Underground Poetry in the 1930s USSR

This about *default, tagged , was written by for on January 16, 2019 .18 Comments

From Everyday Life in Moscow during the Stalin Period by Georgy Andreevsky. Whoever penned this was arrested in 1939: Кто кричал «вся власть Советам!», / All you who shouted “All power to the Soviets!”, Кто стрелял по юнкерам, / You who fired at the Junkers, Кто по Зимнему при этом / You who bombarded Winter […]

New Poll on Human Gene Editing

This about *default, tagged , , was written by for on January 16, 2019 .18 Comments

The December 2018 AP-NORC Poll asked 1,067 adults about their attitudes toward the technology that could be used to edit the genes of human embryos It was carried out a couple of weeks after China’s CRISPRgate. Results are basically the same as for the July 2018 poll by PEW, in which 72% consider gene editing […]

When Blank Slatists Project

This about *default, tagged , was written by for on January 15, 2019 .19 Comments

Blank slatists make economic projections: Russia overtaking Japan would be a REALLY tall order by 2030, even on PPP measures. It requires Russia grow an average 3% points more than Japan until 2030. Not absolutely impossible, but extremely unlikely, short of Japan’s debt bubble unwinding in catastrophic fashion. Otherwise… Brazil, Indonesia – Virtually impossible Turkey […]

11 Years of Blogging

This about *default, tagged , was written by for on January 15, 2019 .105 Comments

It’s now been eleven years (and six days) since I started blogging. Since this is not that big of a milestone, I am not going to recap the history of how I got there; you can check out last year’s post for that. Instead, I’m just going to talk of developments in 2018, and plans […]

New Year: 2018 Prediction Calibration Results

This about *default, tagged , was written by for on January 13, 2019 .176 Comments

My predictions for 2018. As usual, I am calibrating my predictions by comparing the percentage of predictions I got right at each probability level versus their probability (e.g., for predictions at the 70% confidence level, perfect calibration would represent getting 7/10 of them correct). Predictions with a probability rating of less than 50% are converted […]

The Absolute State of “Russia Studies” in America

This about *default, tagged , was written by for on January 11, 2019 .129 Comments

As I have pointed out, the jokers who dominate today’s “Russia debate” such as Molly McKew have much less Russia expertise even than La Russophobe, the old bete noire of the Russia bloggers. Suffice to say that her entire shtick consists of inventing ever more and more deranged Russiagate conspiracy theories is something that even Masha […]

Что общего между Талебом и Аленой Поповой?

This about Politics, tagged , , , , was written by for on January 10, 2019 .No Comments

 

Technomedievalism 2

This about *default, tagged , was written by for on January 4, 2019 .253 Comments

In recent days, Russia has arrested the American spy Paul Whelan. This is widely viewed as retribution for the prosecution of Maria Butina. Perhaps the kremlins were finally cajoled into action by China’s example. (Main theory making the rounds in Russiagate circles is that it is a ploy to arrange an exchange with Butina back before […]

Open Thread 65: Happy New Year!

This about *default, tagged , was written by for on December 31, 2018 .477 Comments

Apologies for the lack of new posts (or really even checking the comments) in recent weeks. Temporary and unexpected confluence of various events. An understandably slow December regardless, this year has been record breaking – almost twice as much traffic as in 2017 – and I expect acceleration to resume, now that I am fully […]

Синореализм 101

This , about Geopolitics, tagged , , , , was written by for on December 28, 2018 .No Comments

Wei Gensheng: Шанхай, Китай. У меня появилась в среде русских националистов некая репутация “синофила”. На самом деле, мне как-то безразлично, считаете ли вы, что китайцы – наследники древней, пятитысячелетний культуры, чья страна заслуживает снова стать “Среднем Королевством” всего мира, либо что они – аутистичные, богоборствующие роботы, которые убивают своих девочек в матке и едят собак. Но если меня […]

Bershidsky’s Vision

This about *default, tagged , was written by for on December 28, 2018 .526 Comments

Here is how emigre journalist Bershidsky (who likes mass immigration to Europe but not to Saudi Arabia) sees the end of history (Russia edition): Whenever and however Putin may leave, any successor will need to revise Russia’s geopolitical choice. Putin has taken two decades to show that he doesn’t have a reverse gear. A new […]

Open Thread 64

This about *default, tagged , was written by for on December 23, 2018 .415 Comments

I will admit that due to personal and work related reasons I got much less done this month than I hoped to. However, on the plus side, I have pretty much finished with furnishing my new apartment, and have largely ditched one commitment that was generally more trouble than it was worth. Along with an […]