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Video: Putin Sings Along With Nervous School Girl
Who wouldn’t get nervous sitting that close to an icy-cold KGB killer.
Putin: Russia’s Leading Sex Symbol?
Vladimir Putin may be a steely ex-KGB officer to the rest of the world, but inside Russia, he’s nothing short of a rock star.
Russian celebrity gossip magazine “Secrets of the Stars” just released an issue dedicated to the former Russian President.
Here are some of the highlights:
…This time the magazine has outdone itself, carrying numerous photos of the prime minister in heroic poses, kayaking, swimming with dolphins and arm wrestling, under the headline: “Sometimes He’s Just So Cool”.
“There’s not a single woman who would not dream of embracing and kissing Vladimir Vladimirovich and hearing his declaration of love,” the article opined.
A great deal of attention was given to Ludmila Putin, his wife who won praise for her ability to “cook, clean and knit”.
Quoting a German friend, Mrs Putin reportedly praised the prime minister as a model husband because he did not beat her, but also noted that he was an unemotional “vampire” who “sucked all the juices” out of her.
Alongside the magazine’s many photographs, articles charted the noble course of Mr Putin’s life.
Under one, headlined “I severed its head with one blow”, the magazine approvingly reported how Mr Putin killed rats and once beheaded a duck with an axe as a boy. Showing his merciful side the young Vladimir also rescued three kittens from being drowned.
Another story entitled “I like all Russian women” looked at his love life. Among his admirers was Vera, who was attracted to Mr Putin’s “charisma and charm” and whom Mr Putin liked in return for “her ability to do house chores well”.
The magazine even carried a photograph of Alina Kabayeva, the 25-year-old rhythmic gymnast with whom Mr Putin has denied having an affair. The dubious reports of the relationship appear to have enhanced Mr Putin’s popularity.
While some of its content may have seemed risque, the magazine actually revealed nothing that the Kremlin had not approved as information for the public domain.
Ordinary Russians do not seem to mind, however, with many readers lapping up the minutiae of Mr Putin’s life detailed in the magazine.
“I like to read about what Putin wears,” said Galina, a Moscow businesswoman reading a copy of the magazine on a park bench.
“I like to know that he enjoys eating fried cabbage and ham. It somehow makes me feel closer to him.”
I’ve always found Russia to be a fascinating place. The Russian people know when they’re being fed pure propaganda, but rather than get mad about it they just enjoy it. Nothing gets printed in Russia without the approval of the Kremlin. So all the bullshit stories in this magazine were approved to foster a particular image of Putin. Everyone knows this is the case, but nobody cares.
Shock: Putin Is Approved As Prime Minister
We told you yesterday about Putin handing Russia over to the newly appointed elected President Dmitry Medvedev. We also told you that President Medvedev nominated Putin for the post of Prime Minister less than two hours after taking office.
As expected, Russia’s parliament rubber stamped voted overwhelmingly to confirm Putin’s nomination for the second most powerful position in Russia.
Less than 26 hours after handing over the Presidency and assuming the role of Prime Minister, Putin gave a 45-minute speech laying out his domestic policy initiatives and other plans.
It remains to be seen whether Putin merely changed the nameplate on his office door and will continue to call the shots in Russia, or if newly appointed President Medvedev will chart his own course.
Putin Hands Russia Over To Medvedev
Dmitry Medvedev was inaugurated as Russia’s President today, taking the reigns from two-term President Vladmir Putin. Two hours after becoming President, Medvedev nominated Putin for the post of Prime Minister, which is the second most powerful position in Russia.
The Russian parliament will have to rubber stamp vote on and approve the nomination before Putin can assume the post, which is already a foregone conclusion.
In a speech today as the new President, Medvedev vowed to do keep the economy strong as it had been under Putin. In a surprising twist, the new President spoke of the need for Russia to strengthen “civil rights” and “economic freedoms.” He went on to reference the need for strong “civil rights” in Russia throughout the speech.
This is significant because his icy-cold former KGB predecessor, Vladimir Putin, took Russia’s fledgling economy and turned it into an economic powerhouse, while systematically crushing descent, murdering journalists, and rolling back democracy.
While it’s unlikely that Medvedev will stray from Putin’s policies too much, (since Putin will be in the office next door) there’s a chance he may act more like a President than a dictator.
-Chris Jones
Putin Denies Impending Divorce, Moscow Paper Shut Down
Earlier this afternoon a story began circling the globe that Russian President Vladimir Putin was about to divorce his wife in secret and was preparing to marry 22-year old Russian gymnast Alina Kabayeva.
Putin caught wind of the story when he was asked a question about it during a press conference in Sardinia with Italian Prime Minister-elect, Silvio Berlusconi.
He was furious at the question and reacted angrily:
There is not one word of truth in what you have said,” he told the journalist who asked the question.
“I have always reacted negatively to those who with their snotty noses and erotic fantasies prowl into others’ lives,” the former KGB spy said.
I find it mighty ironic that the former boss of the KGB would be lecturing anyone about “prowling” into people’s lives. That said, I suspect other journalists (the ones who aren’t in jail) probably won’t be writing any more stories about President Putin considering what happened next.
Two hours after the press conference, the newspaper in Moscow that originally reported the story was shuttered and its news room fell dark. The paper’s publisher, National Media Company, issued a short press release saying the paper had “suspended publication” until it can come up with “a new concept.”
When reached for comment, the head of National Media Company, Artyom Artyomov, said the sudden closing of the paper had nothing to do with the Putin story.
“There is no question of any political background behind the decision to suspend the newspaper’s publication,” he said.
“We will decide on a new concept for the newspaper and a business plan for its development in the near future.
Not long after that the paper’s website also went dark.
-Chris Jones
Video: Putin Speaks At NATO Summit
The Return of Big Brother in Putin’s Russia
The St. Petersburg Times has an interesting Op-Ed about how President Putin has built up Russia’s security apparatus to the point that it now it exceeds the power the KGB once held in the Soviet Union.
As a former KGB man himself, Putin has spent his Presidency rebuilding the secret police and intelligence services that former President Yeltsin dismantled. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the KGB was reborn as the FSB as it is called today.
Yeltsin felt that under Soviet rule the KGB had too much power and influence. He liked the U.S. system of spreading power to a number of agencies and sought to remake Russia’s security apparatus in much the same way.
Putin watched his beloved FSB be gutted and much of the organization’s power taken away and split between two other agencies. He privately vowed to change this if his comrades would stand behind him as he sought to become President.
True to his word, the newly appointed President Putin quickly folded the two agencies that Yeltsin created and placed them under the umbrella of the FSB. He didn’t stop there however, he also littered his administration with current and former FSB/KGB agents.
A whopping 78% of the country’s leadership is affiliated with the FSB or KGB and the power of the Russian security services is at an all time high.
Moreover, all big companies in Russia are required to put people from the security services on the board of directors to ensure that the company acts in the interests of the Kremlin.
Current and former FSB officers work in large private companies as well. Another former FSB official said the Kremlin wanted the officers to make sure the companies do not act against Russia’s interests.
“Big companies in Russia consult with the Kremlin before striking any big deal. The officers working for those companies are there to make sure that things are done properly or the way the Kremlin wants,” the official said.
The companies, who pay generous salaries to the officers, feel they get their money’s worth. The officers make sure they do not have problems with the Kremlin.
“All big companies have to put people from the security services on the board of directors,” said a banker with a large private bank. “Many are appointed as directors or deputy directors. They are called ‘active reserve agents,’ and we know that when Lubyanka calls, they have to answer them.”
FSB headquarters is commonly referred to as Lubyanka. There are no estimates for how many officers with links to intelligence work in private companies.
“It works like a pyramid: Big state and private companies hire KGB and FSB big shots, medium-size companies hire medium agents, and small companies employ ordinary officers,” the former FSB official said.
Medium and small companies hire former KGB and FSB agents to protect their businesses from corrupt tax or fire inspectors and to cut through bureaucracy, he said.
“Before, the protection job was done by the mafia, but now its role has been taken over by the agents,” he said.
I don’t think there’s any doubt that Putin has brought a certain level of stability and prosperity to Russia (at least for some) but the question then becomes, at what cost?
Imagine if every business decision had to be first cleared with the CIA and FBI here in America. Putin’s liberal use of the security services really taps into the old Soviet era paranoia that still grips many of the old players in Russia.
The idea that draconian measures are an absolute necessity to “save” Russia from an ever present enemy that wishes to do her harm is something that has been drilled into the Russian psyche for 50 years.
On the other hand, without a strong man like Putin at the reigns it’s quite possible that the whole of Russia might have been swallowed up by organized crime by now.
It will be interesting to see how the situation continues to evolve in Russia as they struggle to find the kind of Democracy that works for them.
-Chris Jones
Putin’s Opponent Barred From Upcoming Presidential Election
From Washington Post:
Former prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov, a political opponent of President Vladimir Putin, was barred Sunday from running for president after the Central Election Commission said it had found tens of thousands of forged signatures among the 2 million gathered by his campaign to get his name on the ballot.
Opinion polls indicated that Kasyanov posed no political threat to Putin’s chosen successor, Dmitry Medvedev, the overwhelming favorite in the March 2 vote, and his disqualification will immediately raise questions about the Kremlin’s willingness to face any competition or debate. As a candidate, Kasyanov would have enjoyed some access to state-controlled national television stations, which rarely mention him and then only to attack him as corrupt or declare him irrelevant.
Kasyanov alleged that the commission’s decision was “made personally by Vladimir Putin,” who fired him in 2004.
During Stalin’s reign if you did something the Kremlin didn’t like you would have immediately been arrested and sent to the gulags and likely killed.
In the Russia of 2008 it’s a different kind of tyranny. Putin uses the legal system to bring down opponents through a Kangaroo court system and completely fictitious cases.
-Chris Jones
Putin rival held in psychiatric ward ‘to prevent him protesting against government’
From the Daily Mail:
A Russian opposition activist has been sent to a psychiatric hospital by authorities a day before a planned demonstration.
Artem Basyrov’s detention is the latest in a series of incidents suggesting a punitive Soviet-era practice is being revived under president Vladimir Putin.
Mr Basyrov, 20, was ordered to be held at a hospital in the central region of Mari El on November 23, a day before planned demonstrations, said Alexander Averin of the opposition National Bolshevik Party.
The party is part of the Other Russia coalition which organised the so-called Dissenters’ Marches across the country this year.
Mr Basyrov ran for the local legislature as an Other Russia candidate.
President Bush “Deeply Concerned” Over Arrest of Russian Protesters
President Bush said Monday he was “deeply concerned” at a crackdown on opponents of Russian President Vladimir Putin ahead of elections, and called for their release from detention.
“I am deeply concerned about the detention of numerous human rights activists and political leaders who participated in peaceful rallies in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Nizhniy Novgorod, and Nazran this weekend.
“I am particularly troubled by the use of force by law enforcement authorities to stop these peaceful activities and to prevent some journalists and human rights activists from covering them,” Bush said in a statement.
About 200 opposition activists were detained by police at another demonstration in Saint Petersburg on Sunday, one week before Russia is to hold parliamentary elections.
“The freedoms of expression, assembly and press, as well as due process, are fundamental to any democratic society,” Bush said in his statement, which followed State Department concerns expressed Sunday over the events in Russia.
“I am hopeful that the government of Russia will honor its international obligations in these areas, investigate allegations of abuses and free those who remain in detention,” the president said.
Russian Police Crackdown On Anti-Putin Protests
Russian riot police beat opposition activists on Sunday and detained nearly 200 people at protest rallies against President Vladimir Putin a week before the country’s parliamentary election.
The unrest came a day after a similar event in Moscow ended with the arrest of Garry Kasparov, the former chess champion and opposition leader, whose coalition, Other Russia, has declared that Mr. Putin is turning Russia into a dictatorship. A judge sentenced Mr. Kasparov to five days in jail.
With the economy strong and the nation enjoying stability after the turmoil of the 1990s, Mr. Putin has become widely popular, and Mr. Kasparov’s movement has only a small following. Mr. Putin’s party, United Russia, is expected to win an overwhelming majority in the elections, aided by the Kremlin’s control over government agencies and the news media.
About 500 activists made it to the marches but were vastly outnumbered by riot police. Most of those detained were later released.
-Samantha Giles
Putin Tries To Kill Another Opposition Candidate
An opposition politician running in Russian parliamentary elections was shot and seriously wounded on Wednesday as he entered his house in the southern Russian region of Dagestan, Russian media reported.
Farid Babayev, who will lead the regional list for the liberal anti-Kremlin Yabloko party was in a serious condition in hospital, RIA novosti news agency reported after an unidentified gunman fired on him in the regional capital Makhachkala.
“The incident occurred at about 10 p.m., not far from his home. Farid Babayev is now in hospital in a serious condition,” said his party colleague and fellow electoral candidate, Ruslan Salahbekov, was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency.
I’m sure it was a total coincidence that he was shot. Don’t be surprised if his condition takes a turn for the worse while he’s in the hospital and he doesn’t make it.
-Chris Jones
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