Archives for June 2012

Last Word On Jews In Russia

This in about History, and tagged , , , was written by on June 30, 2012 . 39 Comments

At least until the issue arises again. Over to Alex Mercouris: … I do not agree that the two big revolutionary parties in tsarist Russia, the Socialist Revolutionaries and the Social Democrats were under Jewish ideological influence. I do not know what “Jewish ideology” is. Anyway the Socialist Revolutionaries had their origins in the far […]

Russian Anti-Semitism, Or Just Affirmative Action In Action?

This in about Human Biodiversity, and tagged , , , , , was written by on June 29, 2012 . 14 Comments

While writing this post on Da Russophile about why Russians do not (for the most part) hate Jews – a post that will also be of interest to AKarlin readers – I came across very interesting historical data on literacy and educational accomplishment by ethnic groups in the USSR. Per 100 people of respective nationality […]

Modern Britain In Four Extradition Cases

This in about Politics, and tagged , , , was written by on June 29, 2012 . 1 Comment

Imagine you’re a British extraditions judge and you are asked to rule on the following cases. (1) An oligarch exile who came from a country where he might well have ordered contract murders and is now loudly and implacably opposed to its new President who dispossessed him of his political influence. Although the British establishment considers said country, […]

Mark Adomanis Surprised Russians Don’t Hate Jews

This in about Society, and tagged , , , , was written by on June 29, 2012 . 46 Comments

From what I generally knew of contemporary Eastern European attitudes towards Jews (in two words “not good”) I expected that the Russian public’s attitude towards Israel would be decidely frosty, if not outright hostile… But what seems noteworthy to me is not the downward blip in 2006 but the generally high level of Russian support for […]

Was Russia In A Demographic Apocalypse In The First Place?

This in about Demographics, and tagged , , was written by on June 29, 2012 . 75 Comments

And just as the Guardianistas and K.F. & Co. bury their heads ever deeper in the sand, real world statistics show confirm my thesis from the beginning of this year that Russia’s demographic crisis has for all intents and purposes come to an end. As of May there was a y-y increase of 17% (!) […]

China’s True Nuclear Power

This in about Geopolitics, and tagged , , , was written by on June 28, 2012 . 5 Comments

I always thought it weird China had the smallest arsenal of the world’s five NPT nuclear-weapons states. In broad strategic terms, this would make it very vulnerable to the US, especially given the latter’s development of ABM technologies, which would potentially give it the choice of an annihilating first strike. In late 2009, China went […]

You’ve Been Gamed! How To Understand Modern American Society

This in about Society, and tagged , , , was written by on June 27, 2012 . 38 Comments

And no, I ain’t talking of that von Neumann crap. 🙂 Game theory as developed by Heartiste and Co (1, 2, 3, 4). Before we start, there are two concepts we must avail ourselves of. Female hypergamy: Woman’s tendency to mate up the social hierarchy. Soft polygamy: See picture right, as helpfully illustrated by yours […]

Alex Dryden, A Hack’s Hack

This in about Media, and tagged , , , was written by on June 26, 2012 . 29 Comments

Just when I thought the paper of Luke “I Plagiarize Off The eXile” Harding and Miriam “Putin Stole My Dry Cleaning Ticket” Elder could get no more incompetent, vindictive, and mendacious in its Russia coverage, it did. I present: Putin calls in Darth Vader to tighten his grip on Russia’s energy assets by Alex Dryden, who seems […]

Global Highs

This in about Life, and tagged , , was written by on June 26, 2012 . 13 Comments

Via Economist: This makes sense to me. While cannabis is well-known in Russia, attitudes towards it are mostly disparaging where not hostile even in relatively enlightened Moscow. The druggies there tend to be more hardcore anyway. It is a large part of the conversation in the UK – see the debates over what classification it should get […]

Ayn Stalin: Soviet Inequalities In 1929-1954

This in about Economy, and tagged , , , , was written by on June 24, 2012 . 19 Comments

While researching my article on Soviet economic performance relative to the US (it was bad), I came across this fascinating graph showing income inequality in the USSR since 1946. As you can see, the 10% richest Soviet citizens in the first postwar year were more than seven times as rich as the 10% poorest. That is […]

North Korea, Poster Child For HBD Theory

This in about Human Biodiversity, and tagged , , , was written by on June 24, 2012 . 63 Comments

In a response to a race denier on this blog, who argued for the primacy of culture and political economic systems, Lazy Glossophiliac wrote: In regards to North Korea: how’s that Sudanese nuclear weapons program coming along? Any 100-story hotels put up with the help of local engineering talent? Come to think of it, did […]

How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love Global Warming

This in about Futurism, and tagged , , , was written by on June 23, 2012 . 8 Comments

I am an idiosyncratic person. I support HBD, but oppose white (or any other) imperialism. My attitudes towards mainstream liberalism and conservatism is to wish a plague on both their houses. I think we’re in for a world of hurt with Limits to Growth but also buy into “cornucopian” ideas like technological singularity and transhumanism. […]

Alex Mercouris Untangles Syria

This in about Geopolitics, and tagged , , was written by on June 23, 2012 . Leave a Comment

He has an excellent article over at his blog discussing the motivations behind the Western smearing of Russia for supporting – well, not opposing – Assad, against the Islamist insurgent freedom fighters. I highly recommend you read the article Russia, Syria, and the West in full; as Mark Chapman correctly notes in the comments, if you […]

The Soviet Economy – Charting Failure

This in about Economy, and tagged , , , , , was written by on June 22, 2012 . 146 Comments

Many Communists, leftists, and even patriots (I’m sorry to say) have a pronounced tendency to make out the Soviet economy as not quite the resounding failure it really was – or even to paint it as a success story that was only brought down by perestroika and liberal reforms. The above chart – based on […]

ECHR Rules 2003 Elections Fair, Derided As Kremlin Flunkies By Liberals

This in about Politics, and tagged , , , was written by on June 22, 2012 . 1 Comment

According to the press release (PDF) regarding the recent judgment, the issues considered by the ECHR as regarding complaints about the 2003 Russian Duma elections were the (1) the opposition’s access to an “effective remedy” to complain about media bias in favor of United Russia; and (2) that the media’s aforementioned bias prejudged the fairness […]

Russian Wages Are Fast Converging To Western Levels

This in about Economy, and tagged , , , was written by on June 21, 2012 . 22 Comments

Via The Economist, I’ve come across some fascinating research by Orley Ashenfelter and Stepan Jurajda (Comparing Real Wage Rates, 2012) showing how real wages can be meaningfully compared across different regions by taking notes on prices and wages in McDonald’s restaurants. The methodology seems solid. Big Macs are a very standardized product, hence they are already […]

Paleo On The Go

This in about Life, and tagged , , was written by on June 20, 2012 . 5 Comments

If you’re in the city during the day and don’t want to grab the nearest carb-loaded baguette, burger, subway etc on hand, what do you do? 1. Get a Burrito Bowl at Chipotle, probably the healthiest major fast food outlet in America. Get it without rice. This is the most affordable option costing only $6 […]

The Top 5 Books On Everything

This in about Culture, and tagged , , was written by on June 20, 2012 . 40 Comments

Good books are of course far better than almost anything you can read in a magazine or find on the Internet. They are also of double the benefit when the reader actually interacts with them, e.g. by writing a review. I have about 25 of these on my two blogs, but they still come very […]

Will Ecuador Protect Assange From The Empire?

This in about Politics, and tagged , , , , was written by on June 20, 2012 . 16 Comments

So Assange has fled to the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, in scenes reminiscent of what happens to dissidents in truly authoritarian countries. (The parallels keep adding up don’t they). Let’s recap. His site kept releasing classified documents, from secretive and typically nasty organizations. Too bad that some of them belonged to the Pentagon and the […]

Actually China Is Probably Already Bigger

This in about Geopolitics, and tagged , , was written by on June 19, 2012 . 2 Comments

Despite the generally loathsome nature of The Economist, it does have its advantages most of which can be reduced to its Daily Charts blog which focuses on statistics as opposed to rhetoric. According to the chart above, as of 2012 ever more people, especially in the developed world, are starting to believe that the China is […]