AndreasHG

Frankly speaking (and with due respect) if you really believe that the ‘only reliable and consistently good experience has been with Starbucks’, then I believe you set the bar unusually low when it comes to food. No surprise you get food poisoning.

Leaving the EU didn’t help at all: quite the opposite. Are you sure about leaving also the ECHR? Because if it goes the same way of Brexit, the consequences for the UK can be devastating.

The ones who shall feel ashamed for the death of the Russian soldiers are those who send them to their death: Putin and his accomplices. What are they dying for? To add some more square kilometers to the already largest country by landmass on planet Earth? To increase the number of subjects of an empire that in its thousand-year history has only been able to produce misery, servitude and bloodshed? Is it worth it? Are human lives worth so little? The answer is yes. In Russia human lives are as disposable as Tampax tampons.

The photos of the wreck and the videos shot by the passengers in the last moments of the flight are convincing proof that a missile sealed the fate of this aircraft. Shame on you and all the St. Petersburg trolls active here, for disrespecting the victims of this accident by denying the facts that caused their deaths, even in the face of such compelling evidence. You sold your humanity in exchange for a handful of banknotes and agreed to defend a criminal and murderous regime, thus becoming accomplices to its crimes.

The Nation adds some more details. But there are two conflicting depictions of the incident: in one Thanakarn was paid to drink. In the second, he "was not hired to drink. Previously, Thanakarn had already finished one bottle of liquor before vomiting. When he drank more, many people tried to stop him, but he refused." https://www.nationthailand.com/news/general/40044539

And wouldn't you mind sharing this knowledge with us? What is your source? Quite often the news printed in Moscow differ from that published on our side of the border? An example is the Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8432: Russia news outlets insist it was caused by "birds". Exclusive: Preliminary investigation confirms Russian missile caused Azerbaijan Airlines crash | Euronews

This statement is not correct. Putin came to power for the first time on Decembre 31, 1999. The Ruble went through four distinct phases since then: 2000-2008 foreign investments, economic growth, political stability: a strong Ruble progressively appreciated from approximately 28₽ to approximately 20₽ to the US$ in 2008. It is the period that Russians remember most favorably. 2008-2014 (subprime financial crisis): Consequent oil & gas price collapse (from $145.85 per barrel in 2008 to $39.09 per barrel in 2009) and, understandably, the Ruble with it. Approximately 30₽ to 35₽ were required to buy 1 US$ till 2014. 2014-2022 (invasion of Crimea): The EU and the USA introduce the first set of sanctions intended to deter Russia from further aggressive actions. The ruble loses further value and stabilizes between 60₽ and 80₽ per dollar. 2022-Today: 2022 invasion of Donbass, Donetsk, Luhansk, etc. The ruble loses further value and heads toward a valuation of 95₽ and 110₽ per USD. Please, note that the graph below ends in July 2023 and is not updated to the end of this year. Russia is a Banana Republic for the very reason that its economic fortunes depend greatly upon a limited number of commodities, which are exported. A Banana Republic is "a small nation, especially in Central America, dependent on one crop or the influx of foreign capital".

I'm not so sure that most people who leave their home countries are losers. But I agree that those who disparage the country they come from are mostly losers.

If I "make it 12 years" the 'Rubble' depreciation is steeper, not smoother. Calculated from December 26, 2012, the Ruble has lost 69% of its value against the USD (see the graphs below). Twelve years ago, the Ruble was worth a bit more than $0.03 (three cents). Today it is worth only one cent. It's a typical trend of the currencies of the Sovereign Banana Republics, despite Russia being troubled by a climate so cold that banana harvesting is impossible and Russia pretending to be a player in the big world powers game. As I stated in previous posts, Russia is an economic dwarf trying desperately to punch above its weight.

Индексы (romir.ru) ROMIR is an independent Russian institute of research and economic analysis (Russia's largest private research company). From November 2024 the Kremlin forbids ROMIR to publish any inflation datas because they are detrimental of the war effort, undermine the public trust in Putin's government economic wisdom, and negatively affect the morale of the Russian public. No one was jailed because the methodology used to calculate inflation was beyond reproach. But the data can no longer be published, under penalty of prison and heavy fines.

I gave some data points: 10 years depreciation: 42% 5 years depreciation: 38% 2.83 years depreciation (since the start of the war): 23% 2 years depreciation: 30% The ruble depreciation is clearly accelerating and it's a consequence of the war economy and of the sanctions, which are working.

You got it wrong (again): this is what happens when Russia fires North Korean supplied missiles into Ukraine.

According to HESA (Higher Education Staff Statistics: UK 2022/23 | HESA) on December 1, 2021, the number of non-EU nationality academic staff (in British universities) rose by 11% on the previous year to 40,195, accounting for 17% of the total. For the first time, this figure exceeded the number of EU nationality academic staff which stood at 37,585. The number of academic staff who declared their ethnicity as White fell by 1% in 2022 while the number of Black academic staff rose by 18%. In the 2022/23 academic year, 26% of students at UK universities were international. This was the tenth record high in a row. There were 758,855 overseas students studying at UK universities, 95,505 of whom were from the EU and 663,355 from outside the EU. The top sending countries for overseas students were India, China, and Nigeria (International students in UK higher education - House of Commons Library). The history taught in British schools and universities is increasingly written by academics born and raised in former British colonies, for an audience of students who also come, in growing numbers, from the former colonies. I guess the same applies to American schools and universities.

Against the USD, the Ruble lost 7.62% of its value compared to one year ago, 30.0% compared to two years ago, 38% compared to five years ago, and 42% compared to 10 years ago. Since the beginning of the war (February 24, 2022) the Ruble lost 23.0% of its value against the USD, 16% against the THB, 13% against the Euro, 7.1% against the Indian Rupee and 6.5% against the Yuan.

The City in action... ...laundering 4 bn quids is not something that can be done anywhere. https://assets.aseannow.com/forum/uploads/monthly_2024_12/CityinAction.png.17d6efe72da4b6a1881fe11bbf951e9f.png

Since you are in the mood of studying some data, you can read this interesting article about the quality of the Russian official data (the same used by the World Bank): Poverty and its lines: How the state is manipulating the numbers Or this study published by the Swedish Government: Poverty and its lines: How the state is manipulating the numbers And if you prefer to read a brief explanation of the Swedish researchers' findings, you may read this: Russian economy growing fast during war? Swedish economists beg to differ Based on data from the Russian independent economic research center ROMIR, the real cumulative inflation recorded in Russia from the start of the war is 87%, vs the official Rosstat data of "only 27.1%". By applying the 87% deflator (instead of the official one) to the Russian nominal GDP growth, the result is that the average 3.6 percent real GDP growth since the beginning of the war, turns into a decline of 8.7 percent. Interestingly, Rosstat has never disputed the accuracy of the inflation data published by ROMIR. From November 2024 ROMIR is simply prohibited from publishing any inflation index, under penalty of prison and hefty fines. Economic data has always been manipulated as part of war propaganda, because naive people tend to believe it, despite the evidence pointing in a different direction. And our evidence is the key interest rate applied by the Russian Central Bank which, at 21%, is incompatible with an 8.5-9% inflation. Inflation must be higher to justify this rate.

Only a fraction of the total muslim immigration is made up of illegal immigrants. According to the last census there are 3.9 million muslim living in the UK. It is ridículos to claim that illegal immigrants represent a significant number of them, given that the highest number illegal immigrants on record was 45,081 in 2023, and a 2020 report for the Pew Research Center estimated that at the end of 2017, 800,000 to 1.2 million people were [...] living in the UK without a valid residence permit. (Illegal Immigration - Hansard - UK Parliament) According to a Home Office study, the UK's undocumented population is made up of people from many regions, including: Asia (52%), Sub-Saharan Africa (20%), The Americas and non-EU Europe (16%), and The Middle East / North Africa (11%). The truth is that the UK recorded a spike in legal immigration after Brexit (and under Tory's watch) and EU immigrants have been displaced by extra-EU ones, many of them Muslims (Net migration forecast and its impact on the economy - Office for Budget Responsibility). Finally, as far as I know, the UK is the only European country where Sharia courts can legally operate. https://assets.aseannow.com/forum/uploads/monthly_2024_12/ImmUK.jpg.fd39c36a8a9aae377df4ac178fe60a89.jpg

This is the most childish argument I heard (not for the first time). The spike has been caused by two distinct factors: After four years of constant White House-induced drama, so many people were fed up that they turned out to vote en masse against the then-incumbent president. n 2020, Joe Biden, a white, male and experienced candidate, was the perfect opponent to mobilize the Democratic and moderate vote after four years of chaos. It is easy to predict that, as happened during the first Trump presidency, the next midterm elections will result in a disaster for the republican party. And that a Democratic president will be elected in 2028 (unless Kamala Harris wins the Democratic primaries, of course).

You surely were still locked behind the Iron Curtain, when the UK hold its first referendum on continued membership in the then European Community in 1975, and therefore you are not aware of it. Unlike in 2016, in 1975 remain won. You also miss the fact that, in democracy, the result of election and referendum have consequences, also when those in power don't like it. Donald Trump became president (not once but twice), and, while David Cameron resigned, Brexit was successfully carried out. Being used to live in a totalitarian state, were people either agree with the Leader or disappear, jump from high floors windows, get food poisoning, or die in jail, it may sound weird to you: in the West, anyone has the right to dissent, also with what the majority voted, and also to call for a second referendum, like happened with regards to the UK membership to the EC now EU. Or, like it's going to happen in Switzerland, with regards to a more comprehensive agreement with the EU. As I mentioned before, democracy cannot be taught. You have to deserve it. And it's clear to me Russians just don't deserve it.

Dear Ivan, kindly explain, what does in your deranged "Eastern" mind lead to the conclusion that Westerns don't accept the results of legitimate, democratically contested elections or referenda? Not only they are accepted, but their outcome implemented. I am not in the position to give lessons of democracy to anyone. Democracy cannot be taught. Democracy is a people's collective achievement. An achievement that has always been denied to Russia and to your "Eastern" minds. It's not an opinion. History proves it. Born in Russia, your choices are tragically limited between been an apartnick, a serf or disposable cannon fodder. That's what you Ivans don't get right yet.

What you Frank and the other Russian trolls active here fail to understand, is that dictators are inherently hostile to democracies, which they consider their sworn enemies. When a country governed by a dictatorship opens up to democracy, the best thing that can happen to the dictator is to end up exiled like Pinochet or Assad, the worst is to suffer the same fatal fate of Gaddafi or Ceausescu. This is what keeps Puin awake at night. Russia has never been capable of giving itself democratic institutions. And it never will. The Russian people are condemned to live under the perpetual yoke of despotism due to their very ethnic composition. Giving Tatars, Chechens, Bashkirs, Chuvash, Avars, Armenians, Ukrainians, Dargins the right to vote freely for their representatives, would lead to the dissolution of the Russian Empire, or of the Russian Federation as it is known today. It took the carpet bombing of Grozny, and the very heavy hand of a criminal like Ramzan Kadyrov, (the butcher of Grozny) to convince the Chechens to temporarily put aside their aspiration for independence. The price paid by the Russians to keep their empire united is very high. The lack of freedom leads to a lack of innovation. Russia is the most backward country in Europe, except for the production of armaments and weapons of mass destruction (in which it excels in quantity produced, certainly not in quality). The lack of solid democratic checks and balances is reflected in endemic and widespread corruption, which permeates every aspect of the Russian life and limits its economic development. The distribution of wealth favors oligarchs while foreign investments are scarce due to the weakness of the rule of law. The only beneficiaries of the Russian Empire are the dictator at its helm and the apparatchiks who are close to him. They live like rentiers, whose riches come from the natural resources of which the Empire is rich. They do not need fellow citizens. All they need are obedient serfs, they use to extract the riches from the soil, and expendable cannon fodder to protect these riches from the occasional threat. The Russian Empire is condemned by its very nature to a permanent and irreversible state of backwardness. The peoples annexed and subjugated in the Russian Empire know this too well. And this is the reason they want to escape it.

Many years ago, I had a very strong allergic reaction to a Gillette shaving cream. I don't know exactly which component triggered the reaction, but I solved my problem by using a hypoallergenic shaving foam.

With due respect, your comments simply show how little you know about the world. Russia, through Yevgeny Prigozhin's Wagner mercenary group first and through the Africa Corps now, has a wide presence in Africa, and it's not by chance that this presence is found along the main migratory routes. Plenty of evidence has been collected of Russia proactive role in routing immigrants toward Europe. Meloni just stated the obvious. What Russia is doing is part of Russia staged hybrid warfare against Europe, and it's ongoing since long before the invasion of Ukraine, with the goal of weakening Europe and its democratic institutions, while strengthening Putin's regime hand. Information is widely available. Simply pause the urge to post comments for a minute and use this time to improve your knowledge and understanding of the world. Vladimir Putin's Russia weaponising immigration to destabilise Europe Africa File Special Edition: Russia’s Africa Corps Arrives In Niger. What’s Next? | Critical Threats The military involvement of the Russian Federation in Africa. Contracts and agreements signed | Institute of New Europe From controlling mineral reserves to migrant routes: Russia's strategy in Africa Niger after the Coup: new migration patterns in the Sahel?.

Kudos to Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the first female prime minister of the southern European country, for her candor and clarity in denouncing Putin, for using immigration as a weapon against Europe. Unable to compete with the West in creating wealth and raising the standard of living of its citizens, Russia focuses on what it does best: hindering the development of its neighbors, terrified by the prospect of being left behind and ending up in the waste bin of history.

For the same reason I know your question should have been written "How did you know that their wine was cheap?" to be grammatically correct.