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This Means War: US To Target Putin's Personal $40 Billion Stash
While the White House has continually threatened further sanctions against Russia for non-de-escalation (even as it un-de-escalates itself), the specifics of the additional sanctions have been sparse. German CEO warnings over blowback from economic sanctions... the "nonsense" of replacing Russian gas with US gas... the Russian warnings of "interdependence" and "boomerangs"... all reduce the West's arsenal of financial sanctions. But, as The Times of London reports, perhaps the US has found a crucial pain point for Putin - a sanctions regime that would target Putin's personal wealth, which includes a reported $40 billion stashed in Swiss bank accounts.
The White House on Friday refused to comment on reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin's personal wealth could be targeted if the West were to move ahead with additional sanctions over Ukraine.
"I'm not going to get into foreshadowing particular individuals or entities that the United States may target," national security adviser Susan Rice told reporters at the White House. "But let me just say we've been clear that there are additional individuals, officials, close associates of senior leadership, oligarchs and those entities that they are associated with that remain very much potential targets of additional sanctions."
...
The Times of London reported Friday that the U.S. was preparing a sanctions regime that would target Putin's personal wealth, which includes a reported $40 billion stashed in Swiss bank accounts.
Putin's actual holdings are a tightly held secret, and the extent of his holdings are difficult to estimate. But a threat of trying to freeze the Russian president's personal assets could have played a role in a deal brokered Thursday by foreign ministers from the U.S., Ukraine, Russia and European Union.
Perhaps it is worth remembering Putin's response from last week's Q&A...
Putin was asked why the US can do whatever it wants and no one punishes them, while attempts are being made to punish Russia.
“The US is certainly one of the world’s leaders. At some point it seemed that it was the only leader and a uni-polar system was in place. Today it appears that is not the case. Everything in the world is interdependent and once you try to punish someone, in the end you will cut off your nose to spite your face,” he said.
Though we are sure Obama and his team have considered all the intended and unintended consequences of any such actions.
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WAR BITCHEZ!
Never underestimate the foresight and good intel of russian billionaires.
Have The Russians Already Quietly Withdrawn All Their Cash From Cyprus?http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-03-25/have-russians-already-quietly-w...
Putin may be worth 40 billions or not, probably not. But even if he is, he will not have those 40 billions in Swiss bank accounts.
Obama has enough nose (and ears) for two people anyway I guess.... throw in Kerry and we're talking group discount.
It's interesting that dictators stash their spoils in Switzerland instead of their own countries where they are in control. Where does Barry keep his stash; JPM, Kenya, Iran, Antilles with Soros?
All this over a fucking pipeline from the Persian Gulf to Western Europe.
No, all this over the petrodollar. The US doesn't want to give up the monopoly on the reserve currency and Russia doesn't want someone else fixing the prices their energy resources sell for.
Sounds to me like Barack is mad that Putin is richer than him ... and Jamie Dimon too.
Hit the cocksmocker where it hurts, in the belt! C'mon, the little dicktator can take it, can't he?
If he really does have 40 BILLION dollars, then fuck that scumbag. Seriously, when are we going to get our heads out of our asses and realize that billionaires are psychopathic criminals?
I know a couple of very nice multi-millionaires who built valuable businesses and had honest dealings throughout their careers. They have said in very clear words that they will NEVER be BILLIONaires because they don't want to do "what has to be done" to amass that kind of OBSCENE wealth.
And it is totally obscene. Someone with 100mil in wealth lives an amazing lifestyle, the likes of which us plebes will never know. Anyone who is driven to get into that "billionaire's club" is mentally ill, and they have committed NUMEROUS crimes to amass that wealth.
Forget the 1% -- it's the .01% billionaires who are the biggest threat to humanity.
there is no such thing as an honest mutli-millionaire.... they were honest at some point, but then they turned into power brokering fucking thieves....
Nobody with more than a billion bucks in the bank can be honest.
Nobody with more than a million bucks in the bank can be honest.
Nobody with more than a thousand bucks in the bank can be honest.
See how that works?
The Swiss would be wise to think ahead ten years and ask the age old question... "who is your daddy and what does he do?"
Putin has a much better place to hide his gold, he can bury it somewhere in Siberia. In my opinion the dude is worth every penny, he at least has made his country great again. I am sure his money is invested in Russia.
remember...this is all being done by design. It's not just happening by accident. Get your brain out of the false paradigm and realize that we're being fucking played every step of the way.
Put-in could have hid his stash in a Siberia gold mine (you know when the petro dollar collapses, his stash will you-know-what!)
His Russian oligarchs want to up the gas price, EU will likely be fxxked (but EU want to secure energy supply, no)?
His KGB friends want a bigger buffer zone (so NATO move to guard only Poland, as long as pipelines kept flowing... fxxk the other small ones).
...except we do not know what are the puppet masters stirring.
War will likely be somewhere else. ME states are all spending crazy to buy arms.
By the time US would target anything, the money would be long gone to friendlier places (see Cyprus lesson).
Besides, when you OWN a country like Russia, and you ARE the master of its secret services (that control the entire country), why in the world would you keep ALL your money in a country who's banks are no safer that those of Alabama ?
This is such BS that it's not even worth arguing about... Propaganda war at its finest.
If Putin really had 40 billions in Switzerland, he's a much bigger idiot than anybody could have imagined.
However, since this appeared in mass media ("The Hill" for retarded, no less...), I believe exactly the opposite.
The boyz must be getting desperate down in the foggy bottom...
Soon to be found child porn from his computer too.
I love that picture, the MAN holds that GOLD BAR like a BOSS. He looks at it with admiration and respect because he knows its whats going to help him bury the Terror-dollar and the killers that come with it, once and for all.
You have 10 of those bricks hidden somewhere in your backyard, you don't care about any stupid bank in Switzerland. Or, about any Obozo sanctions...
On a totally unrelated issue, now:
Tyler, what happened with the links at the left side of the main page ???
Those were some of the best economic references I could find on the entire net ! Please don't tell me that you decided to put some completely stupid ads instead...
We have the eastern bloc countries gold reserves mapped and plans for evacuation are in place for immediate removal should aggression occur.
Is that bar 400Toz (33.33 Troy-pounds) in size? Something that massive could leave quite an impression on a foreign leader's brainbox!
PRESIDENT PUTIN, This is part of a bigger plan to ID your finances via a PsyOps game by the combined efforts of the CIA+NSA as follows:
1. The NSA is already providing the SIGNINT, and the CIA is providing HUMINT. Even so, they did not get far enough to ID and isolate your asset network and that of some other key people on your team.
2. What's missing, is the MARKINT: They need the Market Intelligence, to determine which suspected investment channels and instruments are being used.
3. If they can cause a specific/controlled/manipulated response to stress (i.e. fear of your assets being discovered and 'tagged'), then they can apply all of the above three types of Intelligence to ID, isolate and attack said assets and its service providers.
FYI, James Rickards describes these (simulation) games in his newly released book "The Death of Money", where such tools were used in Project Prophecy. In that project, back in 2003/2004, they used Baseline creation and Variance Analysis to ID aberrant/suspicious activity that might indicate "insider trading". In the case of Wall St types, they want to know if someone is using Insider info to front-run the market with derivatives bets. In the case of terrorists, they want to profit financially with insider info prior to a strike -- as indeed happened on 11.09.01.
4. That 2003 prototype has been improved significantly by integrating MarkInt with SigInt + HumInt info. When any of the three domains (SigInt, HumInt and MarkInt) has an anomalous "spike", that is suspicious enough. But when two or even all three have coinciding spikes, then that is a mathematical "dead giveaway".
Bottom Line: This is a deliberate provocation, designed to act as the controlled Trigger Event in the effort to ID the assets and its managers. It's an American "mind fuck" operation - with a devious twist. Don't fall for it. I don't think I need to spell out what counter-measures need to be taken. If I were in a similar situation, I'd either do nothing or send false signals to increase the Noise (reduce the SNR) and increase the demands on total Bandwidth and Resources beyond their useful limits.
The disinformation war is full blown. According to Bloomturd the fact that Neo Nazis attacked a Russian Separatist barricade (killing 4 of them) over the weekend is enough justification for the USSA to impose more sanctions on Ukraine. Wait a minute. So who was attacked? The Anti-Kiev protesters. Who was the aggressor? The Right Sector movement.
So the CIA unleashes its local Neo Nazis dogs against the Russians and that is enough to justify escalating the sanctions against Russia? The West wants to isolate Russia at all cost. The West does not want peace. It clearly wants to escalate tensions.
Ukraine Separatists Hold Ground as U.S. Eyes Sanctions
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-20/ukraine-separatists-hold-ground-as-u-s-eyes-sanctions.html
"Shootouts in eastern Ukraine over the weekend led to calls for more U.S. economic sanctions against Russia, as a diplomatic accord aimed at defusing the crisis showed little sign of taking hold."
my read on this is that there is a morale problem below tptb, both in ukraine and in washington d.c./london/brussels. the ones who don't actually do any real fighting are pretty gung ho. the ones with the guns, not so much.
the russian sympathizers are chasing away tanks with buses, capturing ammo and armored personal carriers by asking for them, etc. and by the look of the cars, the right sector, even with the advantage of offense against allegedly unarmed opponents (who had armed "friends"), played to a draw.
and closer to home, there is this:
Since the beginning of the wars in Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003, elite u.s. military troops – including special forces units like Navy SEALs and Army Rangers – have endured multiple deployments. Military suicides increased across the board during that time, to the point that suicides (349) outpaced combat deaths (311) in 2012, according to a Guardian analysis in 2013.
WHY would Putin even need such a fortune? He gets free plane/copter rides, limousine service, and probably secret service protection after he leaves office. No expenses, and more than likely, lots of "donations" coming his way for advice to the next rulers of Russia. (There's speaking fees in the future, should he need some folding munny!)
why indeed? what with those speaking fees, and all.
the u.s. has the moral high ground. clinton and bernanke have no need to "steal".
Ummmmmmm, could this somehow be related to all them dead bankers we've had this year? Ummmmm ...
if it were related, given the decision tree and the ostensible chain of command, it would seem likely some government/imf types might have been included.
Of course! Silly me. Thanks for your reply.
But note that I never speculated which side the assassins might be on. Does that change anything?
Poor Putin. If the the bankster oligarchs make $39 billion of his wealth disappear then the poor guy will only be left with $1 billion. Destitution.
<== No bank account because I refuse to feed the assholes.
Don't know if that counts as honest or not, but I sure do sleep well.
Root of all evil and all that I suppose.
Take a valium to calm your inner socialist.
These Russian billionaires took huge risks when the Soviet Union fell. It was a lot about being in the right place at the right time. They were buying the post Soviet vouchers when nobody wanted them.
Do your research on the collapse of the USSR before you get all high and mighty buddy...
wasn't that about the time pensioners savings accounts were devalued 100 to 1 and the prices of everything stayed the same.
Trolling at its finest. Yeah right. Nobody wanted ownership of Russia's natural resources for 5% of what they were worth. Gimme a break, FFS!
As I said, do your research on the collapse of the USSR
Voucher privatization is a privatization method where citizens are given or can inexpensively buy a book of vouchers that represent potential shares in any state-owned company. Voucher privatization has mainly been used in the early to mid-1990s in the transition economies of Central and Eastern Europe - countries such as Russia, Poland, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Czechoslovakia.
A great deal of assets did fall into private ownership remarkably quickly and worked to provide some basis for market competition. Voucher privatization took place between 1992-1994 and roughly 98 percent of the population participated. The vouchers, each corresponding to a share in the national wealth, were distributed equally among the population, including minors. They could be exchanged for shares in the enterprises to be privatized. Because most people were not well-informed about the nature of the program or were very poor, they were quick to sell their vouchers for money, unprepared or unwilling to invest. Some Russain people got Gazprom vouchers and still have them to this day.
These billionaires were buying up peoples vouchers and securing external financing for industry. They were willing to invest and take the risk. Its called capitalism.
I have done the research and was in Russia for much of that time. First, people were desperately poor and would trade for anything. Second where did the oligarchs get their money? I bet you know the answer to that. And third there is NO RISK to borrowing money to purchase an asset at about 5% of its real value. That's not capitalism, it's corporatism or even Fascism.
Real value ? What is the "real value" of some state run alluminum factory in Russia in 1990 ? Sure, its easy to say what its worth 20 years later. After someone took it, managed it and made it profitable.
Sorry. Life isn't fair. Some of the oiligarchs had savings and they were able to buy poor people's vouchers.
There was no step by step guide on how to privatise these assets after the fall of the USSR.
Western money didn't even want to get too involved in these assets in 1990. Too risky.
BTW I don't think you've done your research.
"it's corporatism or even Fascism"
It's vulturism.
What risk? They got bank loans from their buds in the banking industry to buy the vouchers at pennies on the dollar. Or Sou on the Livre or whatever the fuck they use for money in Russia. They knew the game was rigged in their favour.
The risk? The risk of being 'americanly' debated by 'americans' on an 'american' forum.
That was the risk.
Spitzer, how much did you get from Banking Mafia and KGB?
Yes, people got vouchers. However, too many people lost their jobs and other who kept their jobs were not paid. To survive starvation and to feed their kids these people were forced to sell their vouchers for nothing just to stay alive. At the same time, Zionist Banking Mafia (including Rothschild family) provided their agents in Russia with money to buy all these vouchers. This is how New Oligarchy in Russia was created.
The same took place almost 100 years ago when Jewish Bolsheviks got plenty of money from The Wall Street and the City to take over Russia. Then, the Banking mafia also financed NWO. It was called International Comintern but Hitler and Stalin prevented this from happening. Now, they are trying to do it again under different facade.
Enough with the fanatical, authoritarian ideology that needs power and glory to conclude the insatiable primitive desires of mans ego. Stalin, Hitler, Rothschild, etc...have all damned themselves. They served no purpose in life as their destruction was abominably regressive.
I'm progressive and have true wealth so detesting deception is my obligation.
Russia was a test case both socially and economically after the collapse of the USSR. The finest(worthless) ivy grads and professors of western economic thought and psychology brought over their drunken parade to bust Russia wide open like a prostitute. As vulgar as it is, that is fact. They believed a "free market" society and a negative freedom political structure would unify the world by a capitalist(neo feudal, socialist kleptocratic corporatocracy) system. What happened was a the complete opposite. They fueled the oligarchs and gave Putin his rise to power.
Now Russia is back and they ain't faking it. Yes, all corrupted businessmen capitalized by the "failed" experiment in Russia. The Rothsfilth family salivates and thrives in such opportunities. They orchestrate many financial disasters so to capitalize. Stripping wealth from the middle and poor is necessary in their eyes after all. When your scared and desperate to keep your secrets hidden, the middle class must be diminished and kept busy scurrying for fucking dollars.
This is not a perfect design. It is regressive in every aspect. These people are psychopaths and are going to bring everything they believe they created down with them or take everyone out they feel is a threat to what they created. Russia is to the West as what the US/Israel is to the East. Warfare is devastating to the poor and middle class. The government and ultra rich should have been charged according to their crimes against humanity long ago. It is too late now. What people must do is mobilize their mind to practice virtue.
Finally a few people on ZH who are able to get past the USA being so terrible that fictionalises Russia as a positive character and not a player and maniplulator in it own right. No leader builds perceptions over night agenats and think tanks etc work for years on this.
Neither nations leadership and economic oligarchs are worth any respect other than that which comes from extreme caution to trust neither. This is pure Tavistock-esque chess.
Somehow all the businesses supposedly owned by the people of the Soviet Union ended up in the hands of a few oligarchs. The huge risks were the usual ones of keeping company with gangsters.
So you are a communist. "Owned by the people"... heh
Industries need management at the top for them to function at a profit. How did these guys become billionaires if they did not make the right decisions ? We are talking about real physical assets like iron or aluminum mills.These factories would otherwise be abandoned and worth nothing. But these guys made something out of them and now they have value.
These aren't finanicalized billionaires.
Spitzer,
In practice, as we see, your view of the world isn't working out very well.
I suspect you have no clue why that would be.
"Somehow all the businesses supposedly owned by the people of the Soviet Union ended up in the hands of a few oligarchs."
Gee, isn't that basically has what has happened to the wealth in the US?
Face it, nature has produced a bumper crop of high-function psychopaths and they're not just in a couple of advanced countries.
Assortative mating works for bad guys, too.
it is what happened to the wealth in the u.s. but the rich have always had most of it here anyway.
in the ussr/russia, the pretense for seventy years was that it was the "people's" wealth. just go ask karl and the other vladimir.
Ding-ding, we have a winner. If you think Putin made $40B thru honest hard work, then you have much to learn about insider knowledge, favors and coercsion. All former KGB are honest and rich, just like all CIA.
Putin is playing his role in the game.
My guess is that the figures bandied about for Putin's wealth are just that. A guess. It could be $40 billion or $40 million and the current figure is being floated as part of the overall propaganda war.
$40 billion!! LOL! Of course it is the propaganda war attemting to demonise Putin with the Russian population... they've already done the hard yards of demonisation with the sheeple from the west.
i'm not sure how honest the work was, but i bet it was at least as hard as whatever jamie dimon or bill gates or warren buffet did. and i'm not sure how honest those other guys were, are you?
a good number of russians appear to think putin added value. imo, he is still adding. obama? less sure.
your opinion is your opinion from your own experiences, skills and otherwise. That does not make it a fact. money is not the root of all evil, the love of money is. either you are a slave to the money, or you make money your slave. I disagree with your statements.
Look deeper into that translation.
in my experience regarding money, i have been less a slave or a slave owner. it has been more like a fifty year street fight with the advantage shifting with the light and the weather.
I guess the U.S. government finally caught wind of Putin's growing popularity and felt the need to do something about it. I think this shows how the people running show are inadequate. Even if Putin really has $40 billion stashed away, I would have put out a more believable figure, like $10 million. $40 billion just seems too big a figure to be true.
How scientific of you. There are places on this thing call the interwebs (Thanks Al Gore) where you can do a bit of research and see how they came up with the $40B. Until then, quit spouting off uninformed opinions in a blatant attempt to discredit.
You missed my point. I was saying even if $40 billion is true, putting out such a big figure makes it less believable. Besides, are you saying information that can be easily obtained through an Internet search is always true? You can't just google and find how much you have in a person has in bank accounts. Just because newspapers printed one person's allegation, which does not seem to be backed by any concrete proof by the way, 100 times, that does not make it true.
you had me at "the people running show are inadequate."
Based on whose information do we take the value of Putin's wealth as 40 billion? Show me some facts. Half the comments in the comment section make the assumption that this fictitious number is true?
Parrots, I see parrots everywhere.
http://rlv.zcache.com/just_wanted_to_say_parrot_business_card-r7699b56017ed4d57a9ade7c46a0b8e4f_i579u_8byvr_324.jpg
C'mon. Everyone knows the internet is awash in hidden private personal banking data...or perhaps better, nuanced suggestions, like this website
http://www.celebritynetworth.com/articles/celebrity/how-vladimir-putin-s...
[snip]
...So what evidence is there of Putin's secret obscene fortune? Let's start with the small stuff. Putin is known to sport a $150,000 Patek Philippe watch on most occasions and his total collection has been valued at $700,000. He also has full access to a $40 million ultra-luxury yacht that features a wine cellar, Jacuzzi, helipad and outdoor barbecue area...
Just remember to read the text in the voice of Robin Leach
Oh, and $40B...is now $70B
you are polite; IMO , some of the posts boggle my mind in their naivety - WHY wouldn't Putin have squirreled away corporative and soverign wealth interests; he is from the same ilk...he's no saint he did not give birth to Jesus; he's also survived and thrived a good many years - enough said.
Putin is definitely smarter than Obama. Every time Obama tries to make Putin look bad, Obama steps in it.
'Americans'(and that includes Obama) do not need to make Putin look bad.
Putin may be smarter than Obama but it does not matter. Putin, at the moment, at best, managed to concede lesser defeats. But there is no win on his side.
in the fullness of time, imo.
I paid $4.11/gallon last week ... seems like someone is attempting to push petroleum prices up in general ... maybe to support Putins natgas prices?
Kerry has a lot invested in Vietnam!
Now we know what Keynesian Slim meant when he said he'd be more flexible after the election.
Probably not ? Heh...
In March 2013, after completing acquisition of TNK-BP, Rosneft became the largest publicly traded oil company.
Gazprom, Russian: ??? «???????», IPA: [??s?prom]) is the largest extractor of natural gas and one of the largest companies in the world.
40 billion... Easy.
Vladimir Putin is the only hope the world has of changing this Keynesian Anglo American world order. Take the good with the bad but he is our only hope.
God bless Vladimir Putin.
"When all else fails, they take you to war."
-Gerald Celente
How much more obvious is it that The Global Criminal Oligarch Cabal Bankster Intelligence Crime Sydicate is setting the stage for WWIII to coincide with the economic collapse does it have to be?
Exactly. Billions of our taxpayer dollars and more bad karma for our country to protect the interests of bankers. Someone tell me whats so wrong about letting russia settle its accounting problems with ukraine on their own? We know ukraine has a history of screwing russia over with their gas bill. We know our country launched pre-planned psyops and military operations to destabilize their situation further. We know the nc planners are working on putin every which way, including labeling him an anti-semite and targeting his personal wealth. What i dont know is why the american people dont stand up, and put an end to this fucking nonsense.
Isn't there anything the USA can do to PISS off Putin?
Come one...there's got to be something that will work...
imo his training in chess and judo incline putin to a longer game where he uses his opponents' weight and momentum against them.
worked for osama, or so the story goes.
I like Gerald Celente. But if this is war with 150 troops in Poland (pretty far from the action) then it might take a long time.
I'd expect the only flashpoint may be putting a few thousand troops into Baltic countries or in Ukraine or Belarus. or if NATO picks up new countries.
Yeah, and I'm sure Putin earned (read: stole) every bit of the alleged $40 billion.
Oligarch bitch fight.
I will say that Putin clearly displays leadership skills and a cool head which is stunningly absent in the West.
He stopped the theft of Russian assets and resources. Mikhail Kornikovski was aiding the west in stripping Russia of resources.
You sound like a socialist. Why should he be poor ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCU4C6ajgBI
State Department Memo: When there is no other way to win, because you have lost on all other fronts, attack Putin and his so called 40 billion. In other words, the USSA is now playing the losers gambit.
What a crock of shit!
And lose we will. Get ready for assymetric financial warfare, where the US has much more to lose than Russia. That I suppose could lead to a hot war. And that's probably want O really wants.
Its all political at this point, unless in Crimea or Ukraine. If the war gets hot then it won't help any elections or wall street, as the debts are already too high. If war gets hot then interest rates and commodity prices will go to very high levels and fiat currencies may collapse.
Unless the RESET is the goal NOW.
Russia and the world has known about Russian resources before WWI, and Oil and NatGas were always the goal and prize for the last 100 years. We are all sqabble and fighting over it now.
Every small country is moving towards their Sugar Daddy, in 5 years there will be 6 or so Major Powers with land and resources.
Hey, that 40 bil will come in real handy. It represents almost 12 hours of QE! Even longer if they have been tapering! (I lost track.)
Note to Putin: Tell them you have 100 bil and watch them spend 1000 bil looking for it.
You sound like an idiot.
Tell me, what point south of $40 billion rates as "poor"?
And the "income inequality" lefties fall strangely silent, when its Soros or Putin or Oprah or Reid or a Kardashian.
Its deafening...lol.
Can I get a "fuck yea"?...
Arrowed up.
But hey..there soo many idiots on this planet. Im reall just kinda jealous that I didnt think of these scams myself.
Face it..while the world of idiots are too stupid to see the truth (or dont wanna )..those of us that do know whats goin on , sit here commenting on forums like this. Are we winning yet?.. well at least we have popcorn and witty comments.
;)
We surely beat anything and everything that the main strean media can offer.
Oh Yeah, I gave you a Can I get a "fuck yea" up arrow.
Whadjusay? I'm deaf in my left ear.
lol...unreal ain't it?...the cognitive dissonance.
Some animals are more equal than others.
In related news, The Great Lakes are still frozen over, much later than usual.
Let's all remember to thank Al Gore for inventing Global Warming.
What part of one-time Arctic melling do you not understand?
The part about, a steel ship, attempting to recreate a voyage conducted by a wooden ship, a hundred years ago, to Antarctica and becoming hopelessly trapped, in ice.
Cuz, its like man-made, world wide (as in GLOBAL) warming or sumpin.
It was two ships stuck nmewn, man have you got to start keeping up with your global warming statistics...
lol...apologies to all.
Good thing they had just about every nation on Earth backing their idiotic voyage (with someone elses money) to prove a point that wound up being the opposite.
Why, the cost in lives, time and property could have been catastrophic ;-)
nmewn, what do you think of his grab bag of news items: JPM, Deutche bank and now Barclays have exited the commodities markets, Russia IS a commodity supplier, China is the gold holder, the US is the Ag market. Why would the major banks leave the metals, agricultural and energy markets?
Why would the wealth kings give up the honey pots?
Love to hear your ideas....
Hard to know for sure but they've probably been told to expect a crack down on their manipulations.
13 dumbfux, all in a row.
"The Great Lakes are still frozen over..."
lol...its the hot/cold/wet/dry/windy/calm predictions of climactic armageddon (when they can't even get a simple three day weather forecast right) that really is perplexing.
But I'm sure its something we've done to throw off their precise modeling expertise ;-)
LOL, I just thanked that weasel for the interwebs.
Yes but haven't you seen Bonzai's shots of his pad?
It's expensive keeping a herd of midget giraffes.
Ok Barack, at what point north of 100 grand does someone become arbitrarily scum ?
What should the CEO of Russia's net worth be ? Why shouldn't he be worth 40 billion ?
"What should the CEO of Russia's net worth be ? Why shouldn't he be worth 40 billion ?"
Because "publik servants" aren't supposed to become multi-billionaires after only how many years as top decider and how many years as puppet master for Medvedev?...lol.
Because "publik servants" aren't EVER supposed to become multi-billionaires...
Fixed it for ya brother :-)
Don't give me this high horse democracy bullshit. Mobocratically elected corporate federalists in the west don't give a flying fuck about the long term viability of a country. They are not elites. They lie to the people, appoint their own to loot the treasury and walk away.
Putin is an elite. He cares about the long term viability of his country and his constituents. His billions are what he took away from the corporatist Keynesians.
Paul Martin was the PM of Canada and he was a billionaire.
"Mobocratically elected corporate federalists in the west don't give a flying fuck about the long term viability of a country."
Right, 'cause they don't have to live in the neighborhoods they fuck up.
How much are the carpetbagging Clintons worth now.
They aren't carpetbaggers, man...they're from Arkansas-home of the nations biggest and second meanest rattlesnakes (TX is 1st). Lets face it - it ain't Shill & Billary's fault that they are the way they are. Read your history...Arkansas was a territory founded by outlaws, a sort of no-man's-land for the disaffected and triggerhappy of the 19th century. It was quite possibly the first place in the US where money was laundered - through the Hot Springs of Hot Springs, which hosted casinos and whores and contract killers looking for work. The Arkansas Territory became a state by bribing Washingtonians, who became modern politicians by accepting the bribes. It is the cradle of modern political theory! Fuck who you can, and give nothing back! This is a place with computer-grade silica deposits, really good groundwater, kickass sharpening stones, and some of the most backward motherfuckers on the planet (their politicians).
C'mon - who in the history of the fekkin' world was ever impeached for lying about a blowjob???! An Arkansanian! No less! Give homage, man - what with NAFTA and all, these guys brought low the greatest nation-state ever invented! Why do you think Christie is trying SO hard to steal the thunder? Its New Jersey trying to steal the golden goose, man! But SlickyBiy caught 'im in the act, and there's the Devil's Hairpiece now! (Hell toupee for you iggernant fux).
and the only active diamond mine in the country is the Crater of Diamonds Mine near Murfreesboro, Pike County, Arkansas.
lol...it boggles the mind sometimes doesn't it?
How anyone thinking someone making plus a 100k a year, supposedly having their own expenses, can amass millions, even billions in such short periods of time...and then cry poverty or scream "Look! Over there!...squirrels!!!" as they rant & rave about "income inequality".
Really?
Well then, Richie Rich, why don't you hand over some of yours?
Oh, no...they want you to hand over YOURS.
Ahhh, now I see, because they are "publik servants"...of course! ;-)
Answer a question with a question, well done, Slick Willy.
This would be a hell of a lot easier if you knew how to think rather than knee-jerk react. I suppose in your world if, say, Rupert Murdoch or some such oligarch ended up owning everything you'd say "well, that's it, he won, he owns everything and bully for him... we would all go home -- if we had a home -- but it's over now..."? The point is that it is arbitrary, otherwise we must buy into your notion that there exists no limits. We have arbitrary limits imposed everywhere (why 20 mph in a school zone? 25 mph is pretty safe, or maybe we should have to turn off the engine and push our cars passed the schools, that would be really safe.../sarc, etc.).
Seems you make the point that the only alternative to the current system would have to be some sort of Soviet Socialist nightmare. Are you unable to imagine any other ways where contribution/success/hard work are rewarded?
What makes you puke your guts out more....
Putin, who happened to be in the right place at the right time, taking all the right risks, amassed 40 billion while one of the biggest superpowers in the world collapsed.
Or so 20 year old fucking dork who amassed billions overnight because he invented SnapChat ?
Do your research on the collapse of the USSR before you piss all over these Russian billionaires.
"Do your research on the collapse of the USSR before you piss all over these Russian billionaires."
Changing the subject. I didn't say anything about Russian billionaires. When you figure out what day it is get back to me...
This is becoming wildly entertaining...lol.
"Do your research on the collapse of the USSR before you piss all over these Russian billionaires."
Sooo, ummm, you're saying, the communist Soviet Union actually had billionaires, who could snap up "opportunities" as they arose with the collapse of a nation, that "the peasants" did not?
Do tell ;-)
Well, nm, it did. And I know I'm going to catch flak for pointing this out, but many of them were Jews. Others were Ukranian, Cossack, a genuine Russky here and there, but mostly Jews. The vor y voronya, if I remember right. The baddest motherfuckers the criminal world has seen to date. Red Mafiya. These guys built criminal organizations across the globe under the noses of the KGB. By the time Gorbadrunk came along, they owned most of the Canadian hockey leagues, and were beginning to infiltrate the USA. Coupl'a banks bought in the Enron aftermath, a few sports teams here and there, some real estate on Long Island...and before long they were hand-feeding Cosa Nostra, who trembled in fear at the Soviet approach to crime and revenge. It is plausible that these are the guys who put the last three administrations in the White House, fucked the GOP up so badly that it isn't recognizable anymore, and is involved in the wholesale slaughter of every institution that holds the American edifice up.
The vors were astonishing under all the repression that the USSR could generate - buy this one, kill that one, no exits. Operating under the watchful eye of Uncle Sam is a breeze for these guys. Keystone copos don't stand a chance against this sort of organization, and now there is nobody left in DC to do a damned thing about it. Holderama and Co. made sure of that.
Were you touched as a child? There's something just not right about you.
If you make more than the value of what you can physically produce; then, in one way or another, you are stealing.
NOTHING is free.
It isn't difficult to look like Sherlock Holmes, when the west has Inspector Clousseau.
You sure it isn't Dreyfuss we're stuck with? At least Clouseau solved his crimes... ( and I will tolerate no aspersions cast at M. Sellers, sir!)
Thank you.
Thats really all I've been saying. Crony-socialists (Euro's/Obama/Putin/Hollande/Merkel etal) having a bitch slapping contest isn't something I'm gonna get all worked about till one of them bleeds on me.
Let em dice each other into fine pieces for all I care.
Well, Vlad is a Man, and Bath House is a.... well, you know....pussy. For Reggie.
Putin has analysed this. He will just seize foreign assets in Russia.
Spitzer, you are for the communist takeover aren't ya, just say it....We can change the USA system w/o any help thanks. Once we get all of the communists out of office here, we will be extracting as much gas as Rosneft...
Communists control the economy. Russia's tax rates are way lower then the US or Europe. The communists have taken over. Do you see ANY difference in policy between George Bush/Obama or Sarkozy/Holland ? Nope. Yet the powers that these puppets answer to are supposedly not communists ?
Putin is the anti Keynesian communist.
"spitzer"...I think you are on to something...I like the way you think!
for what it's worth
Vladimir Putin is the only hope the world has of changing this Keynesian Talmudic Zio American world order. Take the good with the bad but he is our only hope.
There fixed it for you.
If Putin is our best hope, then I'm switching to asteroids. What a fucked-up, ignorant, stupid, asinine, uninformed thing to say. Take your commie asshole-licking sycophancy and stick it up your nose. You have just spit in the eye of every genuine freedom fighter that ever lived, you slug-sucking commie-loving parasite. The best use for stupidheads like you is target practice.
stupidheads? that had to sting. while putin may or may not be our best hope, in any case he is not working alone. note who didn't vote against him at the u.n.
this is always a good map to remember: http://worldbank.tumblr.com/post/59679789433/more-people-live-inside-thi...
Good point and map...I stand by the thought, though, that if anyone really believes that there is one politician, government or institution in the whole damned planet that gives a hoot about the rest of the world outside their little glory towers, they're either kidding themselves or that poltician resides on Pluto. We The People are regarded by our leadership as necessary evil, collateral damage, fodder for their criminal pursuits and nothing more.
If there is any hope for this bedraggled species, it lies very far down the road from here, after the oligarchs have stripped civilization bare and killed each other off fighting over the last crumbs. That sole hope lies in the rank and file creating a system of doing things (farming, manufacturing, education etc) which is entirely separate from the status quo. While the tiny population of us who recognize that is still bantering about and prattlinng on about hero-pooten and devilbama, we are just as hamstrung as the powers that be intend.
What we are experiencing is the direct result of encouraging the warrior mentality over the last 2000-plus years. The genetic remains of fair play and equal opportunity were scorched to dust with the annihilation of millions of us during the 20th Century. Reminds me of the sinking of the Titanic - all the philanthropic genius of the age lost at sea, leaving only the greedy lieutenants to pick up the pieces. Yeah, stupidheads...which ZH appears to have an abundance of- History know-nothings who help to doom us to repeat the worst events of our history, twisters who select facts to fit their bullshit racist arguments, and sycophantic idiots who think someone like Putin is going to get us out of the mess we made for ourselves - with plenty help from him. Stupidheads doesn't even come close.
Learn how this forum works before you go attacking someone jackass. I was qouting someone above me!
I am the furthest thing from a commie. I'm a vet, freedom loving, and God fearing patriot.
Pick up a book and you might learn a thing or two. Russia is a completely different country now than when the Bolshevik's took over and mass murdered 80 million Christians. Putin is a Chistian and has attacked the zio oligarchs and old ruling class elites and defended Christians. I love my country but absolutely detest our government as it has become what Russia once was.
Yet another little side question remains:
How exactly plans the US gov to stop an non-US citizen to reach his account in a 3rd country (Switzerland)?
Our best hope if ourselves. Putin may be an ally of convenience but he is no savior. Learn to stand up for yourself.
Putin is just another sociopath. The people hate the one, but favor the next. This has been going on and on and on in history of mankind. Before this pattern doesn't change, there is no hope for a better world and tyranny will never go away.
If Obama's plan of sanctioning the international theft of stolen wealth by disaffected states catches fire neoliberalism as we know it is dead.
A day to live for. A terrible use of the word 'liberal.'
neotyranny
What, are they trying to give him a reason to go beyond the border of Ukraine?
The U.S. has the biggest dopes on the planet, what a corrupt regime we have!
I'd love to see the U.S. and E.U. elitist's have their noses bruised by Russia.
No allegiance for the U.S. here; the ideals, some of the people, but not the corrupt fascist Kleptoligarchial hydra of Wall Street/Washington D.C.
you make a good point. even among the ones helping obama realize his calling of "killing people" (http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/nov/4/obama-brag-new-book-im-re...) all is not as it might be: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/19/world/asia/air-force-drone-operators-s...
morale could be a problem, especially for one so adept at leading from behind: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2011/04/leading-from-behi...
I think his money might be hiding out in Tide detergent
Pilfered Tide Detergent a New Currency?http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/03/14/pilfered-tide-detergent-n...
It is very good laundry soap.
And he certainly will not keep it in dollars if he goes to trade gas with China and India in anything but dollars.
>>Never underestimate the foresight and good intel of russian billionaires.
Certainly - This move is public appearance only and they have given him and his aids plent of time to shift and juggle around the family siliver.
This is like Browns bottom, we're telling everyone now that we're selling off some yellow stuff at an auction sometime around a year from now OR duck now I'm going to kick you in the goolies.
i suppose it follows the bush fortune can be siphoned for iraq?
Fucking with sasquatch
and pissing up a rope.
yep. All it means is that the warmongers haven't yet been able to make Putin take the bait in the Ukraine yet
Even if he does have his wealth in Swiss bank accounts, it doesn't matter. Russia is a world power, not a third world country. Switzerland does just as much business if not more with Russia and her friends as they do with the US. They will pay lip service but they won't do anything. Because they won't risk being beat up and money pulled out of their country and their politicians being harrassed by Russian and their allies because they alligned with the US.
No war. Vlad will just have the state bank print up whatever is frozen by west to make up the shortfall. As a matter of fact most likely he has direct access to whatever is in that country , spanning 11 time zones. This is just stupid
Not to depress the Putin hero worshipers, but if you've got $40 Billion you're part of the NWO, not fighting it.
Perhaps save your bromantic tendancies for someone more deserving...
Which NWO ?
Many here assume there's only one, not yet, but
there can only be one.
Nilhilist is a moron.
Putin is rich because he ended the rape of Russian assets by shady deals set up after the bankrupcy in 1998.
Watch this. It gets right into the bullshit production sharing agreements written up probably by cocksuckers like Tim Giethner and Marc Carney when they did their Russia tours early in their careers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCU4C6ajgBI
"Putin is rich because he ended the rape of Russian assets by shady deals set up after the bankrupcy in 1998."
Not sure how that even works, he's a good investor like Harry Reid?...lol...Russia is really just the pinnacle of captalism in which a LIFE LONG humble apparatchik can start his climb through the KGB and become a billionaire?...what?
Yeah, the poor fellar can barely afford cab fare to make it down to his new palace on the Black Sea.
nmewn, you and prains and PT are my favorite members. Always bringing useful discourse. Amongst the sea of liber-tards that are flooding this site lately, you guys keep the comments readable. Libertarianism taken to it's natural end is anarchy. NONE of these faux-libertarians can imagine or understand a world free of a state monopoly on force. Yet as long as that monopoly exists you can't have true liberty. There for they are merely useful idiots for the state's control apparatus, every bit the tool that their progressive counterparts are.
I take that back... There exponentially fucking worse because they soil the name and pollute the ideology of those that actually seek liberty.
There is no half measure of liberty when it comes to the concept of the monopoly of state force. Either you are completely free or you are a slave. When government has the LEGITIMIZED POWER to TAKE your rights, you never had any rights to begin with.