The State of Affairs in Russia

[grumbler]

Yeah, it's past time to put that treaty to bed.

[Syt]

http://www.thelocal.at/20150311/fpoe-man-denies-accepting-invitation-to-russian-forum

FPÖ man denies saying yes to Russian forum

A senior politician from the populist Freedom Party (FPÖ), Johann Gudenus, is claiming that he never planned to join a gathering of far-right parties from across Europe at an International Russian Conservative Forum (IRCF) to be held in St. Petersburg on March 22nd.

However, the Austria Press Agency (APA) reports that it has seen a letter from Gudenus from December, written in English with an official FPÖ letterhead, in which he thanked the IRCF for the invitation, and said he was "looking forward to join the conference".

On Tuesday Gudenus told APA that he had never said he would participate and "never intended to go there."

Analyst and blogger Anton Shekhovtsov speculates that the FPÖ was likely looking to secure some financing from Russia - after the French National Front accepted a €9 million loan from a Russian bank in 2014.

Yuriy Lyubomirsky of Russia's Rodina party told APA that he only received an email from Gudenus on March 9th, cancelling his participation in the conference, and saying that he was too busy with election campaigns in Austria.

Meanwhile, this has surfaced:



Oops. Gudenus now claims that it must have slipped his mind that he had confirmed his attendance, because he receives so many invitations to so many meetigns, conventions and functions.

[Liep]

Is Putin dead? There's rumors in Russia that he is, or at least that he's very sick.

[Liep]

http://putinumer.com/

[Tamas]

Is Putin dead? There's rumors in Russia that he is, or at least that he's very sick.

we can't be that lucky.

[jimmy olsen]

All I see is that he postponed a trip due to illness. Nothing about him dying.

[Solmyr]

Is Putin dead? There's rumors in Russia that he is, or at least that he's very sick.

we can't be that lucky.

I wouldn't necessarily call whatever follows Putin's death in Russia "lucky".

[Tamas]

Is Putin dead? There's rumors in Russia that he is, or at least that he's very sick.

we can't be that lucky.

I wouldn't necessarily call whatever follows Putin's death in Russia "lucky".

There is no heir apparent and chaos there would be a short term gain for the ROTW. A possible long term catastrophe yes, but a short term gain

[alfred russel]

There is no heir apparent and chaos there would be a short term gain for the ROTW. A possible long term catastrophe yes, but a short term gain

Medvedev?

[Tamas]

There is no heir apparent and chaos there would be a short term gain for the ROTW. A possible long term catastrophe yes, but a short term gain

Medvedev?

Puhleaze

[DGuller]

I wouldn't necessarily call whatever follows Putin's death in Russia "lucky".

That's definitely what he wants everyone to think.  He may be right too, in a self-fulfilling way.

[alfred russel]

There is no heir apparent and chaos there would be a short term gain for the ROTW. A possible long term catastrophe yes, but a short term gain

Medvedev?

Puhleaze

He has more credibility than the bus driver that Chavez got to replace him.

[frunk]

Medvedev?

I think it unlikely that a sock puppet will take charge.

[Syt]

http://rt.com/politics/240025-russia-peskov-putin-health/

"No need to worry, everything is all right. He has working meetings all the time, only not all of these meetings are public," Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday in an interview with Echo of Moscow radio. He added that the president is "absolutely healthy" and that "his handshake is so strong he breaks hands with it."

"I must break you."

[DGuller]

Does anyone in Russia realize how pathetic the quote about Putin's iron handshake sounds?  They're moving into North Korean territory when it comes to glorifying their dear leader.