In Moscow this week, the all-female Russian rock band "Pussy Riot" was convicted of "hooliganism" and sentenced to two years in prison. The heinous crime was staging a forty second event last February, protesting the Russian church’s support of the Kremlin. Russian President Putin weighed in on the case by pleading for the courts to be lenient on the young ladies and viola; the three were spared summary executions and sentenced to a forced vacation in a Siberian Gulag. This crafty response by the Kremlin was designed to scare Putin opponents but not foreign investors which are sorely needed to grow the stalled Russian economy.
We don’t think it accomplished either, as the Russian stock market is one of the worst performing markets and this mock trial raised more questions about legitimacy of the Russian legal system which is a non-starter for savvy foreign investors.
Furthermore, the young women rolled their eyes as the judge issued its verdict and just released a new record ridiculing the current state of affairs in Russia. All the worlds a stage and everyone is watching so it’s not surprising that former Kremlin Finance Minister Kudrin regarded the sentences as chilling to foreign investment. It’s quite amazing that three young women under the age of 30 can place Putin in the crosshairs.
It’s also not surprising that old cold war themes are coming back to the fore as the Chinese and Russian stock markets are languishing while dealing with the cross currents of corruption, open societies and a global economy. Iran, led by the Ayatollahs, has threatened to disconnect the internet, while its economy implodes.
As gridlocked as things are here, the key US stock indexes are hovering at multi year highs and we still have an internet that’s open with the exception of access to online poker. In this week’s video, we cover the Russian and Chinese markets as well as our standard fare.
By Keith Schneider
CEO MarketGauge.com
Poor Denis, you really don't have to worry about these things. God will take care of them. In the end all corrupted churches and their nominalist members that have been politicised will be destroyed, as well as the nasty great stock exchange capital which contains the metal exchange shipping insurance. - see Revelations 18.
Then for when these times are to come - Ezekiel 38, Mathew 24 and Luke 21. Keep calm, brother. Everything is going according to plan.
This band deserved everything that they got. In fact the court was too lenient. These debased creatures do nothing but corrupt our young childrens's minds aided by the likes of Madonna. Christianity along with all its historical nonsense deserves to be exposed. However, annoying individuals by trespassing on their place of worship is intolerable and should be opposed by respectable people where ever they are. What if this had been done in a Jewish synagogue, mosque, Hindu temple or Westminster Abbey would the followers of those religions feel good about it? Would the states of Britain, Israel and Saudi Arabia sanction such behaviour? I guess not. At last some common sense in this world of liberal nonsense.
Somehow it is difficult for me to imagine that the corruption in Russia can be worse than the corruption on good ole Wall Street, which appears to be quite immune from prosecution at the Federal level. Judging from current campaign contributions, this will continue to be the case.
Thank goodness the Supreme Court has declared that corporations/Wall Street Banks have the same rights as you and I do. I guess we also have the right to hire hundreds of lobbyists and contribute hundreds of millions of dollars to elect/hire public officials. Surely this is the system of government envisioned by the Founding Fathers.
The group invaded a Church and insulted Orthodox Christians by their insane actions. They were not invited. I suppose now every politcal hack has the right to trespass on any property as long as it is "political". So, when someone invades the privacy of your home remember they have the right to do it...if they sing a little political ditty.
Anything, as long as it is anti-Christian, seems to be popular with the western press.