Foreign Nutjobs

Paranoid conspiracy nutjob extraordinaire Alex Jones has appeared on Russian TV several times recently shilling for Vladimir Putin, and defending his invasion of Georgia. This should come as no surprise, because with the possible exception of Arabs, Slavs seem to be among the most paranoid conspiracy theorists out there. As an example of at least the paranoid part, last week this story made the rounds in the news and blogs, including here in Bloomberg:

Nov. 24 (Bloomberg) -- A professor at the diplomatic academy of Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the U.S. will break into six parts because of the nation’s financial crisis.

“The dollar isn’t secured by anything,” Igor Panarin said in an interview transcribed by Russian newspaper Izvestia today. “The country’s foreign debt has grown like an avalanche; this is a pyramid, which has to collapse.”

Panarin said in the interview that the financial crisis will worsen, unemployment will rise and people will lose their savings -- factors that will cause the country’s breakup.

I didn't realize how completely bizarre this was until I read the original interview in Izvestia though (I am translating this quickly in my head, so I apologize if I screw it up).

Q: How would the country split up? It is clear in the south - Mexico, but who else?

A: There would be a total of 6 parts. The first the Pacific coast. For example in the city of San Francisco 53% of the population is Chinese. The governor of Washington State was an ethnic Chinese, the city of Seattle is called the gate of Chinese immigration into the USA. The Pacific coast is gradually falling under the influence of China, that is obvious. The second part, in the South, is really Mexicans.

And to think I actually voted for Gary Locke!

Later he gets into the Alex Jones territory:

Q: Under this what will happen to the dollar?

A: In 2006 a secret agreement was made between Canada, Mexico and the US regarding preparations to introduce the Amero as a new type of currency. The means preparations to replace the dollar. Under this, the hundred dollar denominations which are flooding the world may simply be frozen. Under the pretext of, say, that terrorists are counterfeiting them and they need to be checked.

Hey, if it is in Izvestiya, it must be true.