Russian Tensions
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Normal life in Russia. Another sign of a long war.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/7/15/what-happened-to-russias-anti-war-movement
Russians are getting used to living under sanctions and new restrictions set by their own government, such as losing access to social media. The economy has stayed stable so far, disappointing those who may have hoped growing discomfort would lead to angry masses rising up.
But anti-war activity goes on. More than 16,000 Russians have been arrested for anti-war actions since February.At least 14 military recruitment offices have been set on fire since the war began.
Good morning Alan. I’m replying on the forum (a place I rarely visit) because Janet raised your point about Russian social media knowing that I use Russian social media/web/blogs in several forms. I have come to the conclusion that there is little or no chance of finding any truthful reporting from Western MSM/social media – AlJazeera is a fine example of that having once been free to report openly all that changed once the Emir (owner) decided to bow to US pressure. Journos who had fled the likes of BBC/Guardian because their work was being censored (Robert Fisk, Johnathan Cook, John Pilger, etc etc) moved to the likes of AlJazeera and have since moved on yet again for the exact same reason – censorship/cancel culture/ propaganda! As for social media in Russia it appears to me, a user, to be very open and decidedly uncensored. On VK.com (Russian FB) the BBC, VoA and others have their feeds and post unhindered although other users largely ignore them. VK mostly learns quickly what one does or does not want and serves up the appropriate threads/feeds. Another very useful tool is Telegram where only the feeds that one subscribes to are offered. There are many real reporters who are banned or censored in the West are now there where NON of their work is censored (many of these reporters are eminently respectable/reliable). Further, these are people who actually report from, in the case of Ukraine, the frontline and the towns/cities/villages where civilian populations are under fire from weaponry supplied by NATO/EU/US. I would not want you, or others, to think that Russia is an open media utopia – I certainly do not. What I can say, categorically, is that social media in Russia is vibrant and far more open than anything in the West. People criticize and question the government from Putin to the military without censorship or, it appears, fear of retribution. What I want is access to information from ALL sides so that I can decide what I think. If one is relying solely on Western MSM/social media there is no hope of learning anything because once the lies/propaganda is exposed everything disappears down the black hole – Ukraine is a case in point. Anyway, my friend, keep on truckin’ because J and I really appreciate the contributions that you make.
As much as I believe the British government.
As for the BBC, as much as I believe RT.
Being a cliche does not make the saying, the first casualty of war is truth, any less accurate.
I find it unusual that in the USA the most sceptical of the pro-Ukraine position is Tucker Carlson and his fellow right-wing isolationists joined by the leftists of Grayzone. Strange bed-fellows, indeed.
This thread is 136 pages and over 2000 posts long and still, we pose questions and look for answers. From the start of it, we have not taken anything for granted.
You don’t actually believe anything the Ukrainian government says do you?
Have you read our articles about the war and before the war started ? We do not support either sides, and we do not believe in the mouthpiece of both sides. There are some leftists and so called communists groups who are supporting either side. A so called Anarchist and books seller like Noam Chomsky is supporting Putin
The Director of the CIA estimate that Russian casualties in Ukraine so far have reached around 15,000 killed and perhaps 45,000 wounded.
“And, the Ukrainians have suffered as well — probably a little less than that. But, you know, significant casualties.”
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2022/7/20/russia-ukraine-live-news
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is pushing for a cap to make it harder for Moscow to fund its war in Ukraine. Officials say the goal is to set the price at a level that covers the marginal cost of production so Moscow is incentivised to continue exporting oil.
Russia will not export oil to the world market if the price is capped below the cost of production, Interfax news agency has quoted Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak as telling Russian television.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2022/7/20/russia-ukraine-live-news
No profit, no production – the first rule of capitalism
I don’t understand the logic of the bit in the first paragraph about the marginal cost of production and incentivising Russian oil exports.
Oil is one of those products which, depending on geological conditions, can be extracted at different costs of production in different places. To meet a given paying demand, the price will be what it costs to extract in places where the cost of production is highest. Or, the other way round, the higher the demand the more higher cost extraction sites will be brought into use (the margin will move). The highest costs sites will just make a normal profit. Sites where it is cheaper make super-profits in the form of rent. Which (rather than normal profit) is the main source of the wealth of the Gulf Sheiks and Russian energy corporations.
The aim seems to be to artificially reduce the price of Russian oil so as to reduce Russia’s rent income while still expecting Russia to supply the same amount but only making normal rate of profit (at least that’s what the first paragraph seems to mean). But of course, as the Russian minister stated, if the price is reduced then so will the supply. Why would Russia forgo super-profits (rent) and be satisfied with normal profit only? The West seems to want to have its cake and eat it.
Anyway, some experts are suggesting that the whole project is ridiculous and won’t work. The West has, in fact, got itself into a mess over this, resulting in higher oil prices and so bigger rents for Russia — and the Gulf sheiks, who Biden is grovelling before to get them to give up some of these to help the West punish Russia.
I do not see the logic of that either, the price of oil will go up and Russia rent income will go up too. The USA and NATO provoked this war and they do not know what to do to detain the consequences of this war. They thought that they were going to kick assess like they did in Kwait and Iraq, but this is a very different situation, and Russia is not Iraq or Kwait. In a few months the petroleum capitalists have obtained huge profits and high inflation is affecting the pockets of the working class
The West does not have the stockpiles of weapons needed to sustain a prolonged military campaign in Ukraine or elsewhere, the CEO of Northrop Grumman, one of the Pentagon’s main defense contractors has warned.
The military-industrial complex therefore needs a “clear demand signal” from Western governments on what exactly it should produce and whether it will be purchasedhttps://www.ft.com/content/0f987ebb-963b-4702-b3b5-ea0336785bab?curator=biztoc.com
The warning from Northrop Grumman was echoed by another prime contractor, which has started procuring components now in expectation there will be contracts for more weapons but with the risk that they are not ultimately used, according to one of its executives.
Lifting away Zelensky’s halo
“…The portrait of the Ukraine president as a democratic paragon whitewashes the real Zelensky and conceals a vast web of corruption and international skullduggery of which Ukraine is situated in the center.
Understanding the real Zelensky, requires seeing him as a creation of Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky. He is, in truth, a puppet of intrigue…”
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