|
And now USAID is out of non-military money for Ukraine:
https://www.rt.com/news/586853-us-ukraine-humanitarian-funding-runs-out/ |
| No more money for zelensky. Let him borrow from banks. |
And that is the true victor here. The West and Nato are so much stronger as a result of Russia's catastrophic miscalculation. |
|
A quick update.
"Russia's depleted labour force is causing acute labour shortages and threatening economic growth, Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina said on Thursday, as Moscow pumps fiscal and physical resources into the military. Russia's military production focus as it prosecutes what it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine is pulling funds away from other sectors of the economy, while worker shortages and record low unemployment add to inflationary pressure through higher wages that has seen interest rates surge to 15%. "We now find ourselves in a situation where the economy has practically fully used the available resources, this applies both to workers and production capacities," Nabiullina told lawmakers in the State Duma. "Unemployment is 3% and in some regions it is even lower. This means there are practically no workers left in the economy, the situation with personnel is really very acute," Nabiullina said. "For further growth of the Russian economy, increased labour productivity is needed."" ""If we loosen our grip, we won't achieve anything," Nabiullina said. "Inflation will still have to be reduced but from a higher level."" "Nabiullina said, but annual inflation will only start decreasing next spring. The central bank's forecasts suggest that reaching the 4% target by end-2024 will be a tough ask." https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/russias-depleted-workforce-threatening-economic-growth-says-central-bank-2023-11-09/ Oh. What a surprise. Gosh. (How was my acting? Pretty good, huh?) Think about this. If the Russian's are stuck until Spring like this, it's not a short-term issue. When Nabiullina says the situation may not be resolved until beyond 2024, that's a systemic issue - not a transient one. But I don't think this is a temporary issue. The dead Russian soldiers in Ukraine won't be returning to fill labor positions. The wounded may not be able to hold jobs anymore. Although it seems to be a small number compared to a 144 M population; 1. that population is spread across 6.602 million square miles of land, 2. is getting smaller over time, and 3. were family-making / wage earning age of only 48 million males aged 15 to 64 and Putin just raised the military personnel cap to 1.5 million abled-bodied, family-rearing men out of 48 million (3%). Soldiers don't bring money into the economy - they drain money from it. There is no "work" produced by Russian soldiers to heat homes or feed families or bring in external income from abroad. Another perspective to think about is that if interest rates hover at 15%, it's nearly impossible to obtain (for example) a bank loan to start a new business or buy a house or purchase a car. You'd have to earn a profit of 15% just to pay off the interest, let alone pay down the original balance. A labor shortage means if a worker doesn't want to work, tough cookies for the company - your productivity will drop and make it less likely you'll pay back your loan. And even if Russia ended the war tomorrow, brought back every troop - it will still be months or longer before they're all back to work again. This explains why Russia is dumpster diving the overseas junkyards. "Putin signed a decree on Wednesday allowing foreign investors with funds frozen in Russia to use them to buy blocked assets of Russians abroad." https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/putin-signs-decree-allowing-foreigners-swap-frozen-funds-blocked-russian-assets-2023-11-08/ "a delegation of Russian officials who visited Cairo asked Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to return more than a hundred engines from Russian helicopters that Moscow needed for its war against Ukraine." "Russia is trying to get back some of the weapons it exported to countries such as Pakistan, Egypt, Belarus and Brazil. Sisi has agreed, and deliveries of about 150 engines are likely to begin next month, sources say." https://www.yahoo.com/news/russia-asks-other-countries-return-191743121.html But that's not all that's happening. Solovyov, the main voice of the War in Ukraine, is on the defensive. I think now he's realizing he's on the receiving end of the propaganda gun. His mannerisms are changing. I think he's looking scared nowadays. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Swr2Pq7jbUg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OE6dwYjIBng Brazenly taking little nips is how the Russian pirahna pack works. Even the Iron Beaver, his good friend at R-T, is taking shots. Although she says it's the West responsible for inciting Islamists to protest Jewish Russians landing in Dagestan; check out her 'compassion' for returning Jewish Russians. "It horrified all of us. Thank God, no one died, so we can joke about it. Here is the best joke, in my opinion: the bus full of Jews left and went to Avdiivka*. Go there! And here is what I think national unity looks like." (watch the video) [2:22 / 2:49] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hHIZrXLJKo * = "Avdiivka is effectively surrounded on three sides" “The city now presents a harrowing sight, it has been leveled to the ground,” https://news.yahoo.com/avdiivka-surrounded-three-sides-russians-124400966.html "Russian losses near Avdiivka in Donetsk Oblast have included almost 7,000 soldiers killed or wounded, 100 tanks, and 250 other armored vehicles in the past three weeks" https://kyivindependent.com/military-russia-loses-7-000-soldiers-350-armored-vehicles-at-avdiivka/ So much for Russian "humor"? |
|
Older news from a few weeks ago, but Ukraine is cancelling its 2023 Census:
https://english.nv.ua/nation/ukraine-cancels-2023-census-news-50362245.html Are they canceling it because they don't have the money, the people or don't want anyone to see the results? All three? |
Uh, yeah. Let me get this straight. You want Ukraine, to round up hundreds of people, send them out through minefields and combat zones in the middle of a war, to go door-to-door, to ask questions about if they're Russians or not.. Yeah. You're really a rocket-scientist, aren't ya? It's not a surprise you're pro-Russian. You're quite the wunderkind. |
Funny enough, next time they do a census in Ukraine, everyone will be Russian. |
Funny enough, wasn't everyone Russian last year according to RT? |
Anyone unhappy can just implement the Russian happiness model. Mardan: "I have to admire and quote the great Valentina Ivanovna Matviyenko who once again proposed to create the Ministry of Happiness and a law about happiness. Since lately there is more of a demand for certain things to be forbidden, to be squashed, we can just make it illegal to be unhappy and impose fines against those who are unhappy. What do you think about this idea? I think it would be fitting." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KLsoeiS2rQ I think this ranks right up there with the Putin Sperm Law. “Each female citizen of Russia will be able to receive by mail the genetic material of the President, get pregnant from him and have a baby. These mothers will be receiving special allowances from the government.” https://observer.com/2014/11/russian-lawmaker-proposes-mailing-putin-sperm-to-impregnate-russian-women/ Very Russian. lol |
Kremlin General Order 447: The beatings will continue until Happiness improves. - Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin |
You can do it! Crack a smile! Come on! (psst. give him another.) I know you can!
|
| stop trying to make ukr happen with this silliness |
This is all-Russia, my friend. Thank the Kremlin for providing the material. Speaking of which- "October's annual inflation rate of 6.7% was up from 6% in September and is the highest level since February. Russia officially targets an inflation rate of 4%." https://www.barrons.com/news/russia-inflation-accelerates-to-6-7-7389c8fd "Prices increased by 0.42% from Oct. 31 to Nov. 7, according to Federal Statistics Service data published late Friday. That compared with a rise of 0.14% the week before and was the largest weekly gain since December of last year." https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-11-10/russia-s-weekly-price-growth-spikes-as-inflation-worries-persist It looks like such a tiny number, doesn't it? What does it mean? It means Russian inflation rose 300% in a week compared to the week before. Don't think it's correct? Here's more indicators. Sep 26 2023: "Russia plans to increase its military budget by 70% in 2024" https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2023/09/26/russia-plans-to-increase-its-military-budget-by-70-in-2024_6139811_4.html 52 days later (Nov 10 2023): "Russia has added at least Rbs3.4tn ($37bn) to its budget for this year" https://www.ft.com/content/04bd3730-e8b4-40da-bc10-131843534504 Sep 22 2023: "Russia imposed an indefinite ban on the export of diesel and gasoline to most countries" https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/22/russias-indefinite-ban-on-fuel-exports-could-worsen-a-global-shortage.html 49 days later (Nov 9 2023): "Russian fuel producers have been told by the government to prepare for the scrapping of all remaining restrictions on the export of diesel and gasoline" https://bdnews24.com/economy/5am1qeui27 Russia launched their invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Russia produces about 15% of the world's Platinum. Notice anything unusual about this chart? https://www.bullionvault.com/platinum-price-chart.do No? Nothing? Maybe the correlation percentage of 15% is difficult to see through all the economic noise of other countries? Russia produces 38% of the World's Palladium, so how about this one? https://www.bullionvault.com/palladium-price-chart.do How about this one? "One quarter of Antonovs – which are on average 50 years old – are due to be grounded in around five years, according to current rules, he added. Speaking during a meeting with officials on Wednesday, Zorin asked them to “prolong the operation of An-24 and An-26” aircraft, according to state news agency Interfax." https://www.yahoo.com/news/40-000-russian-troops-poised-150043130.html |