#kleptocracy

[ancaporado]

#gerontocracy #kleptocracy #democracy #freeblr #libertarian #mass media #corporate media

[odinsblog]

#politics #republicans #donald trump #jon stewart #two americas #kleptocracy #double standards #racism #racism deniers

[kleptorobotseries]

#kleptomania #kleptocracy #kleptocats #klepto #robot #robot series #Klepto robots #klepto robot series

[tomorrowusa]

Russia makes money primarily off of fossil fuels. It does have decent agricultural exports but those alone could not pay for Putin's war machine. So disrupting Russia's oil and gas industry is a way of reducing the country's revenue which allows it to conduct an illegal war of aggression.

Hostile drones have been winding their way across the Russian landscape this winter, striking refineries and related oil and gas infrastructure all the way from the Baltic Sea in the northwest to the Black Sea in the southwest. Drones attacked both the Ilsky and Afipsky refineries in Russia's Krasnodar region, east of occupied Crimea, on Feb. 9, less than a week after another refinery in Volgograd, the largest in southern Russia, was hit. Further attacks have struck other refineries and oil depots near the Ukrainian border, as well as much deeper into Russian territory. Though Ukraine does not typically confirm its actions outside its borders and Russia has not officially acknowledged drones were the cause of these incidents, media reports have identified Kyiv's hand in the attacks occurring with regularity as Moscow's invasion of Ukraine nears the two-year mark. Analysts say the drone attacks are demonstrating that oil and gas targets of economic significance are not out of reach, even far from the front lines of the war. 

The late Sen. John McCain nailed it.

Late U.S. Senator John McCain once derisively described Russia as being "a gas station masquerading as a country" — a jibe underlining the critical importance of oil and gas products to Moscow. Indeed, Russia draws heavily on its resource reserves to support the state. The International Energy Agency says Russia's oil and gas export revenues accounted for 45 per cent of its federal budget in 2021.

Of course a lot of that fossil fuel money gets siphoned off by corrupt oligarchs who use it to purchase superyachts and expensive real estate in Western countries.

A January attack on a Novatek facility in Ust-Luga halted gas processing operations there for several weeks. The plant processes gas condensate into various fuel products that are exported to customers in Turkey and Asia, according to Reuters. Sergey Vakulenko, a former strategy executive at Gazprom Neft, a subsidiary of the larger Russian energy firm, believes the Ust-Luga episode may illustrate a bigger problem for Russia than a temporary disruption to production at a single facility. In a recent analysis published online, Vakulenko reasoned that if small drones can get all the way to Ust-Luga, which is hundreds of kilometres from the Ukrainian border, there are some 18 Russian refineries at risk of being targeted, and they account for more than half the country's refinery production. He's not the only analyst noticing this concern for Russia's refineries.

And because hundreds of thousands of competent Russians have (wisely) fled the country and others are being used as cannon fodder for Putin's war, it takes longer to repair facilities damaged by Ukraine.

And the fossil fuel industry mostly has to fend for itself.

Maxim Starchak, an independent expert on the Russian defence and nuclear industry, says regulations have been put in place to restrict drones from flying close to "the most significant fuel and energy sector facilities" and operators are using electronic warfare systems to defend against drone threats. But Starchak said Russian energy firms must foot the bill for expenses related to defence of their facilities. "Moscow will not specifically help," he said, noting Russian authorities may hold firms accountable for not putting measures in place to protect their facilities.

So that burden cuts down on revenue as it adds to the cost of doing business.

One thing Ukraine has been innovative at is drone technology. It's become one of the world's leaders at that.

As Ukraine continues to fight to repel Russian forces from its lands, its military leaders have signalled drones and related technology will be needed to win the war that seems to have no end in sight.

And Western countries find it easier to provide additional drones to Ukraine than to send tanks and cruise missiles.

So Russian convict troops can luxuriate in the ruins of Avdiivka while their oil refineries back home get blown up by Ukraine.

EDIT: Speaking of fuel, just saw this at NPR.

Putin's regime is 'running out of fuel,' a Russian opposition activist tells NPR

#invasion of ukraine #stand with ukraine #russia #oil refineries #russia's fossil fuel industry #drones #ukraine's targeting of russian oil infrastructure #russia's war of aggression #vladimir putin #putin dictatorship #kleptocracy #oligarchs #россия #нефтеперерабатывающие заводы #бпла #олигархи #владимир путин #путлер #путин хуйло #добей путина #союз постсоветских клептократических ватников #руки прочь от украины! #геть з україни #вторгнення оркостану в україну #йдемо на ви #зсу #деокупація #слава україні! #героям слава!

[geritsel]

Aleksej Anatoljevitsj Navalny - if he's still alive, he's beyond any doubt a hero, who is dying as a monument of hope. My heart is bleeding for this man. Wiki Petition Amnesty

#aleksej navalny #Алексе́й Анато́льевич Нава́льный #russia #putin #dictatorship #injustice #cruelty #Владимир Владимирович Путин #corruption #kleptocracy

[mckitterick]

Bernie Sanders on the plague of oligarchs

“One of the points that I wanted to make,” he says, “is yeah, of course the oligarchs run Russia. But guess what? Oligarchs run the United States as well. And it’s not just the United States, it’s not just Russia; Europe, the UK, all over the world, we’re seeing a small number of incredibly wealthy people running things in their favour. A global oligarchy. This is an issue that needs to be talked about.”

Guardian story: X

#oligarchy #kleptocracy #Greedism #democratic socialism #bernie sanders #my screencaps

[pennsyltuckyheathen]

(via Moms for Liberty Chapter Defends Quoting Hitler in Newsletter | The New Republic)

Moms for Liberty - who claims their mission is to “protect children’ from government - is yet another right wing extremist group that’s funded by “dark money” aka elitist fascist billionaires who are pushing our nation into authoritarianism.   

Southern Poverty Law Center designated them an extremist group.  

#MomsForLiberty #FakePatriots #RightWingExtremists #Kleptocracy #SPLC

[philalethistry]

Hey Guys I Found Something Interesting On My Leisurely Wikipedia Surf Today

(Sorry About the Confetti but we won something)

#united states #kleptocracy #capitalism #anticapitalism #corruption #eat the rich #politics #democracy #democrats #socialism #communism #anarchy

[mockva]

#kleptocracy #russia

[unicornheadnebula]

Saving Our Kakistocracy

Here is a list of various forms of government. They left out Idiocracy, so I guess we are more of a Kakistocracy right now. Or Kleptocracy.

Here is a list of various forms of government. They left out Idiocracy, so I guess we are more of a Kakistocracy right now. Or Kleptocracy. Kakistocratic Kleptocracy maybe? Or would it be Kleptocratic Kakistocracy? Various forms of government: Democracy = Rule of the people Monarchy = Rule of one Oligarchy = Rule of a few Aristocracy = Rule of the best Plutocracy = Rule of the…

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#Anarchy #Aristocracy #Autocracy #Democracy #forms of government #Gerontocracy #government #Kakistocracy #Kleptocracy #Meritocracy #Monarchy #Noocracy #Oligarchy #Plutocracy #rule #Stratocracy #Technocracy #Theocracy #Timocracy

[hellpuppetswithfleshymembers]

#class war #working class #oligarchy #kleptocracy #failed state #capitalism

[odinsblog]

*

#politics #ivanka trump #j6 #january 6 #insurrection #treason #traitors #kleptocracy

[tomorrowusa]

The historical significance of the 21st century is also that it could be awful, considering climate change and other global threats, but it could also be wonderful. A lot depends on the decisions we make. This war is part of that: The Ukrainians are basically giving us a chance to turn this century in the right direction.

Yale historian Timothy Snyder talking to the German news magazine Der Spiegel.

Putin's invasion may have altered our history – but not in the direction that the Russian dictator had wished.

Contrary to what certain ideologues claim, history is not a science. History is a narrative which has no predetermined direction. History is in our hands and we need to make wise and often complicated choices to keep things from going terribly wrong.

Ukraine's resistance to Russian fascism looks like it saved Europe from decades of subservience to an unpleasant eastern neighbor. And it made other bullying dictators think twice before launching disastrous invasions.

It's ALWAYS easier to do nothing in the short term. But we later pay for that laziness with usurious compounded interest.

Ukraine has done the West a bigger favor than we are doing it with our military, humanitarian, and economic assistance.

#invasion of ukraine #21st century #history #timothy snyder #ukraine #resistance to fascism #western civilization #russia #imperialism #russian neocolonialism #kleptocracy #vladimir putin #revanchism #russia's war of aggression #россия #русский мiръ #владимир путин #путин хуйло #путин – это лжедмитрий iv а не пётр велики #союз постсоветских клептократических ватников #военные преступления #русский фашизм #добей путина #путлер #геть з україни #вторгнення оркостану в україну #україна переможе #будь сміливим як україна #слава україні! #героям слава!

[newbloggycat]

Joke of the day- PURRloiner

Joke of the day- PURRloiner

I’m a Klaptocat. I put my paws together to fool the world. http://www.pinterest.com

View On WordPress

#cat #clap #clean jokes #cute cat clapping #funny jokes #funny one-liners #good jokes #humor #jokes #kleptocracy #kleptocrat #puns #purloiner #short jokes

[arewepigeons]

Prime.

I vicariously live through Prime free-membership offers. I'm really good at cancelling the day before, I even set myself alarms.

Like Mr Hood of Sherwood, I take from the Rich and give to the poor (me)

I'm bringing down capitalism bit by bit, like an arrow from a bow on a detour

Thanks Jeff

#amazon prime #anti capitalism #fuck the rich #spilled thoughts #the most turbulent revolutionary #new world order #kleptocracy

[pennsyltuckyheathen]

Rhonda Santis presents themselves as so devoted and committed to every Republican fact-free, deceitful, divisive, right-wing, culture-war-of-the-moment by showboating it for the media as they transform Florida into a fascist, elitist, bigoted, racist Republican's wet dream (until it’s destroyed by Climate Change).

Now Rhonda's kicking it up a notch by showing that same devotion and commitment to the 2024 Corrupt Capitalists' Wish List of Federal Agencies to Destroy - presented to them along with extremely generous "campaign donations" protected by Citizens-United-Supreme-Court-Approved-Corruption-And-Bribery.

#DoucheBagDeSantis #RhondaSantis #CorruptCapitalism #Kleptocracy #AmericanOligarchs #CorporateFascism #FederalGovernment #CorruptGOP #Bad4America #GOPTraitors