Support for Dmitry Medvedev

The US has a chance to forge an alliance...or at least disrupt what is essentially a first-world dictatorship in Russia under the autocratic rule of I-forgot-I-wasnt-president-why-am-I-constantly-meddling-in-domestic-affairs Vladimir Putin.

I just want to put this out there: There is some serious strife occuring in Russia between these two. Putin plans to run for pres AGAIN...Dmitry Medvedev is our only chance of gaining a somewhat decent relationship with Russia. So, I say to you all, pay very close attention to what is happening in Russia. It will have very real consequences for us here in the states. It will be a HUGE step towards stability if Putin can be prevented from taking the post of president again. So if you see Obama kickin' it with Medvedev, give a cheer (do they have a facebook for him yet?). Let him know that we support DEMOCRACY, not autocracy.

Putin is a threat. An eminent danger to world peace. He is sneaky, and NEVER can or will be trusted. His ambitions are to strengthen Sino-Russian ties in alliance against the US. If you think that this is unrelated to "our problems" I will once again encourage you to wake up and educate yourself about the true status of world affairs.

Now is not the time for ignorance.

Clown Mode on:

If I do will you stop the Russian Spammers?

LOL..

Clown hat off:

Thanks for the heads up.. Eyes on..

Better US-Russian relations would give some much needed slack in the defense arena...for the US and Russia. Now is a great time to make powerful friends...and to do away with powerful enemies.

Putin will be president again, Russia is doing better than ever with his leadership. You will find that the greatest number of billionaires all live in Russia. Moscow is Number one city with billionaires per capita.

NoDrama said:

Putin will be president again, Russia is doing better than ever with his leadership. You will find that the greatest number of billionaires all live in Russia. Moscow is Number one city with billionaires per capita.

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I seriously have doubts that many Russians share your sentiment. Personally, I dont quite attribute the amount of billionaires into account when gauging overall well-being of the people. Does that model work for you: "there are billionaires so they must be doing good"? It sounds atrocious, and horribly short-sighted. The reality of the situation...

Russia’s basic socioeconomic structure looks as follows: 25 percent are destitute with incomes at or below the cost of living (less than $120 a month for a family of three); 35 percent are poor with enough money for food and clothes but not for much else (under $240);9 35 percent are lower-to-upper middle class; and the remaining 5 percent are "rich" with more than $3,500 a month for a family of three in the provinces and more than $7,000 in Moscow. (In 1992 Russia inherited from the Soviet Union 50 million destitute citizens living below the official "subsistence level," or 34 percent of the population. During the next five and a half years, until the August 1998 crisis, the segment declined to 31 million, or 21 percent, and then increased to 23 percent in 1998.)10

http://www.aei.org/outlook/12224

So I don't quite buy into your optimism, and neither do most Russians. The only reason you dont hear about it as much is because of the massive repression of journalists in the country...especially when it comes to Putin. Infact, I believe there is ONE radio station that is not govt operated. Furthermore, have you failed to notice the trend of journalists being murdered in Russia over the last decade?

Just because the extremely wealthy few want Putin in power does not necessarily mean that the other 99% of the population does. You do understand Putins history, right? Well for those of you that dont, Putin resigned from the KGB after a Coup or "putsch" attempt on Gorbachev in 1992. Meaning, stories like this one have a much deeper meaning than just the headline, or this one ...or hey take a look at this one, which is EXACTLY why I started this thread.

Which, this all fits nicely when considered with the extremely likely possibility that Putin is the richest man in Russia with his hand in the anus of the state-controlled energy companies. Which, if the journalists there werent afraid for their lives, stories like these could actually be pursued

So yes, I reaffirm my position of support for Medvedev, in the hopes that Putin's autocratic rule over Russia can be broken.

The Ruiner said:

Now is a great time to make powerful friends...

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I fail to see any Russian power other then mail order brides on my porn sites.

jesus of Cannabis said:

I fail to see any Russian power other then mail order brides on my porn sites.

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I hope you never have a cross word to say about the status of world affairs and our government... You make no attempt at understanding, just jokes and bullshit. No substance, just sophomoric replies that indicate a stunted perception.

Maybe it is time for you to seek addiction counseling.

*Bump for greater understanding.

NoDrama said:

Putin will be president again, Russia is doing better than ever with his leadership. You will find that the greatest number of billionaires all live in Russia. Moscow is Number one city with billionaires per capita.

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That means the country is controlled by a very small, select and powerful group of individuals.

It almost sounds as if you think you would be a billionaire if you lived there.

So here is a great little tidbit from an article today about how Russia is literally AFRAID OF GMAIL & SKYPE, calling "uncontrolled use" a "SECURITY THREAT."

Yes folks, in Russia, free communication like what we have here is a security threat for them...

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/russia-looks-abroad-laws-including-china-20110416-090957-573.html

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia is looking to the experience of other countries, including China, to "regulate" Internet use, though Moscow has no plans to broaden web censorship, a government spokesman said on Saturday.
Weeks after hacker attacks temporarily closed down the country's most popular blog site, a state tender calling for research into "foreign experience in regulating" the Internet has revived fears that authorities plan to clamp down on Internet freedoms ahead of 2012 presidential elections.
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, said the tender was in no way an indication that Moscow wanted insight into Internet censorship.
"It is enough to look at those resources that exist in the Russian Internet to see that there is no censorship there," he said. Peskov said researchers would study best practices in Internet regulation of other countries, including China.
In a country where much media is state-run, the Internet is one of the last bastions of free speech. Russian bloggers freely criticize authorities, often scathingly, question high-level corruption and swap information.
After Russia's main security service said earlier this month that uncontrolled use of Skype and Gmail was a "security threat," Internet users feared that "regulation" may lead to tightening of freedoms on the Web.
"They're trying in their own way, of course boneheadedly, to tighten the screws," an Internet user under the name alekc75 wrote about the government tender on a popular blog.
Security analysts say cyber attacks this month on blogging site Live Journal could be a test drive for closing down web sites, in particular social networking sites, in case of demonstrations ahead of next year's presidential elections.
The Internet has played a crucial role in the unrest that has rocked Northern Africa and the Middle East, prompting some governments to shut it down.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal in February, Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin said Google was responsible for uprisings that helped unseat Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak.
Ilya Ponomaryov, a member of Parliament and the Duma information committee, said Russia was in a very early stage in developing Internet regulation.
"Our Internet regulation is currently the most liberal in the world because we have none," Ponomaryov told Reuters. He said parliament was now working on amending a series of laws to take into account the rapidly developing Internet.
The Live Journal site was brought down by a denial of service attack -- a tried and tested method of disrupting websites by flooding their servers with requests.
Chechen separatists and the Georgian and Estonian governments have been high-profile victims of similar attacks in the past. Supporters of WikiLeaks also used this method to attack organisations that blocked support for WikiLeaks.

I am so happy to live in this Country...

if you buy into the whole patriot act, its becoming a threat here as well.
stand up and be counted, or be an idiot and be rolled over. choice is yours to make. you either make it, or it will be made for you.

Man who gives a F@#@ about obama!!! dat asshole is the cause of all our problems and i hope and pray to God that he gets voted out of office and removed from having soo much power. obama is bad news and is not a U.S citizen.


TRUMP 2012!!!!!

Coals said:

That means the country is controlled by a very small, select and powerful group of individuals.

It almost sounds as if you think you would be a billionaire if you lived there.

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Really? The state of North Dakota has the most Millionaires per capita in the whole USA, does that mean people from North Dakota are running the USA?

I think it sounds like you didn't think about this very much.

The Ruiner said:

I seriously have doubts that many Russians share your sentiment.
So yes, I reaffirm my position of support for Medvedev, in the hopes that Putin's autocratic rule over Russia can be broken.

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So if all the journalists get killed, all the Media sites are run by government, then how is it that you have news other than what is officially reported? Do you have a crystal ball? If what you say is actually true, then all your data is just a giant guess and holds no water.

Timmahh said:

if you buy into the whole patriot act, its becoming a threat here as well.
stand up and be counted, or be an idiot and be rolled over. choice is yours to make. you either make it, or it will be made for you.

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It is a threat, you are absolutely right. But the reasons for it are much different here, IMO. Here we have unlimited access to information, both good and bad. People here are reluctant to even consider that the government is actually helping them, while at the same time they live lives of comparable luxury whilst complaining about anything they dont understand and agree with. In Russia, literally 99% of their information (and access to it) is filtered and the rest is kept out of view and out of public discussion (which WE STILL HAVE HERE).

olylifter420 said:

Man who gives a F@#@ about obama!!! dat asshole is the cause of all our problems and i hope and pray to God that he gets voted out of office and removed from having soo much power. obama is bad news and is not a U.S citizen.


TRUMP 2012!!!!!

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Dude...stay in school...I dont usually recommend that...but...damn, there's a first time for everything.

NoDrama said:

Really? The state of North Dakota has the most Millionaires per capita in the whole USA, does that mean people from North Dakota are running the USA?

I think it sounds like you didn't think about this very much.

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This logic does not compute...Coals straight up just says that a select few run the country....Furthermore, the only reason there is such a high per capita of millionaires is the state law prohibiting foreclosure on farmland. Meaning, most owners of the farmland shouldn't actually even OWN the farmland that they have and that their millions are on PAPER in the form of title deeds, which they probably owe fuck-tons of money on...not real millionaires, because they cant even AFFORD to pay the taxes on the land that they own. Also, the actual per capita income of N. Dakotans is $39K per year....right at the national average . It sounds like you dont care to research your regurgitations.

NoDrama said:

So if all the journalists get killed, all the Media sites are run by government, then how is it that you have news other than what is officially reported? Do you have a crystal ball? If what you say is actually true, then all your data is just a giant guess and holds no water.

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Did you even look at the links I posted in this thread? Did you even care to pursue any of them ANY further? How is it reasonable for you to assume that since you are completely ignorant to the situation that everyone else must be as well? I pay attention, I read so many articles and essays from journals you have probably never heard of... My crystal ball is my initiative to understand the world in which I live. My "data" is from direct observation and collected analysis from a myriad of sources (some of which I have tried to share here).

I fail to understand the common reluctance to pursue these avenues of thought, yet all of the bitching and moaning I see on this forum is directly related to them. I am left with the conclusion that many of you would rather bitch, complain, and nay-say than to pursue explanations when presented directly to you.

Futher evidence of blatant abuse of power by Putin....

Russia, Ten Years Without Freedom

If one were to name a particular date when Russia’s nascent democracy succumbed to Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian regime, April 14, 2001 would be a fairly good contender. Ten years ago the Russian government, using the state-owned energy giant Gazprom as its proxy, seized control of NTV—the country’s largest and most popular independent television channel. There were, of course, other significant dates: June 22, 2003 (the government-ordered shutdown of TVS, Russia’s last independent television channel), October 25, 2003 (the arrest of oil tycoon and opposition supporter Mikhail Khodorkovsky), December 7, 2003 (the expulsion of pro-democracy parties from Parliament in heavily manipulated elections), December 12, 2004 (the abolition of direct gubernatorial elections—ironically, signed into law by Mr. Putin on Constitution Day). But it was the takeover of NTV that was, in many ways, the point of no return.
NTV was a great success story of 1990s Russia. What began in 1993 as a small studio, developed, with support from entrepreneur Vladimir Gusinsky, into the most professional, most respected, and most watched news team on Russian television. Unlike other large networks, NTV’s editorial policy was never dictated by the Kremlin. The station was renowned for its criticism of the wars in Chechnya and government corruption; its airtime was readily available to opposition politicians; its live debates and talk shows were the highlight of Russian election campaigns, its hard-hitting analytical program Itogi (In Sum) and satirical shows Kukly (Puppets) and Itogo (Grand Total) did not shy away from questioning the very highest authorities. President Boris Yeltsin used to say that when he didn’t like something on NTV, he switched off his television set. Mr. Putin decided to “switch off” NTV.
NTV’s problems began on the fourth day after Mr. Putin’s inauguration. On May 11, 2000, masked gunmen from the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Prosecutor-General’s Office stormed the offices of Media Most, NTV’s parent company, and began seizing its documents. The ensuing events read like a detective saga. On June 13th, Mr. Gusinsky was arrested and placed for three days in Moscow’s infamous Butyrka prison. On July 8th, President Putin, in his annual state-of-the-nation address, declared that some media outlets in Russia have become “tools in the fight against the state.” On July 20th, Mr. Gusinsky, still under a prosecutorial recognizance, was forced to sign “Addendum # 6” (co-signed by Mr. Putin’s press minister, Mikhail Lesin) agreeing to transfer NTV to Gazprom in exchange for ending prosecution (Mr. Gusinsky later retracted his signature as having been given under pressure). The state-owned Gazprom, NTV’s creditor and minority (30 percent) shareholder, was used by the Kremlin as a tool for its takeover of the station. That “debts” were merely a pretext became apparent in early 2000, when Gazprom suddenly rejected the already-agreed restructuring deal. On January 19, 2001, the Moscow Bailiffs Service arrested 19 percent of NTV shares. On April 3rd, Gazprom staged an NTV “shareholder meeting,” appointing a new board filled with its own representatives and installing US financier Boris Jordan as director-general. NTV journalists refused to recognize the imposed management. Thousands of Russians rallied in Moscow and St. Petersburg in support of the embattled TV station—the largest pro-democracy gatherings since 1991. Dozens of prominent writers, actors, musicians, lawyers, parliamentarians signed an appeal in support of NTV and the freedom of speech. The regime ignored the protests. Around 3 a.m. on April 14, 2001 (which happened to be Holy Saturday), Gazprom-installed security guards took over NTV’s premises on the eighth floor of Ostankino Television Center and refused entry to journalists who had not agreed to work under the “new management.” More than 30 of NTV’s leading news reporters and anchors left the station and went to work at TV-6 (closed down on January 22, 2002) and TVS (closed down on June 22, 2003). Today, NTV exists in name, but not in substance. A once-proud independent voice has been turned into a haven for soap operas and crime shows. Its news content is indistinguishable from the rest of Russia’s state-controlled channels.
“NTV was our home,” said the network’s ousted lead anchor, Yevgeny Kiselyov, “this home has been ruined. Mean and cynical people who have neither shame nor conscience … ruined it.” Opposition leader Grigory Yavlinsky called the takeover of NTV “a humiliation not only for the journalists, but also for the viewers, a humiliation for millions of Russian citizens.” Opposition leader Boris Nemtsov said that “if NTV remains in the hands of Gazprom … it will simply be blasphemy to talk about freedom of speech in our country.” “A creeping coup d’état is in progress in the country,” asserted NTV’s founding president, Igor Malashenko, “The same people who tried to seize power in 1991, are trying it again. They are the same people, first and foremost, the FSB.”
Subsequent events proved the accuracy of this prediction. Far from a “shareholders’ dispute,” as Kremlin propagandists tried to present it, the NTV takeover was a defining moment in the history of modern Russia. Just as the silencing of NTV in 2001 signaled a shift to authoritarianism, the lifting of television censorship—whenever it comes—will be the first sure step on Russia’s return road to democracy.

The Ruiner said:

Meaning, most owners of the farmland shouldn't actually even OWN the farmland that they have and that their millions are on PAPER in the form of title deeds, which they probably owe fuck-tons of money on...not real millionaires, because they cant even AFFORD to pay the taxes on the land that they own. Also, the actual per capita income of N. Dakotans is $39K per year....

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Millionaires per capita isn't the same thing as income per capita. ND has the most http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Dakota http://www.cs.indiana.edu/~kinzler/nodak.html http://www.prairieroserealty.com/did_you_know.htm


Russia is no different than the USA. Putin isn't some terrible evil person hell bent on world destruction. He is a politician trying to rebuild a country that is still trying to get back on its feet after total collapse.

OMG a big corporation owns one of Russia's TV Networks OMG say it isn't so. Who owns MSNBC, NBC, and CNBC? Its General Electric. I wonder what Things GE's CEO does? hmmm...Jeffrey Immelt....http://topics.nytimes.com/top/refer.../i/jeffrey_r_immelt/index.html?inline=nyt-per..... Chairman of Obama's Economic recovery advisory board, hey look GE paid ZERo income taxes, they got $4.2 million in refunds, pretty good for the largest company in the world that made $14.2 billion in profits. http://blog.nj.com/njv_editorial_page/2011/03/ge_rakes_in_profits_but_pays_n.html


I wonder who owns CBS? Look its another big company called Westinghouse....Hey that CEO is part of the Carlyle group...hmmmmmm Frank Carlucci...

MTV, VH1, Paramount, Comedy central, Nickelodeon, Nashville Network, and about 8 other smaller networks all owned by Viacom

ABC..owned by Disney

CNN, HBO, TNT, Turner networks, Warner bros and 10 others are owned by Time Warner AOL

FOX..News Corporation.................. Rupert Murdoch..............hmmmmmmm

All of these networks are nothing but partisan propaganda dissemination services, and when they aren't programming you to put up with ever more tyranny they are distracting you from learning about what is really happening in the world.

Russia isn't really any different than the USA, just a bunch of power mad puppets paraded in front of us every day to keep our eyes off whats really happening behind our backs.

NoDrama said:

Millionaires per capita isn't the same thing as income per capita. ND has the most http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Dakota http://www.cs.indiana.edu/~kinzler/nodak.html http://www.prairieroserealty.com/did_you_know.htm


Russia is no different than the USA. Putin isn't some terrible evil person hell bent on world destruction. He is a politician trying to rebuild a country that is still trying to get back on its feet after total collapse.

OMG a big corporation owns one of Russia's TV Networks OMG say it isn't so. Who owns MSNBC, NBC, and CNBC? Its General Electric. I wonder what Things GE's CEO does? hmmm...Jeffrey Immelt....http://topics.nytimes.com/top/refer.../i/jeffrey_r_immelt/index.html?inline=nyt-per..... Chairman of Obama's Economic recovery advisory board, hey look GE paid ZERo income taxes, they got $4.2 million in refunds, pretty good for the largest company in the world that made $14.2 billion in profits. http://blog.nj.com/njv_editorial_page/2011/03/ge_rakes_in_profits_but_pays_n.html


I wonder who owns CBS? Look its another big company called Westinghouse....Hey that CEO is part of the Carlyle group...hmmmmmm Frank Carlucci...

MTV, VH1, Paramount, Comedy central, Nickelodeon, Nashville Network, and about 8 other smaller networks all owned by Viacom

ABC..owned by Disney

CNN, HBO, TNT, Turner networks, Warner bros and 10 others are owned by Time Warner AOL

FOX..News Corporation.................. Rupert Murdoch..............hmmmmmmm

All of these networks are nothing but partisan propaganda dissemination services, and when they aren't programming you to put up with ever more tyranny they are distracting you from learning about what is really happening in the world.

Russia isn't really any different than the USA, just a bunch of power mad puppets paraded in front of us every day to keep our eyes off whats really happening behind our backs.

Click to expand...

Even if they are millionaires on paper, they dont actually have millions in the bank. Also, their population is 646K, they have 32K "farms" whose income have fallen the last few years, even though the land prices have risen (gee, I wonder why, could they be trying to hide something), they have not been as productive. The facts dont lie...

About the media situation: I totally agree with you. I think mass media is an insidious monster that only serves to divide our country. But, I don't see how you can neglect to even consider that there are TONS of other news outlets available at our disposal here. It's a self-imposed paradigm if people choose to ignore that vastness of information available to us.

Putin however, is no friend of the US. He is a KGB left-over. Whatever his intentions are (which have been made pretty damn clear to the average Russian and the West), they definitely don't have your best interests in mind, and that's what should really count. If he wanted to rebuild his country, then he wouldn't rule it like the tyrant he is...people wouldn't be afraid to voice discontent, media and the people would be able to communicate freely, people wouldn't be killed for disagreeing with the government. I find him to be a maniac...highly intelligent, but a complete fucking maniac.

Another indication that Putin and Medvedev move in different directions...

Highlights include...

The Ruiner said:

Even if they are millionaires on paper, they dont actually have millions in the bank. Also, their population is 646K, they have 32K "farms" whose income have fallen the last few years, even though the land prices have risen (gee, I wonder why, could they be trying to hide something), they have not been as productive. The facts dont lie...

About the media situation: I totally agree with you. I think mass media is an insidious monster that only serves to divide our country. But, I don't see how you can neglect to even consider that there are TONS of other news outlets available at our disposal here. It's a self-imposed paradigm if people choose to ignore that vastness of information available to us.

Putin however, is no friend of the US. He is a KGB left-over. Whatever his intentions are (which have been made pretty damn clear to the average Russian and the West), they definitely don't have your best interests in mind, and that's what should really count. If he wanted to rebuild his country, then he wouldn't rule it like the tyrant he is...people wouldn't be afraid to voice discontent, media and the people would be able to communicate freely, people wouldn't be killed for disagreeing with the government. I find him to be a maniac...highly intelligent, but a complete fucking maniac.

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AGREE< AGREE< AGREE

Most people just want to passively sit in front of a screen and be told what to believe, most aren't going to expend any extra energy looking up the truth when ignorance is bliss. Somedays i wish I never looked up anything either. Reinsert me back into the matrix with total mind wipe, i want to remember NOTHING. The world has been pulled over our eyes to blind us from the truth.

Does being a former KGB agent automatically make one a evil and reprehensible person?