State television has continued to broadcast monotonously upbeat, if factually inaccurate, news. From watching a few morning programs, I learned that the U.S. economy was in trouble, all the more so because falling oil prices threatened America’s newfound status as an oil power; that anyone who wants quality fruit for New Year’s should buy Russian; and that Russia’s neighbors Kazakhstan and Belarus were coming out in support of Russia in the Ukrainian conflict. In reality, of course, the opposite is true.

Russians are in deep shit and most don’t even know it. http://t.co/Qj27Wu4iHL

— Sean McCabe (@darthstar99) December 28, 2014