Horrorshow. Gerard Depardieu, the French actor, has sought and been granted Russian citizenship. He's upset about what he considers the confiscatory tax policies of his country's socialist government. Brigette Bardot, a.k.a. Bridget the Midget and formerly known as the world's sexiest woman (I was only able to find this dated file photo of her) is also said to have applied to Moscow for tax sanctuary.
Russia as a tax haven? Yeah, why not? Vlad I can afford it.
Russia is fat and sassy right now. People work, drink, sing, and have money to spend.
It's a lot like that extension of Siberia called Alaska, where people get money from the state instead of paying taxes.
It's petroleum, and it's Moloch, god of industrial capital whose brain is money and whose veins flow with oil and gas. This is not about politics at all, but like politics, it's all about money, money, money, money, money and oil oil oil oyl.
Petroleum! Supreme deity of the last 200 years! All Europe is in thrall to Russian natural gas.
When you've got oil and gas, you can do anything you want, and pay for it from stacks of hundred-dollar bills. And you can thumb your nose at the U.S. Hugo Chavez has done so and gotten away with it, and Putin has done it with class.
Having some aging European and American stars around is also good for the social mix. How about a TV celebrity game show, "Moscow Squares."
4 comments:
Indeed, Russia is sitting good with vast land acreage and small population.
Dave, I recently found this. http://www.opednews.com/articles/Growth-is-the-Enemy-of-Hum-by-Dave-Lindorff-130116-947.html
Joe, I think Lindorff is right about old-style industrial growth.
But I also think there are other kinds of growth that are healthy. For example, growth of manufacturing and installation of devices that enable energy production from renewable sources, such as solar panels.
Dave, I think that is right about growth in solar panel manufacturing being good. Maybe production of the Edison battery needs to be reinvigorated if we can't get better battery technology to pair with those solar panels.
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