Thursday, December 18, 2014

Checkmate.

Remember when conservatives were gushing about Putin and telling anyone who would listen that they wanted him to be their president? And, that he was playing "chess while president Obama played checkers"?


Well, sadly for my wingnut friends , it seems that Mr. Putin wasn't such a genius after all.


But you have to wonder where all this Putin love came from. Maybe it was seeing him riding bareback on a horse. All that macho imagery. It must have reminded them of their other hero, Ronald Reagan. Or, maybe it was because he was picking fights with their enemy, Barack Obama, and he seemed to be winning at the time. (Seemed to be.)  


Anyway, things haven't been going so well for Vladi of late.


"A funny thing happened on the way to Vladimir Putin running strategic laps around the West. Russia's economy imploded.


The latest news is that Russia's central bank raised interest rates from 10.5 to 17 percent at an emergency 1 a.m. meeting in an attempt to stop the ruble, which is down 50 percent on the year against the dollar, from falling any further. It's a desperate move to save Russia's currency that comes at the cost of sacrificing Russia's economy.


But even that wasn't enough. After a brief rally, the ruble resumed its cliff-diving ways on Tuesday, falling another 14 percent to a low of 80 rubles per dollar. It was 60 rubles per dollar just the day before. The problem is simple. Oil is still falling, and ordinary Russians don't want to hold their money in rubles even if they get paid 17 percent interest to do so. In other words, there's a well-justified panic. So now Russia is left with the double whammy of a collapsing currency and exorbitant interest rates. Checkmate.


It's a classic kind of emerging markets crisis. It's only a small simplification, you see, to say that Russia doesn't so much have an economy as it has an oil exporting business that subsidizes everything else. That's why the combination of more supply from the United States, and less demand from Europe, China, and Japan has hit them particularly hard. Cheaper oil means Russian companies have fewer dollars to turn into rubles, which is just another way of saying that there's less demand for rubles—so its price is falling. It hasn't helped, of course, that sanctions over Russia's incursion into Ukraine have already left Russia short on dollars.


Add it all up, and the ruble has fallen something like 22 percent against the dollar the past month, with 11 percent of that coming on Monday alone. As you can see below, the Russian ruble has fallen even further than the Ukrainian hryvnia or Brent oil has this year. The only asset, and I use that word lightly, that's done worse than the ruble's 50 percent fall is Bitcoin, which is a fake currency that techno-utopians insist is the future we don't know we want.


And this is only going to get worse. Russia, you see, is stuck in an economic catch-22. Its economy needs lower interest rates to push up growth, but its companies need higher interest rates to push up the ruble and make all the dollars they borrowed not worth so much. So, to use a technical term, they're screwed no matter what they do. If they had kept interest rates low, then the ruble would have continued to disintegrate, inflation would have spiked, and big corporations would have defaulted—but at least growth wouldn't have fallen quite so much." [Source]


So maybe he isn't the grandmaster wingnuts perceive him to be. Maybe he exposed his Queen and Obama took it with a checkers move. It wouldn't be the first time. Obama has been beating wingnuts at their own game for eight years.






 

61 comments:

  1. Everyone is pointing to the plunge in oil prices.

    Obamaholics like field is crediting obama.

    Hyperbole aside,how exactly is dear leader responsible for what is going on in Russia?

    ReplyDelete
  2. And Russia is still f'ing with Ukraine?


    Field, how can you call "checkmate" when obama hasn't stopped Russia?

    Right.

    Field is an obamholic.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous11:54 PM

    The only reason Russians like Putin is the economic growth that's happened since he's been running things. Otherwise, he's a fascistic bastard.

    I wonder what he looks like to them once their economy has completely flatlined?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous12:01 AM

    "I wonder what he looks like to them once their economy has completely flatlined?"

    About like Obama looks to blacks.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous12:14 AM

    Well, Kinky, I guess you'd know something about politicians who claim credit for crap they did not do. The hero of Republicans everywhere, Saint Ronnie, was the king of this routine.

    *Got credit for defeating the stagflation spiral of the '70s, but that was actually fixed by Fed Chairman Paul Volcker, a Carter appointee.

    *Got credit for beating communism, but that was beaten by ... communism. Communism is a non-workable economic system, and the Soviet Union was on its last legs before Reagan ever stepped into the Oval Office.

    Reagan's real accomplishments mainly consist of vanquishing the mighty and fearsome empire of Grenada. (I'm sure glad we don't have that dire threat hanging over us anymore!)

    Oh, and also, selling weapons to Iranian religious fanatics and handing the proceeds to Nicaraguan murderers.

    All very impressive.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Maybe it was seeing him riding bareback on a horse.

    Yes, that was it.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Limpbaugh1:12 AM

    I think a big reason why oil prices are low is because OPEC lowered prices to hurt the profit margin of shale oil. OPEC isn't scheduled to meet again until June and who knows if they'll even raise prices then.

    Fox News liked to blame Obama when gas was high, and they compared the price to the low point it dropped to when the economy collapsed under Bush. I like how Field tied outsmarting Putin to Obama getting low gas prices. I haven't watched Fox recently. They must be worshiping Obama now.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous1:32 AM

    Anonymous Limpbaugh said...
    I think a big reason why oil prices are low is because OPEC lowered prices to hurt the profit margin of shale oil.
    ----

    You are correct. The Saudis can produce oil for under $10 per barrel. Many shale oil producers have a break even point of $40 per barrel. OPEC is defending market share by letting the price get to the point that some shale oil projects are cancelled.

    But Field is (of course) completely wrong about Obama outsmarting anyone. The shale oil boom occurred in America despite Obama's every attempt to kill domestic oil production. He killed all drilling leases on public land, and stopped offshore exploration after the BP spill.

    The shale oil revolution is due entirely to American technological innovation being applied on private land the federal government couldn't prevent from being developed.

    The drop in oil prices to $50 barrel will make energy costs to US consumers and manufacturers drop to the point to be equivalent to a trillion dollars in stimulus in 2015.

    Obama is a fool. He could have allowed this expansion to happen early in his administration and ridden this boom to an era of prosperity that would have allowed him to get whatever he wanted on a policy basis.

    Instead he kowtowed to extremist environmentalists and has been aggressively anti-energy for his entire time in office.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous1:44 AM

    Field,

    I'm thinking Obama is too cool for most folks but his announcing friendship with Cuba again has them wondering what's going on. They just don't get it. Loved the article on Bloomberg.com about how Obama's message to Putin was "We Win You Lose"
    I wouldn't want to play poker with Obama, I think he is a good bluffer.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous1:47 AM

    "I wouldn't want to play poker with Obama"

    Me either. I'm sure he'd welch on his debts.

    ReplyDelete
  11. But now we're enjoying lower oil prices without ruining our natural lands. Win win. This isn't going over well with the drill baby drill crowd I guess.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous1:52 AM

    PilotX:Freeing slaves from the Republican plantation since the 70's said...
    But now we're enjoying lower oil prices without ruining our natural lands
    ----

    So we are getting all of our oil from unnatural lands?

    Are you retarded?

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous5:26 AM

    Are Obamabots really that economically illiterate? So easily fleeced and utterly devoid of the ability to seperate their hero worship from actual achievements?

    It's oil prices silly. Putin held his own and the economy was doing just fine with the meaningless Obama sanctions.

    How do you think the rest of the worlds economy is doing with the plunge in oil ?


    Poor libtards, math ,economics and reality are like magic to you, aren't they?

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous5:29 AM

    PilotX:Freeing slaves from the Republican plantation since the 70's said...

    But now we're enjoying lower oil prices without ruining our natural lands. Win win. This isn't going over well with the drill baby drill crowd I guess.

    You have no idea what you are talking about do you? Shale/Fracking and Obama not being able to stop Oil increased production on private lands ,even though he tried really hard is what has caused the boom in U.S oil production and a booming economy for those dominantly white states enjoying a 1-2 % unemployment rate .

    ReplyDelete
  15. "The only reason Russians like Putin is the economic growth that's happened since he's been running things. Otherwise, he's a fascistic bastard."

    Actually Russians like him because he's a fascistic bastard. Russia has been governed by fascistic bastards for 400 years.

    ReplyDelete
  16. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  17. "Average white IQ is 100.
    Average African IQ is 75.
    Average African American IQ is 85.
    African Americans average 17-21% white ancestry.

    Just about every intellectually accomplished black has a higher percentage white ancestry. Not every one, but most."


    Oh good grief, this one again.

    Amazing isn't it? No matter how many times we disprove this idiotic meme, somebody posts it again six weeks later as if nothing has happened!

    About two weeks from now somebody will be posting that 'Hitler was a Socialist' bollocks again, you mark my words.

    The truth!

    They can't handle the truth!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Blogger field negro said...
    Josh, would an older short black lady ask a younger taller white man to fetch something for her? *just thinking out loud*


    Let me answer that.


    I went shopping at Publix's (chain grocery store)Tuesday. And you will never guess what happen.

    They have a buy one get one free sale on pasta. There was a few boxes left on the top shelf. So i thinking if i need any pasta.

    I didn't notice the elderly black woman next to me. We talked for a few about some things that were on sale.

    She then ask me to "fetch" her two boxes on pasta off the top shelf.

    Yep. A older short black lady would never ask a taller white man to "fetch".

    Rolls eyes....


    ReplyDelete
  19. Yīshēng said...
    I'm with you PR, I NEVER ask a stranger in a store to do anything for me, that's what store employees are for.

    Has always, dr. queen makes perfect sense.

    Why ask a person next to you if he/she would be nice enough to grab something for you when it's so much easier to walk around the store, find an employee, then go back and "fetch" the item.



    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think you have your Family Dollar shopping sprees confused with my Saks sprees.

      High end stores ALWAYS have PLENTY of sales help readily available.

      Delete
  20. Anonymous10:15 AM

    "Obama is a fool. He could have allowed this expansion to happen early in his administration and ridden this boom to an era of prosperity that would have allowed him to get whatever he wanted on a policy basis."

    What a pantload.

    Shale oil exploitation has resulted from technological development, not governmental policy. What, was Bush preventing it too, before Obama got into office?

    Most of the public land that has been declared off limits to drilling likely doesn't have that much oil anyway. Certainly not enough to justify wrecking the natural landscape over. Drilling in places like ANWR is just dumb, unless you're an oil company and only care about profits.

    As for the temporary moratorium on Gulf drilling, that was just a sensible move, after the horrendous BP disaster. Maybe you wouldn't care about being awash in oil, but most of the residents of the Gulf (particularly the fishing and tourism industries) definitely do.

    Obama doesn't have some kind of vendetta against oil production. The environmentalist crowd only wish he did.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous10:22 AM

    "Actually Russians like him because he's a fascistic bastard. Russia has been governed by fascistic bastards for 400 years."

    Now, now. Let's not slander the Russian people. The fact they've never had a functioning democracy in their history doesn't mean lots of them wouldn't like one. (They also might have a better idea of what a huge d-bag their current ruler is if their media hadn't reverted to the Pravda propaganda stage under Putin.)

    ReplyDelete
  22. Josh said...
    But still does nothing to address why it's racism Mrs. Obama experienced and not just a short woman asking a damn six-footer to reach something on the shelf.


    It's racism because of two things.

    One- this old white lady didn't reorganize. She didn't bow down and kiss the ring.

    Two- It's racism because the racial grievance industry says it is.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Yīshēng said...
    I think you have your Family Dollar shopping sprees confused with my Saks sprees.

    My Saks sprees?

    HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!

    My Saks sprees?

    HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!

    Stop dr. queen. You're killing me!

    I'm laughing so hard milk came out my nose!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous10:41 AM

    You can't make this shit up. Cnn thinks Italy is suburban America.


    ‏CNN
    Suburban areas in the U.S. can be up to 50 percent brighter during the holidays, @NASA says

    https://twitter.com/CNN/status/545764410258907136


    ReplyDelete
  25. CNN is staffed by complete morons:

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BubFO3mIUAA6abb.jpg

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anonymous11:13 AM

    señor kinky said...
    She then ask me to "fetch" her two boxes on pasta off the top shelf.

    Yep. A older short black lady would never ask a taller white man to "fetch".
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    senor kinky, mi rey, pleeeesseeee!!! :) hahaha! Nobody even uses the word "fetch" anymooooooreee! Nobody! Fetch isn't even a word anymooooore!
    It isn't! It really isn't!

    Well maybe as in when you tell your dog to "fetch a stick" and even then, one would say "run, get the stick Fido" not 'fetch'
    :) :) :)


    ReplyDelete
  27. Putin was just this week voted Russia's 'Man of the Year' for the fifteenth straight year. They know exactly what kind of guy he is that's exactly why they love him. They like their leaders ruthless and macho.

    ...or drunk. Bpris Jeltsin was never so popular as Mayor of Moscow as when he was falling in the Moskva River.

    Russians love to suffer. it's what they do.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Anonymous12:46 PM

    "Russians love to suffer. it's what they do."

    Russians have a lot in common with AfAms.

    Come to think of it,Putin's approval ratings are over 80%.

    Obama's approval ratings among black Americans is over 80%.

    Odd that.

    ReplyDelete
  29. In an upcoming People magazine interview, Barack and Michelle Obama sit down and discuss life as the First Oppressed Couple of the United States. Hoping to shed light and relate to recent events in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York City, Barack reached into the upstairs White House bedroom of his mind and called upon his famous imaginary son to make an appearance:

    The small irritations or indignities that we experience are nothing compared to what a previous generation experienced,” President Obama said. “It’s one thing for me to be mistaken for a waiter at a gala. It’s another thing for my son to be mistaken for a robber and to be handcuffed, or worse, if he happens to be walking down the street and is dressed the way teenagers dress.

    Once again, Barack Obama’s imaginary son has found himself unfairly in trouble with the law. If you recall, his imaginary son was also shot by an imaginary neighborhood watch guard in the same style as Trayvon Martin. But Obama’s imaginary son is plucky and resilient and has lived a hard life in the hood so he keeps bouncing back.

    In his life, Obama’s imaginary son has been shot at, concussed out of football, and racially profiled. Yet he keeps picking himself up and carrying on. Obama’s imaginary son should be an example to us all. No matter what kind of imaginary circumstances we find ourselves in, we can continue on with our imaginary lives.

    One day this country can hopefully move on from racism experienced by imaginary people — and, let’s face it, the country doesn’t have the best of history of its treatment of imaginary people. We have, however, made progress in the civil rights of imaginary people and for that we, as a country, should be proud. We shouldn’t ignore, however, the real truth that racism toward imaginary sons is still a real problem, as our President constantly reminds us. We can’t be afraid to have the conversation, no matter how painful it might be, about continuing the racial healing of imaginary people.

    President Obama, however, also should look inward and ask why his imaginary son continues to put himself in these situations. Perhaps it is also his own failings as an imaginary parent. Maybe his imaginary son is trying to rebel against the pressures that come with being the first imaginary son of the United States. Perhaps the President can get him some better-fitting clothes and tell him to stay in school instead of having constant run-ins with imaginary police.
    ...
    The President of the United States seems more comfortable citing the struggles of his imaginary son than the privileged successes of his real daughters. In truth, Obama’s son would have attended private schools in Chicago, just like his daughters. He would then be attending Sidwell Private School in DC, just like his real daughters. Obama’s imaginary son would get his pick of any college in the world, just like his real daughters. His imaginary son would then go on to any career he chose, in medicine, law, Hollywood, or Wall Street, just like his real daughters. But that doesn’t fit the divisive racial narrative — so his son lives the hard-knock life.

    According to Obama, we still have much work to do in the race relations of imaginary people. Unfortunately, the healing can’t begin until the country moves on from this imaginary President.

    https://ricochet.com/extraordinary-life-barack-obamas-imaginary-son/

    ReplyDelete
  30. Yes Kkkuckoo, a Saks spree is what you have during holiday ball season because
    one must NEVER be seen in the same ball gown twice. EVER!!

    Of course, you probably think a holiday ball is something YOU put on YOUR fake Christmas tree.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Anonymous12:53 PM

    They take EBT cards at Saks? I never would have guessed it.

    ReplyDelete
  32. What's an EBT card?

    ReplyDelete
  33. Holiday ball season? Dr. queen's version of "holiday ball season" is getting teabagged at Christmas time.


    ReplyDelete

  34. Why isn't the US government doing anything about the Sony hack and threat?

    Isn't it the responsibility of the US government to protect American companies on American soil?

    ReplyDelete

  35. PilotX:Freeing slaves from the Republican plantation since the 70's said...

    What's an EBT card?


    And I thought daddy bush was out of touch when he was surprised by checkout scanners.

    Kudos to you PilotX for exceeding the ignorance of a bush.


    ReplyDelete

  36. Foreign Governments Have Hacked U.S. Grid, NSA Head Says
    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-20/foreign-governments-have-hacked-u-s-power-system-nsa-head-says.html

    The head of the NSA says the US power grid has been hacked.

    Sony gets hacked and forced by a foreign government to cancel a movie.


    Obama leaves on another vacation.

    Priorities.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maybe America needs to stop letting foreigners into our Computer Science departments to learn how to hack our asses.

      Geez, I can't have a decent lunch without the smell of "thousand old egg" stinking up the damn place!!

      Delete

  37. Yīshēng said...

    Maybe America needs to stop letting foreigners into our Computer Science departments to learn how to hack our asses.


    Ouch.

    I don't think rush and hannity are in favor of immigration either.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Dear Stephen Murray 12:47,

    If you are the real Stephen Murray posting from the Ricochet blog, I would like to just take this opportunity to inform you that you are a complete and utter cunt.

    There are way too many people like you around on Planet Earth at the moment, I think it's time for a cull.

    You think you are smart and knowing, but truth is you are a smarmy and clueless. You substitute cynicism for insight, repetition for humour, distortion for clarity. You take complex situations and propose idiotically simplistic solutions to them.

    Though you attempt to hide your racism behind coded phrases and dog-whistles, you never chastise your supporters when they post overtly racist shit in the comments to your articles.

    I've wanted to mention all this before when I read some of that excrement you 'write', but never got the chance.

    Have a nice day.

    ReplyDelete
  39. The Purple Fascist said...
    "There are way too many people like you around on Planet Earth at the moment, I think it's time for a cull."

    Your inner Stalinist is showing itself again.

    I take your pompous criticism as high praise.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Anonymous3:03 PM

    "Average white IQ is 100.
    Average African IQ is 75.
    Average African American IQ is 85.
    African Americans average 17-21% white ancestry.

    Just about every intellectually accomplished black has a higher percentage white ancestry. Not every one, but most."


    And yet, Nigerians living in America has the highest level of eduction surpassing any other ethnic and racial group.

    ReplyDelete

  41. The Purple Cow said...

    Dear Stephen Murray 12:47,

    If you are the real Stephen Murray posting from the Ricochet blog


    I hate to interrupt your diatribe.

    Isn't the name "Stephen Miller?"


    Another one of those inconvenient facts.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Anonymous3:18 PM

    señor kinky said...
    Holiday ball season? Dr. queen's version of "holiday ball season" is getting teabagged at Christmas time.

    Throw in a rimshot and she'll have herself a very Merry Christmas.

    ReplyDelete
  43. WTF is Stephen Miller (Murray) talking about? I am not trying to be flip, that was a serious question.

    ReplyDelete

  44. field negro said...

    WTF is Stephen Miller (Murray) talking about? I am not trying to be flip, that was a serious question.


    Never read him before, I believe he is mocking the words of Obama.

    ReplyDelete
  45. Miller thinks the country will be better off racially when we get a different President. Actually we as a country won't be able to heal and move on until we address our past. South africa had the truth and reconcilliation deal but we never did. As Medgar Evers wife said a wound can't heal until it's cleaned out. IMHO a blah president has made us address certain realities and that is a good thing. No need to just go back to the same old same old and ignore festering realities.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Regarding the recent deal with Cuba this should not have been a surprise. There were hints towards such during his campaign and his time as a state and US senator.

    ReplyDelete
  47. Anonymous3:42 PM

    What's festering on you PilotX?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nothing is festering on me anon. I made sure to wear a condom when I did your mom.

      Delete
  48. Anonymous3:47 PM

    field negro said...
    WTF is Stephen Miller (Murray) talking about? I am not trying to be flip, that was a serious question
    ---

    Miller points out how the privileged Obama has to make up an imaginary son to paint himself as a victim.

    The President of the United States is a victim!

    And he has an imaginary son who just can't stay out of imaginary trouble.

    Imagine that.

    ReplyDelete
  49. Field, did you check the movie Dear White People? I don't know anybody who saw it and it came and went from the theaters really quickly, never a good sign. It was supposed to be the modern School Daze. Guess I gotta wait for netflix.

    ReplyDelete
  50. Anonymous4:15 PM

    PilotX:Freeing slaves from the Republican plantation since the 70's said...
    Nothing is festering on me anon. I made sure to wear a condom when I did your mom.
    ----

    I sure hope so, she's been dead for 20 years.

    You are one sick motherfucker.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, it's been about 20 or so years now. How old are you? Uh oh.

      Delete
  51. lilacpr2000, after i got the pasta for her she did rub my head and say "good boy, good boy":)



    I used "fetch" because that was the word field used.

    ReplyDelete

  52. PilotX:Freeing slaves from the Republican plantation since the 70's said...
    Actually we as a country won't be able to heal and move on until we address our past.


    Serious question.

    What do I do?

    ReplyDelete
  53. Anonymous5:04 PM

    PilotX:Freeing slaves from the Republican plantation since the 70's said...
    Actually we as a country won't be able to heal and move on until we address our past. South africa had the truth and reconcilliation deal but we never did


    Black people need to get over it.

    Blacks have it good in America. Certainty better than they bruthas and sistas have it in the motherland.

    Those are the blacks we should worry about.

    ReplyDelete
  54. Anonymous5:22 PM

    señor kinky said...
    lilacpr2000, after i got the pasta for her she did rub my head and say "good boy, good boy":)
    4:52 PM
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Hahaha! Good boy!

    Well fetch is out. Retrieve or acquire,or a simple getwill suffice xD

    ReplyDelete
  55. And yet Putins popularity remains in the 80s because he plays the "Russia against a world bent on its destruction" Card so well and everything that we do only confirms his argument.

    ReplyDelete
  56. *still laughing* . Pilot, u are sick. :)

    Trolls, do not try to play the dozens with th Pilot.

    ReplyDelete