I think you are right in your doubts, especially since this is not a peg of the ruble to gold, but an obligation to buy gold at a fixed price in rubles, that is, support for the ruble from below.

I think a full return to the gold standard in a single country is impossible and impractical. Partly because the price of gold is determined by a consortium of several banks and this mechanism is not entirely market driven, not 100% determined by the current balance of supply and demand (therefore, spreads between the prices of "paper" and "physical" gold are regularly observed).

Pegging the ruble to gas is a more interesting phenomenon, because money in itself is a kind of life force equivalent and tying a specific currency to a specific energy resource does not look too artificial, and therefore the "gas_ruble" can be successful and viable, like the "oil_dollar" for example.

You're trying to pull an owl on a globe by giving this video as evidence. I asked four questions about this video, and you essentially didn't even answer one. I hope you are sincerely mistaken, and not deliberately lying in this situation.

When investigating any crime, including a military one, the first question to find the culprit sounds like "who can benefit from this?" If you do not ask this question, then you automatically become, at best, just a victim of propaganda.

The strategic mistake of the United Europe was Germany's decision to abandon nuclear energy, under pressure from environmentalists and against the backdrop of the Fukushima accident. France did not make this mistake and retained its network of nuclear power plants, but Germany is the locomotive of the European Union with a very developed energy-intensive industry, and by abandoning nuclear energy, it has made itself energetically insecure and very dependent on energy supplies from Russia. Wind turbines and solar panels are too unreliable to be seriously relied upon, they are a good additional dessert, but not a main course.

Even a complete energy embargo from the West will not force Putin to abandon his plans, because his interests in Ukraine lie predominantly not in the economic plane. At the same time, a complete energy embargo would be immediate economic suicide for the European Union.

Mariupol is a big separate story. Now Ukrainian marines are quite actively surrendering there, and Russian soldiers treat them within the framework of the Geneva Convention. However, in addition to the Marines, there are militants from Azov who play the role of barrage detachments, and they are not taken prisoner, and when they try to leave through the humanitarian corridor in civilian clothes, they are identified by Nazi tattoos and "denazified" on the spot. I think Azov still has about a thousand bayonets in Mariupol and they will all be destroyed.
You are wishful thinking. The drone operator follows the person on the bike, sometimes being distracted and giving a more general view of the column of armored vehicles.

I also want to remind you that martial law and general mobilization have been declared in Ukraine. Therefore, any man from 18 to 60 can be regarded by the Russian military as a combatant, as long as he has not clearly shown the absence of hostile intentions (for example, a white armband or a "press" inscription on a bulletproof vest).

I'm not trying to justify war crimes against civilians, that's disgusting and horrible. If there are those guilty on the Russian side of unmotivated violence and the killing of civilians, an investigation should be carried out by the military prosecutor's office and punishment from a military tribunal should follow.

This single episode with a cyclist does not fit into the overall picture of corpses neatly arranged in a checkerboard pattern with their hands tied. The armored vehicles in the video are probably Russian, several shots were first fired from an automatic 30-mm cannon of an airborne combat vehicle (BMD) and then another shot from a tank gun. There are a few questions below:
1. Why is the drone operator following this particular person, what is the purpose of his mission?
2. What kind of oblong object similar to a hand grenade launcher shoots this "civilian" from behind at about 0:49?
3. The first shot from an automatic 30-mm cannon of an airborne combat vehicle (BMD) was fired when this person had not even left the corner for line of sight at about 1:48, this person was shouting something and they opened fire at the sound ?
4. A few shots from a BMD cannon and a shot from a tank gun look redundant for one civilian on a bicycle, did the Russian paratroopers run out of machine guns?

If there is evidence here, it is not clear what exactly. Definitely not a mass execution of civilians by Russian soldiers. Maybe the Russians prevented a terrorist attack in this video (or I need a clear answer to my first question, because the reconnaissance drone is too expensive a toy with a short battery life to waste it on idle curiosity of the drone operator). You are trying to pass off as evidence something that is not evidence. The Russians simply have no motive to arrange executions of civilians in Ukraine. But for the Ukrainian side, this is beneficial for a number of reasons. And to blame the Russians, and to send a message to civilians in other cities not to cooperate with the Russian military. On April 2, the National Police of Ukraine on its official website openly wrote that in Bucha, after entering the city, a sweep was being carried out from "collaborators". Apparently, "collaborators" here mean everyone who received food and humanitarian aid from the Russians. Arranging demonstrative executions of civilians and blaming the Russians for everything is quite in style for the side that wanted to spit on the Geneva Convention and continues to torture and kill prisoners.

I think it is a fairly simple task for a medical examination to distinguish a fresh corpse from a corpse that has lain on the street for three weeks. Of course, not as simple as painting muddy pixels on satellite images, but nonetheless.

I think Biden's ass is already getting very hot from the investigations with his son's laptop, and from what the Russians can find in the Mariupol bunker, and from the fact that his economic sanctions do not have a noticeable and quick devastating effect on Russia.

Tell me, what is the logic of the Russian military to kill civilians when leaving Bucha? Why Ukraine staged this provocation, I can understand, but why would the Russians do it? I think the staged fake was made in a big hurry and a medical examination, together with forensic experts, will soon shed light on this situation.

Думаю пытаются вбросом про Бучу отвлечь внимание от Мариуполя, там под Азовсталью огромный подземный многоэтажный бункер и ходят слухи что кроме прочего там большая биолаборатория, где проводили опыты над живыми людьми - заключенными из Мариупольской тюрьмы "Библиотека" и похищенными мирными жителями с Донбасса. И что там такой ёбаный пиздец, которого с лихвой хватит на Нюрнбергский процесс два, а упоротые мефедроном нацики "Азова" там только вишенка на торте. Плюс что там застряло куча кадровых военных НАТО в больших фуражках, которых по всем признакам там быть не должно, их пытаются эвакуировать, но безуспешно. Через гуманитарные коридоры их тоже без палева не вывести. Вроде даже уже взяли в плен генерал-майора армии США, врут поди.

Доставила воспитательная беседа чеченца со сдавшимися сегодня в Мариуполе морпехами ВСУ.

Чё за дичь ты мне втираешь, какие-то долбоёбы размазывают сопли по экрану, у меня чуть влагалище не выросло от таких расследований. Вот видео зачистки Бучи украинской полицией, никаких трупов гражданских там нету. Думаю украинских киношников, снимающих постановочные пропагандистские фейки, потычут носом в своё дерьмо после настоящего расследования, с экспертизами криминалистов и судмедэкспертов.

In Bucha, this is definitely a staged fake of Ukrainian propaganda, filmed on professional film equipment. Here is a video of the cleansing of Bucha by the Ukrainian police, there, for the whole time, a corpse in military uniform flashed in the frame once, there are no civilian corpses there. The decision to provocation under a false flag was apparently made by Ukraine later.
According to my estimates, a grouping of the Armed Forces of Ukraine numbering up to 15 thousand people is blocked in Mariupol, in the port area and at the Azovstal plant. Under Azovstal there is a whole underground city with many floors, in which there are a lot of interesting things that it is impossible or impractical to simply bomb and blow up, so it is being stormed by the marines and Kadyrov's Chechen militants, together with the people's militia of Donbass. Rumor has it that the Russians have captured US Major General Roger L. Cloutier Jr. and many more NATO troops are trapped in a bunker near Azovstal. They also say that there is a huge bio-laboratory where they conducted experiments on living people abducted from the Donbass. There is a version that there is a disassembled nuclear warhead, but I find it conspiratorial. I think the bunker will be taken soon and we will find out what is really there.

Objective facts show that in 48 hours Ukraine lost its navy and significant losses in the air fleet, and in 72 hours it was thrown back from the border with Russia by 100-150 kilometers, having lost the chance to shoot at Russian territory from artillery and even its own the most long-range missile Tochka-U. During the month of the operation, the Ukrainian army did not conduct a single serious counter-offensive. The entire military infrastructure has significantly degraded, the airfields have been destroyed, the oil refinery has been destroyed, the army of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has been immobilized in the Donbass and cannot leave their fortified positions. In the south, landing from the sea threatens Odessa and Nikolaev, in Mariupol the Armed Forces of Ukraine have no chance to get out of the encirclement.

Anyway, the time does not converge, the Russian army left Bucha on March 30, the video of the mayor about the victory was recorded on March 31 (posted on the network on April 1, but he says in the video that "March 31 will go down in history, etc."). Here is a detailed analysis of this staged video, read the full material is quite extensive.

Those fakes were also laid out in detail on the bones. The main star of the story about the maternity hospital turned out to be beauty blogger Marianna Podgurskaya, who then gave an interview in which she told what exactly happened. The theater was blown up by the Azov militants, trying to stage a rather absurd Russian bombardment.

I didn’t say that those videos were documentary, I meant that Ukrainian propaganda, releasing such fantasy videos with fairly high-quality rendering, discredited itself in order not to believe any photo and video evidence of the Ukrainian side at first, and then, after a deeper analysis, make sure that this is really fake.

Zelensky is a mediocre actor, but his success in the political arena once again clearly showed that public politics is show business. There are a lot of people from show business in Zelensky’s headquarters, and in the information war against Russia, these show business skills are actively used by him. Informational reasons are being invented, stuffing, fakes and provocations are being actively created, mass consciousness is being manipulated, plausible myths are being created, and everywhere lies, lies, lies. No matter how great the real successes of Russia in this operation, it is important how Ukrainian propaganda presents them to creditors from the West. This is the only reason why I am writing here, wasting my time for free every day, although it would be wiser for me to remain silent. I just don't like lies.

Rumor has it that Putin is impossible to depose because he bathes in the menstrual blood of young virgins. Therefore, I prefer to set more realistic goals for myself.

Было бы чего разоблачать, там всё настолько белыми нитками шито, что рука-лицо. Вот радостное заявление мэра Бучи от 31 марта, что дескать город освобождён от русских оккупантов, перемога всё пиздец. Ни слова о трупах на улицах. Фотки с трупами появились несколько дней спустя после ухода российской армии, со свежими ранами и сука блять с белыми повязками, которые наши бойцы используют для обозначения что дескать "свой", а мирные жители используют для обозначения что дескать "не стреляйте, я без оружия". Украинские солдаты после входа в Бучу сами же казнили лояльных к России мирных жителей. После пыток пленных это даже впрочем не удивительно, но всё равно по всем признакам зашквар.

Do you want to talk about it? Of course, Russia is now stronger than the European Union in many aspects. First of all, in the military aspect, and this is the main reason why NATO does not directly intervene in the conflict in Ukraine, the alignment of forces is not in favor of NATO. Europe generally acts here as a victim, a sheep for the slaughter. The beneficiaries of the conflict are the USA, Great Britain, Russia, China, India, possibly the Middle East, but definitely not Europe. Europe is doomed to suffer for many years, from the influx of refugees and from the consequences of its own economic sanctions, Europe is no longer a competitor to the United States on the world stage. Europe does not have the right to say "no" and not support the US in the sanctions war against Russia, but also does not have enough support from the population of Europe to clearly explain to people why their quality of life should deteriorate, and significantly. Europe should start raising the key rate (following the US) to cope with rising inflation and curtail the quantitative easing program launched during the covid-19 pandemic. Europe is on the verge of a big stagflation - inflation against the backdrop of a decline in industrial production. In such unfavorable conditions, both internal disagreements in European countries and disagreements between EU members will intensify, because there are donor countries and recipient countries in the European Union. It is highly likely that the European Union will disintegrate altogether and cease to exist in its current form, because the UK's decision on Brexit was apparently very prudent and timely. Europe has fallen victim to its own tolerance, bringing it to the point of absurdity.
Do I have enough funny humor for stand-up comedy?

There are numerous testimonies and investigations of the crimes of the current Ukrainian government against their own people in the Donbass since 2014, but who cares when Biden (who himself has mud up to his elbows regarding his son’s machinations in Ukraine) pointed the finger at Putin and said who the real killer is.

Your problem is that although you understand the Russian language, you are extremely far from understanding the Russian mentality. The Russians need an external enemy, preferably a stronger one. Ukraine? "It's petty, Hobotov." But let's bring here the entire Western world united in a single anti-Russian impulse - this is already something to awaken Russia from its eternal procrastination and laziness, you can already work with this. And the louder the cry of anti-Russian rhetoric, the stronger and more effective Russia becomes. People in Russia do not believe in the lifting of sanctions if the aggression in Ukraine stops, so they say "okay, let there be sanctions, we will live with this." They do not take to the streets to protest like the inhabitants of Europe and do not try to overthrow Putin - on the contrary, his support is growing. Putin gave the people in Russia what was expected of him for a long time - he declared Russia's right to its own sovereignty in order to stop being a raw materials appendage and a gas station of the West. For the sanctions against the oligarchs in Europe, a special thank you from the Russians, they are not very loved here, ordinary people believe that the oligarchs have been robbing the country for decades and exporting the loot to the West. Well, now all the huge natural wealth of Russia belongs to Russia itself. Why would the Russian people berate Putin here? In Russia, Putin is now a folk hero, the "collector of Russian lands".

Lukashenko said that by the end of this year the world will forget about Ukraine. I'm not sure what exactly he meant, whether there will be a more serious problem in the world that will make Ukraine forget (as the operation in Ukraine almost made the whole world forget about covid-19), or just the problem in Ukraine will be resolved and cease to be such sharp and exciting the whole world, as now.

Let me tell you something else, it seems that in July the anniversary economic forum will be held in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Everyone has the right to draw their own conclusions.

In my opinion, the soldiers of the Russian army are doing their job and doing it well. I do not rule out that there may be individual episodes of cases of unjustified cruelty among Russian soldiers in relation to civilians - this is the prerogative of a military tribunal and it is not for me to judge this.

Russian troops redeployed from near Kyiv to Donbass a few days ago, and yesterday photos of bound corpses with fresh wounds appeared. The corpses themselves are not fake, but who did it? I hope you have no problems with critical thinking to independently compare the facts and restore the sequence of events.

Here is a joyful statement by the mayor of Bucha on March 31 about the liberation of the city from "Russian occupiers". Not a word about the corpses on the streets and the atrocities of Russian soldiers, a complete victory. And two days later, those terrible photos appear. Something doesn't add up in this story, don't you think?

Both episodes turned out to be fakes.

Rather, the problem is that a whole factory of fakes is operating in Ukraine, from the banal issuance of old photographs as fresh events, to high-quality montages like videos of Russian aircraft inflicting airstrikes on Paris and Berlin. The production of informational fakes is put on stream in Ukrainian propaganda, and this is a problem for the Russian side, because in the information war the advantage is gained not by the one who tells the truth, but by the one who has a more inflamed and unlimited imagination.

So far, I see clear examples of war crimes only from the Ukrainian side, and they manifest themselves in the fact that the Ukrainian military is actively using civilians as hostages. The army must protect its people, not hide behind them! Go out into the field and fight like a soldier, or lay down your weapons and surrender. Even if you die - your opponent will accept it with respect, and will not consider you a coward who hides behind the backs of women and children whom you were supposed to protect. You may consider the Russians wild barbarians, but we have clear ideas of honor that are incompatible with sadism and violence against unarmed people.

The united Europe takes its current place in the world largely due to the uninterrupted supply of cheap Russian raw materials, oil and gas. The labor of European workers is quite expensive, and Europe needs cheap raw materials and energy in order for European goods to compete in the world market. If supplies from Russia stop, Europe will very soon become bankrupt and will no longer be able to maintain a high standard of living for Europeans. It's as clear as a sunny day, and that's what I meant when I said that Europe needs Russia more than Russia needs Europe.

You are right, the widespread use of Nazism in Ukraine is a excus, not a reason. The security threat to Russia from Ukraine's accession to NATO is no more significant than from Norway's accession to NATO in 1949. There is also the problem of the eight-year genocide of the Russian-speaking population of Donbass, who held a referendum, exercised their right to self-determination and decided to become independent, and then asked Russia for recognition and assistance. Russians do not leave their own in trouble, so now Russian soldiers are fighting side by side with the forces of the people's militia of Donetsk and Lugansk.

But you understand very well that this bulb has many layers and the true causes of this confrontation must be sought not on the surface, but a little deeper. Is fecit, cui prodest. And who is the main beneficiary of the current events in Ukraine and in Europe as a whole? I have an opinion on this, but I will leave this question open for everyone to ask themselves and get their own version of the answer.

I'm not suggesting that Europe kowtow to Russia because Russia is stronger. But it is still good for Europe to be aware of its current weakness whenever it opens its mouth to anti-Russian rhetoric. "Shooting yourself in the foot" is a good metaphor for all European economic sanctions against Russia. Another good metaphor for this - нaзлo мaмкe yши oтмopoжy.

There was a fake in the maternity hospital, there was also a fake in the theater, why is it not a fake here? As Hitler said in Mein Kampf, "The more monstrous the lie, the more likely it will be believed." According to another version, this is a quote from the Goebbels manual, but radish horseradish is not sweeter. Apparently, the Ukrainian media follow the precepts of their ideological inspirers.

In Ukraine, the glorification of Nazism took place for many years, in Kyiv, thousands of torch marches were held annually in honor of the SS division of Galicia, consisting of Ukrainian nationalists. Numerous monuments and museums of Bandera, streets and avenues named after him in forty cities in Ukraine. The Nazi battalion "Azov" is part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on a regular basis. You are right, there are ultra-right nationalists in different countries of Europe, and I think in Russia too. But usually these are all sorts of hooligans, drug addicts and freaks, but in Ukraine it is an open mainstream and a unifying national idea.

СПГ не просто дороже магистрального газа, а в разы дороже. У Газпрома средняя цена продажи на экспорт в 2021 году получилась 270 долларов за тыщу кубов, а танкеры со сжиженным газом развернулись из Азии в Европу только когда цена газа на европейском споте превысила 2000$ за тыщу кубов. При отказе от дешёвого российского газа вся немецкая промышленность просто сразу станет нерентабельной и неконкурентоспособной. Это нищебродам из Литвы легко делать антироссийские демарши - у них там население 2 млн человек и нет никакой промышленности от слова совсем. А в Германию щас одних только беженцев из Украины пара миллионов человек прибежит и их всех надо обогреть и накормить.

Вернули, на словах. Строить то им АЭС кто будет, "Росатом" чтоли? В атомной энергетике там всё просто пиздец какое медленное. Лет 10-15 до первого "зелёного" атомного меговатта, если стартовать с буксами прямо сейчас. Великобритания тоже вон планирует построить 6-7 АЭС, к 2050 году. Успехов, блять.  

Да никто их не кусал, Европа визжит и бьётся в истерике как бешеная сучка, потому что её в списках бенефициаров этой операции вообще нихуя не оказалось. Её просто нагнули раком и выебали без прелюдий, превратили в резервацию для беженцев и втянули в экономическую санкционную войну, как будто ей российских контр-санкций 2014 года было недостаточно. Тогда кстати Европа ввела санкции по Крыму весной, а Россия свои продуктовые контр-санкции ввела в августе, когда созрел урожай и Польше пришлось своими яблоками кормить свиней. Так что на месте Европы я бы щас не расслаблял булки, все самые интересные контр-санкции ещё спереди. А пока пусть радуются, что им разрешили платить за газ "в евро" в обход собственных санкций.

Ахаха, гы лол.  

Германия не может отказаться от российского газа прямо сейчас, и через год-два тоже не сможет - банально нет никакой технической возможности, нет на рынке столько свободного сжиженного газа и его неоткуда взять, нет достаточного количества терминалов для приёма сжиженного газа и нет достаточного количества танкеров, чтобы привезти этот газ, которого по-прежнему нету. Вся энергосистема Германии рассчитана на дешёвый российский трубопроводный газ. Германия висит на российском газовом крючке, подвешенная за яйца и никуда с этого крючка не слезет в обозримом будущем, если конечно не решится въебать всю свою промышленность и то потребуется минимум 4-5 лет напряжённой работы (и начинать нужно прямо сейчас) и овердохуя инвестиций в новую инфраструктуру под сжиженный газ. Как только Германия похерила свою атомную энергетику, для неё это был билет в один конец на постоянном подсосе у России.

Зависимость от "тяжёлой" российской нефти в мире ещё более интересная.