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Nougat , in Trump criticizes judge after he’s warned against ‘inflammatory statements’

She's got to call him into court on this.

snooggums ,
@snooggums@kbin.social avatar

She won't though, because it would look bad or some other stupid reason.

If it was a regular person they would be thrown in jail immediately.

Nougat ,

Yet to be seen. Chutkan has demonstrated that she's going to be the "find out" of "fuck around" in other aspects, but she also knows she is presiding over a uniquely historic case with potentially terminal consequences. Her Friday statement about inflammatory public comments demanding a swift trial fell short of what I would have liked, but I find her decision on the matter to be brilliantly fair, and unassailable.

Also note that the Government has not (so far as we know) made any motions in response to the defendant's weekend commentary. Based on the immediate motion for a protective order after the defendant's "I'm coming after you!" post, I might expect there to be a motion from the Government, and there's not (again, so far as we know). To me, this suggests that they know Judge Chutkan is already working on this, and does not need the Government or public pressure to be any greater than it already is. And if they know, defense knows, too.

I am hopeful, but the consequences (if any) for the defendant's weekend rants are going to be the point upon which the future of democracy turns. She has to know this, and I have to think that the reason we haven't heard anything from her yet is because she is considering very carefully what the response from the court will be.

snooggums ,
@snooggums@kbin.social avatar

Yeah, so the standard bullshit reasons.

DrPop ,

It may feel like bullshit because we all know what he did, but they are being careful to not give him any legal grounds to appeal or move the trial. What’s funny is everyone knows there is a two tiered justice system, it’s just who is on which tier is different from person to person. Also trying to minimize collateral damage is important.

snooggums ,
@snooggums@kbin.social avatar

So it feels like bullshit because it is.

FoundTheVegan , in 'Blind Side' subject Oher alleges adoption was lie
@FoundTheVegan@kbin.social avatar

He wasn't receiving royalties on HIS life story? But the Tuohy family was?

Jesus. Turns out that heart warming movie about the white saviors was actually exploration all along.

dragontamer , in Zuck/Musk cage match canceled; tech billionaires blame each other

As far as I can tell, the order of events has been:

  1. Elon Musk Challenges Zuck to a fight
  2. Zuck says “MMA fight on August 26th??”. I already got UFC interested, we can do it for charity (said on August 6th)
  3. Elon Musk then says “Hurt myself lifting 45lb weights, I might need surgery”.
  4. Zuck says “I think you’re not serious”
  5. Elon Musk says “What about a practice session next week?”
  6. Zuck says “I still think you’re not serious. Please contact me when you’re serious”.
  7. Elon Musk says: “Lol you’re backing out of the fight. See you tomorrow (August 14th) in your backyard”.

Anyone else got a summary of events? Did I miss anything “important” ??? (And I fully recognize this is probably the dumbest news story I followed this whole year)

Especially_the_lies ,

Thank you for summarizing this nonsense for those of us who haven’t been following!

pozbo , in Deaths surge in the US’s hottest city as governor declares statewide ‘heat emergency’
@pozbo@lemmy.world avatar

Do I have to buy a subscription to learn what city and what state?

ClopClopMcFuckwad , in Disney raises streaming prices as CEO Bob Iger warns of password sharing crackdown
@ClopClopMcFuckwad@lemmy.world avatar

deleted_by_author

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  • Cameli_Hostis ,
    @Cameli_Hostis@lemmy.world avatar

    Oh No…

    …anyway.

    Talkurt ,

    Yarrr

    BrudderAaron ,
    @BrudderAaron@lemmy.world avatar

    Yar har fiddle-lee-dee. Do what you want 'cause a pirate is free!

    NotABearJustAHuman ,
    @NotABearJustAHuman@kbin.social avatar

    Yo ho ahoy and avast! Being a pirate is really badass!

    OsrsNeedsF2P ,

    Greedy people like you are why the Writers Guild is on strike. Don’t complain when good content stops getting produced /s

    Dr_pepper_spray ,

    You mother fuckers tried to download a car, didn’t you?!

    Hadriscus ,

    I downloaded a whole gallion

    sndmn ,

    I too like the “nothing a month” plan.

    SkaveRat ,

    Heck, I’m paying for torrenting. put.io makes it so convenient to just paste a magnet link and watch whatever in the browser/chromecast 3 seconds later, due to deduplication

    PP_BOY_ ,
    @PP_BOY_@lemmy.world avatar

    the “nothing a month” plan

    Hell, I’ve probably spent more on my media server than I ever spent on streaming, but the difference is that I own the files

    state_electrician ,

    Sadly, it’s nigh impossible to find free sources for anything but English. ☹️

    Green_Bay_Guy ,

    Like, non-hollywood content, or subs/dubs?

    Chreutz ,

    Dubs, mostly. Finding kids shows in other languages, for instance.

    state_electrician ,

    Correct. I am trying to find stuff for kids to watch and that needs to be dubbed. Basically doesn’t exist in torrent form.

    sadreality ,

    No pirates or just not for this content?

    TheBat ,
    @TheBat@lemmy.world avatar

    Public trackers are dead tho.

    LEDZeppelin ,

    Ho Ho Ho and a bottle of rum 🏴‍☠️

    sverit ,
    MrMamiya , in Group of up to 50 people shoplift about $100K worth of luxury items from L.A. mall; used bear spray against guards

    Coming soon in America: Mall cops with guns!

    Sign up now for our 1 week certification program to be ready for your exciting career!

    Do you:

    Believe property has intrinsic value beyond the arbitrary price placed on it by the producer?

    Believe that value is higher than that of a human life?

    Really want to shoot someone to prove your devotion to property?

    Believe harsh punishment up to and including death is a deterrent to crime?

    Head over to your local mall’s security office and sign up today!

    Rashnet ,
    @Rashnet@kbin.social avatar

    Your comment is on the nose.

    I have had many arguments with people over the fact you shouldn't want to shoot someone over property. I'm a gun owner but I don't carry a gun and I don't believe a life is worth less than property. The amount of people I know who carry a gun and have said they would shot someone for stealing is incredibly high and troubling.

    I don't know if it is a direct result of the daily dehumanization of ethnic groups and criminals we are bombarded with all day long everyday or if it is much more complex but there is a real problem in the US when large groups of people don't value other people's lives.

    Deftdrummer ,

    When you value someone else’s stuff more than your own life then that’s all that needs to be said. Condoning criminality breeds criminals.

    absentthereaper , (edited )
    @absentthereaper@lemmygrad.ml avatar

    Wrong. Rampant theft of labor, and a tacit refusal on the part of our oligarchs to alleviate the crushing weight of cost of living after accounting for rampant inflation and the constant transfers of wealth from the low and “middle”(lmao) classes to the rich over the last 25 years breeds criminals. The more society rots from within, the more criminals you’ll see. It’s a civic issue. It’s a societal issue. It’s unsustainable.

    To wit, rising criminality-- if it even exists, which I’m wary to believe given how often settlers cry wolf about it-- will not change until the material conditions guiding our nation changes.

    Rashnet ,
    @Rashnet@kbin.social avatar

    I never said anything about condoning criminality. I said valuing property higher than life isn't right. I said this in another post a few days ago but I'll say it again. I live in a high crime area and I am sick and tired of people stealing from not only me but my neighbors and from businesses that support the community's needs. That doesn't change the fact I think it's morally repugnant to want to kill someone for property theft.

    If we invested more in community building and opportunities along with courts and police departments upholding the law we would have less of these types of crimes. Where I live the police stopped policing because they got mad after several officers were charged with the murder of a kid they arrested. In my eyes that makes them the same as the people stealing from the community. The courts here rarely convict juveniles so the kids know they can get away with just about anything.

    While I say I live in a high crime area I also know that overall in the US crime rates have been declining over the years especially violent crime rates.

    Wikipedia Crime stats

    Deftdrummer ,

    It’s morally repugnant to threaten someone’s well-being over property. One begats the other. Cause and affect.

    girlfreddy ,
    @girlfreddy@mastodon.social avatar

    @Deftdrummer @Rashnet

    As does condoning those like yourself.

    Goodbye

    cedarmesa , (edited )
    @cedarmesa@lemmy.world avatar

    💀

    Chickenstalker ,

    Once you use threats and violence to steal other’s property, you open yourself to bodily harm. Simple as.

    JasSmith ,

    I don't believe a life is worth less than property.

    I don’t understand the disconnect some people have when it comes to property. Property (and money) is a store of my time. My literal life. I worked for a year to be able to afford my car. You think someone else is entitled to steal an entire year of my life? That’s as close to endorsement of slavery as it gets. Do I think another should be permitted to steal my life? Absolutely not, under any circumstances. I don’t want to kill anyone, and I’ll give them a warning, but I would absolutely defend my life.

    cokane_88 , in Massachusetts passed a 4% millionaire's tax last year. Now every public school student is going to get free lunch
    @cokane_88@lemmy.world avatar

    And my kid will still refuse to eat it… We had free lunches here during the pandemic.

    SMITHandWESSON ,
    @SMITHandWESSON@lemmy.world avatar

    How did you do the custom font on your username? It looks awesome!!!

    Potatos_are_not_friends , in US inflation means families are spending $709 more per month than two years ago

    $709 isn’t even exaggerating.

    My rent alone increased by that much in the past two years.

    Add to the $150-$300 more for groceries.

    Every restaurant visit averages about $30 per person. Fucking McDonald’s is like $10 for a meal.

    I no longer do UberEats or take an Uber, because they doubled in fees.

    Coreidan ,

    Same as it ever was

    onionbaggage ,

    Nah bro. It’s actually getting worse.

    MicroWave OP , in A feud is heating up between Arizona workers and the world's leading chipmaker after the company claimed the US doesn't have the skills to build its new factory
    @MicroWave@lemmy.world avatar

    To get the construction of its Arizona chip factory back on track, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) says it needs more workers with the expertise and skillsets that Americans don’t have. Since June, the company has been in discussions with the US government about receiving accelerated non-immigrant E-2 visas for as many as 500 Taiwanese workers.

    The Arizona Pipe Trades 469 Union, a labor union that says it represents over 4,000 pipefitters, plumbers, welders, and HVAC technicians, has started a petition to urge US lawmakers to deny these visas. The petition claims that TSMC has deliberately misrepresented the skillset of Arizona’s workforce. By approving TSMC’s visa requests, a union website says lawmakers would be laying the groundwork for “cheap labor” to replace American workers.

    esadatari ,

    hmmm. while i get the point the union is trying to make, there is a staunch difference between welding and pipe fitting versus creating semi-conductors.

    i think it’s silly to assume the workers wouldn’t learn the necessary skills to be able to work there, but it’s also silly to say “well we can fit pipes and weld shit so we can make semiconductors.”

    MicroWave OP ,
    @MicroWave@lemmy.world avatar

    We’re not talking about semiconductor workers though. This is from the earlier article that this article references:

    TSMC and its suppliers are in talks with the U.S. government to assist with the application process for non-immigrant visas in a bid to dispatch more than 500 experienced workers as early as July to expedite the construction of cleanroom facilities and the installation of pipelines and other equipment, three chip supply chain executives said.

    asia.nikkei.com/…/TSMC-to-send-hundreds-more-work…

    HuddaBudda ,
    @HuddaBudda@kbin.social avatar

    Chip making factories need water, electricity, ventilation. I don't think that surprises anyone.

    And if there was one thing American's are Semi-good at, it is trade skills.

    If this was a case of needing more experienced professionals for chips, I would agree with Tiawan. However, could anyone make an argument on why we need a concrete expert from Taiwan? Or an electrician from Tiawan? Or a plumber from Tiawan?

    jscummy ,

    Specialized electricians for some of the more sophisticated systems is the only one that makes any sense. Even then, there’s plenty of US workers available unless it’s something highly specific to chip fabs.

    JustZ ,
    @JustZ@lemmy.world avatar

    That’s exactly what it is.

    “We are now entering a critical phase of handling and installing the most advanced and dedicated equipment,” said TSMC chairman Mark Liu. “However, we are encountering certain challenges as there is an insufficient amount of skilled workers with those specialized expertise required for equipment installation in a semiconductor-grade facility.”

    jscummy ,

    I still have some suspicions on that, AMD and Intel aren’t complaining about shortages. I’d be curious to see what expertise/certifications they’re looking for because I’m sure they could find a company in Cali or Texas if they’re willing to pay up.

    girlfreddy ,
    @girlfreddy@mastodon.social avatar

    @jscummy @JustZ

    More so these days it's all about the "money", as in wages.

    Companies are too beholden to investors instead of the company. When the rich boys scream about wages sucking up too much of their profits, this is what happens.

    JustZ ,
    @JustZ@lemmy.world avatar

    I bet the instruction manuals for much of the equipment is completely in Mandarin, not to mention the computer coding involved.

    jscummy ,

    A lot of the major equipment will come from ASML (Dutch) and a lot of the minor stuff will probably be from a major conglomerate that has no issue providing multiple language manuals.

    Furthermore, for larger/built in equipment installs the company providing will send out a technician for final programming at the very least.

    JustZ ,
    @JustZ@lemmy.world avatar

    “We are now entering a critical phase of handling and installing the most advanced and dedicated equipment,” said TSMC chairman Mark Liu. “However, we are encountering certain challenges as there is an insufficient amount of skilled workers with those specialized expertise required for equipment installation in a semiconductor-grade facility.”

    ZapBeebz_ ,

    To add on, this union represents a large number of skilled pipefitters and other tradespeople who have done the exact same work on several similar Intel facilities within Arizona. It’s pretty clear that TSMC wants to take US taxpayer funding (for a project designed to stimulate the skilled trades in AZ, as well as create jobs for Americans) and instead of paying market rates for American workers, pay a lot less to bring workers over from Taiwan.

    JustZ ,
    @JustZ@lemmy.world avatar

    Read article. That work is already done.

    FuglyDuck ,
    @FuglyDuck@lemmy.world avatar

    they’re talking about building the facility. which includes a shit load of plumbing. between all the high-purity water line, the chemical line. the gas line. the everything else to feed the machines… yeah. they’re gonna need pipefitters

    FuglyDuck , (edited )
    @FuglyDuck@lemmy.world avatar

    YUP. all this, and also, probably, that the Union labor is more likely to refuse not building things to code. (edit, fixed a typo. thank you @mind)

    mind ,

    deleted_by_author

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  • FuglyDuck ,
    @FuglyDuck@lemmy.world avatar

    no. They would be reistant to not following code.
    the imported workers would be more likely to not build to code.

    fixed it, thank you.

    jscummy ,

    How are they justifying these visas in any way? If it’s those trades listed, claiming any kind of shortage is bullshit. They just don’t want to pay union prices.

    JustZ ,
    @JustZ@lemmy.world avatar

    It’s not those trades.

    “We are now entering a critical phase of handling and installing the most advanced and dedicated equipment,” said TSMC chairman Mark Liu. “However, we are encountering certain challenges as there is an insufficient amount of skilled workers with those specialized expertise required for equipment installation in a semiconductor-grade facility.”

    These are highly specialized engineers and scientists.

    JustZ , in Russian ruble is now worth less than a penny, infuriating Vladimir Putin’s inner circle: ‘They’re laughing at us’
    @JustZ@lemmy.world avatar

    Can confirm, everyone laughing at Russia.

    Front line soldiers stealing dishwashers because they have never seen one before.

    gullible ,

    I just checked, it looks like they’re stealing the “smart” out of smart appliances in order to produce electronic components. So scorched earth, in the future, may involve entering your fridge’s self destruct code.

    Zoboomafoo ,
    @Zoboomafoo@yiffit.net avatar

    I knew that deal on my Lockheed Martin freezer was too good to be true!

    grue ,

    I want to laugh at how the 10¢ microcontrollers we put in dishwashers in the west are better than state-of-the-art homegrown Russian tech, but then I remember that America would be pretty screwed if we were cut off from Taiwan and had to rely on locally-manufactured chips, too. It wouldn’t be as bad since we do have some chip fabs here, but we don’t have enough of them to make the national security folks happy.

    Think about the automobile shortages in the last few years due to lack of chips, except it’s military vehicles instead.

    mosiacmango ,

    Thats what the CHIPS act was passed to correct.

    RIPandTERROR ,
    @RIPandTERROR@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar
    Silverseren , in (Wisconsin) Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley has been quietly editing her own Wikipedia page

    I'll have to go post this to the Wikipedia admin noticeboards to be dealt with, though it's likely someone else has already beat me to the punch if this is hitting the news itself.

    Silverseren ,

    As I thought, someone already did and the page has been fixed and temporarily protected to prevent another IP address doing this again. A lot more editor eyes will be on the article too from now on.

    thefartographer ,

    Hey, I wonder what Barbara Streisand’s house looks like!

    ArtieShaw ,
    @ArtieShaw@kbin.social avatar

    You know, I never even wondered that until you mentioned it. Maybe I'll check it out because now I'm irrationally curious! I bet it's pretty nice!

    (/s)

    indulgence , in 'Blind Side' subject Oher alleges adoption was lie

    He says that now. Now that he’s broke 🤣

    DigitalTraveler42 ,

    Maybe read the article and see that they cheated him out of the money a literal movie about his life was supposed to make.🤷‍♂️

    YoBuckStopsHere ,
    @YoBuckStopsHere@lemmy.world avatar

    He isn’t broke, he doesn’t have access to his money. Legally he is in the right.

    Hillock ,

    I would say he is morally in the right. Legally this is going to be way more difficult. Just because he didn't receive the same share as everyone else doesn't mean it's illegal. He signed that conservatorship, and finding proof of the Tuohys abusing it isn't going to be easy. And especially without knowing the full details arguing that he is legally in the right (or wrong) is just pure speculation.

    YoBuckStopsHere ,
    @YoBuckStopsHere@lemmy.world avatar

    It really depends on the legal language.

    JoBo ,

    You can read. Try it. You might learn to be less of a fuckwit, eventually.

    JoBo , in 'Blind Side' subject Oher alleges adoption was lie

    That movie always smelled bad.

    Everyone go buy his book, if you have the spends to spare: When Your Back’s Against the Wall. Let’s make it a best-seller and impossible for these parasites to slither away from the collective memory.

    ImplyingImplications , in More states expect schools to keep trans girls off girls teams as K-12 classes resume

    Are there professional high school teams I don’t know about? Or are these laws specifically to keep kids from having fun playing sports with zero stakes?

    Moobythegoldensock ,

    The latter.

    DessertStorms , (edited )
    @DessertStorms@kbin.social avatar

    are these laws specifically to keep kids from having fun playing sports with zero stakes?

    these are laws specifically to oppress trans people and put a wedge between them and "the rest" by fearmongering and othering, from as early as they can possibly manage.

    Even with big stakes, trans women in sports is not a "problem" it never has been, if it was they would be winning a lot more medals, I'll tell you that. But they aren't, because they don't have any advantages over cis women just by virtue of being trans (if anything, they have significant disadvantages like being the target of so much hate).

    This is 100% motivated by bigotry under the guise of "think of the children!!1"

    solivine ,
    @solivine@sopuli.xyz avatar

    Can’t believe you’re being downvoted a lot. Any trans woman person on medication for long enough will just simply not have the muscle mass they had before. It’s basic science.

    I mean if people were really that concerned, which I imagine they aren’t and just want to discriminate, you could just ensure they took medication for several years above a certain amount using blood tests. Not sure if they do currently, but they should probably do that for testosterone too.

    Then it gets even weirder because sports aren’t defined by gender anymore but by hormones, but maybe that actually makes more sense? As that affects what muscle you can build?

    DessertStorms ,
    @DessertStorms@kbin.social avatar

    That doesn't surprise me (though I can't actually see any downvotes on kbin which I should, not that I don't believe you, it's just odd), people get so defensive of "muh gender" as if other people being trans is somehow an attack on their cis identity (an attack they're making up of course, it's projection). Reality has never mattered to them, they just want to punch down at someone to feel big.

    If only they'd focus that energy on the people selling them these lies to distract them from the real threats society faces..

    But that's why divide and conquer is so effective - keep people low and powerless, then give them someone even more powerless to take their aggression out on, distraction achieved!

    ryathal ,

    Is it just winning that you call a problem? It seems unfair to an Olympic hopeful woman to be held out of the Olympics because a man who transitioned is better than you.

    Drivebyhaiku , (edited )

    Here is the rub. It’s not the fact one’s sex is male that is the advantage. It’s male puberty. If a person never goes through a male puberty regardless of their chromasomal makeup you don’t get any of the advantages in sport that cis men have.

    Trans people and the medical systems which have studied trans adults and kids and reached a level of confident diagnosis are fighting so which puberty one ultimately experiences is an option and not something you are forced to experience because people around you do nothing.

    Most athletes are in their early twenties. If we managed to actually let medical and social service professionals facilitate trans kids in a handful of years you basically solve this problem.

    whynotzoidberg ,

    Are there really zero stakes? Does the work a child does in K-12 not impact their opportunities post K-12?

    Sex has been a long-standing issue in organized sport. The IOC has their own challenges with it, even.

    Club sports, as opposed to organized sports, are more of the “for fun / zero stakes” type of sport IMO.

    I wish the issue was more black and white, but holy cow is it a tough one when you dig your heels in.

    MagicShel ,

    Unfortunately, it’s not zero stakes with high school athletes looking to get scholarships and schools making money and funding from football. To say nothing of parental egos. If only it were as easy to sweep under the rug by claiming it isn’t worth caring about.

    This is just the tip of the iceberg, too. So much of life is nearly divided up into make and female without thinking about what constitutes an advantage. Maybe basketball needs to be divided into two leagues for over and under 6’6". Perhaps hockey should be split by bone density. Or whatever, but my point is gender is a big dividing line for our society and we are attacking that line. It’s going to be messy.

    I predict the eventual result is to no longer have gendered competitions at all. Which in some ways is good but would likely result in much lower participation by women in certain sports.

    I support trans rights and IDGAF about sports, but I don’t see any clean way out of this mess. Something fundamental is going to have to change to answer this issue.

    howrar ,

    Maybe basketball needs to be divided into two leagues for over and under 6’6". Perhaps hockey should be split by bone density. Or whatever,

    Maybe not split, but we should take this into account for scoring purposes. In powerlifting, your height (and thus weight) is the main determining factor in how much you can lift. We account for this by using weight classes, but that has the problem of either dividing up everyone so finely that many weight categories in local competitions only comprise of one athlete, or grouping too many people together that competition is no longer fair. There’s also the Wilk score (getting replaced last I heard due to some drama. Not sure what they use now), which calculates an overall score based on your exact weight and allows comparisons across weight classes.

    So for other sports, we could have something similar to this Wilk score. In basketball for example, it could determine how much each basket is worth for each team based on the composition of the team. It wouldn’t be perfect, but it’s probably a lot better than dividing across gender lines, and would open up competition to people who enjoy the game but aren’t insanely tall.

    Anticorp ,

    It’s not zero stakes. Just put college scholarships aside for a second. Athletes put everything they have into their game. They make TONS of sacrifices to excel and win. Why don’t you ask the girls how they feel about competing against a trans girl? You and I have no skin in the game, so our opinions don’t matter much. Right? That’s the core message of DEI, that it’s our job to listen. So listen to the millions of girls who would be impacted by the decision.

    ImplyingImplications ,

    the millions of girls who would be impacted by the decision.

    I honestly don’t think there are that many trans people. Most of these states likely don’t even have a single trans highschool student in the entire state. Trans people are a minority of a minority. I feel like it should almost be a case by case basis.

    Anticorp ,

    I meant the non-trans girls who compete in sports. I think there are only about 1000 trans girls, but that number could be wrong. Both numbers are guesses. The point was that there are a lot of girls that could be impacted and they should have an active voice in the decision.

    zaph ,
    @zaph@lemmy.world avatar

    If you think millions of girls in the US are impacted by trans people you’ve bought more propaganda you think. Much closer to dozens than millions but probably more accurately hundreds. I’m more inclined to protect the girls who would become suicidal because they’re being told they don’t belong in public but you do you.

    Anticorp ,

    I meant the non-trans girls who compete in sports. I think there are only about 1000 trans girls, but that number could be wrong. Both numbers are guesses. The point was that there are a lot of girls that could be impacted and they should have an active voice in the decision.

    zaph ,
    @zaph@lemmy.world avatar

    I know what you meant and there aren’t millions of cis girls impacted by trans girls. That number is a massive inflation to make the impact seem more worrisome. It’s called fear mongering.

    Anticorp ,

    That wasn’t my intent and I think you realize that but are still choosing to ignore the actual point, so you win.

    mipadaitu , in Russian ruble is now worth less than a penny, infuriating Vladimir Putin’s inner circle: ‘They’re laughing at us’

    Paywalled article.

    https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/7a727450-1ae2-4495-84f7-6d9375b082e0.png

    A few years ago 1 Ruble = 0.015 USD this was pretty consistent for a while. Now 1 Ruble = 0.010 USD this has fluctuated pretty wildly.

    The fluctuation is far more important than the actual number. Nobody cares if 1 Ruble = $1 or $1000 as long as you can rely on it to be that next week and next year. But the fact that you have no idea how far down (or up) it will go means that people aren’t going to want to rely on holding any currency in Russia.

    freagle ,

    No one wants to hold Rubles when the entire Western world is deploying extreme sanctions against Russia, especially when the West created, dominates, and manipulates the global financial system.

    ZaroniPepperoni ,
    @ZaroniPepperoni@lemmy.world avatar

    You can always expect the funniest clowns from the grad

    teft ,
    @teft@startrek.website avatar

    Vladimir Putin’s luck may be running out now that the ruble plunged below one cent, the lowest level against the U.S. dollar since the early days of his war in Ukraine.

    The Russian president, who briefly faced down a coup attempt in June, could long point to the resilience of his currency in the face of sanctions as a propaganda victory that proved just how impotent Western economic reprisals were.

    More than 500 days since his army invaded Ukraine, it looks as if Moscow’s highly respected central bank governor can no longer perform miracles for her boss.

    The ruble that Elvira Nabiullina manages crashed through the psychological support of 100 to the U.S. dollar and on Monday is now worth less than a penny, the first time since March 23 of last year.

    “They’re laughing at us,” scathed Vladimir Solovyov, Russia’s most well-known state TV personality and a chief Putin ally, already last week.

    The war hawk demanded Nabiullina explain herself to the population now that currency has lost roughly a quarter of its value against the dollar since the start of this year.

    On Sunday, images were shared online of a small symbolic protest mounted in western Siberia: A building’s chyron kept repeating the message that “Putin is a dickhead and a thief,” calling the ruble’s exchange rate “crazy.”

    Her institution, meanwhile, has countered by arguing a softer ruble does not present risks to the country’s financial stability. Nonetheless, Russia’s central bank decided to freeze purchases of foreign currency on the domestic market through the remainder of this year to restore faith in the sliding ruble. Russia’s currency strength handed Putin a PR victory

    Following a brief collapse in the initial aftermath of last year’s Feb. 24 invasion, which saw Russia’s fiat tender plunge to a record low of 120 to the dollar, the ruble rebounded to trade at one point at highs not seen since 2015, around 50 to the dollar.

    This gave the Kremlin an important PR victory by suggesting Russia’s economy was strong enough to withstand anything the West threw at it.

    This in turn prompted soul-searching among Ukraine’s Western backers while bolstering critics alarmed more at the cost of soaring food and energy prices than at Russia’s empire-building.

    “It’s slightly more valuable than it was on the day that Russia invaded Ukraine. The economic situation in the United States by contrast is deteriorating fast,” then Fox News host Tucker Carlson, a chief critic of U.S. aid to Kyiv, said last April.

    
    <span style="color:#323232;">The clearest signal that Russia is losing this war? #Russia Ruble weakened beyond 100 per Dollar for 1st time in 17mth, extending a slide that threatens to stoke inflation in an economy that has been kneecapped by Western sanctions. Ruble has fallen 27% vs Dollar YTD &amp; 23% vs… pic.twitter.com/cr763vz21E
    </span><span style="color:#323232;">— Holger Zschaepitz (@Schuldensuehner) August 14, 2023
    </span>
    

    Nabiullina was celebrated for cleverly steering her financial system through the worst of the turmoil by placing a range of capital controls that quickly stabilized the currency and prevented mass outflows.

    “They were a quick fix for the ruble in 2022, but are counterproductive in the long run,” wrote Janis Kluge, senior associate at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, last week.

    The fresh signs of economic weakness come at an important juncture in the war. The Russian army is attempting to defend large swaths of territory seized in the early months of the invasion against a Kyiv counteroffensive boasting modern Western military equipment.

    Any material losses on the battlefield could further undermine Putin’s authority, already weakened following the challenge made by Wagner mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin in June.

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    BackOnMyBS ,
    @BackOnMyBS@lemmy.world avatar

    Russia’s central bank decided to freeze purchases of foreign currency on the domestic market through the remainder of this year to restore faith in the sliding ruble.

    You will believe in the ruble by force! lol

    Their interest rate is already at 8.5%, and their talking about raising it to 15%-20%. That paired with a a labor shortage. Not only that, they halted sales of corporate shares and government bonds by foreign investors last year. This is nuts. Why would anyone want to do business with or in Russia? Russia is literally a buddy economy. If you’re buddies with the dictator, you’re good. If not, you’re fucked. An economy like that will never succeed in the long-run because it’s based on social relationships and not actual production. It’s like wtf.

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