Russia braced for unrest

[Adsos Letter]

Source: Financial Times

Russia is bracing for further unrest as the rouble on Friday slid to a new low against the euro after a succession of moves to devalue its currency.

A cut on Friday extended six weeks of devaluations by Russia’s central bank designed to offset the impact of the global economic crisis and falling oil prices as the country’s main export commodity approached its lowest level since 2004.

Mikhail Gorbachev, the former Soviet leader, warned Russia faced “unprecedentedly difficult and dangerous circumstances” and could be “heading into a black hole”. “It is not clear what the fate of our rouble will be or if society has sufficient financial and moral resources,” he said.

Mikhail Sukhodolsky, a deputy interior minister, warned on Christmas Eve that there could be further protests. “The situation may be exacerbated by a growth in frustration of workers over the non-payment of wages or those threatened with dismissal,” he said.



Read more: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fb228bfa-d385-11dd-989e-000077b07658.html

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. The communist part is not gone, it will start to look increasingly good

for the workers of mother russia.

Ah history never repeats itself, but patterns do

[Adsos Letter]

2. Someone once said (maybe it was Churchill?)...

"History never repeats itself, but it does rhyme." Something like that...

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. that was churchill indeed

[Odin2005]

9. That was Mark Twain.

[Regret My New Name]

13. That was Jon Stewart who said that

quoting Churchill who was quoting Mark Twain who was actually trying to say... nevermind.

[David__77]

6. Definitely.

Putin made good progress is creating the ideological basis for the post-Soviet ruling group. He was lucky to have Bush as a foil. I think that the fact that his patriotism is all false will be made clear to Russians in the coming period. I wouldn't be surprised if the Russian Communists assume a leading position again. Aside from Putin, the communists are the only other viable choice.

[TheLastMohican]

10. Russian communists are a dying breed

They have no positive ideas about how to run things except "return back to the old days" and that attracts people over 50.
The youths don't want any of that. So no, it could be Putin or somebody else but Russia is certain going to move only in capitalistic direction.
Putin is just a stealing plutocrat who plays the masses on the nationalistic agenda but he will be eventually substituted by true Russian patriot.

[David__77]

11. The "communists" are capitalists.

Zyaganov et al. are pro-capitalist social democrats with a racist bent. They would never return to the old system, with the exception of a few of them.

[Raschel]

4. This sounds rather ominous. :(

[xchrom]

5. recommend

[excess_3]

7. the electric car is coming .n/t

[unkachuck]

8. I think God is punishing Russia for playing capitalism....n/t

[totodeinhere]

12. This just goes to show that we have a world wide economic crisis.

I look for the economies of both Russia and the United States to totally collapse, and most other economies around the world will also collapse. We are in for a very dark period in the history of the world.

I am thankful that I live in a small rural community. I think we will have a better chance for survival in a place like this. There is plenty of wood for fire and there is game in the hills that we can hunt and eat. City dwellers won't be so lucky I am afraid.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

14. Chimpnost.

[RCinBrooklyn]

15. Sounds no different than what's happening here.

[JVS]

16. Russia's recent prosperity was likely due to the nationalization of the oil at a time when oil was..

on its way up. Oil is way down now, and not surprisingly so is Russia.

[ohio2007]

17. Russian media has a silver lining to all this. They feel an "intellectuals" predictions will comfort

the masses

As if Things Weren't Bad Enough, Russian Professor Predicts End of U.S.
In Moscow, Igor Panarin's Forecasts Are All the Rage; America 'Disintegrates' in 2010

MOSCOW -- For a decade, Russian academic Igor Panarin has been predicting the U.S. will fall apart in 2010. For most of that time, he admits, few took his argument -- that an economic and moral collapse will trigger a civil war and the eventual breakup of the U.S. -- very seriously. Now he's found an eager audience: Russian state media.

In recent weeks, he's been interviewed as much as twice a day about his predictions. "It's a record," says Prof. Panarin. "But I think the attention is going to grow even stronger."

Prof. Panarin, 50 years old, is not a fringe figure. A former KGB analyst, he is dean of the Russian Foreign Ministry's academy for future diplomats. He is invited to Kremlin receptions, lectures students, publishes books, and appears in the media as an expert on U.S.-Russia relations.

But it's his bleak forecast for the U.S. that is music to the ears of the Kremlin, which in recent years has blamed Washington for everything from instability in the Middle East to the global financial crisis.

snip

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123051100709638419.html

Enjoy it while you can cuz there is a new school of tin foiler doom and gloomers ready to say the world is due to end based on the Mayan calendar not long after 2010....

lol

:crazy: :woohoo:

[lonestarnot]

18. non-payment of wages or those threatened with dismissal. What's the difference between here and

there?