that is how democracies work. Once Putin cancels elections and rules by decree then you might have point. Russia is a democracy isn't it?

Populations get a pass for that.

like some here do.

Sorry, I don't understand what you are getting at here.

my point is that some feel US voters did not get a pass because they are now legitimate targets for revenge terrorism and if you to get killed in a terrorist attack you merely got what was coming to you.

In many countries, governments can be elected with thin pluralities of the vote. Canada is being run right now by a majority government, after winning 39% of the popular vote, for example. We should always bear these possibilities in mind.

The war profiteers hafta be near orgasm with this news.

They are the LARGEST weapons exporter on the planet, even beating out the US: http://www.businessinsider.com/arms-sales-by-the-us-and-russia-2014-8

Its like having Trump running your country.

Just like things work fine for Trump. He gets rich off of others' money by moving it out of reach and filing bankruptcies.

If Russia goes broke, Putin & Pals' buying power increases and he'll be even more wealthy. Like many other nations, Russia is for sale.

He just sold most of their future oil revenue to China, like Maduro in Venezuela. They are not socialist or communist heroes, they enable oligarchs.

At least that's what I read on DU in various posts rebutting the traditional views of these world leaders. Same game with different names.

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov backed the Сentral Bank's decision to cut its main interest rate on Friday and said the bank had grounds to say it had the situation on the foreign exchange market under control.

The Central Bank cut its main interest rate by 200 basis points to 15 percent as fears of recession mount following the fall in oil prices and Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis.

"We believe that it was an absolutely correct and informed decision," Siluanov told reporters. "The situation has calmed down in the currency market, the [ruble] rate has found its equilibrium."

The ruble, which has fallen some 50 percent against the dollar since early last year, weakened as much as 4 percent against the dollar and euro from the previous close, before recovering slightly. The Central Bank's decision to cut rates came little more than a month after the ruble's virtual free fall forced the bank to raise rates in an emergency move to 17 percent. Siluanov said the situation had stabilized since then.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/russia-s-finance-minister-backs-decision-to-cut-key-interest-rate/515180.html

15% is still somewhat "Reagan-esque" but the situation is 'under control'. Higher interest rates strengthen the currency and should lower inflation but hurt the economy. Lower rates help the economy but hurt the currency and lead to inflation. The balancing act is tough, particularly when your economy depends on the export of natural resources, oil and gas in particular, when those prices are down.

Vienna (dpa) - The pro-Russian separatist envoys present at talks in Minsk on the Ukraine conflict effectively blocked the negotiations and sought to revise a previous ceasefire deal, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said Sunday.

"They were not even prepared to discuss implementation of a ceasefire and withdrawal of heavy weapons," said the Serbian Foreign Ministry, which currently chairs the OSCE.

The Vienna-based OSCE is part of the so-called contact group, which also includes Ukraine and Russia and is involved in the Ukraine talks with the separatists. The talks' long-delayed latest round, held Saturday in the Belarusian capital, were fruitless.

http://www.dpa-international.com/news/international/osce-blames-separatists-for-failed-ukraine-talks-in-minsk-a-44004731.html

RASNYI LUCH, Ukraine — Russia-backed rebels battling for control of a strategic town in eastern Ukraine say they're suffering heavy losses at the hands of government forces after a few key victories.

"We [were] shelled and I'm [thinking] 'Oh my God, this is too close,'" said Artur, a rebel lying in a bed in Krasnyi Luch City Hospital, some 22 miles from the town of Debaltseve. "I only remember that roaring sound of incoming mortar [fire], explosion, dust and suddenly it became very dark."

Carnage surrounded the fighter when he regained consciousness in the forest outside town.

"I'm looking around — pieces of meat everywhere, just pieces of meat, some bodies ... [were] just laying there," he said, requesting that only his first name be used.

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ukraine-crisis/rebels-suffer-heavy-losses-battle-ukraines-debaltseve-n296841

Pro-Russia separatists claimed Saturday that they had trapped thousands of Ukrainian government troops in the course of fierce fighting in Ukraine's troubled east.

“We have practically encircled 8,000 to 10,000 Kiev junta troops in the area around” the town of Debaltseve, Eduard Basurin, chief political officer of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic armed forces, said by phone. “The only road connecting them with the other troops is under our close artillery fire day and night and they can survive only if they raise a white flag and surrender.”

Ukrainian troops had refused to surrender, the separatist senior commander said, “so we will have to destroy all of them.”

Basurin said both sides had sustained heavy casualties in the last thee days of fighting around Debaltseve but refused to provide a specific toll. Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak said that 15 Ukrainian servicemen had been killed in the fighting and 30 wounded.

http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-pro-russian-separatists-say-theyhave-trapped-thousands-of-ukrainian-soldiers-20150131-story.html#navtype=outfit

So, the gloves are off. Anyone who thought negotiations between the new radical-Left Greek government and its creditors were going to be conciliatory, or even rational, must think again.

It is only a few days since Syriza’s seismic election victory and the installation of Alexis Tspiras as prime minister. Yet discussions over Athens’ €350bn (£240bn) debt mountain – owed mainly to other eurozone governments, the International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank (ECB) – have already turned ugly.

Greece and its official creditors are now issuing full-blooded threats and counter-threats, regardless of the impact on financial markets. The Athens stock exchange endured single-day, double-digit percentage falls last week. On Tuesday, Greek banks, effectively controlled by official foreign creditors, lost over a quarter of their value.

Banking fears extend way beyond capital flight – as savers worry about Greece crashing out of the eurozone. There is concern the Syriza-led coalition could take direct control of Greek lenders and write off billions of euros in household loans, destroying bank balance sheets in a frenzy of populist contractual vandalism.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11381926/Russias-sanctions-hand-the-advantage-straight-back-to-debt-laden-Athens.html

Oh, Lordy!

I blame Putin for that.