Problem, Constitution? (Russian) http://t.co/RAX9MgRV
Oct 27 2008
He’ll Be Watching You!
Hat tip to Registan for finding this video. Just in case you have been living in a cave (and obviously recently had internet access installed), Sarah Palin was asked a few weeks back about her lack of foreign policy experience. Her answer basically seemed to revolve around the fact that she could see Russia from her home in Alaska, and oh, Putin flies over her head when he comes to visit. Nice answer Sarah, I’m guessing that wasn’t one of your much-rehearsed answers that your advisers make you repeat during training?
Anyway, here we have a message of (slightly creepy) love to Sarah.
Dec 19 2007
Putin Not Losing His Grip
Rather than spread this over several posts, I thought I’d just put all the article links in one place. They all concern Russian politics, and whilst you should obviously spread your research from different sources to try and attain a more complete picture, they certainly provoke some thoughts and comparisons with other country’s attempts to present an image of squeaky clean political processes, and elections specifically.
“It’s painful to imagine life without Putin”
“Mr Putin’s allegations “nonsense””
Election ‘neither free nor fair’
Successor for the next four year plan?
You support me, I support you…
“The British Council’s activities in Russia are compliant”
Still reading? Impressive, now I’m the first to admit that Yeltsin’s reign was not the best foundation for a Russia coming out of a political system that disintegrated into chaos, but I do wonder if this direction will be any better in the long term?
Sep 13 2007
More Russian News…
Of a slightly happier variety this time though 🙂
Yesterday was officially Family Contact Day in the Ulyanovsk oblast in Russia. The reason workers were encouraged to take the day off? Russia’s population is still declining, and so officials are hoping that the offer of prizes for mothers that give birth on 12 June next year will be enough incentive for husbands and wives to remedy the declining population situation in a private way. (Hopefully with their own wife or husband, not anyone elses…)
Although there is already a scheme put in place nationally by Putin to give mothers who give birth to a second or third baby $9,000 towards education or housing costs, Ulyanovsk’s governor has decided to offer a little more, with this year main prize being an SUV! Within this specific area, the birth rate has bucked the national trend and risen over 4%. Combine the prizes with the standard family pressure to provide grandchildren/nieces and nephews to family members, and you can see why the population size may well recover eventually.
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Aug 18 2007
Russians Can Afford The Fuel Again
Russia has again started flying it’s bomber planes on long range flights. 15 years ago the practice was suspended, partially due to the thawing of the cold war, but many experts believed that the state could no longer afford to spend money on the jet fuel required for such flights was a more major motivator.
Mr Putin announced the flights would begin again, in response to security threats posed by ‘other military powers’. This is thought to be a reference to the fact that America, amongst others, have continued their long range flights, when Russia stopped. Some have said that this display of power has been timed to coincide with the upcoming elections, as a way of telling Russians that any other choice in political parties would be a display of weakness.
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Aug 18 2007
This Is London Calling
The Russian language version of BBC Radio will no longer be accessible via FM radio. Many commentators have noticed this occurring prior to Russian Parliamentary elections, and a Presidential election next year, when Mr Putin will want a little more control over what is stated about him and his policies. Although the Russian station that broadcast the BBC’s output is denying any political involvement in the decision making process, two other stations recently stopped broadcasting the BBC programs, and complained that everyone knows the BBC’s output is simply the UK’s propaganda machine. This raises an interesting question for me – if the bosses truly believed that, then why did they originally make the deal in the first place? One piece of information the BBC article neglects to mention is that the Russian language service is still also available on satellite, at the very least by people pointed at the Hotbird satellite.
PS I know this has been put in the Satellite TV category, but I do not have a separate section for Satellite Radio…
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