Just Another Soccer Game in Russia

Novaya Gazetta has an article highlighting the growing neo-nazi presence at Russian soccer matches. Ilya Yashin goes on to make the point that sporting events are occasions not under state control :

" Football fans· movement is one of few organized forces in the country that is out of state control. It·s more and more often that fans stage political actions at the stadiums. Actually, the stands have become long ago the rostrum for giving utterance to radical political slogans. The groups inside fans· movement consolidate not only on the basis of clubs interests, but also political principles. And most of the fans· groups share nationalist ideology."

To a point this is true however the pro-Putin youth movement Nashi (Ours) gets more than a few recruits from the local Moscow followers of Spartak as noted here and here:

"From its very beginning, stories about Nashi have been heavy with references to brawny soccer hooligans, and activists at competing organizations have been more than willing to name names. Sergei Shagrunov, head of the Motherland party's youth group ,and Vladimir Abel, a top official with the National Bolshevik Party (NBP), both identified Roman Verbitskii, the head of Spartak Moscow's Gladiator fan club, as the head of Nashi's regional-development department in articles in "Kommersant-Daily," "Moskovskii komsomolets," and "Vedomosti." "Ekspert" reported on 5 September that Verbitskii and another leader of the Gladiators, Vasilii Stepanov, aka Vasya the Killer, have attended meetings at the Kremlin with other Nashi members. However, Nashi press secretary Ivan Mostovich told "Kommersant-Daily" on 31 August that he does not know any Roman Verbitskii.

Despite these denials, media stories alleging a connection between soccer hooligans and Nashi continue to proliferate. Verbitskii's name in particular has featured in recent stories about a 29 August incident in central Moscow. About 30-40 masked men armed with baseball bats and some wearing symbols of the Nashi youth organization attacked members of the NBP, Avant-Garde Red Youth, and youth organizations from the Motherland and Communist parties. Aleksandr Averin, an NBP activist who was a victim in the incident, said he saw Verbitskii among the attackers. NBP official Abel told "Kommersant-Daily" on 31 August that this is not the first attack on the NBP in which Verbitskii has played a part. "Criminal charges involving a certain Roman Verbitskii have been filed in connection with three previous incidents," he said. The daily also cited an anonymous police source that Verbitskii was present at the attack.

So far, neither Verbitskii nor anyone else has been charged in this attack. Also, reports in gazeta.ru and "Novaya gazeta" this week suggested that they are not likely to be. Writing in "Novaya gazeta," No. 68, Yabloko youth-branch head Ilya Yashin, citing an anonymous police source, reported that presidential-administration official Nikita Ivanov visited the police station where the group of men suspected of taking part in the attack were being held and arranged for them to be quickly released without following regular police procedures. According to Yashin, Ivanov, 31, is nominally the deputy head of the administration for interregional and cultural relations with foreign countries at the presidential administration, but his department is in fact primarily concerned with youth policy and preventing an Orange Revolution. So far, only gazeta.ru has echoed Yashin's claims about Ivanov's activities that day, and Ivanov's office has declined to comment."

“It’s an open secret that Nashi security, at least at its Moscow events, is provided by Spartak football hooligans with ties to racist skinheads.” I’m also told that United Russia (Putin’s political party and practically the only party in the country) in Vladivostok openly collaborates with neo-Nazis to defend its interests on the streets. Putin is a shrewd politician, preaching anti-fascism on one hand (indeed the Nashi outfit is sold to the public as an antifascist one) while simultaneously employing xenophobic rhetoric himself. Rudnitsky concludes his piece on skinheads, “If anything, they’re [Kremlin operatives] interested in co-opting the fascists and turning them into a politically useful tool in case of a threat from an Orange -- or a National-Bolsheviks -- revolution.” But there is no real threat, not now anyway. And further study is needed on just how closely Nashists and Nazis (to the extent that there’s a difference) are indeed colluding."

BTW I don't think there is a well established Sponge Bob Square Pants KKK wannabe connection as the photo above might suggest.

Adios Arctic Ice

The National Snow and Ice Data Center announced earlier this week that the northern polar sea ice level is at the lowest coverage seen since monitoring began.

"The low ice extent for August 2007 stands out sharply compared to all previous Augusts. The August 2007 monthly average extent was 5.32 million square kilometers (2.05 million square miles), falling well below August 2005 extent, which was 6.30 million square kilometers (2.42 million square miles). Additionally, August 2007 ice extent is 31% below the long-term average of 7.67 million square kilometers (2.95 million square miles).

Even more stunning is that the August 2007 monthly average is the lowest extent in the satellite record for any month, including any previous September, which is typically the lowest month each year. September 2005, the previous record, had a monthly mean extent of 5.56 million square kilometers (2.14 million square miles).

August 2007 sea ice extent was lower than September 2005 extent by 240,000 square kilometers (92,000 square miles)."

By the way the legendary Northwest Passage is now open:

"Of particular note is imminent opening of the fabled Northwest Passage through the channels of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. This shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans was first navigated by Roald Amundsen in the early 1900s. It took his group over two years of arduous and dangerous navigation through narrow lanes of open water amongst thick, compact ice. Analysts at the Canadian Ice Service and the U.S. National Ice Center confirm that the passage is almost completely clear and that the region is more open than it has ever been since the advent of routine monitoring in 1972. The Northwest Passage traces from Baffin Bay in the South toward M'Clure Strait."

Quote of the Weekend

"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act."
---George Orwell

(Photo of Edmund O'Brien as Winston Smith in "1984" circa 1955.)

The Wisdom of Henry Wallace

A couple of weeks ago I quoted Herbert Hoover regarding economics. Mr. Hoover is remembered as being the only Iowan elected to the presidency and ushering in the Great Depression. A lesser known man, Henry A. Wallace, was Iowa's contribution to the vice-presidency under FDR. A recovering republican he eventually ran for the presidency in 1948 as the Progressive Party candidate after being castigated as too radical by the Democratic establishment of the day (sounds familiar) and was smeared as being pro-communist in the pre-swift-boating era. Naturally I was intrigued by his take on American fascism which continues to have, if anything, increased relevancy these days, here's a sample from 1944:

"The American fascists are most easily recognized by their deliberate perversion of truth and fact. Their newspapers and propaganda carefully cultivate every fissure of disunity, every crack in the common front against fascism. They use every opportunity to impugn democracy....They claim to be super-patriots, but they would destroy every liberty guaranteed by the Constitution. They demand free enterprise, but are the spokesmen for monopoly and vested interest. Their final objective toward which all their deceit is directed is to capture political power so that, using the power of the state and the power of the market simultaneously, they may keep the common man in eternal subjection."

Arrests in Politkovskaya Case

Ten individuals have been charged in the killing of controversial Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya in October 2006. Yuri Chaika, General Prosecutor of the Russian Federation, made the announcement which implicated an alleged group of Chechen contract killers, members of the FSB, the Interior ministry, and Russian police. The real target however appears to be a rogue oligarch with a checkered career, Boris Berezovsky.

" But he hinted that the real mastermind behind the plot to kill the campaigning journalist was a Russian citizen living abroad who had arranged the murder to discredit the Kremlin and Vladimir Putin, the Russian president. Asked whether he meant the exiled oligarch Boris Berezovsky, Mr Chaika refused to answer but smiled."

While speaking out against the Putin government, Berezovsky has a history of shady dealings which include association with Chechen kidnapping rings, the bankruptcy of Aeroflot, and possible involvement in the murder of American journalist Paul Klebnikov who had written an unflattering biography as noted here:

"Russia Blog reader likely won't be feeling sorry for Mr. Berezovsky – he was profiled in “Godfather of the Kremlin”, the book written by the late Forbes journalist Paul Klebnikov. In his book, Mr. Klebnikov alleged that Berezovsky ordered several contract killings of rivals while amassing his vast personal fortune. Berezovsky became one of the most hated men in Russia during the late 1990s, when he took advantage of Boris Yeltsin's drunkeness to manipulate the President's daughter Tatyana Dyachenko and take control of the Kremlin. Klebnikov described how Berezovsky “negotiated” with the Chechen commanders behind Yeltsin’s back, even while Russian troops were being slaughtered in Chechnya. Once Berezovsky was outmaneuvered by Putin’s siloviki faction, the oligarch fled to London, where he funded opposition groups in Russia while proclaiming that he was just another innocent businessman crushed by the evil ex-KGB officer."

Meanwhile Novaya Gazetta (which now has just started an English version on the Web) has an interesting article which suggests there may be even more to come.

"The number of the arrested and those who are to be arrested says about several points. First, one may assume that separate investigations by Prosecutor General’s Office and by the Novaya Gazeta came to at least two stable criminal groups that cooperate “fruitfully” with each other. This is interpenetration of crime and law enforcement bodies that Anna wrote about many times. This is absence of control that makes warrant officers and majors sell their official powers. It must be stressed that this is the joint business established years ago and based on the grave crime and offence. If we unraveled this tangle, then the details of many celebrated unsolved cases would be disclosed.

Second, the murder was planned and prepared meticulously by professionals who had had experience of solving such kind of “problems”.
Third, it cost expensive. It’s too early to talk about those who ordered this murder; coming elections considering that may cause political special operations around circumstances of the crime. Besides, we don’t have guarantees that real clients’ names will be mentioned in the indictment. And that wouldn’t be investigation’s fault.

We have repeated many times that we don’t have claims against those who investigate the murder of the Novaya Gazeta’s journalist. We are collaborating, and the mutual opinion is that this collaboration is effective. We just want to be sure that certain “rational reasons” that don’t relate to this matter directly, wouldn’t influence the outcome of our joint work. The outcome we need is clear. The killers, accomplices and real clients of this murder must be established and convicted.

Analyzing circumstances of Anna’s death we reconstructed approximately the crime. The mediators got the order in spring or summer 2006. In the beginning of September Politkovskaya began to be shadowed. Before that, her actual address of residence (she had moved to a flat on Lesnaya Street not long before that) was established using facilities of the special service. She was shadowed from morning till night. Generally, Anya was very careful, considering the number of hidden and evident threats. She always reported to editorial staff about all “peculiarities” that happened to her and her relatives.

But in the end of August and beginning of September the situation was different. Her mother was in hospital and they just had buried the father. Anya’s route was practically same those days, differently from her usual working days. In the morning she had a walk with her dog, and then she went shopping and came to see her mother in the hospital. In the afternoon she took again her dog for a walk and late in the day she came to hospital again. When you have problems about your relatives you don’t care of yourself too much. Anya mentioned, though, some strange people hat she met on her staircase.

Yes, those strange people, to put it more exactly one man, really had to be met by her. We think that the killer had at least twice entered the block of flats before, following Politkovskaya and scouting the place. 7 October at 16:01 he fired 5 shots. The first and the fifth bullet (checking shot) were shot into the head. Remodeled gas gun with silencer was left at the crime scene. This gun had no crime records before.

The killer rushed out from the entrance, got in a car and left the crime scene. The publication of the frames fixing all this, made by someone and passed to the journalists, prejudiced the investigation very much.

As you understand, there are a lot of essential details laying behind this laconic chronicle that cannot be disclosed yet.
We often hear questions and reproaches why investigation takes so long and why we journalists say “no comment” for long time.
About term of investigation. Anna Politkovskaya published over 500 articles in the Novaya Gazeta. Almost each of them could have been the reason of the murder. It’s not only materials about Chechnya. The geography is rather large. It’s Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Astrakhan, Bashkiria, St. Petersburg, and Moscow. That is why initially there were many versions. One of the first ones was about special squad officer in the city of Khanty-Mansiysk whose family name is Lapin. This man threatened Politkovskaya many times. Now he is being tried in the court about another case. Lapin’s accomplices, who are also officers, were wanted by the federal security service. The investigation of Politkovskaya’s murder had questions to them too. One of them was found in the city of Khanty-Mansiysk. He didn’t hide; he lived at home and continued his service. But it turned out that those people didn’t have any relation to this murder.

This way, step by step, version by version, the skilful investigative work was done.

Many things were happening around these two investigations – ours and the official one. Agent provocateurs tried to foul the trail and distract the investigation. Some people tried to get the money offered by the Novaya’s shareholder Alexander Lebedev as consideration for the information given. There were also threats and we will tell about it later."

Russia Getting New Early Warning Satellites...and not a moment too soon

And in another interesting defense related development Pavel Podvig reports that Russia intends to update its early warning satellite system which currently does not provide continuous coverage. I find this a little disturbing to put it mildly considering the likelihood of hair -trigger launch on warning status of the Strategic Rocket Forces. In this case an upgrade is probably in everyone's interest, though according to this article (in Russian) it won't be done until 2009:

"Испытания новой космической системы СПРН намечены на 2009 год"

Bombers Without Bombs?

Pavel Podvig at the Russian Strategic Rocket Forces Blog makes the interesting assertion that the resumed bomber flights are flying without bombs. ITAR-TASS makes the same claim:

"MOSCOW, August 21 (Itar-Tass) - Planes of the Russian long-range aviation are flying continuous airborne alert missions without having any nuclear weapons on board, Deputy Commander of the Russian Long-Range Aviation Major-General Anatoly Zhikharev told reporters here on Tuesday.

“All such planes are provided with training missiles”, he stated. “Continuous alert missions were resumed on August 17 on decision of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief and President of the Russian Federation after an interval, which had lasted from 1992,” the general added. “They are being flown in difficult conditions, including pre-reconnaissance, refuelling in the air, and opposition to fighters of NATO and other countries”.

“We have continued the Soviet times tradition and are flying missions in the north-eastern part of the Atlantic Ocean, over the Norwegian, Northern and Japanese Seas, and also beyond the North Pole and over the Aleutian Islands,” Zhikharev stressed, adding that “Russian pilots are not intruding into foreign airspace”. “There is nothing aggressive in respect to other countries,” he stressed. The general noted that “two crew rotations a week are needed to keep the pilots trained and this is a normal regime for the Air Force”.

I was under the impression that the Aleutians were part of Alaska, perhaps Major-General Zhikharev studied geography at the same place GWB studied the history of the Vietnamese War.

They Can't Find Bin Laden But They Can Find You

Creeping authoritarianism comes at us from all dimensions. The decision to utilize satellite surveillance in the domestic arena is only the most recent disturbing development. It is also the hallmark of government which does not trust its citizens, though the feeling is mutual to a large extent. The following express the concerns of many:

"It potentially marks a transformation of American political culture toward a surveillance state in which the entire public domain is subject to official monitoring," said Steven Aftergood, director of the Project on Government Secrecy for the Federation of American Scientists.

Scientists--another growing group of potential subversives in an already crowded field. BTW here's a good link to them.

Above All Don't Panic Everthing is Fine

November, 1929

“Any lack of confidence in the economic future or the basic strength of business in the United States is foolish.”

—Herbert Hoover

August, 2007

"I remind people the economy's pretty darn strong."

-George Bush

This Bomber Helmet Comes With a Really Cool Mp3 Player

Well the Russians are at it again if you hadn't noticed. Tired of being dissed by the West and the U.S. in particular for the past 17 years , Vladimir Putin announced the resumption of the old "Fail Safe" style nuclear bomber runs earlier this past week.
What could be responsible for such bellicose action you may ask? Could it have been the reneged promises regarding NATO expansion during the Clinton era, the new U.S. bases in Central Asia, the desire for Caspian oil, "Colored Revolutions" engineered by former CIA head Admiral Woolsey and friends at "Freedom House", or most recently the missile defense furor? Pretty hard to say what was the final straw. Interestingly Washington seems to be taking this latest development in stride:

"The White House yesterday downplayed concerns about the Russian move, saying it was a matter for Moscow what it did with its planes. The US has had a consistent policy over the last month or so of conciliatory responses in an attempt to reduce tensions over European missile defence."

Real Western wrath appears to have been reserved for the recent court ruling absolving the owner of allofmp3.com of wrongdoing:

"The record industry today attacked a decision by a Russian court to clear a music website boss of copyright infringement in a test case for the country's fight against piracy.

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) said it was "extremely disappointed" that the court had failed to convict Denis Kvasov, who ran the download site allofmp3.com, claiming that the site was "in clear violation of Russia's law."

Now there's a clear threat to Western civilization.

The Russian "Right"

My friend Mark at Norwegianity quoted this article regarding the latest Russian atrocity.Trying to distinguish skin-head provocations from government sanctioned activities can be difficult. The traditional need for authoritarian government in Russia now resembles to a large degree America's desire for security. A good source for info regarding contemporary extremist Russia can be found here. A revealing article gives what I think is the best analysis of current Russian politics extreme and other:

"MANIFESTATIONS OF RADICAL NATIONALISM

Violence

In the spring of 2007, radical violence continued to grow. Over the three spring months, xenophobic and neo-Nazi attacks affected at least 137 people, killing 18. [1] This 14% growth rate vs. the same period last year (at least 120 attacked, 15 killed in the spring of 2006) is somewhat lower than the average (we usually observe 25-30% higher rates of violence for each subsequent year), but there are no reasons yet to report improvement.

Spring has always been a period of increased skinhead activity, due to a number of dates celebrated by Russian neo-Nazis, particularly (but not only) April 20, Hitler’s birthday. Even though law enforcement agencies traditionally seek to suppress skinhead activity on the eve of Hitler's birthday each year, their efforts are often insufficient and cannot stem the violence. Instead, authorities tend to deny the scope of hate crime. Comparing SOVA’s spring 2006 report[2] and today’s figures, the number of known victims has increased from 87 to 120, i.e. almost a 50% increase! We can hardly expect this year to be any different, especially given the surprising “decrease” of officially reported skinhead attacks in May. Before 5 May, we documented 10 or 11 new victims each week, but we know of only 13 victims attacked between 6 and 31 May. [3] We find this hard to believe, given particularly that May in Moscow was marked by a series of large-scale skinhead actions usually associated with violent incidents (commonly shortly before or after, but not during the rally). In addition, 18 May is the anniversary of the death of Dmitry Borovikov - the former leader of St. Petersburg’s most aggressive skinhead group. Last year in Moscow, at least five racist attacks marked the 40 day anniversary of his death, and we cannot believe that things were any different this spring. In the lead-up to this anniversary, right-wing radical websites themselves reported preparations for attacks.

Apparently, two reasons why we have seen fewer incidents of specifically skinhead attacks in May are either that assaults were combined with robbery[4] or because the reporting of these crimes never found its way into newspapers. [5] The latter scenario is particularly dangerous, because underreporting distorts the already vague knowledge of the scope of racist and neo-Nazi violence in Russia. Moreover, the ultra-right takes advantage of this lack of accurate reporting. Russian public opinion perceives skinheads as dangerous and powerful, [6] so rumors and panic spread fast when there are no accurate reports of such crimes, let alone reports of their prosecution and punishment.

Shortly before 20 April 2007, at least three cities in Russia – Belgorod, Ryazan and Izhevsk - were struck by panic amidst rumors of a forthcoming surge of skinheads coming in from other cities to engage in mass fighting and other offences (the neo-Nazis themselves were behind many such rumors). In fact, similar rumors were reported in previous years, but never before have they produced such mass hysteria. Parents did not allow their children to go to school and teachers endorsed absenteeism, while the police were overwhelmed by the number of anxious calls. As a result, the local media, law enforcement authorities, and the local government were forced to address the situation. [7]

A high-profile crime in the spring of 2007 was the death of 17-year-old skater Stanislav Korepanov, fatally wounded by local skinheads. It was this murder that triggered these rumors of “a skinhead invasion.” For some reason, a local independent newspaper – Dyen - was blamed for spreading all the rumors, even though the paper only provided consistent coverage of the events and insisted all the while that skinheads were behind the killing.

More often than ever before, members of the left-wing and various youth subcultures reported experiencing skinhead violence – almost half of all victims we know about (61 of 136) belonged to this category. However, even though some skinheads indeed target the ‘Antifa’ and “informal” youth in particular, the real reason behind such heightened reporting is that the victims are active, online, and involved in social networks, increasing the probability that such crimes will be covered in the media.

Over the three spring months, we documented at least 20 incidents of vandalism against places of worship, cemeteries and memorials, due to apparently nationalist motives. As in the past, the most common targets were installations which belonged to the Jewish community (7 attacks), Protestant Christians (6 attacks), and “ideological” sites, such as the World War II memorial in Kazan and others (4 attacks).

A high-profile case of religious vandalism was reported in Saratov Oblast on 5 and 6 May. Over the span of 24 hours, vandals attacked a cemetery in the village of Rybushka and an Adventist prayer house in Engels, and made an attempt to blow up a synagogue in Saratov. Another notable case of “ideological” vandalism occurred in Kemerovo, where assailants attacked a local Communist Party office in May, painted swastikas on the walls, destroyed furniture and equipment, and even shot off firearms in the office.

Activities of Organized Right-Wing Groups

The spring of 2007 was also marked by increased public activity by organized right-wing radical groups - which clearly is connected with the forthcoming elections.

Public Events

The Russian ultra-right were able to organize a substantial number of large-scale public events in the spring. Rallies, pickets and marches, while they did not reach a national scale (unlike the 2006 Russian March or the action in support of political prisoners on 28 January 2007) were nevertheless high-profile events.

What strikes observers is not the frequency or attendance of right-wing rallies and marches, but instead the authorities’ exaggerated tolerance of such incidents. The question is not about banning rallies and marches – we have stated on many occasions that a preventive ban would be unlawful. That being said, right-wing radicals have increasingly given the police every reason to intervene lawfully.

On 1 May, an ultra-right coalition headed by the Movement against Illegal Immigration (DPNI) led the ‘1st of May March’ outside VDNKh Metro Station in Moscow - their first officially permitted public event since 4 November 2005. Neither the xenophobic slogans, nor the obscenities which, as many witnesses report, they chanted loudly as they marched, nor even the Nazi salutes attracted police attention. Likewise, police failed to pay attention to the 26 May rally staged by neo-Nazis under the slogan “Liberalism leads to degradation, National-Socialism means a healthy nation" - featuring fairly explicit incitement to violence ("Russia will be Russian or unpopulated... Good hunting, wolves"). Rallies held to mark Hitler’s birthday featured 200 ultra-right activists of the National-Socialist Society (NSO) and similar groups raising their arms in a Nazi salutation outside the Presidential Administration Offices in Staraya Square, while their “competitors” DPNI and Slavic Union (SS) did the same in Pushkin Square.

At the same time, the political opposition had its events banned or suppressed with excessive cruelty – for example, Marches of the Dissenters in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The obvious difference in the treatment of peaceful oppositional marches and provocative neo-Nazi gatherings showed that notwithstanding numerous declarations, Russian authorities are not willing to control unlawful ultra-right manifestations. This inaction helps to confirm a popular perception (however true it may be) that these groups enjoy high-level political support.

The same assumption was confirmed by other incidents, such as the attack against another failed Gay Pride march in Moscow on 27 May. As opposed to last year, preparation for this year’s event was not as provocative, and the venue of the Gay Pride march – or, rather, a picket against homophobia - was known in advance, certainly helpful for protecting the participants (even though the protection was far from sufficient). However, skinhead attackers were certainly aware of the numerous homophobic statements made by Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov and State Duma members from across the political spectrum (some not only urged the authorities to ban Gay Pride, but explicitly justified homophobic violence[8]). Attackers interpreted these signals as tacit approval of violence by the police, and they were proved right in the end. According to witnesses, police often allowed violent homophobic individuals to beat victims before arresting the attackers.

Provocation of Mass Public Disturbances

Over the period analyzed in this report, right-wing radicals have skillfully applied their prior experience of provoking mass public disturbances. Once having discovered the following working model, the ultra-right now applies it whenever they can.

First, right-wing activists mobilize after every major conflict which involves serious injuries or death and people of different ethnicities. The conflict is then refigured as an interethnic conflict and evidence of “outrageous behavior by non-Russians who seek to exterminate ethnic Russians." The local community is flooded by right-wing radical activists (particularly DPNI members) from neighboring cities, and even from Moscow. Provocative, discriminatory leaflets (anti-Caucasus, anti-immigrant, etc.) are widely distributed throughout the area. Usually, right-wing activists then convene a "popular gathering” which doesn’t require official permission, as opposed to a meeting or a rally. In case of a death, they time the "popular gathering" to coincide with the funeral ceremony, when propganda can be constructed on the strong emotions of loss and grief. DPNI or other right-wing web forums are used the whole time to coordinate activities. During the “popular gathering,” a pre-written resolution is adopted by the masses, followed by riots and violent clashes with police.

We should note, however, that this action has not been fully implemented since the events in Kondopoga last year, because police and local governments have become aware of its working and been successful in preventing the resultant violence.

For example, such preventive actions occurred in Krasnoarmeysk, Saratov Oblast, when radicals attempted to provoke a riot following a fight between local Azeri and ethnic Russian entrepreneurs - two traditionally antagonistic groups. An ethnic Russian involved in the fighting was killed. The ultra-right immediately thereafter arrived in Krasnoarmeysk and disseminated their “anti-Caucasian” leaflets. However before the day of the funeral, more police forces were called into the city and the most active propagandists were arrested (later to be identified as members of the Popular Unity Party led by Baburin).

At the end of May, a similar scenario began to unfold in Stavropol after a row of mass fighting between Caucasian and ethnic Russian youths. However, we won’t go into too much detail here, because the key events took place in June (outside the scope of this report). We mention it here only to highlight the efficiency of municipal services in preventing a conflict from developing into "another Kondopoga."

Another reason why the incident in Saratov Oblast is remarkable: upon suppressing the riot, local authorities stopped there and did nothing to prevent future incidents. Indeed, the authorities did not even attempt to charge anyone with inciting riots, and the only “punishment” faced by the Popular Union activists was to be expelled from the area. This response – or, rather, lack of response – reaffirms the impunity of right-wing radicals and encourages them to seek even more ingenious ways to get round the tactical barriers created by administrations and law enforcement agencies. Moreover, every time the authorities agree to some of the discriminatory demands put forward by a "popular gathering,” they contribute to instability and legitimize discriminatory practices.

Coalitions and Splits

In our winter-2007 report we noted increased party building efforts in the anticipation of the pivotal 2007/2008 election season. Of course, as elections near, the internal party-building process unravels, amidst splits and scandals surrounding the fight for leadership.

At the end of March, Sergey Baburin’s Narodnaya Volya (Popular Will) Party held its 7th congress, adopting a resolution to rename the party as the Popular Union[9] and to strengthen it by merging with “13 kindred patriotic organizations” (the Union of Orthodox Gonfalon Carriers, L. Simonovich’s Union of Orthodox Fraternities, N. Kuryanovich’s St. Sergius’ Union of Russian People, Igor Artyomov’s Russian All-National Union (RONS), and others). The Popular Union declared its intention to explore and cultivate “the field of Russian nationalism” - allegedly the only space yet unoccupied on the Russian political spectrum (apparently, they mean by formally registered political parties). The new party adopted a slogan – “Long Live Russia!” - and a manifesto, entitled The Unification Act of Russia’s National and Popular Patriotic Forces which mentions the “nation-forming role of the [ethic] Russian people who have built a great power based on Orthodox Christian values.”


On May 6, 2007, the Great Russia Party held its founding congress, electing an official leader – Andrei Savelyev, a State Duma member of Rogozin’s Rodina party known for his ultra-right views. The new party ostensibly copied its founding documents and program from those of the Fair Russia Party, but virtually all of the new party's initiators are open about their party being explicitly ultra-right. At the same time, little is known about its membership. It was reported that the Central Council secretary is Sergei Pykhtin (D. Rogozin’s and A. Savelyev’s associate in the Congress of Russian Communities), and the Secretary of the Central Council Presidium is ex-member of the Moscow City Duma Yuri Popov known for his discriminatory draft laws. However, member of the Organizing Committee D. Rogozin has not joined the new party on the grounds that his formal involvement might be a barrier to its official registration. Similarly, it is unknown whether another OC member, A. Belov, has formally joined the party. [10]

As new coalitions emerge, older nationalist coalitions are being increasingly fragmented by squabbles and quarrels.

In May, the split in the Union of Russian People (SRN) was formalized. The group was originally established in 2005 to bring together a broad spectrum of Orthodox and Monarchist nationalists, some of them more radical than others. As expected, the death of SRN leader Vyacheslav Klykov was immediately followed by internal conflicts. Although the Second Congress in November 2006 avoided undergoing a formal split, very soon after, radicals led by Konstantin Dushenov (St. Petersburg), Mikhail Nazarov (Moscow) and Alexander Turik (Irkutsk) refused to accept the new leader, General Ivashov, dismissing his election as a “provocation staged by security agents” and "a takeover.” A shadow third SRN congress was convened in Irkutsk in May to formalize the split of the radical arm from General Ivashov’s “moderate” SRN.

Similarly, the National Bolshevik Front has split in two. Back in early 2007, activists of the Moscow NBF branch led by Ivan Strukov participated in events held by DPNI and associated groups on behalf of NBF (displaying the party symbols). On May 12, 2007, in Moscow, they held a so-called Second Congress of the National Bolshevik Front[11]. The congress decided to rename the group (into the Russian National Bolshevik Front), elected an Executive Committee (Ivan Strukov, Roman Golovkin, Roman Kisselyov, Yakov Gorbunov), and adopted new program documents emphasizing the group’s ultra-right, racist outlook (not accidentally, Ivan Strukov called the 12 May event “a congress of the National-Socialist Front” in his blog). An announcement came on the next day that the “congress” was illegitimate, and Strukov's associates were separatists ousted from NBF. Interestingly enough, this formal announcement was made by the Eurasian Youth Union (ESM) which is associated with the former members of Limonov’s party, rather than by NBF’s formal leaders (Alexei Golubovich and Maxim Zhurkin).

The "Russian March” Organizing Committee (OC) – which Andrei Savelyev had planned to use as a basis for his Great Russia Party - was also torn apart by quarrels. Three groups left the OC – the Russian Unifying Movement (ROD), the Russian Order, and Revenge. The remaining OC members are DPNI, Pamyat National Patriotic Front, the Slav Union, the Russian All-National Union (RONS), the National Imperial Party of Russia (NDPR), M. Nazarov’s Moscow SRN branch, N. Kuryanovich’s St. Sergius’ SRN, and the mentioned NBF arm led by I. Strukov.

There was also a final split between DPNI and the neo-Nazi NSO (Dmitry Rumyantsev) and Format-18 (Maxim “Tesak” Martsinkevich) groups. Apparently, the split was caused by a struggle for leadership and by suspicions that DPNI leader Belov might be an agent-provocateur (these suspicions were reconfirmed in February 2007 after DPNI announced a rally in Stavropol to protest against the killing of local Cossack leader Andrei Khanin, but never showed up at the rally). The conflict culminated in violence - on 7 March 2007, during a right-wing radical gathering, Rumyantsev and Belov both accused each other of being agent-provocateurs. Film cameras caught Rumyantsev hitting Belov rather violently, all the while being observed by the public (incidentally, physical violence has been reported in regions as well as political rivalries escalate: for example, in early May in Stavropol, RONS activists physically attacked a leader, or “high priest,” of local right-wing Pagans). NSO has been reported partnering up with the Rus' Party established by RNE veterans. The Rus’ Party is not well-known, because they have not organized any real public events, while still filing for official registration. However, in March they were denied this registration and proceeded to organize neo-Nazi rallies on 21 April and 26 May in Moscow.

Nationalism as an Electoral Resource

Right-wing radicals are not the only ones who are looking forward to exploiting nationalist sentiments in the forthcoming elections. Most political parties have displayed this inclination in the spring of 2007 - including some which are not normally considered nationalist.

In particular, addressing the Central Committee plenary session on 24 March, Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov declared an intention “to raise the [ethnic] Russian issue in a broad aspect.” He also reminded the audience that the Communist Party “placed [this issue] on the agenda back in 1991” and has consistently returned to it ever since. [12] Zyuganov also said that the Communist Party “must not allow anyone - from United Russia to the most reactionary forces – to freeride on the Russian issue.” The Communist leader urged his party to advocate for the [ethnic] Russian culture, to develop the concept of “[ethnic] Russian socialism” and to take up more challenges in the future, such as “breakthrough to the Baltic Sea, bringing together the Russian lands, and reaching the Black Sea,” etc.

In April, Oleg Paschenko of the Fair Russia Party - known in Krasnodar Krai for getting away with his anti-Semitism remarks - was elected to the local parliament in spite of numerous attempts to sue him for incitement to ethnic hatred. [13] His election endured both a scandal, and the fact that Fair Russia leader Sergey Mironov assured the public that the party would deny support to this candidate. A month before, another “Fair Russian” – Sergey Andreyev of St. Petersburg – attempted to play on anti-Georgian sentiments by accusing his political opponent, figure skater Anton Sikharulidze of United Russia Party, of having falsified the voting results with the help of “young Georgians.”

Likewise, the party in power did not stay away from "the field of Russian nationalism." On May 16, 2007, the Russian Project website was finally launched, announced by the United Russia back in February. If anyone had any doubts as to how explicitly ethno-nationalist the project would be, these should immediately disappear just by looking at the website. Moreover, while some people had expressed concerns that by picking up “the Russian issue,” the United Russia Party could promote ethno-xenophobic sentiments without actively engaging in them, it is now clear that the most odious right-wing radical ideas and resources find themselves legitimized under the UR aegis. In particular, the UR website takes its news feed from the so-called Russian Network (their banners are displayed at the bottom of the home page). The Russian Network includes, alongside mainstream publications such as Moscow News and RBC, Konstantin Dushenov’s Rus Pravoslavnaya (Orthodox Russia), a paper officially positioned as “anti-Semitic, ‘Black Hundred’-inspired newspaper of Russian nationalists (Dushenov currently faces criminal charges under art. 282 of the Criminal Code); right-wing radical paper Russian Spetsnaz; Zolotoi Lev (Golden Lion) magazine whose editorial board is chaired by Andrei Savelyev and Sergey Pykhtin, leaders of the recently established Great Russia Party – the magazine publishes explicitly racist articles; the webpage of the Russian Doctrine containing discriminatory statements with regard to non-Russian ethnicities and non-Orthodox believers and adopted by the Great Russia Party leaders as their program document; websites of the Eurasian Youth Union and Eurasia associated with Alexander Dugin - currently playing the role of a respectable expert, but better known as an ideologist and promoter of proto-fascist, fascist and “new right” ideas in Russia; and other, equally odious resources[14]."

Sounds like American authoritarianism with a Russian accent: hate foreigners, gays, and other religions.

In a somewhat disturbing development, ignored I might add by the MSM, scientists have discovered that ionized dust can organize itself into DNA-like structures capable of reproducing itself and passing on information.
As reported in New Scientist:

"Like DNA, the dust spirals can store information. They do so in the scaffolding of their bodies, as they have two stable states – one with a large diameter and the other with a small one – so a spiral could carry a series of wide and narrow sections.

The specific order of these sections can be copied from one dust spiral to another, like a genetic code. The researchers aren't sure how it happens, but they think each narrow section of spiral creates a permanent vortex of moving dust outside it. So if another spiral drifts alongside it, that vortex pinches the same length into its narrow state."

Clearly it is time to closely inspect under furniture and beds for previously unsuspected lifeforms.

America's Diminishing Security

While American politicians blather on on about their commitment to wars on terror, "Islamofacism", and the ever elusive Bin Laden organization, much more serious threats resulting from American unilateralism coalesce. The irony is that people we could have engaged and worked with see no benefit in having anything to do with a country that thinks it is the boss, owner, and protector of the world and its resources. Unfortunately there is nothing to suggest that the current crop of likely presidential candidates of either party will veer from the hegemonism that currently characterizes this country's approach to the world.
Meanwhile Kommersant reports the following which of course is unreported in any American MSM:
" The Peace Mission 2007 exercises get underway on Thursday to become the organization’s largest military drill. All member countries, Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, are sending its troops for the drills. The previous maneuvers took place in August 2005 in the Shandong Peninsula in China but involved only Russian and Chinese soldiers. Beijing organized the Shangdong exercises clearly with an eye back to the Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan. Russia and China were to fight with imaginary extremists who were attempting to cease power in a neighboring country. The drills took place on the coast and looked like a landing onto a large island such as Taiwan."
" Russia took on almost all expenses on the maneuvers’ organization. The Russian Defense Ministry says they cost it more than 2 billion rubles. The money renovated Chebarkul, creating new and restoring old infrastructure. Chelyabinsk Region Governor Pyotr Sumin earmarked an additional 64 million rubles to these ends. The organizers were evidently anxious to please Chinese soldiers. Beijing’s military were greeted with a traditional bread and salt welcome ceremony and put up in four-bed rooms. All Chinese quarters have TV sets with Chinese channels and DVD players in them. The Russian Defense Minister built the biggest-ever press center in the Russian army to cover the exercises.

The generosity is no surprising. Peace Mission 2007 is essentially part of a plan to turn the SCO into a Central Asian military and political bloc to protect Russia’s interests and counter a growing influence of the United States in the region. The same task is to be voiced at the August 14 summit in Kyrgyzstan’s Bishkek which will bring together all SCO leaders. June meetings of SCO foreign and defense policy chiefs have shown that Moscow would seek support of its allies to counter Washington in issues ranging from the proposed U.S. missile shield in Eastern Europe to expelling the U.S. military base from the Manas airport in Kyrgyzstan. Vladimir Putin and his counterparts are to fly right from Bishkek to Chebarkul for the final stage of Peace Mission 2007 to demonstrate that the SCO has the resources and power to “fight against aggressive plans”.

One can only wonder what our ever over stretched military is prepared or able to do now that American allies are fewer and fewer thanks to the bankrupt policies of the current occupant of the White house.

First Blackwater Now Gazprom...Private Armies March

My theory that America and Russia are now more or less indistinguishable gets another shot in the arm. While it is well known that the U.S. relies on mercenaries in Iraq to an unprecedented level, witness this link to Jeremy Scahill's scathing expose, now we learn that Gazprom, the world's largest oil and natural gas company now has the Russian Duma's permission to have their own private army. God only knows what sort of advice George and Vlad exchange these days.

Bush's War Without End or Why Iraq Will Never End

One can only come to the disappointing conclusion that there will be no "end" of American involvement in Iraq. Ever. The American political process has identified no politician with a hope of assuming power who has any desire to pull the U.S. out while vested interests continue to call the shots in American foreign policy.
Evidence abounds, the mammoth embassy in Baghdad, the enormous military bases, the preoccupation with predatory petroleum legislation. To call for a true withdrawal of American forces would call into question so many basic assumptions about America it would be nothing short of revolutionary. Seemingly unrelated subjects including energy policy, the future of the automobile industry, peak oil, the use of the American military in accomplishing lord knows whose goals, climate change, the "special" relationship with Israel, and more would come into scrutiny--an unlikely scenario.
If anything matters will get worse as American politicians of both parties rush to demonize Iran and sleep walk into another even more disastrous conflict.

Neocon Ship of Fools

Johann Hari has an interesting account of what is an excursion into the netherworlds of American political life, a cruise with 500 National Review subscribers. The scariest aspect is that the views are representative of what passes for the elite in this country.

"The Iraq war has been an amazing success, global warming is just a myth – and as for Guantanamo Bay, it's practically a holiday camp... The annual cruise organised by the 'National Review', mouthpiece of right-wing America, is a parallel universe populated by straight-talking, gun-toting, God-fearing Republicans."

Read and be afraid.

Accidents will happen........

New Scientist relates where the next bio-terror episode may come from, your friendly neighborhood biodefence-lab. They cite a litany of accidents from labs from across the country that would put your average would- be terrorist to shame if they ever hit the general population.

"• At the University of New Mexico, one worker was jabbed with an anthrax-laden needle, and another with a syringe containing an undisclosed, genetically engineered microbe.

• At the Medical University of Ohio, workers were exposed to and infected with Valley Fever.

• At the University of Chicago, there was another puncture with an undisclosed agent normally requiring heavy containment, probably anthrax or plague.

• At the University of California at Berkeley, workers handled deadly Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, which spreads in the air, without containment when it was mislabelled as harmless.

• At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, TB escaped containment after equipment failed.

As yet, none of the accidents have been serious in outcome. But, Hammond fears, more such accidents may go unreported. "Instead of a 'culture of responsibility', the federal government has instilled a culture of denial" he says. "Labs hide problems, and think that accident reporting is for masochists."

Tanks, Missiles, and Mullets

Russia has announced it's intention to pullout of the Conventional Armed Forces In Europe Treaty. It appears that Segways and lobsters with George Bush weren't sufficient inducements for Vladimir Putin to moderate his policies. The actual military implications are not likely to be substantial but the symbolism of how bad Russian-Western relations have become will be clear.

In the meantime The Exile reports that symbol of hipness gone awry, the mullet, is sweeping Russia. Pictured above is a pioneer of the Russian mullet, the late Victor Tsoi of the 80s-90s band Kino. The foreign policy implications of this are currently unknown.

Lastly the latest installment of Get Your Putin On via the Exile.

Fighting for Oil More than a Slogan

The Air Force reports their cost of fuel is beginning to impact their costs and presumably America's ongoing military budgetary calamity.

Pope On Theological Rampage

Pope Benedict XVI, apparently fed up with rampant religious tolerance, went on the offensive dissing both Jews and Protestants in just the last five days. As reported in The Guardian the pope revived the Latin Tridentine mass which assails "the blindness of that people" namely the Jews.

Not wasting anytime he then took on the Protestants of the world for essentially not being Catholic. According to The Guardian again:

"It is nevertheless difficult to see how the title of 'Church' could possibly be attributed to [Protestant communities], given that they do not accept the theological notion of the Church in the Catholic sense and that they lack elements considered essential to the Catholic Church."

Last fall the pontiff sought to put the Islamic faith in it's place repeating a 14th century Christian Emperor's contention that Muhammad had brought forth "only evil and inhuman things".

I presume that Hindus, Buddhists, and Mormons may be next on the list.

Whose National Interests?

Forty years ago the U.S.S. Liberty was strafed, bombed and napalmed by Israeli forces in one of the most devastating attacks on the U.S. Navy since WW II. This whole episode has been subject to historical amnesia and what would qualify as outright lies. Now one of the legal counsels of the Naval Court of Inquiry has come forward to expose the cover-up of this disturbing situation as reported here and antiwar.com. Justin Raimondo reports on another episode where Israeli self interest trumped decency. Here there is evidence that to discredit the PLO the Israelis were willing to tolerate an attack by a Palestinian splinter group to further their own interests. I only wish that American politicians of both parties were as vigorous in pursuing policies truly in the interest of this country instead of well financed special interests who wish us to do their dirty work.
As once was said of the British Empire,

"We have no permanent enemies and no permanent friends, only permanent interests."

Perhaps we need to decide what our interests are.

Independence Day Reflections

It would be hard to think of a better way to spend Independence Day than getting together with like-minded folks to demand the impeachment of the Bush-Cheney cabal. I had the opportunity to do just that at the Impeach for Peace gathering in Madison, WI today. Petitions were presented and interesting speakers gave their views. It is fitting on this day to actually review the Declaration of Independence and reflect on its relevancy for today's conditions. In particular I was struck by the following passage:

"Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient Causes; and accordingly all Experience hath shown , that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing the invariably the same Object, envinces a Design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to to throw off such Government, and provide new guards for their future Security."

It made sense then and makes sense now.

Push Butin

Asia Times Online has a great article about an encounter that probably never happened, here's an excerpt:

"Bush: Vladimir, I don't get what you are driving at. Americans just don't think that way. We're trying to help Muslim countries build democracy so the Middle East can be at peace.

Putin: I don't want to throw cold water on your idea, George, but it doesn't seem to be working out too well in Iraq, or Palestine, or Lebanon, does it?

Bush: Vladimir, I just don't get you at all. If you are so concerned about the Muslims, how come you are making it so hard for us to put sanctions on Iran?

Putin: Did it ever occur to you that you have an insignificant number of Muslims to answer to - and half of them are native-born American blacks who never vote Republican? I have millions of Azeri Shi'ites attending mosques supported by Iran. I don't have the luxury to rap the mullahs on the knuckles and hope they stick their hands back in the pockets. Read what Niccolo Machiavelli had to say on the subject: never inflict a minor injury upon an opponent. Men will avenge themselves against minor injuries, but they can't avenge themselves against major injuries.

Bush: You're not telling me to inflict a major injury on Iran, by any chance, are you, Vladimir?

Putin: If anyone is going to do it, George, it's going to be you - you or the Israelis. I simply can't afford to - at least not for the moment, certainly not until after our presidential elections next March. Maybe you won't have to. Iran is weak. There's still an outside chance that someone reasonable like Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani might replace that lunatic Mahmud Ahmadinejad as president. But there's one thing you can count on: nobody hates the idea of an Iran with nuclear weapons more than we do. Our "near abroad" shares a border with Iran.

Bush: So when push comes to shove, Vladimir, you're going to let me do the dirty work and keep your hands clean?

Putin: Remember, I've got elections six months before you do, and a different kind of succession problem. Your democracy has been around for more than 200 years. We're barely adolescents. I need someone to follow me who's hard and sly enough to prevent Russia from flying apart. We can be tough when we have to be. Or haven't you heard of Chechnya?

Bush: You're not taking into account how tough my problem is - unless I can settle the Iran problem, there's no way I can get US troops out of Iraq without a full-scale war between Shi'ites backed by Iran and Sunnis backed by Saudi Arabia.

Putin: Well, you're on your own there. Don't blame me for that.

Bush: Vladimir, I was hoping we'd come out of this discussion with an understanding of at least one point: Why are you so upset about our putting anti-missile systems into places like the Czech Republic? You know that we can't defend Europe against a Russian missile attack.

Putin: George, it's not just about the missiles. It's about your lily-pad bases in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and elsewhere in our near abroad. It's about fomenting those pointless color revolutions in Ukraine, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan. You aren't going to get democracy in these places - it's silly presumption. All you will do is foster the centrifugal forces that threaten to tear apart the Russian Federation. Don't you get it, George? We are only three-quarters Russian, and in a generation we might be only half Russian. We haven't recovered from the beating you gave us in the 1980s. Half of adult male deaths in Russia are due to alcoholism. Our women have 13 abortions for every 10 live births. We're fighting for our life. We are not going to let what remains of Russia be torn to pieces.

Bush: Do you think we can find some kind of common ground over Kosovo?

Putin: That's where you are really playing with fire, George. You are proposing to dismember Serbia to add a province to Greater Albania, and you will set a precedent for every breakaway minority that wants to leave Russia. We can't possibly accept this - and I warn you that if you insist on this dangerous and reckless course of action, we will do precisely the same for disputed territories in the near abroad, starting with South Ossetia.

Bush: But Vladimir, how are we going to convince the Muslim world that we can partner up with them for peace if we don't respect the wishes of an overwhelming Muslim majority in Kosovo?

Putin: I hate to put it this way, George, but I think I could teach you a lesson about how to gain influence among Muslims. You aren't particularly popular among Muslims at the moment.

Bush: Okay, you don't have to rub it in. How do you propose to gain influence among Muslims?

Putin: Do you know how many civilians died in Chechnya when we suppressed the rebellion there? No one knows exactly, but the number is around 100,000. We know that half a million Chechens lost their homes. That's half the country. We've been killing Muslims for 300 years. That's why they respect us.

Bush: Vladimir, what you are saying is horrible. The American people will never see the world that way.

Putin: The American people don't have to. They are sitting comfortably in their own continent and think it's a great disaster when a few thousand people are killed in an office building. I'm not suggesting that you go out and explain to your voters that things might be very different in other parts of the world. But I am warning you: we have a tough enough job on our hands. Don't make it harder for us, or you will be sorry."

No Justice Just Us

Cartoon Satire

The Exile's "Get Your Putin On" series continues.....

Russian Sparta?

I'm not sure what say about this found at englishrussia.com.

Politkovskaya Lives On In Print

The writing of murdered Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya continues to resonate even after her death in the fall of 2006. Her most recent work in English ,"A Russian Diary: A Journalist"s Final Account of Life, Corruption, and Death in Putin's Russia" has recently been published and gives an enlightening if not searing account of political life in contemporary Russia.The failure of the political opposition, media concentration, and collapse of independent journalism are disturbing in their implications for Russian society as well as other societies including our own. This release coincides with release in Russia of her book,"Za Shto" or "Why" which is now being promoted by Mikhail Gorbachev, who is part owner of Novaya Gazetta, her former paper.
Posthumously she has recieved several awards including the International Publishers' Association Freedom Prize and has an award pending from the American National Press Club in July. Vladimir Putin on the other hand was recently awarded the less coveted "Closed Oyster" award for "hampering the development of free media", the first non-German to do so.
Americans by and large don't tend to kill journalists unless of course they happen to be Serbians or work for Al-Jazeera.

The Most Far-Out Mission

I love this, the most far out project NASA has embarked upon ever to Pluto, the Kuiper Belt, and beyond. Anything that's to last to the 2020's represents forward thinking.

The Boris Yeltsin Photo Series

It would be hard to find a collection of photos that encapsulate the trajectory of Yeltsin's life better than this.

Do Two Wrongs Make a Right?

Pavel Podvig sheds new insight on the recent Russian initiative for missile defense on the Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces website:

"This potentially opens a possibility to turn two wrongs - the U.S. missile defense and the Russian unreasonably loud opposition to it - into something of a right - a concrete joint U.S.-Russian program that would allow the two countries to establish close contacts between their militaries, which eventually is the only way to dispel all kind of suspicions and misunderstandings.

I was hoping for just this kind of an outcome of the current missile defense debate when I wrote about this issue about two months ago and I'm glad to see that Russia and the United States are getting closer to it. We are not there yet, though - although the Missile Defense Agency was thinking about a radar in the Caucasus, I don't think it would be ready to abandon it's Eastern European plans. But it's a reasonably good start."

The Mystery of Andrei Kozlov

The murder of Andrei Kozlov last September has had a number of unusual aspects including his position as the number two guy at the Central Bank of Russia, his attempts to clear up corrupt practices in Russian banking, his untimely death, and subsequent prosecution and closure of the case in atypical fashion by the Russian authorities. It appears that this scenario things seem to be unraveling. The International Hearld Tribune reports the following:

"Now, however, the authorities in Austria have cast doubt on the quality of the Russian sleuthing in Kozlov's murder, which they linked to a multimillion-dollar money laundering scheme that made use of a bank in Vienna."

Futhermore:

"The New Times, an independent magazine in Moscow that first reported the story, suggested that Kozlov was killed as he tried to halt a money laundering operation run for corrupt officials in the Russian government.

In August, Kozlov had informed an Austrian bank of suspicious transfers from a bank in Russia, according to Hersztera.

As the authorities in both countries were quietly rolling up the suspected money laundering channel, Kozlov on Sept. 1 revoked the license of Diskont Bank, an obscure "pocket bank" that operates discreetly and without visible customers.

The Austrian police have not identified the bank. However, Raiffeisen Zentralbank, one of Central Europe's largest, conceded in a statement that it had received the wire transfers from Diskont Bank. The New Times, citing anonymous Russian Interior Ministry officers, said that $60 million was transferred in the final days of August last year.

After the murder of Kozlov, the Austrian state attorney forwarded evidence - including the information Kozlov had provided about money laundering - to the Russian prosecutor general.

The Austrian state attorney did not receive a response from the Russian authorities, either on the initial money laundering investigation begun by Kozlov or on the possible link to his murder, Hersztera said."

The Exile gets to the pithier possiblities:

"What's strangest in all this is the idea that Kozlov tried to meddle and shut down this scheme. Wasn't he aware that he was probably directly fucking with Putin's pension plan? Does it show that Kozlov was indeed a reformer? Or is that Russia's banking industry has competing clans working and plotting in secrecy against each other, and Kozlov was getting too powerful for his own good? Whatever the case, Frenkel's arrest - the hired killers, witness testimonies that were later retracted, the evidence and the media campaign that automatically assumed his guilt - was all part of grandiose warm-up to a show trial. It was a sick set-up orchestrated at the highest levels of government. As for Frenkel, judging by the media's reaction to this new information, it looks like he's going to hang."

Frenkel of course being the patsy originally arrested as per the International Herald Tribune, Feb 21, 2007:

"VREMYA NOVOSTEI

MORE SUSPECTS EMERGE IN KOZLOV CASE: Aleksei Frenkel, a former banker who stands accused of ordering the killing of Andrei Koslov, the former deputy head of the Russian Central Bank, may not have acted alone. According to information obtained by the newspaper, the Prosecutor General's Office has identified several more people linked to the case, including three accused of laundering tens of millions of dollars stolen from the Central Bank of Turkmenistan. A source from the prosecutor's office said that all suspects had been identified; all were bankers; and all were sure they could not be punished."