August 12, 2009 — Contents

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 12 CONTENTS

(1)  EDITORIAL:  Here Comes NASHI

(2)  EDITORIAL:  The Beast of Chechnya

(3)  Putin Shows Exxon how its Done

(4)  Der Spiegel Exposes and Condemns Russian Barbarism

(5)  Oh, Nobama!  His Poll Numbers in Freefall

(6)  Annals of Shamapova

EDITORIAL: Here Comes NASHI

EDITORIAL

Here Comes NASHI

Translating from Grani.ru, FinRosForum reports:

Meeting at its annual summer camp in Seliger, the Kremlin-led youth group, Nashi, decided to establish bands of militia consisting of disadvantaged youngsters armed with stun guns. Under the plan, hundreds of thousands of Putin’s young stormtroopers would patrol Russia’s streets and have the right to check people’s IDs. The initiative to establish the Russian Militia Association (Vserossiiskaya Assotsiatsiya Druzhin, VAD) comes from Vasily Yakemenko, director of the Federal Agency on Youth Affairs (Rosmolodezh) and former leader of the Nashists. The organisation would be financed from the state budget and receive administrative support from Rosmolodezh.

Attentive readers will remember our report a two weeks ago on human rights activist Albert Pchelintsev, who was attacked by a gang of youth and shot in the mouth with . . . a stun gun.  Gazeta.ru has more details on the proposed new use of NASHI stormtroopers.

The horrors of this scenario are so ghastly and obvious the hardly need to be stated:

EDITORIAL: The Beast of Chechnya

EDITORIAL

The Beast of Chechnya

It’s almost as if Ramzan Kadyrov, designated and decorated as a national hero of Russia by Vladimir Putin, wants to help us folks here at La Russophobe prove conclusively what an inhuman neo-Soviet monster he is.  Why else, we can’t help but wonder, would he publicly say this about Natalia Estemirova:

She never had any honor, dignity or conscience. Why should Kadyrov kill a woman whom nobody needs?

Yes, he referred to himself in the third person.  Yes, he accused this single working mother who laid down her life for her beliefs of having no honor.  Yes, though she worked tirelessly and selflessly to protect the rights of the defenseless, he said she had no conscience.  Yes, he displayed for all the world his absolute contempt for her, confirming his motive to kill her.  Yes, he ignored her international reputation and many awards for journalistic and human rights achievement, something very few other Chechnya activists can boast of, and still claimed she mattered to nobody — ignoring too the hundreds of newspapers articles that deluged the worldwide media after her brutal killing.

Well, all we can say is “thank you, Mr. Kadyrov.” You’ve made our argument with your own words far better than we could ever dream of doing.  And, of course, the continued support of our maniacal, malignant, homicidal regime by the Moscow Kremlin tells the world all it needs to know about that regime as well.

Radio Free Europe has more analysis of the psychopathic ravings of this bloodthirsty, homicidal maniac who is Russia’s “hero.”

Putin Shows Exxon how “Business” is Done in Russia

Streetwise Professor reports:

A few days back I wrote about ExxonMobil was facing the prospect of losing its right to export gas from its Sakhalin I project to China, and sell it instead in the Russian domestic market at below market prices.  Today Bloomberg carries another article that dovetails perfectly with that story:

Der Spiegel exposes and Condemns Russian Barbarism

Mr. Medvedev takes Aim

Under the photograph shown above and the headline “The Triumph of Fear,” Der Speigel reports on the Kremlin’s barbaric homicidal rampage against civil society, using the strongest terms a major newspapers possibly can (truly, one  photograph with an automatic rifle is worth a thousand words):

Yet another Russian human rights activist has been silenced in yet another brutal attack. This week unknown gunmen shot anti-corruption activist Albert Pchelintsev in the mouth with rubber bullets, in front of his apartment in the Moscow suburb of Khimki. The 38 year old was seriously wounded in the lower face and jaw but survived the attack.

Oh Nobama! Barack’s Approval is in Freefall

U.S. President Barack Obama’s benighted Russia policy is just one hallmark of an increasingly failed administration, and the people of the United States are getting wise. Just look at those job approval ratings!  He’s inches away from seeing the red disapproval line exceed the blue approval line, and he’s only a few months into his presidency. Time for a rethink, Mr. Obama?

Annals of Shamapova

Well, at least she's still got her looks . . . er . . . that's not a hint of mustache we spy, is it? Did anyone say Maria ShaROIDpova?

If we told you than none of the top 5 seeds made it as far as the semi-finals in last weeks WTA tour event in Los Angeles, California, it probably wouldn’t surprise you to learn that three of those five, including the top two, were Russians. None of the players ranked #2-#6 in the world even showed up, so the going was hardly difficult. 

But the Russians still couldn’t hang.  Least of all Maria Sharoidpova.