The legal claims by Russia’s creditors may be odious but they are also powerful. If they are shameless enough to pursue their defaulted loans through the courts in London or New York, they may well be granted liens on Russian government property while the true victims of Putin’s aggression, first and foremost the Ukrainians, have no such recourse. Debt activists around the world have pushed for legislation in major creditor countries to ban vulture funds from taking advantage of distressed sovereigns. It is time for legislation in the UK and US to ensure that if anyone is able to make financial claims against Putin’s regime, it is not those who sought to profit by investing in it.
But it is not only the western-minded affluent Russians that could fall victim to a new wave of repression. In stark contrast to the high-profile Belotserkovskaya, the other two Russians charged on Wednesday under the new law were residents of the Siberian region of Tomsk.
One, Marina Novikova, a 63-year-old pensioner from a small industrial town outside Tomsk, was charged with “disinformation” against the military for criticising Russia’s actions in Ukraine. Her posts were published on her personal Telegram channel which counted only 170 subscribers at the time. The third person has not been named.
While not a 1-to-1 the US Executive Office of the President has around 1800 staff members including the 377 White House staff members.
1000 is an absurd amount for a person, but not all that excessive for a head of state. I doubt Putin sees much difference between his personal staff and those who assist him in running the state.
Yeah, it’s disheartening to me to see that this is where the aircraft manufacturer AeroVironment Inc has ended up. They were founded just a mile from my house in the 1970’s by an idealistic aeronautical engineer who wanted to help save the world with sustainable technology. (Thus the company’s name) Early on the company built famous and revolutionary human-powered planes like the Gossamer Condor and Gossamer Albatross, followed by solar powered planes like the Solar Challenger.
But today that same company is the #1 supplier of small drones to the Pentagon, including these little death machines. That’s where the money is, I guess.
The thing about polonium is I could eat a lethal amount and be fine for hours, maybe days. If you’re a wary Putin and I sample your polonium-laced mashed potatoes, you’re going to get awfully hungry waiting for the all-clear.
OH wait, I didn’t RTFA. I didn’t see the cops donated them.
They donated USED vests.
Kevlar breaks down over time and they have a life span before they are no longer reliable.
Cops don’t typically use armor plates to stop rifle bullets.Unless there is a missing detail, these wouldn’t be very good in a war vs the Russians. Kinda a shitty donation, IMO.
If there isn’t some rule or law that says, “Any technology that can be exploited by war or porn, will be.”, there should be.
Elvira Nabiullina, Governor of Russia’s Central Bank, has reportedly handed in her resignation.
“Nabiullina’s brooch”
There is a belief in the Russian media that the head of the Central Bank uses brooches at public events to signal the state of the economy and the regulator’s plans. In 2020, Nabiullina appeared at press conferences with a brooch of a blue wave, a dot, a tumbler, a stork. In March 2021, when the increase in the refinancing rate was announced for the first time in three years, she appeared with a hawk.[19]
In September 2021, Nabiullina revealed the meaning of the brooches, which represents her own way of communication, an alternate language to “give the market a chance to think”. Meanwhile, according to Nabiullina, the exact significance of any brooch should leave a blank for an amount of mystery.[20]
In her speech on 28 February 2022 announcing measures to try and alleviate the 2022 Russian financial crisis, several analysts noted that she wore no brooch. Sergei Gurievof Sciences Po speculated that it “should not be read as she disagreed with Putin’s policy, but as a sign that it is time to bury normal monetary policy,” while adding that “I am sure she was not part of the narrow circle making the decision on going to war.”[18]
The thing is: it doesn’t matter if the documents say something different. The message that the US did something with birds and bats and pathogen sticks.
It’s nearly perfect FUD. The eternal legend of birds carrying fire into a besieged city resonates within, as does the pandemic caused by a zoonotic disease probably caught from bats.
