Shades of Pussy Riot: Kremlin at it Again

       The Russiya FSB, your friendly Putin thugs, are at it again.  This time they're after a very well known singer/artist, a man of considerable reputation, a man well known by Mad Vlad.   They sat together at a Paul McCartney concert in 2003.  This musician/singer, Andrei Makarevich, 60 years old, is the front man for the rock group Mashina Vremeni or Time Machine, who played a concert for refugees in Ukraine in an area controlled by the Ukrainian army.   This did not sit well with Raz-Putin.  The Kremlin immediately began a campaign to bring discredit to the group and Mr. Makarevich in particular.
     And so it goes in the Novorussiya of Mad Vlad.   With the media under government control, the citizens of Russiya are fed a constant stream of lies meant to undermine Western influence, especially the US.  At the same time, the media is whipping up nationalistic fervor among the gullible population.   Soon, one after the other of Mr. Makarevich' concerts around the country have been cancelled, owing to false excuses bordering on the absurd.
     All of this comes at a time when Russiya's economy is in freefall.  Since Mr. Putin took over in 2012, growth has slowed to a halt and foreign investment has stopped.   The economic sanctions imposed by western nations have further crippled the domestic economy.  Can Mr. Putin's popularity really be at 86% positive?  If he's doing the polling, of course.
      The value of the ruble is another little economic issue for Raz-Putin.   Since July, the value of the ruble has plummeted from 34/$1 to 40.33/$1 on Friday, 10/10/14.  This factor piggybacks on the price of oil which is under $90/barrel.   Moscow relies heavily on the sale of energy resources abroad for  foreign exchange.   Hmmm.   Bad planning here.   Maybe Putin should rethink the incursions into Crimea and Ukraine.   Winter is around the corner; Russyians are pulling their furs out of storage, getting ready.  Could be cold for more than a few locals around the Kremlin.   Maybe Vlad will see Russyians being harassed in Kiribati, or the Seyschelles Ils. and make another move.
We'll keep you posted on Vlad's next mad move.