Phony Pretext

The whole situation in Ukraine does have its moments of amusement. John “you just don’t invade a country under a phony pretext” Kerry being one of them. It is not clear if the US was lying about its thoughts on supposed weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The US might just have been criminally stupid. John "I voted for the war in Iraq before I voted against it" Kerry is an example of hubris. To say that one cannot invade a country on a phony pretext, what was he thinking? The US spent 5 billion to destabilize Ukraine, as was admitted by a US diplomat, and then expects Russia to do nothing. Russia will not allow Crimea to be within NATO.

Does this mean all is well in the Russian Federation? While I thought that Putin in the below embedded press conference made a lot sense, there is a roaring elephant that was not mentioned in the press conference. If the principle is to be self-determination, then what about Chechnya and the other small Islamic areas in the Caucasus mountains? When will their elections take place?

I am sure Chechnya occurred to at least one of these court reporters. But of course it cannot be mentioned. They know who ultimately pays for their vodka. Peter Arnett was CNN's premier reporter. Yet he was immediately fired when he opposed the Iraq war. Phil Donahue was fired as well. Wonder why you cannot trust the media? As the old saying goes, "He who pays the piper calls the tune." Six corporations control 90% of US media. Unfortunately what you get outside the mainstream is Alex "what about Building Seven" Jones. If you are a regular reader you know I will immediately throw out another cliché. Let's see ... ah, if you leave the mainstream for Jones you are, "jumping out of the frying pan and leaping into the fire."

I do have concerns about the conflict. I doubt the crisis will cascade out of control, but this is always possible. More likely is that the crisis might be the tipping point for the larger economic crisis I have been writing about. I still think this will be avoided for some time, but as Yogi Berra said, "It is difficult to make predictions, especially about the future." On a personal level I worry about my family's planned trip to Russia. There is talk about closing Russian embassies. That would make visas difficult.

My main point is not about the details of the conflict. It is instead to avoid being played by "the powers that be" to arrive at the opinion they want from us sheep. Sure I want to be a sheep when the shepherd is the Good Shepherd, but Obama or Putin, not so much. The ultimate solution is to read widely and think for yourself.

Since this Putin press conference was not well publicized, I put it here.

Imagine

No, this is not a tribute to that famous John Lennon song. 

Everything Is Not AwesomeImagine that you are a businessman with a long history of sales to one customer. Because of long-standing ties you even give the customer a 30% discount. But the customer is not paying your bill promptly, often not paying it at all. The amount owed keeps growing and growing. What do you do? At some point you place the customer on a cash only basis. You have no choice. Why should you continue to offer discounts to that customer? I have been in this situation a number of times, in fact I am in this situation right now. Everything is not awesome. (Cheesy reference to the Lego Movie.) 

While the parallel is not exact, this is the situation that the Russian Federation is in right now with Ukraine. Why should Russia continue to sell gas to Ukraine if they are not being paid? Why should they offer discounts under what they can get for the gas in the rest of Europe? Would you? 

Imagine further that this customer was also a wholesaler that took your product and resold it and kept that money. That was the situation the last time the darling of the West, Yulia Tymoshenko, the once and future Prime Minister of Ukraine, was in charge. Ukraine is a "choke point" for natural gas sales to Europe. The Ukraine government used this fact to steal gas from the pipelines as most Russian gas sales to Europe flows through the pipelines in Ukraine. While Gazprom is frantically building new pipelines, they will not be completed before 2016. 

So in that situation what would you as a businessman do? 

Keep these facts of the situation in Ukraine in mind as whatever unfolds over the next few days. I doubt any nation-state would act any differently than what the Russian federation will do, and soon. So, while Russia is not rainbow unicorns, sweetness and light, and puppies, it will act in what it perceives as its own vested interests. All nation-states do the same. 

War Looming?

While I doubt that we are heading toward a international crisis in the Ukraine, it is not impossible. Paul Craig Roberts has written an interesting article on this. He points out that the Ukrainian protestors are funded by the West to destabilize the Ukraine:

In an eight minute, 46 second speech at the National Press Club sponsored by the US-Ukraine Foundation, Chevron, and Ukraine-in-Washington Lobby Group, Nuland boasted that Washington has spent $5 billion to foment agitation to bring Ukraine into the EU. Once captured by the EU, Ukraine will be “helped” by the West acting through the IMF. Nuland, of course, presented the IMF as Ukraine’s rescuer, not as the iron hand of the West that will squeeze all life out of Ukraine’s struggling economy.

The article is well worth a look. 

1161 Years Old

Our FounderMurom was 1161 years old last week, and as you can imagine, this is a cause for celebration. 

The streets in the center of town are closed to traffic and a carnival atmosphere is evident. As is typical in such situations, there is sugar-ladened food everywhere. Even a grumpy old food critic like me had no objections. We had lunch at the Cafe Milano. The decor was faux-Italian with faux-plaster in the expected European colors. Stylish pictures of medieval scenes (only one could be identified as Italian and that one was of Venice not Milan) covered the walls. 

Snoop Dog was singing on the TV, but with the sound off it did not detract too much from the ambiance. The menu was mostly sushi with the traditional Russian food as well. There were a few italian pasta dishes but not many. I had a Georgian soup, the country not the US State. It was spicy as is typical for such fare. The owners were Arminian. I liked the food and we ate there several times during our stay. 

After lunch we listened to traditional Russian music, like this: 




Our New BridgeStacy was happy that there were bouncy Castles to jump in, and she said the cotton candy was good. A local FM station was having some sort of dance contest. I did not participate. I do not limbo well. 

We were there long enough that we could eat again, but would you believe that the pizza place, also called Milano, did not have cheese pizza? Stacy was disappointed. We went home to eat. 

It was a fun outing for a lazy Sunday afternoon. Almost as fun as the Jazz festival we missed in Idyllwild because of the trip. 

No Fat Russian Girls

At least that used to be true. In my first trip to Russia everyone one was thin. At least I felt a little self-conscious since I was over the borderline between overweight and obese. Now, overweight but not close to obese, I fit right in.

Sure, on that first trip there was the occasional beer belly and chunky babushka, but now it is common. It is only natural that we gain weight as we get older. For some reason the human metabolism changes as we age. If we eat the same foods we did when we were younger, we gain 5 to ten pounds a decade. Russia is getting older at an alarming rate, but what I am noticing is more than that.

It is not the restaurants. You can still get great meals for about the same price as the US, but these are gourmet meals. You might have to wait longer, as everything is made fresh. But I did notice that the desert sections of the menu are much larger now, and I see a lot of ice cream eating going on.

I am not sure why everyone here in Russia is heavier than in years past, but I do have a guess. Wherever the western diet spreads, people get sick and fat. I hope these observations will encourage me to continue eating well.