In the midst of the bloody slaughter that is Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, the multitude of war crimes, Ukrainians with hands wired behind their backs and a bullet in their head, tongues cut out, bodies left to decompose in the streets behind retreating Russian forces, wholesale rape of girls and women, and the imposition of crushing economic sanctions by the west — it isn’t enough — Russia continues the charade that it is a part of a modern, global, civilized, financial world.

The Russians are desperately trying to preserve their sovereign nation bonds and to prevent them from going into default. Continue reading →