A rather interesting article appeared on the BBC News website this morning that made me chuckle.
It's conclusion were that,
"The failure of pollsters to forecast the outcome of the general election
was largely due to "unrepresentative" poll samples, an inquiry has
found.
...
An interim report by the panel of academics and statisticians found that the way in which people were recruited to take part - asking about their likely voting intentions - had resulted in "systematic over-representation of Labour voters and under-representation of Conservative voters"." (BBC News : 19 January,2016) (my emphasis)
Which brings me to the polling of the Levada Centre in Moscow, that repeatedly obtains near astronomical ratings, always hovering around the 80% - 85% mark, for Putin.
Why, only in October of last year,
"Russian President Vladimir Putin’s public approval rating rose to 88
percent in October from 84 percent the previous month, according to the
Levada Center." (Scott Rose : Bloomberg Business : October 28, 2015) (my emphasis)
What is rather disturbing is that many pundits in the West unquestioningly accept these polling results of the Levada Centre.
It 'colours', so to speak, their perceptions of Putin actions towards Ukraine and, more importantly, assumes that the Russian people are 'four square' behind his actions in Ukraine.
As Olga Irisova (right) explains,
"Today, the perception of Vladimir Putin in Europe is both overblown and distorted.
.....
This image of “Putin the hero” in Europe is promoted not just by Russian media outlets with a focus on foreign audiences, but also with the help of local media that is either “bewitched by him” or sponsored directly by the Kremlin." (New Eastern Europe : Monday, 04 January 2016) (my emphasis)
This is perhaps best illustrated by Putin's bankrolling of Marine Le Pen's 'Front Nationale', and her open admiration of him.
As recently reported by Peter Foster,
"A dossier of “Russian influence activity” seen by The Sunday Telegraph identified Russian influence operations running in France, the Netherlands, Hungary as well as Austria and the Czech Republic, which has been identified by Russian agents as an entry-point into the Schengen free movement zone." (The Telegraph : 16 Jan 2016) (my emphasis)
More sinister, however, is the fact that,
"Russian influence has also been detected in a referendum in the Netherlands next April over whether to block the EU’s closer relations with Ukraine. Sources said arguments deployed in support of the referendum “closely resembled” known Russian propaganda." (ibid Peter Foster) (my emphasis)
We now also have a further escalation of Putin beginning to pull out all the stops for an accelerated 'cyber attack on Ukraine, following the cyber attack on the electricity grid of Ukraine that left thousands of Ukrainians without electricity last month.
Now Boryspil, Kiev's major airport, has also come under 'cyber attack'.
"A cyber attack on Kyiv's main airport was launched from a server in
Russia, Ukraine's military spokesman told Reuters on Monday, as the
state-run Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-UA) warned of the
threat of further attacks.
Malware similar to that which attacked three Ukrainian power firms in late December was detected in a computer in the IT network of Kyiv's main airport, Boryspil, last week. The network includes the airport's air traffic control." (UT : Jan. 18, 2016) (my emphasis) (cf. also:
"The impact of the economic crisis is now noticeable in everyday life in
Russia. Many are now living below the poverty line. The number of people
seeking help is rising. DW's Philipp Anft reports from Moscow. (DW : 17.01.2016) (my emphasis)
Even Putin's 'glove puppet', Dmitry Medvedev, had to admit that,
"... the gravest result [of the current economic crisis in Russia] was the fall in real incomes. “Many people have
become poorer,” he said. “And, the middle class has suffered. And, this
is probably one of the most painful aftereffects of the last years.” (Daniel Schearf : VOA : January 13, 2016) (my emphasis)
Putin's 'cyber warfare' against Ukraine will not fill the bellies of the Russian people.
What will be interesting to see is whether the Levada Centre in Moscow will continue to to give Putin those sky-high ratings as the Russian people become more impoverished, thanks to his kleptocratic cabal 'feathering their own nest' at the expense of the people of Russia.
(to be continued)
It's conclusion were that,
"The failure of pollsters to forecast the outcome of the general election
was largely due to "unrepresentative" poll samples, an inquiry has
found....
An interim report by the panel of academics and statisticians found that the way in which people were recruited to take part - asking about their likely voting intentions - had resulted in "systematic over-representation of Labour voters and under-representation of Conservative voters"." (BBC News : 19 January,2016) (my emphasis)
Which brings me to the polling of the Levada Centre in Moscow, that repeatedly obtains near astronomical ratings, always hovering around the 80% - 85% mark, for Putin.Why, only in October of last year,
"Russian President Vladimir Putin’s public approval rating rose to 88
percent in October from 84 percent the previous month, according to the
Levada Center." (Scott Rose : Bloomberg Business : October 28, 2015) (my emphasis)What is rather disturbing is that many pundits in the West unquestioningly accept these polling results of the Levada Centre.
It 'colours', so to speak, their perceptions of Putin actions towards Ukraine and, more importantly, assumes that the Russian people are 'four square' behind his actions in Ukraine.
"Today, the perception of Vladimir Putin in Europe is both overblown and distorted.
.....
This image of “Putin the hero” in Europe is promoted not just by Russian media outlets with a focus on foreign audiences, but also with the help of local media that is either “bewitched by him” or sponsored directly by the Kremlin." (New Eastern Europe : Monday, 04 January 2016) (my emphasis)
This is perhaps best illustrated by Putin's bankrolling of Marine Le Pen's 'Front Nationale', and her open admiration of him.
As recently reported by Peter Foster,
"A dossier of “Russian influence activity” seen by The Sunday Telegraph identified Russian influence operations running in France, the Netherlands, Hungary as well as Austria and the Czech Republic, which has been identified by Russian agents as an entry-point into the Schengen free movement zone." (The Telegraph : 16 Jan 2016) (my emphasis)
More sinister, however, is the fact that,
"Russian influence has also been detected in a referendum in the Netherlands next April over whether to block the EU’s closer relations with Ukraine. Sources said arguments deployed in support of the referendum “closely resembled” known Russian propaganda." (ibid Peter Foster) (my emphasis)
We now also have a further escalation of Putin beginning to pull out all the stops for an accelerated 'cyber attack on Ukraine, following the cyber attack on the electricity grid of Ukraine that left thousands of Ukrainians without electricity last month.
Now Boryspil, Kiev's major airport, has also come under 'cyber attack'.
"A cyber attack on Kyiv's main airport was launched from a server in
Russia, Ukraine's military spokesman told Reuters on Monday, as the
state-run Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-UA) warned of the
threat of further attacks.Malware similar to that which attacked three Ukrainian power firms in late December was detected in a computer in the IT network of Kyiv's main airport, Boryspil, last week. The network includes the airport's air traffic control." (UT : Jan. 18, 2016) (my emphasis) (cf. also:
These cyber attacks of Putin against Ukraine comes in the wake of the fact that,
"The impact of the economic crisis is now noticeable in everyday life in
Russia. Many are now living below the poverty line. The number of people
seeking help is rising. DW's Philipp Anft reports from Moscow. (DW : 17.01.2016) (my emphasis) Even Putin's 'glove puppet', Dmitry Medvedev, had to admit that,
"... the gravest result [of the current economic crisis in Russia] was the fall in real incomes. “Many people have
become poorer,” he said. “And, the middle class has suffered. And, this
is probably one of the most painful aftereffects of the last years.” (Daniel Schearf : VOA : January 13, 2016) (my emphasis)Putin's 'cyber warfare' against Ukraine will not fill the bellies of the Russian people.
What will be interesting to see is whether the Levada Centre in Moscow will continue to to give Putin those sky-high ratings as the Russian people become more impoverished, thanks to his kleptocratic cabal 'feathering their own nest' at the expense of the people of Russia.
(to be continued)
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