Vladimir Putin - "A common criminal dressed up as a Head of State"

 "A common criminal dressed up as a Head of State"

Yes, Vladimir Putin is nothing but a "common criminal dressed up as a Head of State":

Russian President Vladimir Putin is a “common criminal dressed up as a Head of State” who ordered the murder of Alexander Litvinenko to stop him exposing him, the inquiry heard.

The former spy was murdered for trying to reveal Putin’s close links to organised crime and a cabal of crime lords who prop up his corrupt regime, it was claimed.

Ben Emmerson QC, representing the Litvinenko family, said the trail behind the “act of unspeakable barbarism” led directly to Putin’s door.

He said Russia was a “Mafia state” where the Kremlin and Russian organised crime syndicates were “indistinguishable”.

Mr Litvinenko could even show crimes committed or authorises by Mr Putin personally, it was claimed.

And the seeds of hatred Putin had towards his former agent which would eventually lead to the murder were first sown in clashes more than eight years before, the inquiry heard.
Putin was a “ruthless and deadly enemy” and “we find Mr Putin's fingerprints as clearly as we find the traces of nuclear material in the forensic evidence”, he said.
In his opening statement to the inquiry, Mr Emmerson said: "Vladimir Putin should be unmasked by this inquiry as nothing more or less than a common criminal dressed up as a Head of State.

Read the entire article here
 

Burglars busy planning 2013 Earth Hour activities

Tools for Earth Hour activities.

Representatives for the only group of people worldwide actually benefiting from the Earth Hour, are reportedly busy with the final planning and preparations for their 2013 Earth Hour activities. 

The Earth Hour organizers and their followers in the western MSM have chosen not to report on these activities, but the police director in Davao in the Philippines volunteered this:


"Even when the lights are on at home these robbers still manage to do their thing. How much more if the lights are off"

De la Rosa also appealed to residents to avoid wearing jewelries, or bringing valuable stuffs outside their house if it is unnecessary so as not to attract the attention of criminal elements.

De la Rosa reminded everyone on the danger of attracting thieves during the Earth Hour, citing previous cases of robbery, theft and burglary victimizing unattended houses where the inhabitants are all busy with their personal schedules.

No wonder then that burglars and other criminals, who for the time being happen to be behind bars, are eagerly embracing this annual celebration of darkness:

“Earth Hour +”, the 60-minute world-wide observance of cutting down on fossil fuel use, has become a tradition of sorts for inmates of the Baguio city jail.

As cities around the world prepare to plunge in darkness for at least an hour beginning 8:30 p.m. of March 23, the prisoners and their guards plan to switch off an hour earlier to keep their four-year record of going at least two hours.

Why is Obama protecting Putin´s criminal cronies?

Why is the Obama administration trying to protect gang of Putin loyalists who are complicit in the murder of anticorruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky? Russian opposition leader Garry Kasparov points out that Ronald Reagan understood that appeasing dictators never works for long:

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed the "Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act," named after an anti-corruption lawyer who died in 2009 after a year in Russian jails.

Despite bipartisan support in Congress, the measure's future prospects remain uncertain, in part because the Obama administration is unenthusiastic about it.

Immediately prior to the G-20 summit, top Russian officials announced that Mr. Putin's highest priority in meeting Mr. Obama would be the Magnitsky Act, a piece of pending U.S. legislation that would apply travel and financial sanctions against Russian functionaries complicit in the 2009 torture and murder of anticorruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. Critically, the act can also be extended to those who commit similar crimes.

This was a startling admission for the Putin regime to make. I have long promoted the idea of going after the money and travel privileges of the Kremlin loyalists who keep Mr. Putin's criminal regime operational. The surprise was his in effect confessing how afraid of the act he is. He clearly felt it necessary to publicly reassure his rank and file that he would fight to protect their ill-gotten wealth and lifestyles.

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Mr. Putin's May 7 inauguration was followed by crackdowns against the pro-democracy movement, including raids on the homes of opposition leaders and their families and a massive raise in the fines and jail sentences for participating in demonstrations. While more than a dozen protesters are already behind bars, the raids and arrests continue. As ever, the application of the law is focused on punishing opposition activities that are supposed to be protected by the Russian constitution. The police and judiciary understand that by protecting Mr. Putin's power, they gain ultimate immunity.

The Magnitsky Act would shake the foundation of Mr. Putin's power base. It is less clear why the Obama administration has worked so hard to bury it. Abroad, Mr. Putin's Russia continues to sell arms to the Assad dictatorship in Syria and generally do everything possible to keep the Middle East at a boil—the better to keep oil prices high.

In March, President Obama was overheard telling Mr. Medvedev he would have "more flexibility" to address Russian interests after his re-election. Yet Mr. Obama looks all too flexible already. Negotiating on trade or missile defense is all well and good, but when you put moral values on the table with a dictatorship you lose every time.

America should be siding with the Russian people, not with Mr. Putin. Russia is not America's foe. We have much in common—struggles with radical Islam, concerns about Chinese influence and expansionism, real shared strategic interests. Mr. Putin's Russia, on the other hand, is concerned only with power and the oil and gas profits needed to maintain it. Yes, a free Russia will compete with the U.S., but it will not be an unwavering adversary.

Ronald Reagan understood history and its lesson that appeasing dictators never works for long. By passing the Magnitsky Act, which was unanimously approved Tuesday by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the United States will be supporting the Russian people, strengthening democracy and the rule of law, and protecting its own long-term interests. Being "flexible" on these issues will only prove the old saying that by standing for nothing, you will fall for anything.

Read the entire article here

PS
The latest episode of the "Russian Untouchables":

China is a country run by thieves

This photo is from the headquarters of one Chinese state owned company.  A tour of the  crazy  palace is available here.

The authoritarian communist party apparatchiks now in charge of China are received like emperors when visiting western countries. From Obama to Merkel and the Danish Queen, everybody is competing in the art of kowtowing. 

Nobody wants to admit - although they know, or at least should know - that the these "emperors" are no more than a bunch of thieves. 

China is a kleptocracy - a country run by thieves - of a scale never seen before in human history. That is the view of Australian blogger John Hempton, who´s analysis of the Chinese economy is devastating, but very much to the point: 


The Chinese banks are the finest deposit franchises in human history. They can borrow huge amounts at ex-ante negative real returns.

And those deposits are mostly lent to State Owned enterprises.

The SOEs are the center of the Chinese kleptocracy. If you manage your way up the Communist Party of China and you play your politics really well may wind up senior in some State Owned Enterprise. This is your opportunity to loot on a scale unprecedented in human history.

Us Westerners see the skimming arrangements. If you want to sell kit (say high-end railway control equipment) to the Chinese SOE you don't sell it to them. You sell it to an intermediate company who on-sell it in China. From the Western perspective you pay a few percent for access. From the Chinese perspective – this is just a gentle form of looting.

Hempton´s analysis is confirmed by this New York Times report: 

Publicly controlled enterprises have become increasingly lucrative, generating wealth and privileges for hundreds of thousands of Communist Party members and their families. And in a clear sign of its position, the government has moved to limit public debate on economic policy, shutting out voices for change. While political reform has always been a taboo topic in China, in economics, from the late 1970s to the early 2000s, almost anything went, with powerful voices backing strong measures that challenged the status quo. But now, despite the rise of social media, fewer prominent voices within China are able to make the case for a systemic overhaul that would prepare the nation for long-term prosperity on sturdier foundations.

Russia - "A full-fledged mafia state"

The Russian born economist Alexei Bayer (now based in New York) has written a true account of Putin´s Russia: 

Over the past 12 years, Russia has become a full-fledged mafia state. One day, historians will chart its exact structure, but it seems clear that it consists of several large families headed by President Vladimir Putin's close associates and loyal oligarchs. Alongside them, countless crews of siloviki, bureaucrats, gangsters and affiliated businessmen work on their own, their networks varying from local to nationwide.

A friend recently had her car stolen. She reported it to the local police and soon got a call from a man, who, using the description of the car she had given the cops, demanded ransom. On the web, she discovered that it is a common racket. The usual result is that the victim loses the car and the money paid in fake ransom. She tried calling internal affairs investigators at the Moscow police, but they hung up on her.

A mafia state, by definition, cannot function efficiently. Laws are fundamental to all states, and even tyrannies rely on a set of rules. Since there are no rules in a mafia state, even minor decisions require complex deals that involve negotiating among various gangs and their conflicting interests. Agreements hold only as long as there is muscle to enforce them. The state is a tool of those who have the muscle, but a criminal can turn into a victim at a moment's notice.

Because all decisions are a trade-off, once something is decided it is very hard to change. The case of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky harms Russia's national prestige and Putin's personal reputation. Yet the thugs involved in this crime can't be brought to justice because this would infringe on some gang's interests.

But a mafia state contains the seeds of its own demise. In 2011, $84 billion of capital fled Russia, and another $33 billion was taken out of the country in the first quarter of 2012, even though the Russian economy is growing and the rest of the world is in a downturn. This money mainly belongs to bureaucrats, siloviki and other mafiosi. These beneficiaries of the mafia state don't trust their own system, nor do most of them want to live in Russia.

Read the entire Moscow Times article here

PS

For some reason several of the "beneficiaries of the mafia state" have chosen to live in the United Kingdom.