defends “outsourcing”… well, this is its practical upshot. They want to move business to compliant Third World dictatorships to circumvent labour, safety, and environmental regulations in developed countries to maximise their profits. Their attitude is, “Who cares, they’re just sand niggers, anyway. They don’t deserve any better”. The money from such soulless and godless exploitation ends up in the hands of the American and European Affluent Effluent (and their Third World lickspittles such as the Capriles family in Venezuela).

Reflect on this… the people responsible for such malevolent shit tell us how moral they are and how immoral we are. I’d only say this… by their fruits ye shall know them. Remember WHO said that… ‘nuff said.

BMD

Monday, 18 February 2013

Good Ol’ Silvio Rides Again… “Bribes are Necessary”

silvio_berlusconi

______________________________

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi shocked the Italian media with his views on bribery and its necessity in doing business in Third World markets. A series of corruption scandals has rocked the Italian political scene, whilst the current election campaign added to the intensity of the media inquiries into the unsavoury business practises of Berlusconi’s former allies. Amongst the targets of the latest anti-corruption campaign are the CEOs of Finmeccanica S.p.A. and Eni S.p.A.. It seems that Berlusconi felt the need to defend them, telling a Financial Times correspondent, “Bribes are a phenomenon that exists, and it’s useless to deny the existence of these necessary situations when you’re negotiating with Third World countries and régimes”.

The former Italian Prime Minister also tried to explain that bribing government officials is basically an unavoidable part of doing business, and that Giuseppe Orsi (former head of Finemeccanica) and Paolo Scaroni (former head of Eni) were actually paying “commissions”. Finmeccanica and Eni are Italian companies where the Italian government has significant stakes; therefore, the media often links the bribes paid by those companies to the corrupt practices of government officials. Both former CEOs denied any wrongdoing, but it’s unknown whether they appreciate such a form of public defence from Berlusconi, a politician who’s been heavily-involved in corruption scandals. Berlusconi’s political enemies used this opening to criticise him for “supporting corruption”, whilst current Prime Minister Mario Monti emphasised that his government has taken unprecedented measures to root out corruption. Given the fact that Mario Monti is a former employee of Goldman Sachs (a bank that often faced charges of corrupting government officials across the world), it’s safe to assume that both sides of the Italian political spectrum lack anti-corruption credentials.

18 February 2013

Voice of Russia World Service

http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_02_18/Bribes-are-necessary-Berlusconi/

Editor’s Note:

Like it or lump it, Good Ol’ Silvio speaks the God-honest truth. You don’t have to agree with or like someone to acknowledge that. If you want to do business outside Western Europe or the Anglosphere, it’s best to include a hefty allowance for… ahem… “extraordinary expenses”. If one was dealing with Mobutu’s Zaïre or Batista’s Cuba (or any Good Ol’ Boy state in the Southeastern USA or some local “machines” in the Northeast (our local boss, Jerry Jennings, is smarter than that… he knows that a modest “return” ensures “repeat business”))… well, that “margin” could be very dear, indeed.

BMD

Thursday, 30 August 2012

As John Robles Sees It… End of US-Russian “Reset”… Romney’s Cold War Thinking as a Threat to Global Security

THIS is the USA of the Republican Party… God do help us all…

______________________________

Cold War thinkers drew up Mitt Romney’s foreign policy stance, and it doesn’t look good, not for the USA, nor for Russia, nor for any in the free world. To continue the rhetoric that Russia is geopolitical enemy number one, promising to confront and make Russia kowtow to American interests proves that the Republicans have once again shown their complete disregard for diplomacy. Whether or not the Republicans are just playing to their base, or are seriously proposing such policies, they’ve proven that they’ll be a force for more instability and conflict in the world. Mitt Romney and his vice-presidential running mate, now, official contenders for the White House, would dangerously radicalise American foreign policy. In particular, they’d openly and with extreme prejudice confront Russia on a number of issues, and advance American interests and geopolitical policies and plans regardless of the wishes of the international community.

To say that Romney and his Republican brethren are a danger to world peace would be an understatement. Their “ultra-conservative” views and stances on a number of issues would bring about another era of neoconservative subjugation for the American people and the world, and their backward thinking and confrontational posturing would destroy much of the delicate compromise that’s kept the world stable for the last four years. Romney, who not long ago called Russia “Enemy Number One”, and his Republican advisors approved a programme for their party at their convention in Florida. They accuse the Russian Federation of being the foremost geopolitical enemy of the USA and a “traditional rival”, along with North Korea, Iran, and China. They also believe that the Russian government is authoritarian, doesn’t respect human rights, suppresses the press, aligns with dictatorial regimes, and, here’s the clincher… “It was guilty of an unprovoked invasion of Georgia”. In short, it’s all of the prehistoric, Cold War-style, holier-than-thou, self-elevating, self-advancing, blatantly false, confrontational rhetoric and talking points that the Republicans are famous for.

To take their points apart one by one is to give them credibility they don’t deserve, but in case you just arrived from planet Sirius 7, Russia didn’t invade Georgia, but rather prevented the genocide of Russian citizens in South Ossetia by the Georgian Army, the press in Russia is freer than ever, the USA is currently supporting and creating more dictators than ever before (Bahrain anyone?), the USA’s engaged in a program of global domination and instigating régime change wherever they see fit, and the USA, through its military surrogates such as NATO, is attempting to subjugate the entire planet and bend it to its will by placing it under its military control.

Romney adviser Rich Williamson at the “round table” on the Foreign Policy Initiative, a paper filled with misconceptions laying out Republican foreign policy posturing and their political stance, stated that the Romney Administration would end the “reset” and confront Russia on issues such as Georgia, Iran, Syria, and others. I’ve already mentioned Georgia; Syria and Iran are points of contention, for the most part, only when it comes to American plans to invade these two countries in an attempt to make these sovereign nations bend to Washington’s diktat and bring their peoples to their knees. Williamson also said that Russia has “chosen the path of confrontation rather than cooperation”, apparently such blatant lies are more rhetoric for the Republican “base” who as I have already said see no difference between a “Sheik” and a “Sikh”. To say that Russia has chosen such a path, when the entire Republican platform is based upon the premise of a confrontation with Russia is disingenuous and a complete and total lie.

Embarrassingly, Russia’s bent to almost every American encroachment upon its sovereignty, its geopolitical position, its internal administration, and its military security since the collapse of the Soviet Union, even going so far as to attempt to repeatedly work with NATO and the USA in their plans to surround Russia with their missiles. To listen to Romney and his Republican ilk, and to read how they plan to “curb Moscow”, “confront Russia”, surround Russia with missiles, and the like, is to get the impression that he’s talking about some small Third World nation they can just obliterate at any moment, and not the largest country on the planet, which is a formidable nuclear power.

Shamelessly, the Republicans also said they’d meddle in European affairs in an attempt to reduce Europe’s “dependence” on Russian oil and gas, which Europe obtains cheaply. I suppose if the oil- and resource-starved USA succeeded in remaking the Middle East and seized control of all of the oil and resources in the region, they’d offer Europe a cheaper alternative. As for the Asia-Pacific Region, Romney said he’d strengthen ties with Asian countries, it seems whether they want it or not, and reduce Russian influence in the region. Lastly, according to Pravda.ru, “Romney expressed his willingness to be the godfather of the Russian opposition and organise training for opposition activists at American educational centres”.

As for the Republican Convention, once again, Republicans let their hypocrisy shine. Tampa’s expecting a wave of strippers and prostitutes, who’ll “service” the “family values” of the Republican conventioneers. Even a porn star named Lisa Ann, who impersonates Sarah Palin, is making money on Republicans’ lustful desires for the Alaska Governor and right-wing propaganda mouthpiece. Not only have prostitutes descended on Tampa, but also those opposing the Republicans’ narrow-minded platform, including Occupiers from all over the USA. According to Jeffrey Billman at Orlando Weekly, the Republican plan to gut Medicare, bring back the gold standard, eviscerate abortion rights, ban gay marriage, deport brown people, and more. The Huffington Post was not very “optimistic” in its look at the GOP’s extreme positions, in short, promising hell, not only for Russia, but also for Americans, if these people come to power. From where I’m sitting, even taking into account the fact that Romney’s playing to his base, he’d no doubt be detrimental to Russian-American relations, and would be a “tyrant” and a “threat to global security” if he became US President. I hope that Americans won’t let this happen.

29 August 2012

00 John Robles. VOR 06.12John Robles

Voice of Russia World Service

http://english.ruvr.ru/by_author/62493347/

Note to REAL Orthodox People:

This post should warn you, not only about Republicans in general, but about konvertsy in particular. The latter are Far Right nutters in the main… they hang about Far Right think-tanks like the Acton Institute and American Enterprise Institute, and they want to ram Far Right notions down the throats of everybody in the Church.

I’ll say this… in a pig’s arse. You see, not only do they have oddbod political beliefs; they’re thoroughly contaminated with heresies like Imiaslavie and the Branch Theory. I’ll go so far as to say that if an Orthodox “clergyman” was once a Proddie clergyman of any sort, I’d say that they should be defrocked forthwith. Those who were only layman didn’t receive a heterodox formation… they’re OK. However, people such as Patrick Reardon aren’t Orthodox in their souls, and their writings show it. Note well that those who push such idiocies like “St Pavel Florensky” are usually also rightwing Republicans of the most noxious and odious sort. That is, their political cluelessness is as deep as their spiritual confusion (at best… all too many are downright deluded).

Have a care. It’s not over yet… there’s going to be some blood on the floor before it’s all over, I’m afraid. God DO watch over us…

BMD 

 

Next Page »

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.