May 27, 2011 — Contents

FRIDAY MAY 27 CONTENTS

(1)  EDITORIAL:  Pig Russia, Wallowing in the Mire

(2)  EDITORIAL:  1,000 Days to Apocalypse in Russia

(3)  EDITORIAL:  Saved from the Russian Meat Grinder

(5)  EDITORIAL:  Russia Hates World, Feeling Mutual

(6)  How Obama Made Neo-Soviet Russia Possible

(7)  Photo Essay:  Ah, Russia!

NOTE:  LR publisher and founder Kim Zigfeld’s latest installment on the powerful and influential American Thinker blog details the terrifying moves by the Russian Kremlin to corner the gold market and destabilize the Middle East, while Barack Obama lies asleep at his post. Yikes. 

EDITORIAL: Pig Russia, Wallowing in Mire

EDITORIAL

Pig Russia, Wallowing in Mire

The diary of Russian foreign policy events over the past few weeks has been truly horrifying, even by the loathsome standards of Vladimir Putin’s KGB state.

Russia defended Iran. Then it protected Libya. Finally, it stood steadfast in the defense of Syria. And for the cherry on this fetid cake, it invited Pakistan to pay the first official state visit on Moscow in three decades just after learning it had been harboring America’s public enemy #1, Bin Laden, right outside its capital.

Civilized people can only ask themselves:  Doesn’t Russia have any shame, or even common sense?

EDITORIAL: A Thousand days to Apocalypse in Russia

EDITORIAL

A Thousand days to Apocalypse in Russia

On May 14, 2011, Russia switched on a countdown timer in the city of Sochi to tick off the days remaining until the 2014 Winter Olympiad unfolds there.  The clock should have been in the shape of a ticking time bomb, in order to do justice to horror of anticipating what may be the bloodiest sports contest in modern memory.

Just the day before, Russia had gone down to utterly humiliating defeat to tiny Finland, getting blanked 0-3, at the semi-finals of the world ice hockey championships in Slovakia (Russia then promptly surrendered seven goals to Czech Republic and lost the bronze medal as well) .  The world was reminded that Russia is inviting it to gape upon the spectacle of Russian failure in 2014; if Russians are unable to meet the high expectations for gold medals the whole country will be forced to bow its head in shame.

But even if Russians manage to reap a fistful of gold in Sochi, they still must face the horrifying specter of terrorism.

EDITORIAL: Saved from the Russian Meat Grinder

EDITORIAL

Saved from the Russian Meat Grinder

If you stare hard at the twin girls pictured above on the left, you’re immediately struck by now much they resemble their mother and father, at right.  But when you look at the background of the photo and learn more about them, you’re even more struck by the fact that these girls are Russian, their parents are American, and they were adopted at the age of two from one of Russia’s infamous hell-hole orphanages.

A quarter million children live in such awful places in Russia, and over three-quarters of them end up convicts, drug addicts or prostitutes.

EDITORIAL: Russia hates the World, Feeling very much Mutual

EDITORIAL

Russia hates the World, Feeling very much Mutual

The latest figures on international travel and tourism are in from the World Economic Forum, and they are truly devastating for Vladimir Putin’s Russia.  The words of Laura, a student from France, tell the tale:

I decided to come to Russia because I love the culture, the history, and I was curious to meet Russians. I wanted to form my own ideas about the country, different from the western view.  It was surprising to see that Russians don’t speak English and in Moscow, I think they are sick of tourists and just don’t make any effort. So to find your way, to eat in a restaurant, was quite a challenge. I was really surprised to see that Moscow is even more expensive than Paris.

Ouch.

Russia ranks a stunning #59 out of 139 nations surveyed for travel competitiveness, and that’s hardly surprising when you learn it ranks #91 for spending on tourism, laying out less than one-tenth of the world average per tourist on welcome measures.

Look at the facts, and you clearly understand Russia’s stark, unwelcoming hatred for foreigners:

The Obama’s Cowardice has Made Neo-Soviet Russia Possible

lan Berman, vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council, writing in the Moscow Times:

What’s next for the U.S.-Russian reset? Having already succeeded in ramming the ambitious New START arms control treaty through a reluctant Senate late last year, the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama is now eyeing the next step in its reboot of relations with Moscow: integrating Russia into the world economy.

“Our trade and investment relationship is nowhere near where it could or should be,” U.S. Vice President Joe Biden wrote recently in the International Herald Tribune. “Russia was America’s 37th largest export market in 2010, and the value of goods that cross our borders with Canada and Mexico every few days exceeds the annual value of our trade with Russia.”

Further improvements to U.S.-Russian ties, Biden believes, require the United States to support Russia’s ongoing efforts to join the World Trade Organization.

Ah, Russia! A Photo Essay

A photo essay, courtesy of LR reader MCUSA:

You think horse should be used here, stupid foreigner? Ha! Russian laugh at you!