Russian police don’t take kindly to opposition protesters – even if they’re 5cm high and made of plastic.

Police in the Siberian city of Barnaul have asked prosecutors to investigate the legality of a recent protest that saw dozens of small dolls – teddy bears, Lego men, South Park figurines – arranged to mimic a protest, complete with signs reading: “I’m for clean elections” and “A thief should sit in jail, not in the Kremlin”.

“Political opposition forces are using new technologies to carry out public events – using toys with placards at mini-protests,” Andrei Mulintsev, the city’s deputy police chief, said at a press conference this week, according to local media. “In our opinion, this is still an unsanctioned public event.” (Read more)

A video of a musical group of alleged former Russian paratroopers performing a song that is sharply critical of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has quickly become a YouTube sensation, The New York Times reports.

By Friday evening, the band had performed the song on a private television channel, TV Dozhd (Russian for ‘TV Rain’). At the time of writing, the YouTube video had more than half a million hits.

Sporting tattoes, berets, and military decorations, the two singers and three back-up musicians leave no stone unturned in letting Putin know exactly what they think of him: a “tyrant” who has “destroyed the military”, AFP reports.

Posted under the title “Putin and Paratroopers,” the song pits the Prime Minister — who claimed in December that he thought the white ribbon (the protest movement’s symbol) was a protest against HIV — against the common man.

Here’s some lyrics, translated by the NYT:

You’re no different from me.
A man and not God.
I’m no different from you.
A man, not some hick.

We won’t let you keep lying, we won’t let you keep stealing
We’re liberated troops who defended the motherland

Ribbons of freedom are positive for all, but for you…
there nothing – just condoms.

On Dozhd, the men said they had received messages of support from all over the country, and had already attended the mass rallies in Moscow last month. (Read more)

ars were also found next to bodies lying in coffins for viewing by relatives the next day, police said.

A businessman and a morgue attendant have been arrested. The businessman was said to be renting part of the morgue for his funeral services firm.

They told police the caviar had been intended to personal use during the pending new year celebrations.

The red and black caviar, weighing 175kg (385lb), apparently comes from endangered species. The red caviar, which made up most of the haul, was stored in five containers marked “Aviation Security. Inspected”.

Police also found caviar in a fridge in a morgue workers’ rest area and among the businessman’s belongings.

It is unclear whether the men, aged 64 and 42, will face charges as possession of caviar is not illegal. Such a large amount would have cost a fortune on the open market and much of the trade in Russia is on the black market. (Read more)

This will continue to quietly spread.

Iran and Russia have replaced US Dollar with their own currencies in their trade ties, a senior Iranian diplomat announced on Saturday.

Speaking to FNA, Tehran’s Ambassador to Moscow Seyed Reza Sajjadi said that the proposal for replacing US Dollar with Ruble and Rial was raised by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Astana on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting. (Read more)

Two exchange students accepted a Chinese peace prize Friday on behalf of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who was honored for enhancing Russia’s status and crushing anti-government forces in Chechnya, the prize organizers said. (Read more)

Ha!

At the first camp we found, the North Korean guards threatened us and tried to throw us out. Billy the Fish laughed—a great gold-toothed guffaw—and then smiled. “This is Russia,” he growled, eyes glinting. Motioning to the vast expanses around him, he declared, “This is mine.” Then to our camera crew, “Keep shooting. They can do nothing.” So we did.

Later, when we were deep in the forest, we came upon cadres of North Korean workers. A group of them approached and quickly surrounded our truck. One of them was swinging an iron bar, looking like he was going to bash our imperialist brains in. Billy took it from him, looked at it, and remarked calmly, “This your lights-out switch?” Sniff. “You’re going to need more than that.” He smiled and chucked it into the forest. (Read more)

I’m suspicious of the timing of this story.

Putin: See, all you Iran haters need to support me!

A few days ago, some Republican senators attempted to lay the groundwork for a shooting war with Russia. I wish I were exaggerating.

Last week, while most senators were focused on the important national issues of war funding and Americans’ constitutional liberties, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) seemed more concerned with the fate of a foreign country. Behind the scenes, Rubio moved to have a unanimous consent vote that would have hastened Georgia’s entry into NATO. The unanimous consent vote never happened because Senator Rand Paul single-handedly prevented it.

This is not a triviality. Make no mistake: Bringing Georgia into NATO could lead to a new military conflict for the United States, which is why any move that would facilitate Georgia’s entry into the alliance should be publicly debated. Rubio’s attempt to push this through by unanimous consent — that is to say, without any formal debate or vote — is highly suspect and calls into question the senator’s better judgment.

But what Sen. Rubio is advocating is nothing new. Examining the political context of McCain’s declaration of solidarity with Georgia in 2008 should give Americans pause about the Washington establishment’s foreign policy agenda. After the 2008 South Ossetia conflict, Pat Buchanan wrote:

Who is Randy Scheunemann? He is the principal foreign policy adviser to John McCain and potential successor to Henry Kissinger and Zbigniew Brzezinski as national security adviser to the president of the United States. But Randy Scheunemann has another identity, another role. He is a dual loyalist, a foreign agent whose assignment is to get America committed to spilling the blood of her sons for client regimes who have made this moral mercenary a rich man.

[emphasis added]

Continued Buchanan:

From January 2007 to March 2008, the McCain campaign paid Scheunemann $70,000 — pocket change compared to the $290,000 his Orion Strategies banked in those same 15 months from the Georgian regime of Mikheil Saakashvili. What were Mikheil’s marching orders to Tbilisi’s man in Washington? Get Georgia a NATO war guarantee. Get America committed to fight Russia, if necessary, on behalf of Georgia. Scheunemann came close to succeeding.

Buchanan’s description of Scheunemann and his activities is instructive because Georgia’s entry into NATO would commit the United States to fighting for Georgia. Buchanan explains what would have happened in 2008 if Georgia had been part of NATO at that time:

Had [Scheunemann succeeded], U.S. soldiers and Marines from Idaho and West Virginia would be killing Russians in the Caucasus, and dying to protect Scheunemann’s client, who launched this idiotic war the night of Aug. 7. That people like Scheunemann hire themselves out to put American lives on the line for their clients is a classic corruption of American democracy.

. . . .

(Read more)

Thousands of fake Twitter accounts are being used to drown out activists and bloggers protesting the recent presidential elections in Russia. 



Widespread reports of ballot stuffing and voting irregularities prompted thousands of Russians to demonstrate in Moscow’s wintry Triumfalnaya Square. Hundreds were subsequently arrested by Russian security forces, including well-known anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny.

Kremlin Twitter ‘bots target Russian oppositionProtestors began tweeting anti-Kremlin sentiments using the hashtag #триумфальная (Triumfalnaya), which quickly became one of the most-used hashtags on Twitter. 



But as Maxim Goncharov, a senior threat researcher at Trend Micro notes, it wasn’t long before #Triumfalnaya messages were drowned out by loud, pro-Kremlin tweets trumpeted by countless Twitter bots. 



“If you check this hash tag on twitter you’ll see a flood of 5-7 identical tweets from accounts that have been inactive for month and that only had 10-20 tweets before this day,” said Goncharov.



“To this point those hacked accounts have already posted 10-20 more tweets in just one hour. Whether the attack was supported officially or not is not relevant, but we can now see how social media has become the battlefield of a new war for freedom of speech.” (Read more)

Head of Russia’s only political watchdog detained as elections begin The head of Russia’s only independent political watchdog was held at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport on Saturday as elections in the world’s biggest country began, The Associated Press reported. (Read more)

Independent Russian Websites Hacked, Disabled On Election Day Suspected hackers shut down several Russian websites that provide independent election data, making state-controlled media one of the few widely accessible sources of information about today’s parliamentary vote. (Read more)

Media Pressured Before Elections Reporters Without Borders said Thursday that it compiled a list of recent freedom of information violations that shows “that no methods are being spared to bolster strongman Vladimir Putin and promote unanimous acclaim for his decision to run again for the presidency.”

The most telling example is the crackdown on Golos, the country’s only independent elections observer organization, which became the target of a concerted campaign by authorities and certain media this week.

This Friday night, Gazprom-controlled television channel NTV, will air a 30-minute investigative piece on Golos, questioning the organization’s objectivity on grounds that it is financed by U.S. grants….

Other incidents this week include censorship accusations against RIA-Novosti, the country’s biggest state-owned news agency, and fresh denial-of-service attacks against LiveJournal, the country’s biggest blogging platform. (Read more)

Vladimir Putin set to lose majority amid complaints of electoral violations Kadyrov, the brutal leader of the federal republic of Chechnya, said that 99.51% of its voters backed United Russia, out of a 94% turnout; in the past it has been reported as 100%, while he himself had promised “more than 100%” this time. (Read more)

Russia PM Vladimir Putin accuses US over poll protests Mr Putin said US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton “set the tone for some opposition activists”.

She “gave them a signal, they heard this signal and started active work”, he said. (Read more)

I would like this headline to read: “Parasites terrified as host is dying.”

Russia’s parliament has adopted a controversial law restricting abortions in an attempt to tackle the country’s population collapse.

The UN predicted that, by 2050, Russia’s population will shrink by a fifth to 116 million.

Critics of the change in law said limiting women’s choice is the wrong way to tackle the problem, in a country where women are almost twice as likely to have an abortion as a live birth.

Getting an abortion in Russia is not difficult. Sky News secretly filmed a Moscow clinic which admitted frequently performing illegal operations over the 12-week limit.

Posing as a woman seeking a termination at four months, Sky’s producer Julia was told it would not be a problem. Anything was possible for an upfront fee of £100. (Read more news.sky.com)

http://mises.org/daily/574/Intellectual-Roots-of-Terror

A story about crime in Russia.

A lot of problems in both Russia and Ukraine could be solved if everybody owned a gun. I hate that in a society where everybody is helpless, it is the criminals who become the capable citizens — rich, hip, cool.

Think about how this story would turn out if when Igor and Big Igor started robbing people, one of their victims shot one of them in face. Suddenly Igor, Big Igor and Sasha wouldn’t be so awesome anymore.

Let the good guys be the cool people. Legalize self defense. Let them own guns.

A fifth of Russia’s state defense spending is stolen every year by corrupt officials, dishonest generals and crooked contractors, Russia’s chief military prosecutor said in an interview published on Tuesday.

President Dmitry Medvedev says endemic corruption is holding back Russia’s development, but anti-bribery groups say the problem has become worse since Medvedev was steered into the Kremlin by his mentor Vladimir Putin in 2008.

“Huge money is being stolen – practically every fifth rouble and the troops are still getting poor quality equipment and arms,” chief military prosecutor Sergei Fridinsky told Russia’s official gazette, Rossiiskaya Gazeta. “Every year more and more money is set aside for defense but the successes are not great,” he said, adding that kickbacks and fictitious contracts were being used to defraud the state.

Fridinsky did not give specific figures, but Russia has set more than 1.5 trillion roubles ($53 billion) for national defense in its 2011 budget, indicating theft of more than $10 billion a year from the sector. (Read more from news.yahoo.com)