August 28, 2009 — Contents

FRIDAY AUGUST 28 CONTENTS

(1)  EDITORIAL:  Putin Slithers around Kadyrov

(2)  EDITORIAL:  Dima Medvedev, Girly Man-God?

(3)  Tuberculosis Ravages Putin’s Russia

(4)  The Average Russian Drinks 50 bottles of Vodka per Year

(5)  Photo Essay:  A Grand old Russian Flag?

NOTE:  The Oborona activist blogging in English as Kvakrusheva posts disturbing video of Moscow police snuffing out a legal attempt to solicit electoral support.

EDITORIAL: Putin slithers Around Kadyrov

EDITORIAL

Putin slithers Around Kadyrov

No rational person, of course, could expect the malignant ruler of Russia, Vladimir Putin, to criticize the campaign of mass murder being waged by his hand-picked Frankenstein ruler in Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov.  After all, to publicy admit fault by Kadyrov would be to acknowledge his own failings as well.

But it’s one thing for Putin to avoid criticizing Kadyrov as he murders political enemies left and right, quite something else entirely to rush to Kadyrov’s defense. Yet that’s just what he did earlier this week, achieving yet another loathsome new low in the modern history of Russia.  We condemn his outrageous misconduct, and even more do we condemn the craven people of Russia for allowing this repugnant reptilian dictator to represent them before the gaping, slack-jawed world.

EDITORIAL: Dima Medvedev, Girly Man-God?

EDITORIAL

Dima Medvedev, Girly Man-God?

That explains a lot

We learned earlier this week, somewhat to our surprise, that although Russian “president” Dima Medvedev has one outward appearance, shown at left while visiting a Buddhist monastery in the village of Verkhnyaya Ivolga in Buryatia on Monday, he has another rather different inner appearance visible to those who are sufficiently enlightened. He looks like this:

Tuberculosis ravages Putin’s Russia

The Washington Post reports:

Russia’s severe tuberculosis problem is about to get much worse, increasing the risk that the dangerous drug-resistant strains that are common here will spread, causing outbreaks elsewhere, local health officials and other experts warn.

Preliminary surveys have recorded an uptick in infections, which experts say could be the start of a surge fueled by declining living standards and deteriorating medical care resulting from the country’s worst economic slowdown in a decade.

But Russian officials and health specialists also blame the government’s failure to order supplies of key medicines last year, a blunder that could strengthen antibiotic-resistant forms of TB and threaten wealthier countries that have all but eradicated the disease.

The average Russian adult drinks 50 bottles of Vodka a Year!

Do you dare imagine how many are consumed by an “above average” Russian adult?  Voice of America reports:

New studies find that about a million people in Russia die each year from alcohol and tobacco related illnesses. And in several recent years, more than half of all Russian deaths between the ages of 15 and 54 were caused by alcohol.

In Russia, deaths outnumber births these days.

Photo Essay: A Grand Old Russian Flag? Maybe, not so Much

“You’re a grand old flag , you’re a high-flying flag
And forever in peace may you wave
You’ve the emblem of the land I love
The home of the free and the brave
Every heart beats true
For the red white and blue
Where there’s never a boast or brag
And should auld acquaintance be forgot
Keep your eye on the grand old flag!”

The Russian flag, like the American flag, is red, white and blue.  But Russians and Americans treat their flags rather diffrently, and don’t share the same values. Those in Russia who believe in freedom are in the tiny minority.  For instance, Russians recently tried to celebrate the Day of the Russian flag in Moscow, led by Boris Nemtsov, Lev Ponomarev, Ilya Yashin and Roman Dobrokhotov. Here’s what happened:  They spoke, they marched, they got assaulted by OMON and arrested. See for yourself