Russian Liberals and China

This about Politics, tagged , , , was written by for on June 2, 2014 .No Comments

Reprinted from Facebook (2018/02/15): Russian liberals (Vladimir Milov this time) continue claiming the China gas deal is disastrous for Russia. His argument this time? That Japan pays $200/mcm more for gas than what China gave Russia. http://www.echo.msk.ru/blog/milov/1330024-echo/ He is either ignorant of or ignoring the fact that Japan imports gas as LNG, because it’s an island LOL. […]

Translation: Nemtsov for Europe!

This about Politics, tagged , , , , was written by for on December 3, 2013 .No Comments

Opposotionist Boris Nemtsov arrested in Moscow for showing his support for Kiev mob actions, as reported by Moskovsky Komsomolets’ Natalia Rozhkova, December 2, 2013. Nemtsov shamefacedly arrested in Moscow city centre at a demonstration in support of the Ukraine Activists from the Republican Party of Russia “Parnas” taken to local police station for showing their […]

On Guriev

This about Politics, tagged , , , was written by for on May 31, 2013 .1 Comment

Apparently he fled to France after senior “systemic liberal” sources in the government told him he was not safe staying in Russia. So he played it safe. Interpretations about. The return of Stalinism; a new critical phase in the siloviki vs. civiliki clan war; Putin’s vindictiveness against a supporter of Khodorkovsky. The only problem, at […]

Translation: Pressure on the Square

This , about Society, tagged , , , , was written by for on May 25, 2013 .1 Comment

Were the events at Bolotnaya Square, Moscow, on May 6, 2012, the results of a police provocation, or were “opposition” provocateurs, either willingly or unwittingly acting in the interests of foreign powers, responsible? Kommersant’s Grigory Tumanov and Vyacheslav Kozlov try to find out. Pressure on the Square Could it have been calculated beforehand what would […]

Translation: The Sociology of Dunces

This about Politics, tagged , , , was written by for on May 21, 2013 .1 Comment

Writing in Novaya Gazeta, Andrei Vladimirovich Kolesnikov argues that the branding of the opinion pollster Levada Center as a “foreign agent” marks Russia’s return to the bad old days of Lysenkoism. A Sociology of Dvoechniki Levada Center is being destroyed with Stalinist methods. Sociological data is dope for the present-day vlast. She looks at sociological […]

Translation: The Anatomy of Context

This about Politics, tagged , , was written by for on May 20, 2013 .No Comments

In which Russian writer Dmitry Bykov compares the Russian opposition to Pugacheva, and God – for that is what most concerns Russians, and not the trivialities they typically discuss. The Anatomy of Context Just about the same thing has happened to the Russian opposition as has happened to the Russian intelligentsia: it has been accused of every […]

Translation: Grigory Yavlinsky Slams the New NGO Laws

This about Politics, tagged , , , was written by for on May 17, 2013 .4 Comments

Grigory Yavlinsky, head of the liberal Yabloko party and political old-timer, argues in a Vedomosti editorial that the Kremlin’s crackdown on NGOs is not only ethically wrong but ultimately self-crippling. The Exile of Citizens from Politics Unfortunately, the Russian nomenklatura has an exceedingly poor understanding of why we need independent public organizations, and the meaning […]

Translation: A Pity the Nazis didn’t Make Lampshades out of Today’s Liberals

This , about History, tagged , , , was written by for on May 15, 2013 .No Comments

In one of the most scandalous op-eds of the year, KP’s Ulyana Skoybeda takes the liberal Leonid Gozman to task for equating SMERSH with the SS. The original byline was later toned down, and the author offered a partial – and some insist, halfhearted – apology. The Politician Leonid Gozman Says: “A Nice Uniform is the […]

Translation: Bolotnaya Prisoner tells of Georgian Money and Revolution

This , about Politics, tagged , , , , was written by for on April 30, 2013 .No Comments

Olesya Gerasimenko interviews Konstantin Lebedev, recently convicted of planning riots at the Bolotnaya rally of 6 May, 2012 and given a 2.5 year prison sentence. After his plea bargain and shocking confessions, his former comrades now call him a traitor. Konstantin Lebedev – “I Don’t Consider Myself a Traitor” Were you pleased with the sentence? […]

Angsty Chechens Come To Boston

This about Society, tagged , , , , was written by for on April 20, 2013 .7 Comments

Is discussed at the other blog. To add a couple of things that are Russia specific: (1) We now learn that the FBI had interviewed the older brother at the bequest of an unspecific foreign government – almost certainly Russia. Tamerlan had visited it for 6 months in 2011. I wonder if he established links with some of […]

Mark Feygin Treating Pussies Badly

This about Society, tagged , , , was written by for on April 12, 2013 .26 Comments

Everybody in the Western media seems to have forgotten Pussy Riot. Well, not forgotten, they still wheel them out every so often as symbols of the repressiveness of the Putin regime – but news of actual developments in the affair have come to a standstill. Which is a pity, because they undermine the commonly accepted […]

Navalny’s Promises To Put Putin In Jail

This about Politics, tagged , , was written by for on April 10, 2013 .16 Comments

In a recent interview with the opposition Dozhd TV channel – which is, incidentally, available for public viewing in Russia as part of the NTV Plus satellite TV package – for the first time openly declared he wants to be President. He also speculated about the motivations behind the Kirovles fraud case being brought against […]