Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Jeff Buchanan]

I'm old and suffer from CRS so, keeping track of Trump's legal problems - the ones that have either resulted in indictments or are likely to, there are 4 of them - is hard. Here's a great summary and review of those 4 allegations - 2 of them with indictments and 2 with charges pending:

https://www.politico.com/interactives/2023/trump-criminal-investigations-cases-tracker-list/?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20230814&instance_id=99996&nl=the-morning&regi_id=66290138&segment_id=141969&te=1&user_id=eb3770cd26926d6908b2da6e075b25bf

The interesting part about all 4 of these allegations is that prosecution of any of them against a former US president will entail novel applications of the law unprecedented in American history.

[THE_WIZARD_]

What a great time to be an American!

[THE_WIZARD_]

If George Washington was still alive he would kick Biden right in the balls...I mean...hell they are only a few years apart...

[THE_WIZARD_]

Joe Biden...biggest traitor to America since Benedict Arnold.

[THE_WIZARD_]

I mean...pretty similar dudes...traitors...hurt themselves falling off something...

[Dr. Strangelove]

You're allowed to have more than one sentence per post, Wiz, ya dumb fuck.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Add to the charges! The client from Hell.

[Jeff Buchanan]

We start this week with the news from Russia that the Rubel (or Rouble) is trading on currency markets at it's lowest level since the Russian financial crisis in 1998 (100/1USD). Yet, the Russian economy, it is reported, grew at a 4.6% rate. I doubt that figure The Rubel tanked at the start of Putin's invasion of Ukraine but made a remarkable recovery. The buying power of Russians really never was hurt, until now and it will be worse going forward it appears.

It's getting harder and harder for Putin's propaganda apparatus to create an alternate reality for ordinary Russians. Inflation and a continued low exchange rate for the Rubel going forward is going to cripple the wage earning class as the presidential election approaches in March 2024. Even in Russia, even now under Putin's increasing repression, there are liberal democratic citizens who got used to a more westernized economy in terms of available goods will protest against the Putin regime and seek change.

Nobody I'm reading on this subject is predicting the fall of the Putin regime. In fact, his support remains strong among older Russians, less so in the under 40 crowd, many of whom fled the country months ago. It's much harder to move across Russian boarders now. Young men eligible for conscription are prohibited from leaving. You'll recall that many thought internal conditions inside Russia as a result of Putin's war would force Putin to reconsider his strategic interests in Ukraine giving Ukraine the upper hand in any peace negotiations. That hasn't happened mostly as a result of Putin's increasing levels of repression and falsification of the news from the battlefront in Ukraine.

But the reality for Putin, that at some point he is going to have to deal with, is that there are two factors weighing against his revanchist goals: (1) Reports are emerging from milbloggers that the morale of Russian fighters is as low as it has been in months of fighting. It is leading to desertions and refusals to defend positions that the Russians have gained. Part of the reason is that troops can't be rotated due to lack of actual reserves. They've been fighting at the front for more than 6 months. Another factor is that for the first time in the war, Ukrainian artillery is outgunning the Russians by virtue of the much higher accuracy of Ukrainian counter-battery fires using the wests weapons. (2) While spending on the war has pumped up the defense sector of the Russian economy, that along with sanctions isn't going to put the kinds of goods the average Russian wants to buy in their hands. That, in the face of declining buying power is going to spur discontent at home along with dwindling support for Putin's war.

It was said very early in the war that sanctions would harm the Russian economy to the point where Putin couldn't sustain his war aims. That didn't happen in the short run. It appears to be happening now.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Gordon Gee's latest stint at WVU has apparently been a financial disaster for the school. Eliminating 9% of all majors and 7% of the faculty, including the entire foreign languages department.

West Virginia University’s unprecedented proposed cuts become clear (insidehighered.com)

[Dr. Strangelove]

Jeff- Just saw a post that the Russian central bank is holding an emergency meeting tomorrow. Possibly a very big rate hike for them coming.

[THE_WIZARD_]

You're allowed to have more than one sentence per post, Wiz, ya dumb fuck.

Ok

[THE_WIZARD_]

sorry

[THE_WIZARD_]

my bad

[crashcourse]

number 1 song nobody ever heard of last week

https://youtu.be/sqSA-SY5Hro

[Mike]

That’s what country music is supposed to be. “Rich Men North of Richmond” is profound.