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Did The US Department Of Justice Just Do Vladimir Putin A Great Favor
Last year, in the aftermath of the western-mediated Ukraine presidential coup and subsequent proxy civil war between Russia and NATO countries, the US imposed sanctions, largely over the complaints of the German business lobby, on Moscow which did little to dent the Russian economy but crippled European exports to such a degree that a few months later the continent was on the verge of a triple dip recession which in turn paved the way for the ECB's QE.
That is not to say Russia was spared: Russia's economy was also substantially impacted but not by US "costs", since unlike the US, financial markets in Russia are a fraction of the size and importance they are in the west, but by the collapse in oil prices. It took US some 6 months to realize that for a commodity exporting powerhouse such as Russia, sanctions are meaningless, but crush the price of its main export and suddenly everything changes.
This was the basis for various rounds of "secret" talks between John Kerry and Saudi Arabia: to punish Russia by lowering the price of oil, which also ended up smothering not only US shale production but the most vibrant part of the US economy, and its job creation dynamo, the state of Texas.
Furthermore, the Russian economy had also been weakened recently by the Winter Olympics in Sochi, which may have been the grand spectacle Putin wanted to put on, but it came at a cost: the final bill is said to have topped $50 billion, much more than originally planned, although oil was still well above $100, in line with what had been Russia's budgeted oil price for 2015-2017.
Which is why in retrospect, the DOJ's crackdown against FIFA in general, and the Russian World Cup of 2018 in particular, may have been just the blessing in disguise that Putin, who whether he likes it or not has been forced to hunker down in cash conservation mode, wanted.
According to Reuters, Russia expects to spend more than 660 billion rubles ($12 billion) on preparations including building six new stadiums, hotels, training grounds and health facilities. "Russia won the right to host the finals in 2010 with a bid promising to overhaul the transport system, build state-of-the-art sport facilities and put several regional cities on the map."
Costly, but meaningless, airport renovations and high-speed rail links are also needed to ease travel between the 11 host cities, the most distant of which, Yekaterinburg, is almost 2,000 km (1,250 miles) from Moscow.
Below is Reuters' map of all the Russia cities whose infrastructure would require massive renovations ahead of the event:
Reuters further notes that last week the "government reduced planned spending on the World Cup by 3.5 billion rubles, the latest in a series of cuts made as the economy flags."
Since the start of 2015, the World Cup organizers have axed plans to build 25 hotels, cut the number of training grounds in each host city from four to three and reduced the capacity of some of the venues to save on building costs.
Moscow's Luzhniki stadium, which will stage the opening match and the final a month later, will be able to seat 81,000, down from the 89,000 originally billed.
"This World Cup is an image project for Putin. He really has something to prove here," a source close to the organizing committee said.
But he added: "The approach to this World Cup now is to do what was promised, with no frills, and nothing more."
Michal Karas, editor-in-chief of website Stadium Database, said many high-tech features included in designs for Russia's new stadiums have been scrapped as the weak rouble made imports more expensive.
And therein lies the rub: when it comes to projecting an outward image, for Putin it is everything or nothing, no matter the cost. However, as a result of economic (and geopolitical) developments over the past year, the cost has started to matter. And as a result, suddenly the grand vision of the world cup had to be scaled down.
Enter the US department of justice, and the FBI which as reported yesterday, is now investigating whether bribes were involved in the selection of Russia and Qatar as hosts of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup venues. And as we predicted one week ago when the FIFA scandal broke out, it is only a matter of time before Russia is stripped of its World Cup hosting.
Which would be not a single, but double victory for Putin:
- first, Putin will save billions in funds for far better uses (the IRR on mass sport spectacles is terrible), and avoid the bottomless pit that is building if not bridges, then surely road, to nowhere and stadiums that will be used once only to become grazing grounds for sheep in the years to come.
- more importantly, for a country fanned by nationalistic fervor, Putin will be able to wave the patriotic flag and slam the evil USA for not only meddling in other people's affairs, but taking away what was rightfully Russia's, thereby boosting his nationalism-inspired popularity to even greater heights.
Finally, what better time and place to stage a massive false flag event than during a world cup, one where countless international, innocent casualties can be blamed on the host nation for not providing sufficient security, leading to an even greater outcry from the global media. No world cup matches, no false flag risk.
So, ironically, the great FIFA scandal meant to strip Russia of its 2018 World Cup hosting may just end up being the deus ex win-win for Putin which the Russian leader never expected would fall straight into his lap.
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I'm pretty sure that ANYONE in the US Government (wittingly or unwittingly), does Putin a favor every single day.
The state Senate today approved a bill that would allow physicians in California to prescribe lethal doses of drugs for terminally ill patients who want to hasten their deaths
Qatar is killing 4 immigrants a day and giving them sea cans to live in while they build a massive facility to host the 2022 FIFA cup in daily 50 degree plus weather.. Mathematically this already IS a terrorist event by 2019 they will have killed 3000 people, and probably crippled thousands more for life from long term exhaustion.
The reality is anyone who would support a FIFA event and attend Qatar deserves all the orweillian debt slavery and government screw jobs they can get - I would see it as a mass complicity to murder.
But we do not need to worry World War III will break out, FIFA won't exist by the time Putie Pute does (or does not) host it.
WWIII , will not break out.
FIFA will continue to exist.
Putin hosts world cup.
USA doesn't pass first round.
Argentina play France in final.
Fixed it for you dipshit!
you lost me at " france in final"
Putin’s Russia: Nemesis of the New World 'Order'
Just Like JFK, President Vladimir Putin Goes His Own Way50 degrees is a bit chilly here in 'Murrcuhh.
It is a propaganda win for Russia any way the U.S. government plays it. And, no doubt my exceptional US government will play the petty bully and the fool, nothing new.
Agreed. Putin and Russia could show a resolve not seen in the West to hold a no-frills World Cup. For the average working-class fan, the game is the most important thing All of the bullshit trappings of glitz are strictly for the elite.
It would be nice for someone to set more reasonable standards for how money is spent by governments.
It won't matter if it is no frills since the FIFA 2018 will not be held in Russia. You can be guaranteed that even if the Russians are clean, the USSA will manufacture trumped up charges of corruption. But I doubt they are clean, since every FIFA cup award is riddled with corruption.
A PR victory for Putin? I would say it's a PR disaster.
By allying himself with the corrupt regime of Blatter, Putin has shown how totally desperate he is by clinging on to the 2018 Russia World Cup.
If Putin really wants to score some PR browny points, he should return the favour and meddle in the US's affairs by inditing some corrupt Wall Street bankers.
A Major Analysis by Rostislav Ishchenko
Every time the world is reminded that Puutie paid large bribes to get the votes to hold the World Cup will remind all football fans the Russia is a criminal nation run by a criminal. If that is propaanda win for Puutie, it certainly wilappeal to a certain type of person, his fellow crooks.
Much of the article is the standard ZH bullshit creating the strawman knockdown. Puutie's little acolyte, Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych, ran away to Puutie after the voters realized he had lied to them. The little criminal them out to Puutie for personal bribes. Now he is comfortable in Russia polishing knobs on Kleptocrats.
The Russian population must be about to say "enough of Puutie." Incomes down 15%, money wasted of graft of Sochi games, and Puutie planning more waste with World Cup. No wonder that there is the large military buildup, it is to confront the Russian population. The conscripts not killed in Ukraine blunder will be asked to shoot the homefolks.
Puutie is broke. His only method to retain power after destroying the economy is to shoot some people.
Warrior, your message like a bullet penetrated my consciousness!
You have a rank in the Internet Army of Ukraine? Private First Ass?
Jump for award to Lyashko.
He's just another Al-CIA-da stooge pushing propaganda for America's War of Terror
According to Augusdisgustus, the Russians are coming (in his mouth of course, LOL):
Reuters :
Who knows, like the Yeti, we may see them some day
Shit. Are they riding on snails?
Person mentioning "Lyashko" and "Ass" in the post must be intimately familiar with trash in Ukrainian politics. Are you on the clock at Olgino (St. Petersburg, Russia) troll factory or just innocent victim of Putin's agitprop?
And r you an inoccent victim of stupidity who says glory to Ukraine)?
.
Come on, can't keep something like this a secret:
https://i.simpalsmedia.com/forum.md/comments/900x900/796287fda74346549b1...
You know, made me laugh. Grantees cheap and you State Department grants have. Voluntary slaves for a few kopeks, ugh! But bleat on, earn a pittance.
What? Putin to hurt, this is for you, how in the balls?
Write better in the topic about schizophrenia your mind have stolen.
So, it's come to this. ZH, which has done so many excellent financial analysis and exposes, ends as a
Russian-stooge propaganda mill. Way to go; take all your excellent work and turn it into a pile of trash.
Dude, Russia's shenanigans pale into insignificance against the gargantuan systemic global coruption undertaken and fostered by the USA.
Russia murders a man, the USA murders 100,000
Of course the attack on FIFA is all US TPTB bullshit for their own purposes, just as they sue some guy working from his mum's basement in London, rather than gigantic crimainal bank coruption of all markets everywhere. In the US a guy loke Corzine walks free tells us all we need to know about the current state of the US.
Everybody knows Russia is a heavy handed nasty SOB, they expect it. The thing is the US couches itself in stella grade hypocrisy when it behaves like Russia x 1,000,000
I think there were some pretty revealing bible phrases refering to the eventual fate of Assyria... it suits the USA 100%
We are the USSA! We are the only pure ones. We have no corruption. We are the innocents! We are the brave ones who always stand up for Truth, Justice, and the American Way!
Can't trust those corrupt Ruskies though. They would stoop so low as to steal the 2018 soccer tournament. They are not pure like Barack Soetoro and the county judges in our fair land.
Hello there Augustus, still trolling I see, don't you get tired of it or are your masters urging more action.
You do know you are going to get screwed like every one else don't you, what !, they didn't tell you, oh dear! you are going to be surprised aren't you.
Drink some more cool-aid and have a nice day.
And it's a total windfall for whatever BFF Country does get it.
Tyler, time to start a betting pool.
USA, Germany, UK, Italy, France, Korea, Japan, KSA are my picks. Australia and Canada are longshots.
Those folks up north there in those county sized states think they rule the world. I wouldn't cross the Ohio for nuthin out a fear it be on the wrong day
This is so funny that tears came to my eyes. No matter what they do, they seem to get further stuck in the mire.
No matter what they do, they seem to get further stuck in the mire.
Puutie did have other choices. Bribery and invasion are just his normal solutions.
I'm glad there's no bribery and invasion involving AmeriKKKa's War of Terror
Keep dreaming Augustie, Russia will endure long after the Ukie Banderists are tossed into the trashcan of history joining Hitler and Napoleon.
Yeah, we are quite guilty on that count.........sigh. Hopefully the next American Revolution will put a dent in that behavior. We're working on it.
so
just as ignorant replies are yours
Soros pays well, does he?
"Bribery and invasion are just his normal solutions."
Augooftus are you implying that Putin is an American? That is a very low blow........but I am sure that is your specialty.
You're kidding... there's a DOJ still?
Is this an Onion piece...?
S/
Well sure the DOJ still exists. They have merely relocated their main offices to 270 park Avenue New York, NY and can be reached at this number - (212) 270-3928. If a freak named Jamie answers, hang up.
Interesting article. I could be convinced of its merits. Except Obama is so evil, I want to see him denied his petty personal vendetta against Russia
Q99X2's advice to Putin. Use the money to defeat the NWO and free the western world from economic interlinking corporatism. Help America become a free nation once again. And, give us our military back because we are all in a heap of crap with neocons in control of nukes.
The map should be updated as it shows Crimea as still part of Ukraine.
The USSA/NATO cannot get over the loss of their big prize. Merkel still insists that Russia turn Crimea back to the Ukies, as if the people of the Crimea are animals to be sold as chattel.
You are so right Maxter, russia will never ever give up Crimea. I don't think the brain dead crowd in Wasington have worked that out yet.
The U.S.A. jumped the shark sticking it's nose in F.I.F.A., especially considering that the D.O.J. turns a blind eye to the legion of crooks on Wall Street and worthless turds like Jon Corzine. Where is that asshole anyways?
AmeriKan exceptionalism knows no bounds. I only wish that the USSA would strip Russia of the 2018 Cup. The propaganda benefits alone would be worth it.
Obviously a slow night around the Hedge, so...
See, this is why I hate "academics" pretending to be scientists:
"This suggests that as soon as fire was controlled, cooking could have ramped up," says Alexandra Rosati, an evolutionary biologist at Yale and a co-author of the study, which was published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B."
Of course, "could have" implies he's not making a declarative statement based on science, just a supposition, something easily gotten out of when evidence to the contrary of the intention is offered.
But wait, here it is:
"You can think of it as a chimpanzee microwave where, basically, if the chimpanzees placed raw food in the device and then we shook the device, [the food] came out cooked," says Rosati, who will be moving from Yale to Harvard this summer.
The device was actually just a bowl with a false bottom that held cooked food."
So in other words, they performed the old Dancing Chicken Act by rewarding behavior and extrapolated the desired result, even though the chimps...never did learn to cook.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/06/03/411748170/chimps-are-no-chumps-give-them-an-oven-theyll-learn-to-cook?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20150603
Somebody is paying for this shit you know.
To those who want to give animals and plants rights - of course, defined and guarded by themselves - science means nothing, only that some academe from a major university offered it up for them.
After Iran made it's presence known as big time medal winners at the 2012 Olympics in wrestling, USA/Israel lobbied to remove wrestling from the Olympics!! Let's shed some light on how that stupid decision was made please. As expected it pissed off so many people around the world they had to reinstate the sport. Never have US and Iranians come together as they did to overturn the corrupt Olympic committee doing israel's bidding.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/iran-blog/2013/feb/12/wrestling-dropped...
Drop wrestling and add BMX and snowboarding so AmeriKKKa can win more medals. Maybe they can add breakdancing and rapping and drop a few other sports that Americants are no good at.
I would think any continent that maintains and supports any sport? as exciting and physically demanding as Curling (snicker) would be wise to refrain from denigrating the sports in other parts of the world. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. Also, since sun tzu is obviously confused from inhaling too much toxic Chinese atmosphere, let me point out that breakdancing and rapping are not sports. And when it comes to music, I will admit that I am very fond of many European bands. However, they are almost all jazz and rock bands, which are genres of music that were created by Americans. You are quite welcome.
P.S. Helmut Hattler (German) and Candy Dulfer (Dutch), along with many other Europeans, are awesome musicians.
Our FSA looting teams are pretty impressive too
Stupid-ass macho man sports obsessions...argghh!
Considering the costs of hosting these events, you'd think countries would want to avoid being hosts...but no...they FIGHT over the rights to waste a shitload of money on these events...it's just incomprehensible.
According to some reports, Japan is still trying to pay off the costs of the 1998 Nagano Olympics (don't know why I capitalized olympics given the FIFA-like corruption that infests the process). And, yet, they spent more money to host the 2020 games. It makes no sense.
It makes perfect sense: Olympics and FIFA are another good opportunity for a small group of insiders to steal from the rest.
>the Winter Olympics in Sochi, which may have been the grand spectacle Putin wanted to put on, but it came at a cost: the final bill is said to have topped $50 billion
Sochi is right near Crimea. When Crimeans heard that Putin had spent $50 billion on the infrastructure around Sochi, they started to cry loudly, "What about us?!"
------
There is no better way to cut the obesity rate among boys than to promote soccer and hockey.
You mean football and hockey. ONly place in the world its called soccer is in the USA.
Not true. Australia, for one, calls it "soccer", and its national team is The Socceroos. When I was growing up there, "footie" meant Rugby League. Go figure.
The winter olympics in sochi were from february 7 to the 23. The coup in the maidan was feb 22.
The crimeans must have heard that $50 bil figure way ex post facto.
Russia will keep the games. This is all crying over the fact they offered more bribes then we did. If the US really wants the games it needs to quit being cheap and offer more money.
All these big so called sport events like football world championship and the olympics are nothing more than overpriced distractions for the masses. Remember the WC in Brasil? I don't cause I don't watch but I do know that they built stadiums in the jungle that were used only a couple of times and are now rotting away at a pricetag for the tax payer. Same thing with the olympic venues they built in Greece.
It is all a bunch of hot air watching grown man chase a ball and when they have they kick it away again. Or to watch somebody swimm just a fart of a second faster than someone else. I guess people need that sort of spectacles to channel their tensions away instead of directing it somewhere else like let's say....governments?
The US DOJ? tries to attack corruption in FIFA and hilarity ensues:
http://russia-insider.com/en/fbi-boss-fifa-corruption-not-tolerated-us-f...
The US DOJ? tries to attack corruption in FIFA and hilarity ensues:
http://russia-insider.com/en/fbi-boss-fifa-corruption-not-tolerated-us-f...
Putin is destroying the wole region's economy, especially Russia's, & must be stopped from launching all his wars. They have propped up his ratings, but that is just a pyrrhic victory, as his nation descends to a depression likely to be worse than 1990s. If SWIFT transfers are blocked on Putin's admin AND his crime families, he will be removed, either dead or alive. The world will be better for this, including the entire former USSR.
The aggressors is the USA/NATO . MORON
you must be a corrupt person-you talk like one
"[Putin] must be stopped from launching all his wars"
I know it's awful deary. I've counted 573½ wars that Putin has started this year alone.
/s
Apparently, padraeg's ability to think intelligently is every bit as impressive as his spelling skills. Hey paddy, what country is the "wole region" in anyway?
Tags:
Washington’s attack on world soccer is following the script of Washington’s attack on the Russian-hosted Sochi Olympics. The difference is that Washington couldn’t stop the Olympics from being held in Sochi, and was limited to scaring off westerners with lies and propaganda. In the current scandal orchestrated by Washington, Washington intends to use its takeover of FIFA to renege on FIFA’s decision that Russia host the next World Cup.
Read more: WHAT REALLY HAPPENED | The History The US Government HOPES You Never Learn! http://whatreallyhappened.com/#ixzz3cAOHJPia
http://albainternazionale.blogspot.it/2015/06/massimiliano-greco-cia-ope...
Russia, Putin, Cooperations, Iran, Operation Ajax etc ...
more importantly, for a country fanned by nationalistic fervor, Putin will be able to wave the patriotic flag and slam the evil USA for not only meddling in other people's affairs, but taking away what was rightfully Russia's, thereby boosting his nationalism-inspired popularity to even greater heights.
RT is already on the job, minutes after the news broke, and they are playing it for all its worth.
I never thought of this viewpoint but it makes good sense. Let brokeass England host the games, maybe Russia will get to kick their ass on their own soil with their further debt dime. There might be some good lemonade in those FIFA lemons after all. Besides Russia could use the savings to further beef up their defense infrastructure.
Shadows of Jimmy Carter 1980.
Once you scrape away the geo-political intrigue, what are you left with?
That's right, soccer. And soccer....is shit.
Every English speaking sport .... which happens to be all sports .... including soccer .... is better than soccer ! Monedian Logic
You Americunt fucktards play far fewer sports.
Hey Dutchboy, don't paint all Americans with the same brush. Sure, most Americans are fucktards, but so are most Europeans. We have Jamie "Wee Wee" Diamond and you have Mario "The Queen" Draghi. We have Hitlery "The Sow" Clinton and you have Angela "The Heifer" Merkle. I'd say we're all well and truly fucked. But on the plus side of being an American, I have a veritable arsenal of weapons waiting for the assholes, .gov or otherwise, who decide it is a good idea to advance on my homestead. What have you got Dutchboy?
I don't know how this would be figured as doing Putin a "great favor".
The World Cup hasn't been cancelled in Russia, and Russia seems to be megaphoning that it's all still on.
In actuality, Putin looks now at a few nooses to hang himself on.
He can go ahead with developing the infrastructure for the World Cup, costing the billions Russia can (for the moment, admittedly) hardly afford.
He can skimp on developing the infrastructure, and save billions.
If he builds and invests, what happens when the Russian World Cup gets canceled and moved to another country?
If he doesn't do the neccessary improvments, what happens if the World Cup stays in Russia, and Putin gets left holding the bag and wearing his "Russia: Developed Economy 2101" t-shirt.
"what better time and place to stage a massive false flag event than during a world cup, one where countless international, innocent casualties can be blamed on the host nation for not providing sufficient security, leading to an even greater outcry from the global media...." The ONLY people that would pull a "false flag" would be Russians themselves, against Putin.... the rest would be simple terrorist attacks. Islamist (Chechens and Salafists), ethnic Ukranians and Georgians, and radical groups are in no short supply in Russia. Just because they get dumped boatloads of money to make it happen doesn't make it a "false flag".
It's time for Putin to stop crying that Russia is the victim. He's responsible for the near halt to foreign investment in Russia. Being a military powerhouse doesn't make you part of the first world, especially when it's because you're angry that you blew 10 years of getting people to believe (falsely) that your country was worth investing in.
Fuck off you godddam Americunt imbecile.
Indeed, being a military powerhouse doesn't make one a first world nation - does it ? I mean, the only nations out there with a Negro run government are in Africa and a fruity place on the North American continent that fancies itself "indispensible".
Great article. So true.
Quit looking for rainbows in Lenin's golden urinal .... rogue Putin is overplaying his stupid hand !
And what hand does the American Magic Negro play ?
One assumes, wistfully, foolishly, that the people in charge know what they are doing. As it turns out, the people one chats with, anonymously, randomly, on a discussion forum somewhere in the air are smarter, more knowlegeable and more prescient.
We're doomed.
Why unarmed invaders that only fuck up your society called "immigrants" ?
Everyone in North America is an immigrant, including the first nations.
I'm sure the first nation guys thought like you.