FRIDAY APRIL 24 CONTENTS
(1) EDITORIAL: Mountains of Bad Economic News for Putin’s Russia
(2) Russia’s Rulers are Tripping
(3) George Will on Potemkin Russia
(5) Putin’s Economy, by the Numbers
NOTE: Kim Zigfeld’s latest installment of her American Thinker column takes a look at recent evidence indicating that Russia is looking to provoke Georgia and justify a second military assault on the tiny neighbor. Scary stuff, with Nashi playing a leading role. Commenter “Robert” offers a link showing that the news grows more ominous by the hour. For a hearty belly laugh, click the jump to read one of the many pieces of hatemail we’ve received from the rabid Russophile set on Kim’s behalf in response to the AT piece.
NOTE: Dima Medvedev is now blogging on LiveJournal. If you read Russian, sign up for a free account on ZheZhe and you can give him a piece of your mind in the comments sections of his posts. Or try to slip past his censors, anyway; the Kremlin openly admits it will strictly control access to comments.
Here’s a letter we reprint verbatim from our inbox, addressed to our founder Kim Zigfeld in response to her most recent Russia column on the American thinker blog:
Kim Zigfeld, the Degree of marasm and idiocy in your clauses for a long time have exceeded norms of the brought up, fair people! Such as you name women and children separatists, such as you eulogize schizophrenics in power in Georgia such as you live due to other world. Kim Zigfeld you impudent false abnormal ” the person? “! Mine to you advice – learn to think!!! – also esteem historical books if you in general to read be able, in fact you for certain do not know even history of the USA! With easy disgust for you DRVazer
If anyone can educate us as to the meaning of “marasm” we’d be ever so grateful.
La Russophobe 
It goes without saying that the author is clearly Russian and transliterated маразм into marasm thinking that it was an English loan word, but in reality it was clearly borrowed from the French word marasme and can be translated into English as marasmum. Marasmus according to dictionary.com: “malnutrition occurring in infants and young children, caused by insufficient intake of calories or protein and characterized by thinness, dry skin, poor muscle development, and irritability.” However, in Russian popular speech, “marasm” also has acquired the meaning of the symptoms of senility and dementia (see http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Маразм). So, what he meant to say was that “the Degree (sic) of senility and idiocy…”
Michel
There is an error in the link I posted. You will have to go to http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/ and then search маразм.
Bless you! An endless source of insights about the Russian language, culture and economic system and one of our most valued readers!
Hi. You wpuld consider making an update on the “end of ‘conterterroist operation'” in Chechnya.
Few hours before the end of the war (end again, but now supposedly definitive), one of commanders of the elite FSB unit Vympel was killed by a landmine (the information was supressed then). Since then, “local counter-terrorist operations” were launched in 2 moutainous districts. A carload of soldiers was ambushed in Bamut (3 killed). And so on.
Officially there are still 300-1500 guerrillas in Chechnya according to Russian military (or just 70 according to Kadurov – who promised several times there would be none on this or that date in past).
PW on this from another side: http://www.watchdog.cz/index.php?show=000000-000005-000004-000174&lang=1
And the BBC in retrospective: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7974652.stm
Some of the ends in the past:
Defense Minister Igor Sergeev, December 1, 1999: “The condition of the bandits is getting worse and I think the operation will be accomplished in two or three months.”
Senior deputy commander of the united group of forces, Gennady Troshev, February 29, 2000: “After seizing Shatoy the antiterrorist operation in Chechnya is over. The operation for the liquidation of small groups of militants will last for two or three more weeks.”
During his visit to Chechnya on December 7, 2001, presidential plenipotentiary in the Southern Federal District, Victor Kazantsev, said that the operation “will be accomplished by spring of 2002.”
In his interview to RIA Novosti on December 18, 2002, head of the administration of Chechnya, Akhmat Kadyrov, said that the operation in the republic “is approaching completion.”
On August 29, 2003, Commander of the Interior Forces, Vyacheslav Tikhomirov, announced that “the antiterrorist operation in Chechnya is over” and henceforth the united group of forces “will maintain order.”
In his interview to RIA Novosti on April 22, 2004, head of the presidential security service of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, said, “There will be no militants in Chechnya in two or three years. The last summer and winter has come for the majority of militants.”
President Vladimir Putin, January 31, 2006, “It is possible to speak about the end of the antiterrorist operation.”
President of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, March 19, 2007: “We already accomplished the operation as such. We only struggle against the remaining criminal elements. We will finish them in the next month or two.”
Well said Robert.
Robert,
I am working on an article on this subject. Can I use some of your quotes?
My quotes are from Kommersant on March 26, 2009.
Thanks!
Another journalist attacked in Russia
http://www.rferl.org/content/Russian_Journalist_Assaulted_Threatened_In_Sochi/1614349.html
Looks like the Separatist provocations are beginning again.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090423/ap_on_re_eu/eu_georgia_south_ossetia_1;_ylt=Ar9JsLX3Gr5_AZiUJD2bpd5bbBAF;_ylu=X3oDMTE2OWM3cW83BHBvcwMxBHNlYwN5bi1yLWItbGVmdARzbGsDZXYtZ3VuZmlyZWV4
A wild ROGOZIN appears!
http://www.russiatoday.com/Politics/2009-04-21/_Georgia_plans_provocations_against_NATO__.html