Feb 2, 2023
seen from China
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« [W]hat has long been evident is that Putin’s presidency has been little different from the Soviet era, in that he has made Russia a military giant but an economic dwarf. His gangster state has never been able to diversify; while the world buys Chinese cars and American software, the only thing we buy from Russia is oil, and the gradual turning away from hydrocarbons will eventually expose this as an appalling waste of a country’s potential. »
— Will Dunn at The New Statesman.
What is now tanking Russia is essentially what tanked the Soviet Union – a lopsidedly bad economy. And what barely keeps the sputtering Russian economy from totally collapsing is oil.
So Russia is now a badly run petrostate under the control of a nostalgic dictator who is trying to restore the Soviet Union in all but name – as miserable as that sounds.
One irony of Donald Trump's "drill! drill! drill!" policy (if it actually works) is that it would help undermine Russia's only major source of income.
For the Russian economy, however, Trump represents a looming risk, because however exceptional Putin believes his country to be, Russian prosperity ultimately depends on Western consumers. The reason for this is that Russia runs on oil. With most of its gas exports to Europe stopped by pipeline closures and sanctions, it has become an economy dependent on a single commodity, and while oil prices are high, money flows into the Russian current account. What scares the Russian central bank is the risk of a global financial slowdown that reduces consumer demand around the world, and therefore the price of the oil that is intrinsic to manufacturing and trade. That is exactly the world Trump is promising: a world of de-globalisation and trade barriers.
As I mentioned a few days ago, people in the West need to stop overestimating the strength of Russia. It has a couple of million people involved in its military or military industries, but they are poorly trained and not particularly motivated. Russia may have a lot of weapons, but those are almost always inferior to Western equivalents; many date back to the USSR and are even physically rusty.
At the beginning of this century Russia had the potential to become another Germany in economic terms. It had the talent and adequate infrastructure. But under Putin, Russia has become a parody of the Brezhnev-era USSR – but perhaps even worse. Putin's disaster in Ukraine makes Brezhnev's debacle in Afghanistan seem like a day at the beach. Putin has unintentionally let the world see how pitiful his military is and put on full international display the decrepit nature of Russia's economy.
Social Media Roundup: Behind the Screens
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Social Media Roundup: Behind the Screens
Welcome back to MuggleNet’s Social Media Roundup! As January turned into February this week, stars of the Wizarding World have been updating their followers on their new projects, sharing behind-the-scenes photos, and catching up with the latest trends.
First up, Bonnie Wright has been thinking a lot about clothes lately. She posted a video of her sorting out her closet on her Go Gently YouTube channel in which she reflected on some of her choices and shared tips for how viewers could be more sustainable with their clothing.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by BONNIE WRIGHT (@thisisbwright)
Also doing some reflecting on clothing choices was Evanna Lynch. She shared a photo from a walk in the park while commenting that she had been “wearing too much black lately and staying indoors trying to get evvvverything done at once so I figured I’d glam up and admire the world this afternoon!!!”
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Evanna Lynch (@evannalynch)
Tom Felton’s movie, Save The Cinema, has been in theaters in the United Kingdom for a number of weeks now, and to celebrate the movie’s success, Tom shared a behind-the-scenes photo to his Instagram.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Tom Felton (@t22felton)
Sticking with behind-the-scenes, Natalia Tena (Nymphadora Tonks) has been taking a look at the Game of Thrones Studio Tour, which opened on February 4. Located in Belfast, this experience will give Game of Thrones fans a look into the sets and artistry behind their favorite fantasy series (much like another magical Studio Tour we know!)
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Natalia Tena (@nattenalady)
James Phelps has also been giving his followers a look behind-the-scenes. He shared a photo of himself, Oliver Phelps, and actor Hayley Joel Osment (The Sixth Sense) in Austria. The trio was filming for James and Oliver’s upcoming travel show.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by James Phelps (@jamesphelps_pictures)
Staying with TV shows, Matthew Lewis’s All Creatures Great and Small is currently airing on PBS. The most recent episode featured a particularly testing game of cricket.
Lucky for me, James can’t bat for toffee… or can he? 👀🏏 https://t.co/wvtQtNO0ru
— Matthew Lewis (@Mattdavelewis) February 2, 2022
Also getting sporting was Oliver Phelps. He has made an appearance over on the social media accounts of soccer team Valencia CF. In a video that played on George Weasley’s love of mischief, Oliver revealed the transfer of soccer player Bryan Gil to the club.
🧙🏼♂️ @OliverPhelps has a new accomplice for his mischief 🪄💫 pic.twitter.com/lknOXXLqZD
— Valencia CF (@valenciacf_en) January 31, 2022
Warwick Davis (Professor Flitwick, Griphook) took to Twitter to celebrate his wife’s birthday! He paid tribute to her approach to life in the post, calling her “an inspiration.”
It’s belated but I wanted the world to know, yesterday was my best friend in the whole world’s birthday! My beautiful wife, @Sammyddavis turned 51. I so admire how she faces life’s challenges with dignity, energy & courage) she’s an inspiration. Happy Birthday! Love always😘😍xx pic.twitter.com/8yfxKVkjc6
— Warwick Davis (@WarwickADavis) January 29, 2022
Also celebrating a birthday was Claudia Kim (Nagini). She thanked her followers for all of their best wishes and shared photos of her birthday cake and bouquets of flowers.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by 수현 • Claudia Kim Shampine (@claudiashkim)
Afshan Azad-Kazi (Padma Patil) joined legions of viewers in sharing her thoughts on the trending Netflix documentary, Tinder Swindler.
Tinder Swindler. Unbelievable story. Wow.
— Afshan Azad (@afshan_azad) February 4, 2022
While Chris Rankin got involved in viral word puzzle trend, Wordle. In this game, players get six chances to guess a mystery five-letter word. Each guess helps to reveal the word by highlighting letters grey, yellow or green, and players have been sharing these colored squares to Twitter.
I’m not going to become one of *those* people. But my god this is a good game.
Also thanks to @stephenfry i picked up one called Lewdle this morning. Same same but bad words only.
⬛⬛⬛🟨⬛ 🟩⬛⬛🟨⬛ 🟩⬛🟩🟨⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
— Chris Rankin (@chrisrankin) February 3, 2022
Although we think it’s safe to say that not everyone is enjoying this viral trend. Will Dunn (James Sirius Potter) made his thoughts on the game clear after incorrectly guessing the word with only one letter left to guess. Maybe he should try MuggleNet’s own Wizarding Wordle instead!
Wordle 226 X/6
⬛⬛⬛🟨⬛ ⬛🟩🟨🟩⬛ ⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩
Get in the bloody bin Wordle.
— WOL (@WillDunn_) January 31, 2022
That brings this edition of Social Media Roundup to a close. Make sure to check back in two weeks’ time to see what the stars of the Wizarding World have been up to.
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and they are married!!
The kids from Harry Potter all grown up!
(Helena Barlow who played Rose Weasley is pretty much private, couldn’t find any recent pictures.)
the first pic is just so fun and the second one shows that will made the right choice - because you can't mary someone who doesn't love your dog and who your dog loves back
will is a neutral-wizard and sometimes he studies(but only when he's not busy with sage)