The Situation in the Ukraine. #30

US visa refusal rates. Ukraine in top position.

Fixed for you...

At last, something Ukrainians are beating the Russians at    

Note that there are no US politicians on the list, all their corruption is legal.

The Pandora papers are a transparent joke. They have no Americans in the list. Even GE was offshoring its profits to avoid taxes.
But supposedly US oligarchs are all little angels of innocence and virtue. GTFO.

It is like the international court that is investigating Taliban crimes but not US crimes for fear of sanctions... and in effect has become another tool of the US against the poor and the weak...

The real irony is that they are exposing these people for not paying tax, but they are all following the rules set up in their countries... the real crime is the loopholes created in the tax systems of countries around the world that allow the richest to often avoid paying any income tax or tax on purchases of major assets like property at all.

Rather than pointing out who did what... why are these loopholes not closed in tax laws for every country on the planet.

The irony is that if you are trying to get ahead so you are working two jobs you often pay a higher tax rate on that second job because it is extra income, so you are effectively paying double tax to try to improve your situation... and you often pay tax again on both incomes when you buy anything with a goods and service tax on top of that.

If you were already rich you could buy a house and wait five years and sell it for two or three times what you paid for it and make millions without actually having to do very much at all...

Companies making a lot of money can buy failing companies that are losing money and fudge their income so they don't need to pay much tax for the high income company and get most of their tax from the losing company back...

But these are papers from a second finance company... the Pandora papers.... how many finance companies are there... and assuming they are all doing this... why wouldn't they... sounds like we should all be demanding people with integrity write our tax laws and laws in general instead of the total that have written them in the past.

ALAMO wrote:Now the funny part, still I admit it is from the Russian TV, and not checked by me.
The Guardian, which wrote about that in numbers, used a Putin photo for the article and mentioned his name 50 times.
Still, there was not a single claim about him involved in any act of laundering.

The Gruniad has terminal Putin derangement syndrome. If Putin was such a bloody tyrant, then why would he
need to "hide" his wealth offshore? From whom? Himself? This is an example of liars getting tangled in their
own lies and producing incoherent pap.

These "papers" are actually aimed at the Russian public. They hope to instill the notion that Putin is offshoring
wealth and is thus bad for Russia. That Putin has overseen Russia's revival on an epic scale is somehow expected
to be forgotten by a bunch of credulous saps. The west shows its mentally deficient hubris and condescension
once again.

No Americans were mentioned because in America is it perfectly legal to be rich and not pay tax... let the poor pay tax... and most of the tax goes to funding wars that make the rich even richer.

The majority of Americans don't even see their money spent on infrastructure to make their lives easier or more comfortable... they just brace themselves for the next tax bill...

Stealing taxpayers money from the US government is a game but you need a billion in the bank to win... because you need a billion in the bank to play.

Fair summary. "We are doomed"

Kiev – The delivery of gas to Hungary via Serbia and the bypassing of Ukraine in the transport of energy provoked numerous comments and criticism in the Ukrainian parliament.

Ilya Kiva, a member of the state Rada from the opposition party “Opposition Platform – for Life”, believes that the deliveries of Russian gas to Hungary outside the territory of Ukraine will in the future lead to the collapse of the country.

“The beginning of the end of the Ukrainian economy, and finally the collapse of the country … Russian ‘Gazprom’ has started delivering gas to Hungary through the ‘Turkish Stream’ gas pipeline, which bypasses the territory of Ukraine!” All this happened thanks to the senseless, criminal economic and political attitude of the authorities, “the Ukrainian MP wrote on the social network Telegram.

JohninMK wrote:Fair summary. "We are doomed"

Kiev – The delivery of gas to Hungary via Serbia and the bypassing of Ukraine in the transport of energy provoked numerous comments and criticism in the Ukrainian parliament.

Ilya Kiva, a member of the state Rada from the opposition party “Opposition Platform – for Life”, believes that the deliveries of Russian gas to Hungary outside the territory of Ukraine will in the future lead to the collapse of the country.

“The beginning of the end of the Ukrainian economy, and finally the collapse of the country … Russian ‘Gazprom’ has started delivering gas to Hungary through the ‘Turkish Stream’ gas pipeline, which bypasses the territory of Ukraine!” All this happened thanks to the senseless, criminal economic and political attitude of the authorities, “the Ukrainian MP wrote on the social network Telegram.

I'm curious to see what effect it has on Ukraine.

Putin has already instructed Gazprom to continue to send the agreed upon amounts of gas through Ukrainian pipes as agreed... they are not going to freeze this winter... as long as they don't do something really stupid like steal or divert the gas.

GarryB wrote:Putin has already instructed Gazprom to continue to send the agreed upon amounts of gas through Ukrainian pipes as agreed... they are not going to freeze this winter... as long as they don't do something really stupid like steal or divert the gas.

Kiev would have got its money regardless of whether gas flowed or not. No indication that they would exceed the contracted amount. No skin off the Russians nose to do this, just playing to the EU/US gallery.

This is an Office they really don't want to fill.


U.S. Embassy Kyiv
@USEmbassyKyiv
· 12h
The EU and the US are greatly disappointed by unexplained and unjustifiable delays in the selection of the Head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Office, a crucial body in the fight against high-level corruption. (1/2)

Well, they should do it like the EU and the US do it: place the most corrupt politician in that seat.

Tough times.... 10,000 potentially over qualified candidates for just the one position....

Positive move if this comes to anything

ASB News / MILITARYPart alternation mark
@ASBMilitary
·
7h
BREAKING: Kremlin says US & Russia agree Ukraine must give Donbass special autonomous status

Status-6
@Archer83Able
·
10h
Kremlin's Deputy Chief of Staff Dmitry Kozak said that during his talks with US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, an agreement was reached to continue consultations between Moscow and Washington on a settlement in Donbas.

(Interfax)

[quote="JohninMK"]Positive move if this comes to anything

ASB News / MILITARYPart alternation mark
@ASBMilitary
·
7h
BREAKING: Kremlin says US & Russia agree Ukraine must give Donbass special autonomous status

Status-6
@Archer83Able
·
10h
Kremlin's Deputy Chief of Staff Dmitry Kozak said that during his talks with US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, an agreement was reached to continue consultations between Moscow and Washington on a settlement in Donbas.

(Interfax)

[/qu


You have got to be kidding! The cookie lady, who gave the protestors cookies, (Victoria Nuland!) now agrees " to continue consultations between Moscow and Washington on a settlement in Donbas."!!


Ukraine crisis: Transcript of leaked Nuland-Pyatt call
Published February 2014


https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26079957



US official gives cookies to pro-EU protesters
By EUOBSERVER

11. DEC 2013, 17:48
A senior US state department official, Victoria Nuland, handed out cookies to pro-EU protesters in central Kiev on Wednesday after meeting Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovych. She said their conversation was "tough" and "realistic." EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton is holding a second meeting with him in Kiev also Wednesday.

https://euobserver.com/tickers/122437

The US is "agreeing" to what is already required by the Minsk Accords.

Nuland (ie the US) spent 5 billion dollars to overthrow the legitimate government in Kiev and replace them with the remaining dregs of politics in the Ukraine... the cookies were just PR.

So if America is agreeing that the Minsk agreements need to be implemented then that puts pressure on Kiev because they are the ones dragging their feet.

We are going in circles here.

US will continue to kick the can, which means PUkraine will too, over the issue and US will continue to pick at Russia. This is US piss poor attempt to try and find some breathing room and no one is buying it.

Breaking In Donetsk, residents have blocked the OSCE offices at the Park Inn Hotel after Ukrainian forces kidnapped a representative of the JCCC in the Lugansk People’s Republic and continue to hold him hostage. Jeeps from the OSCE are blocked from going on patrol.  #Donbass

VARGR198 wrote: Breaking In Donetsk, residents have blocked the OSCE offices at the Park Inn Hotel after Ukrainian forces kidnapped a representative of the JCCC in the Lugansk People’s Republic and continue to hold him hostage. Jeeps from the OSCE are blocked from going on patrol.  #Donbass

I'm curious to see how this all plays out.

I seen images of the captured soldier yesterday. Ukrainians who kidnapped him had him blindfolded.

VARGR198 wrote:I seen images of the captured soldier yesterday. Ukrainians who kidnapped him had him blindfolded.

I hope they do him no harm.


Not like the criminals who came to Donetsk, etc. and kidnapped and tortured persons.