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Tag: Russia

  • Paul McCartney Urges Putin To Free Greenpeace Activists

    Paul McCartney has decided to help out the Greenpeace activists that are being detained in Russia. The activists have been imprisoned for protesting drilling in the Arctic, and have since become known as the Arctic 30.

    There are 28 campaigners and two freelance journalists that are currently being detained.

    The Arctic 30 are facing charges of hooliganism, and were transferred this week from Murmansk to St. Petersburg.

    The activists were originally arrested on a charge of privacy, but it was later reduced to hooliganism, which carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison.

    A letter from the ex-Beatle would certainly be significant when heading to the desk of President Putin, since he is very respected in Russia after his iconic song, “Back In The USSR.” He quoted a line from the song which said “Gee it’s good to be back home,” and asked if Putin could make that true for the Greenpeace activists.

    It is also a huge step to see a celebrity like Paul McCartney standing up for detained activists, who most people would argue were doing nothing wrong. The private letter was sent to Putin on October 14, and he insisted how important it is to free them when saying “I am writing to assure you that the Greenpeace I know is most certainly not an anti-Russian organisation…And above all else they are peaceful. In my experience, non-violence is an essential part of who they are.”

    In addition to Paul McCartney, more than two million people have sent letters and emails, insisting that the Arctic 30 should be released. Environmentalists, and people all over the world are outraged by what has happened, an event that is another result of the developing term Eco-terrorism. For those that still want to make their voice heard, and send a letter, information to do so can be found here.

    McCartney is an outspoken vegetarain, and has been a supporter of environmental causes for many years, including opposing drilling for oil in the Arctic, the action that the activists were arrested for. He was also one of several celebrities who made their voice heard and urged Russia to free two members of the punk protest group Pussy Riot, however they remain in jail to this day.

    Paul McCartney has truly shown that he is a man of the people, and believes in standing up for the causes that he believes in, after writing his letter to Putin. Eco-terrorism is a growing problem in this world, and many people have not yet become aware.

    A letter from someone important like Paul McCartney should enlighten people to a a dilemma that environmentalists all over the world are currently facing when they attempt to stand up for a particular cause that is important to them.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeEnDe2ZsFs

    Image via Youtube

  • Paul McCartney Writes Letter To Vladimir Putin

    Former “Beatles” star, Paul McCartney, said during a recent interview that he had written a letter to President Vladimir Putin to ask for the release of the Greenpeace activists that are currently being held in Russia.

    Twenty-eight Greenpeace activists and two journalists have been held in Russia on charges of hooliganism that can carry a maximum sentence of seven years in prison. They were originally charged with piracy, but that charge was later dropped. Had they been convicted of piracy, they could have faced up to fifteen years in prison.

    The group, now known as the Arctic 30, has been detained since September when they tried to climb the Prirazlomnaya oil rig. The rig is owned by Gazprom, a state controlled energy company, and is being used to tap into the Arctic’s natural resources. The detainees were moved to St. Petersburg this week, and are scheduled to appear in court on November 24.

    Read McCartney’s full letter below:

    14th October 2013

    Dear Vladimir,

    I hope this letter finds you well. It is now more than ten years since I played in Red Square, but I still often think about Russia and the Russian people.

    I am writing to you about the 28 Greenpeace activists and two journalists being held in Murmansk. I hope you will not object to me bringing up their case.

    I hear from my Russian friends that the protesters are being portrayed in some quarters as being anti-Russian, that they were doing the bidding of western governments, and that they threatened the safety of the people working on that Arctic oil platform.

    I am writing to assure you that the Greenpeace I know is most certainly not an anti-Russian organisation. In my experience they tend to annoy every government! And they never take money from any government or corporation anywhere in the world.

    And above all else they are peaceful. In my experience, non-violence is an essential part of who they are.

    I see you yourself have said that they are not pirates – well, that’s something everybody can agree on. Just as importantly, they don’t think they are above the law. They say they are willing to answer for what they actually did, so could there be a way out of this, one that benefits everybody?

    Vladimir, millions of people in dozens of countries would be hugely grateful if you were to intervene to bring about an end to this affair. I understand of course that the Russian courts and the Russian Presidency are separate. Nevertheless I wonder if you may be able to use whatever influence you have to reunite the detainees with their families?

    Forty-five years ago I wrote a song about Russia for the White Album, back when it wasn’t fashionable for English people to say nice things about your country. That song had one of my favourite Beatles lines in it: “Been away so long I hardly knew the place, gee it’s good to be back home.”

    Could you make that come true for the Greenpeace prisoners?

    I hope, when our schedules allow, we can meet up again soon in Moscow.

    Sincerely yours,

    Paul McCartney

    McCartney first met Putin when he performed in Moscow in 2003. Putin did not respond to McCartney’s letter, however he said that a Russian Ambassador did respond saying, the situation “is not properly represented in the world media.” McCartney hopes that Putin will release the Arctic 30 so that they can make it home in time for Christmas.

    Image via Twitter

  • ‘Stalingrad’ Takes Chinese Box Office By Storm

    Stalingrad‘s depiction of the battle between Hitler and Stalin during World War II has taken the Chinese box office by storm. In fact, the 3-D movie has now become the highest-grossing Russian release to ever hit the Chinese box office. Directed by Fedor Bondarchuk, the movie has already made $8.3 million in China and $47.7 million in Russia. Not bad for a film that had a budget of $30 million.

    The producer of the film, Alexander Rodnyansky, spoke about the different entities that helped contribute to the success of the movie. “The success of Stalingrad is a convincing testament to the fact that an alliance between Russian filmmakers, IMAX technology and Hollywood studios can create films that will be appreciated by audiences in multiple markets. We are very grateful to our partners at Sony China for the incredible marketing campaign that they mounted in support of our film and to our partners at IMAX Corporation,” he said.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynKTjCrvkig

    Talks are swirling surrounding the submission of the recent Stalingrad film for a potential consideration at the Oscars. However, not everyone has been impressed with the manner in which the movie relayed historical events. There is an online petition in Russia were debates have been heated about the film. Some feel that the portrayal of German soldiers in the movie was historically at odds with the real-life brutality these soldiers inflicted.

    The Battle of Stalingrad, which lasted from August 1942 until February 1943, claimed thousands of lives. It has been estimated that as many as 850,000 supporters of Germany were wounded or ended up missing as a result of the devastating battle. Many believe that the battle was one of the defining historical events that influenced the ending to World War II. The irony of Hitler’s interest in attacking Stalingrad by what many historians classify as sheer hatred of Joseph Stalin, should not be lost when considering the ultimate outcome of the war.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6xi2qOXw30

    [Image Via YouTube]

  • Tatyana McFadden Completes Marathon “Grand Slam”

    A racer’s greatest elemental fear is perhaps a head-wind – anything that will slow one’s performance is generally frowned upon. However, the knowledge of a 17 mph head-wind going into Sunday’s New York City Marathon brightened Tatyana McFadden’s spirits: “I’m just not a very good coaster compared to the other girls, so the head wind was a little bit of an advantage for me because it slowed us down.”

    Despite being slowed by the elements, McFadden was able to finish the New York City Marathon in 1 hour, 59 minutes and 13 seconds – 3 minutes and 41 seconds faster than second place finisher, Wakako Tsuchida of Japan. McFadden’s victory at the NYC Marathon completed her “Grand Slam”-esque sweep of the 4 major marathons (Boston, London, Chicago, and New York), making her the only person in history to have won all 4 events in one year.

    McFadden grew up in an orphanage in St. Petersburg, Russia. She was born with spina bifida, a defect which results in incomplete development of the spinal chord. As a result, McFadden has been paralyzed below the waist since birth. At age 6, McFadden was adopted by Deborah McFadden, the director of the International Children’s Alliance. Due to the impoverished nature of the orphanage she grew up in, McFadden did not have access to a wheelchair or proper healthcare. Thus, when Deborah McFadden took her to John Hopkins Hospital after her adoption, doctors informed her that Tatyana most likely did not have long to live.

    In order to improve the health of her daughter, Deborah McFadden encouraged Tatyana to participate in sports. The foray started with swimming, developed into basketball, and ultimately culminated in racing. Currently, McFadden is a student at the University of Chicago – a school she chose due to their Adapted Varsity Athletics Program and continued success in wheelchair sports. McFadden focused on sprinting at the beginning of her career and slowly transitioned to marathon races in 2009.

    At the Paralympic World Championships earlier this year, McFadden won a total of 6 events, taking gold in events ranging from 100 meters to 5,000 meters. In last year’s Paralympics in London, McFadden won 3 gold medals. Success is no stranger to the “Grand Slam” winner, but luck had not been on her side during 2 of the NYC Marathons.

    In 2009 and 2011, McFadden’s efforts were thwarted by flat tires created by the rough road. This year, however, a flat tire wouldn’t have mattered. By mile 16, McFadden was racing by herself: “And I was nervous and worried because I didn’t know who was going to be coming, who was going to be creeping up. But I just had to believe in myself and my training.”

    Training will weigh heavily on McFadden’s mind as she trains for Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia this upcoming February. McFadden will attempt to qualify for the US Cross-Country Skiing team. If she makes the team, McFadden will be headed back to her birth-nation, a trip destined to be filled with emotions considering McFadden’s recent failure to help overturn a 2012 Russian law which bans American parents from adopting Russian children: “It will take a lot of work to make the team, but going back to Russia and be able to show an example of a living success story would be great. I love sports and competition and want to continue my passion and inspire others as long as possible.”

    Image via Facebook

  • Sylvester Stallone Displays Artwork in Russia

    Sylvester Stallone unveiled his artwork at the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia and admitted to reporters that he is a “better painter than an actor”.

    “I think I’m a much better painter than an actor,” Stallone said. “It’s much more personal and I’m allowed to just do what I want to do. Quite often in acting you have to play a certain part, you cannot speak as much as you want to speak. I suppose the heroes don’t talk much, you have to be very stoic.”

    The exhibition, “Sylvester Stallone. Art. 1975-2013”, displays many of Stallone’s paintings he created over the past four decades. The 67-year-old, and Oscar nominee, studied art before he started his career acting. His most popular films are the “Rocky” series, “Rambo”, “The Expendables”, and his most recent movie, “The Escape Plan”.

    Some Russian politicians objected to the museum displaying the art of an American, especially Stallone who played the anti-Russian character in “Rambo”. However, Vladmiri Gusev, the museum’s director spoke highly of Stallone’s work. Gusev said Stallone’s paintings “show the character of a passionate man” and were not “the work of an amateur”. “This is a real artist,” he said. “The Russian museum does not show weak artists.”

    The museum’s website explains Stallone’s art and why he paints what he does.

    The thing one most needs in order to interpret Stallone’s work is to understand that they arise out of an inner necessity that stems from when the amount of accumulated knowledge, sensations and feelings demand to be materialized and transitioned to a new reality. Painting, according to Stallone, is the fastest and most exact way to process and translate your subconscious.

    This is not the first time Stallone has shown off his artistic side. He also held exhibitions in Switzerland and Miami. The current exhibit in St. Petersburg, Russia will continue through January 13, 2014.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Dmitry Medvedev Visits China, Strikes Oil Agreement

    Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has been on an official trip to China since tuesday, when he arrived in Beijing after an official invite from the Chinese Premier, Li Keqiang. On the table for Medvedev’s visit are such activites as visiting the Anhui province of China, an online chat with some Chinese “netizens” on the popular news website, Xinhuanet.com, and a talk with Li Keqiang as they co-chair the 18th prime minister’s meeting between China and Russia. The annual meeting is considered an important tool for keeping communication and cooperation open between the two countries.

    That cooperation and communication seems to be paying off for China, as Dmitry Medvedev just signed an $85 billion dollar deal to provide China with oil. The deal between the two giant nations includes plans to start building an oil refinery in Tianjin, which is just east of Beijing, as Medvedev revealed in the aforementioned talk with Chinese citizens on Xinhuanet.com. Medvedev also said that Rosneft, Russia’s largest oil producer, will be the one supplying 70 million barrels of crude oil to China over the next ten years, as per the new found agreement.

    China has risen as number one in the growing energy market, overtaking the United States as the largest oil importer, mostly due to a stable economy and rapidly growing automobile industry. This deal with Russia will provide a more stable source for Chinese consumers, who currently rely on oil supplies from the incredibly unstable Persian Gulf.

    On the topic of the new deal, Dmitry Medvedev was quoted as saying that the agreement “testifies to the fact that we have reached a higher and a brand new level of cooperation.” Li Keqiang, in a similar vein, was quoted as saying on the topic, “Bilateral relations have never reached such high levels. It is a good thing because we are neighbors.” Trade is, obviously, expected to boom between the two nations as a result of this deal, which will be a welcome boost for both economies.

    [Image courtesy of Wikimeida Commons.]

  • Dmitry Medvedev Sells Russian Oil to China As Russia Dies Out

    The party-state elite and oligarchs of Russia joined together to sign a $85 billion deal to extract Russian oil and sell it to China, through a mutual agreement between Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Tuesday.

    Rosneft, Russia’s biggest producer of oil, under the grip of oligarchs will fuel China’s turbocharged growth with an additional 70 million barrels of crude oil per year for the next decade, according to latest agreement.

    The agreement “testifies to the fact that we have reached a higher and a brand new level of cooperation,” said Dmitry Medvedev in his prepared remarks.

    According to some estimates, China is now the world’s largest economy, having surpassed United States shortly after Beijing Olympics. China is also the world’s largest energy market and its biggest energy importer.

    Russian energy giants run two oil pipelines and one gas pipeline to deliver energy to China. China imported as much as 170 million barrels of oil from Russia in 2012, according to China’s state controlled news agency, Xinhua.

    In June, Russia and China signed another agreement according to which 2.5 billion barrels of Russian oil valued at an estimated $270 billion would be supplied to China over the next quarter century.

    While the hostile party-state elite and the oligarchs are enriching themselves with trillions of dollars in oil and gas wealth, Russian people have been reduced to abject poverty, squalor and humiliation.

    It is hard to imagine a people that have suffered more under state terror than Russians. From 1917-1991, the genocidal Bolsheviks imposed an uninterrupted reign of mass terror and depredations against Eastern-Europeans, unprecedented in the history of mankind.

    When the Soviet Union dissolved, the former communists morphed into “capitalists” overnight and proceeded to plunder and ransack Eastern Europe with spine chilling rapacity.

    Hyperinflation and mass shortages of food, fuel, medicine coupled with mass unemployment and total breakdown of law and order devastated the European half of former Soviet Empire, while birth-rates collapsed.

    Russians have been subjected to what demographers are calling “hypermortality”, a state where deaths far exceed births leading to a catastrophic demographic collapse of societies and entire ethnic groups.

    As Russian population is decimated in Eastern-Siberia, Chinese, which outnumber Russians 30-to-1 in that region, are migrating and acquiring land and economic assets. This might create a new geo-political crisis in coming years.

    [image from wikimedia]

  • Meteorite: Russia Uncovers One of The Largest Pieces Ever From Urals

    On Wednesday, Russian divers recovered a sunken half-tonne “suspected” meteorite that had descended from space on February 14, 2013. The shockwave induced from the meteor had affected as many as 1200-1500 people in the Urals.

    Why it took so many months for Russians to recover the big chunk of meteorite is unclear, but finally the international scientific community has a chance to further examine its composition.

    The meteor had struck following a dazzling streak of light that lit up the early morning in the sleepy Russian region of Chelyabinsk, which lies at the eastern edge of continental Europe. The blast was so powerful and sudden, that some locals even conjured up thoughts of a nuclear war.

    As the meteor shattered into pieces ranging from as small as the size of a dime and as big as Wednesday’s 1.5 meter long recovery, geologists are still looking for more findings around the lake Chebarkul which received a large amount of the debris.

    The whole operation was covered live on Russian national TV channels. The TV footage showed Russian divers pulling out the 1.5 meter rock, potentially rich in metals, after holding it within a special casing while the gigantic piece was still submerged underwater.

    After major hiccups, including the scale itself breaking due to the sheer weight of the rock, and the rock itself fracturing and crumbling into several smaller chunks, scientists concluded that “…the whole thing weighs more than 600 kilogrammes.”

    “The rock had a fracture when we found it…It weighed 570 kilogrammes before the pieces fell off. And then the scale broke,” one unidentified researcher told lifenews.ru on live broadcast. However some experts cautioned against jumping to conclusions before lab tests confirm and certify that the rock indeed came from outer space.

    Out of more than 12 pieces brought to surface from Lake Chebarkul, only four or five pieces were validated as real meteorites. But scientists at the local Chelyabinsk State University were excited and appeared confident about the latest recovery.

    “Based on our initial observations… this is a part of the Chelyabinsk meteor…This is the largest fragment of that meteor,…And most likely, it will be one of the 10 largest meteorites ever found,” Sergei Zamozdra, a lecturer at the University, told the Russian Interfax news agency.

    The meteor is estimated to have weighed over 10,000 tonnes when it exploded several miles above the earth’s surface with a force equal to 30 nuclear bombs the size of Little Boy that was dropped on Hiroshima to decisively conclude World War II.

    US scientists remarked that a meteor this large descends on Earth once in every four decades.

    After the dissolution of the genocidal Soviet Empire, international oligarchs and the parasitic Party-State apparatus unleashed hyperinflation and extreme destitution on Russia, leading to catastrophic fall in the living standards, along with depopulation, chronic unemployment and misery in the industrial heartland of which Chelyabinsk is part of.

    Local officials and residents are trying to use the meteor incident to draw in tourists to this region. A special committee composed of scientists and prominent residents urged the local government this week to construct a 6-storey tall memorial in honor of the meteor.

    There are plans to set up hiking trails for foreign tourists visiting the lake highlighting other spots where debris was recovered.

    [image from wikipedia]

  • Moscow Riot Ensues After Stabbing of Ethnic Russian Man

    Yegor Shcherbakov was an ethnic Russian man who was returning to his home in Moscow on Sunday night who, after a dispute with a North Caucasus man over Shcherbakov’s girlfriend, was stabbed to death. Shcherbakov’s death sparked a race-related riot, with hundreds of protesters invading Biryulyovo, a working-class area of southern Moscow, targeting a fruit warehouse where the suspected killer supposedly worked.

    Tensions were already high between ethnic Russians and the migrant workers that populate the mostly-Muslim North Caucasus region. Many ethnic Russians think ill of the migrants, whom they often accuse of raising the crime rate and of taking jobs away from ethnic Russian people. Many people gathered at a market place near Biryulyovo, voicing their support of the riots as protesters turned over cars, smashed windows, and threw trash cans, as well as invading the warehouse. Hundreds of protesters were detained, but only two were arrested, and seventy more were fined.

    These anti-migrant riots have ignited a strange response from Russian police; where they failed to arrest the non-migrant rioters, they made up for by arresting the migrant workers who were threatened. The warehouse that was raided and destroyed by the rioters was shut down for using migrant labor, and thousands of migrant workers have been detained or arrested by the police as a result of the riots.

    Fear of repeated incidents similar to the 2010 Moscow riots by soccer fans and North Caucasus natives over the killing of an ethnic Russian man seems to be the source of this strange response. Many ethnic Russians seem complicate, if not downright pleased, by this backlash against migrant workers; retiree Elvira Ablosimova referred to the rioters as “patriots,” and said that their “little riot… attracted attention (to the issue).” The issue being the commonly held belief that migrant workers are in cahoots with politicians and employers to slight ethnic Russians from job opportunities.

    The actual stabber has yet to be found, but thousands of migrant workers are still detained at this time.

    [Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.]

  • “Anti-Breaking Bad” Guy Turns to Giveforward.com

    Anton Buslov, a journalist and former astrophysicist from Russia is no Walter White. The 29-year-old was diagnosed a few years ago with Hodgkins Lymphoma a few years ago, and was devastated to find out that his home country offered little hope.

    He writes, “We have excellent doctors in Russia, but they are not just fighting disease; they battle bureaucracy, insufficient resources and primitive technologies, as well. In some clinics in Russia they still have the idea of washing a disposable syringe for a second use. In Moscow I was receiving chemotherapy in a center with 30 beds, through which went 250 patients a day and it had only one nurse and one toilet for the lot.”

    In 2011, he was given 18 months to live, and doctors told him to go home and prepare to die. But, at 29, he simply wasn’t ready. He went ahead and married his long time girlfriend, and they tried to start a family together, despite his grim prognosis. However, he didn’t just throw in the towel. He continued to research.

    He told the Huffington Post, “I did my research and found out who could treat me. And then they showed me the price tag. $150,000! I walked in circles for two days, slapping my forehead. … $150,000. How do you find it? And then I thought, you ask for $5. And you ask 30,000 people.”

    He raised the money, and got treatment. But it wasn’t enough. The cancer fought back, and now, the outlook is even more dim, and will cost even more money. He requires a bone marrow transplant, an enormously expensive process not covered by insurance.

    Anton’s sister, a 26-year-old graduate student in mathematics who speaks five languages, has muscular dystrophy that confines her to a wheelchair, and is a perfect match for the transplant that Anton requires to live. That transplant could save his life, if Anton can raise the money for the operation, which typically runs from $300,000 to $900,000. His doctors conceded that this process is usually only available to patients with wealth.

    Now Buslov has turned to popular “crowd funding” site Give Forward. He realizes that he is asking money from people that he will never be able to pay, but he writes,“I have hope and I have determination. Most of all I have tens of thousands of friends and a belief that there are even more good people who will befriend me in my time of need.”

    As of this writing, he has only raised 9% of the money he needs.

    Image via youtube

  • Eagle Attacking Deer Caught On Camera

    Nature strikes again. In Russia, a camera was placed in the wild to take snaps of untainted nature. Though the camera was originally intended to capture pictures of tigers, another unusual predator was captured instead. The camera took a series of images depicting a golden eagle attacking a young sika deer.

    Linda Kerley of the Zoological Society of London and Jonathan Slaght of the Wildlife Conservation Society had hoped to see a rare glimpse into the daily habits of Siberian tigers when the camera caught the adult golden eagle attacking the young deer. In December of 2011, the camera took the series of images, which included three pictures during the span of just 2 seconds. Full size adult golden eagles can weigh up to 14 pounds; however, the baby deer was estimated to be somewhere in the range of 90 to 100 pounds. Though smaller in bodily frame, the eagles have powerful talons and beaks, which make them formidable predators.

    The following video includes stills from the golden eagle’s attack.

    Two weeks after the attack, Linda Kerley went to check on the equipment and monitor the camera. She noticed that the carcass of the deer, that was partially skeletal, had dropped in the exact same place of the attack. The placement and remains of the deer led researchers to assume that other carnivores had traveled in the vicinity. The following image shows the remains of the deer’s leg.

    The researchers have stated that golden eagles do not typically attack deer, and there is no reason to suspect that the overall deer population will suffer from such attacks. However, there is no doubt that eagles are predators. Various types of eagles have been known to not only attack deer, but other land-dwelling creatures as well with some of these mammals being predators themselves. Other animal victims have included wolves, foxes, bears, and mountain goats to name a few. The following video shows pictures of some of the other types of attacks in nature that people have captured eagles attacking.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GoEalfyMqM

    [Image And Videos Via YouTube]

  • Edward Snowden’s Russian Adventure: ‘Fearful’

    Edward Snowden’s Russian Adventure: ‘Fearful’

    Edward Snowden is, to some, the most interesting man in the world for a variety of reasons. Yet Snowden is made infinitely more fascinating by his mystique; whatever opinions one might hold about him, nobody really knows anything about how he’s going to carry on now that the secrets are out. What, exactly, is this traitorous coward/heroic whistleblower’s life going to be like now that he’s escaped the grasp of the United States?

    According to the AFP, who spoke with Snowden’s lawyer, he’s as paranoid as Walter White. His address is secret, he’s guarded most of the day, and although he comes out of his house sometimes, he’s in disguise when he does.

    Anatoly Kucherena, a high-profile legal advisor to Vladimir Putin working pro-bono on Snowden’s case, has become his unofficial spokesperson since Snowden arrived in Russia, determined to avoid the media: “I am his only link with the outside world at the moment. Even his contacts with his parents are carried out through me,” the lawyer said.

    Although reporters pressed, Kucherena refused to say anything substantial about Snowden’s lifestyle. Regarding his disguise, Kucherena said “He would walk past you and you wouldn’t recognize him… It’s a question of clothes and small alterations to his appearance… He really does walk freely around on the streets.”

    Kucherena did let slip one interesting piece of information: Edward Snowden can now speak Russian. “He is an extremely fast learner as far as the Russian language is concerned… He only needs a few hours or days to learn the ropes and start speaking,” Kucherena said.

    Snowden’s father is expected to come to see his son in Russia, although Kucherena refused to confirm when it will happen or what Snowden may do: “the question of his future activities will be discussed at a family council… I can’t give you certain dates but soon he will come to Russia and meet with his son.” Snowden’s father will most likely bring his mother and a grandparent with him.

    Snowden’s lawyer said that the family trip is a risk because U.S. intelligence officials could try some dirty tactics to find the Russian hideout. To cover security risks, Snowden has been paying a private security firm out-of-pocket, but is considering opening up a bank account to use donated funds since his personal wallet seems to be growing thin. Kucherena: “As long as the US side retains its grievances against Snowden, nothing can be ruled out.”

    When asked about his morale, Kucherena said that as isolated as Snowden’s new lifestyle might be, he maintains no regrets and is not “disappointed… He believes he did everything right.”

    [Image via Wikimedia Commons]

  • Selena Gomez Won’t Perform Due To “Anti-Gay’ Visa

    Selena Gomez had to cancel a string of European concerts due to conflicts with obtaining a Russian visa. The 21-year-old singer will not be performing at any of the Russian venues previously considered nor will she sing in Belarus and Ukraine. Though she was expected in St. Petersburg and Moscow, both performances have been cancelled as a result of complications stemming from obtaining a visa in lieu of recent anti-gay laws.

    Last year, Madonna and Lady Gaga used their performances at Russian concert halls to promote gay rights. Madonna distributed pink ribbons to her concert-goers as a symbol of support for gay pride while Lady Gaga said, “You can be gay in my house,” to those in attendance at her concert.

    A representative for Russian Entertainment Academy, who was responsible for organizing the concert, shared the following comment. “Up to the last moment, we thought the problem would be resolved, but it turned out that things aren’t so simple in our country,” the statement read.

    John Becker is the man responsible for starting a petition through Change.org to encourage standing up for the rights of the Russian LGBT community members. He wrote the following on Belerico.com in order to further promote the cause. “Russian officials are undoubtedly anxious to avoid a repeat of recent concerts by fellow pop superstars Madonna and Lady Gaga, both of whom violated laws banning so-called ‘gay propaganda’ by making statements in favor of LGBT rights. The Russian government is clearly on edge and aware of the bruising its reputation has taken in the wake of their anti-LGBT crackdown,” he shared on the website.

    Reports claim that Selena Gomez was spotted earlier this year at a Los Angeles gay pride festival; however, organizers of the Russian concerts are unlikely to have known about this. Selena appears to have enjoyed her performances even though she was unable to perform in Russia.

    [Image Via Wikimedia Commons]

  • John McCain’s Op-Ed Appears on Pravda.ru

    John McCain’s Op-Ed Appears on Pravda.ru

    Last weekend, John McCain made it clear he intended to write a counterpoint to Vladimir Putin’s viral NYT column, and that he wanted that piece published by Pravda.

    The internet teased McCain because of his outdated worldview (let’s face it: his worldview is an easy target), but the truth is that McCain really had no idea who he was writing his column for.

    Before exploring the dichotomy of dueling Pravda‘s, we ought to explore McCain’s column, which boldly claims that he is “pro-Russian, more pro-Russian than the regime that misrules you today.” Besides the typical chest-thumping of American values (“I make that claim because I believe the Russian people, no less than Americans, are endowed by our Creator with inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”), McCain attacks Putin for his human rights record, a lackluster social justice agenda with regard to gay rights, and journalistic suppression.

    Near the end of his column, McCain boldly states that Russia’s international status has been strengthened only by alliance with “offensive and threatening tyrannies” and that Putin has turned Russia against “nations that seek to build a safer, more peaceful and prosperous world.”

    CNN notes a tinge of hypocrisy emanating from McCain’s piece regarding Russia’s anti-gay legislation, since McCain vehemently opposes same-sex marriage in the United States.

    John McCain was hoping from the moment he read Putin’s op-ed that he would be writing for this Pravda, the one that represented the propagandized voice of the only party in Soviet Russia. That newspaper was closed with the Iron Curtain, and when Pravda was reopened in 1997 as the official paper of the Russian Communist party, its circulation was markedly lower than the Soviet days. Pravda.ru, which published his column, has existed since 1999 as an electronic news website. McCain, not knowing which Pravda was the official successor, submitted the op-ed to both. Only Pravda.ru would publish the column.

    McCain had hoped that one Pravda or the other would have a viewership similar to that of the Soviet-era Pravda. Unfortunately for McCain, much like the American media, the Russian media has a brand new face for a brave new world.

    If you want to read a column from the chairman of Pravda.ru explaining the succession of the Pravda name, check it out here.

    If you want to check out McCain’s column, you can read it in English for yourself here.

    [Image via Pravda.ru]

  • Russian Man Shot Over Immanuel Kant’s Philosophy

    Two men, who were standing in line to buy beer in the southern Russian town of Rostov-on-Don, got into an argument over the philosophies of Immanuel Kant, which ended in one man being shot several times with a BB gun.

    No details on the exact theoretical nature of the argument were released, and the victim was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries caused by rubber bullets. The shooter initially fled the scene, but was eventually taken into custody, and now faces up to ten years in prison for assault.

    Kant (1724-1804) is widely regarded as a key figure of modern philosophy, and contended that reason is the source of morality, and that the cause must always be prior to the effect. Essentially, Kant might have asserted that it’s unethical to shoot someone with a BB gun repeatedly, but likewise might point out that the cause of the effects of being riddled with rubber bullets might lie in a skepticism of philosophical regurgitations that were laid out whilst people are waiting in a beer line.

    Kant published his major work, the Critique of Pure Reason, in 1781, and was known to take a walk daily at 3:30 PM, during his later years. It has been said the man had lead an almost mechanical lifestyle, stringently carrying out his day like clockwork, but it’s been noted that in his younger years, he really liked to party, pounding red wine, and not being able to find his house. Perhaps he could appreciate a good, drunken philosophical argument.

    In related Russian intrigue, unemployed quarterback Tim Tebow was just offered $1 million to play 2 games for the Moscow Black Storm.

    Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

  • Tim Tebow Rally Held by Jacksonville Fans

    At 3:16 PM today, a group of Jacksonville Jaguars fans decided to hold a rally, which was to last for 3 hours and 16 minutes (all allusions to Tebow’s faith, of course), in order to convince the owners of the Jaguars to sign Tim Tebow as their next quarterback. The charge, led by organizer James Stewart and supported by members of http://www.jags-tebow.com/, was held at Jacksonville’s stadium and drew a whopping crowd of 20 people. The attendance of supporters was actually outnumbered by the media, who managed to pull in a crowd of 30. Despite the low attendance, Stewart believes “We’ve accomplished what we had hoped for the first time out.”

    The movement at www.jags-tebow.com asks the ever-important question, “WHY THE HECK NOT?”. The site states that Jacksonville is easily the worst team in the NFL, so why not bring Tim Tebow on as the new quarterback?: “If the Jags got Him….Overnight, The Jaguars would be on the National Stage. The Stadium will be full of Tebow Maniacs & Tebow haters alike. The whole country would tingle with anticipation & all eyes would be on Jacksonville.”

    The fans of Tebow coming to Jacksonville have a point. Right now, Tim Tebow is not even on an NFL roster and he is still getting tons of national and international attention. The LA Kiss, Gene Simmons’s arena football team, has offered Tebow a contract. Recently, Tebow was offered $1 million to play football in Russia. Earlier this year Tebow was the subject of a petition to the White House for President Obama to force Jacksonville to sign the former Florida Gator. Even Chuck Norris has gotten involved in Tebow-mania, asserting earlier this year that Tebow is the “ultimate clutch player” and that Jacksonville should definitely sign him. Why?: “To put it simply, it’s because Tim could help turn that mediocre team into a championship one. Tebow works miracles on the field, and his inclusion would embolden the spirit of the Jaguars’ players and fans.”

    What do you think? Should Tebow become Jacksonville’s new quarterback? Respond in the Comments section below.

    While there seems to be much support for Tebow going to Jacksonville, there is also much opposition. The Bold City Brigade, a nonprofit organization in Jacksonville which seeks to expand and embolden the fan-base, has created a website called “Even If He’s Released”. This website is simply an online petition for those who are against Tim Tebow coming to Jacksonville. Currently, 581,433 people have signed the petition – significantly larger than the 20 people who showed up at the rally earlier today.

    Jacksonville’s owners have voiced their staunch opposition to the acquisition despite all of the support. Their opposition is understandable. Tebow has been released from multiple teams now due to his performances and abilities on the field. No NFL team would argue against Tebow’s positive impact on the fanbase. Even though he is not on an active roster, Tebow jerseys still rank fifth in sales, and he is still currently ranked as the league’s fifth most popular player. However, the goal of an NFL team is to win games, and Tebow simply cannot perform. There are rumors that Tebow’s agents want him to become a motivational speaker, a role which seems to be much more his billing.

    Image via Facebook

  • Navy Yard Shooting: Russian Official Says Shooting Is Fault Of American Exceptionalism

    This morning, a shooting took place at the Navy Yard in Washington D.C. Details are still scarce, but people still have plenty to say about the event. One such person is Russian government official Alexei Pushkov.

    Pushkov, a member of the Russian parliamentary foreign affairs committee, tweeted out this morning that the shooting was caused by American exceptionalism. Here’s what he said via Google Translate:

    “New shooting at the Naval Staff in Washington – the lone shooter and 7 of corpses. No one is surprised. Visual confirmation. American exceptionalism.”

    “The USA should part with the notion of American exceptionalism. It contradicts the principles of equal rights and smells of political racism.”

    After news of Pushkov’s comments spread, Americans sent a barrage of tweets back at him referencing Russia’s own history of violence. After receiving those tweets, Pushkov pushed back with more:

    “”Exceptional” Americans! Some of you have just proved that you are really exceptional – first of all, by your level of hatred and animosity.”

    His latest tweet has yet to receive any responses, but it probably won’t be long before people start to engage Pushkov in more Google Translate-fueled arguments.

    [Image: Alexei Pushkov/Twitter]
    [h/t: The Washington Times]

  • Tim Tebow Offered $1 Million for Two Games

    Tim Tebow has been struggling to find work in the NFL. However, there is an American team in Russia that is willing to offer Tebow one million dollars for him to play just two games.

    The Moscow Black Storm owner, Mikhail Zaltsman, told the Russia Beyond the Headlines that he wants Tebow to play for his team.

    Zaltsman wants Tebow to fly to Moscow to play in the Black Storm’s semifinal game against the Moscow Patriots in the American Football Championship of Russia on September 28. He then wants Tebow to help them win the finals.

    Zaltsman claims that Tebow’s biggest obstacle standing in the way is his agents. He says: “They’re thinking of using him as a motivational speaker. They don’t want him to play football.” However, Zaltsman is prepared to do whatever it takes to get Tebow on his team. “He says that this is his top choice, but from what we know, it is his only choice,” Zaltsman says.

    There is speculation that the only reason Black Storm needs Tebow is to stop the former University of North Carolina fullback Bobby Rome. Rome is now the starting quarterback for the Moscow Patriots. “My advice to him would be to just have fun,” Rome said. “They’re great guys, great athletes, and they’re underestimated.”

    Rome says it is very unlikely that Tebow would come to Russia because “that would make a lot of [NFL] teams more apprehensive about signing him.” We all know that Tebow’s dream is to be a quarterback in the NFL and he is determined to get there.

    Image via Twitter

  • Tablet Shipments Overtaking PCs in Russia

    Yesterday, market research firm IDC predicted that tablet shipments will beat combined desktop PC and Notebook PC shipments this holiday season. The shift is one that is expected to continue with overall tablet shipments topping PC shipments for 2014. Today, IDC released its numbers for a key emerging market and even there the PC market’s future is looking grim.

    IDC’s report on Russia’s quarterly shipments shows that PC shipments in the country declined over 37% from the second quarter of 2012. Notebooks shipments in particular were poor, dropping 45.3% year-over-year to only 1.69 million units.

    As expected, IDC analysts are at least partially blaming the rising tablet market for the decline of PC sales. Tablet shipments in Russia were up 156% during the second quarter of this year, rising to 1.95 million units.

    “The second quarter continued to be impacted by large inventory volumes in the market, as most vendors, retailers, and distributors focused on stock reduction,” said Natalia Vinogradova, research analyst at IDC Russia. “The increasing shift in demand for tablets and smartphones is also a key factor in the slowdown of the portable PC market, as well as continued economic pressures in the business sector,”

    Russia is one of the key emerging markets (along with Brazil, India, and China) that industry analysts are looking toward for future growth in the mobile industry. Low- and Mid-priced smartphones and tablets are expected to make up the bulk of mobile devices sold in the country in the coming years.

    “Android tablets will post a significant increase in market share in 2013, thanks to the increasing number of tablets using Android OS priced at $100 and less,” said Vinogradova.

  • Putin Pens New York Times Op-Ed, Talks Foreign Policy

    The “bad boy” president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, has a message for the American people, and in a conveniently timed viral column that The New York Times published on September 11, Putin bypasses political pleasantries and gets right to business.

    “Recent events surrounding Syria have prompted me to speak directly to the American people and their political leaders. It is important to do so at a time of insufficient communication between our societies,” he begins, referring to the United States’ desires to see the Assad regime blown away for deploying sarin gas.

    Putin talked about the failure of the League of Nations followed by the founding of the United Nations, occurring in the wake of the world’s bloodiest wars to date: “No one wants the United Nations to suffer the fate of the League of Nations, which collapsed because it lacked real leverage. This is possible if influential countries bypass the United Nations and take military action without Security Council authorization.” The implication here is that the United States would be responsible for the collapse of both international efforts.

    Putin articulated his own frank opinions on the desires of the United States to strike Syria: “[Striking Syria] will result in more innocent victims and escalation, potentially spreading the conflict far beyond Syria’s borders. A strike would increase violence and unleash a new wave of terrorism. It could undermine multilateral efforts to resolve the Iranian nuclear problem and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and further destabilize the Middle East and North Africa. It could throw the entire system of international law and order out of balance.”

    Putin also defended Russia’s role while simultaneously attacking U.S. wars on foreign soil: “From the outset, Russia has advocated peaceful dialogue enabling Syrians to develop a compromise plan for their own future. We are not protecting the Syrian government, but international law… No one doubts that poison gas was used in Syria. But there is every reason to believe it was used not by the Syrian Army… It is alarming that military intervention in internal conflicts in foreign countries has become commonplace for the United States. Is it in America’s long-term interest? I doubt it. Millions around the world increasingly see America not as a model of democracy but as relying solely on brute force, cobbling coalitions together under the slogan ‘you’re either with us or against us.’”

    As to the White House’s response, the BBC has reported White House spokesman Jay Carney saying that “the military is ready, and it is waiting for a certain period of time. it will not negatively affect their ability to inflict the kind of damage that we envision on Assad’s capabilities if that were to become necessary; we should pursue this diplomatic avenue and we are.”

    Politico quoted a senior administration official as adding that “President Putin has invested his credibility in transferring Assad’s chemical weapons to international control, and ultimately destroying them. The world will note whether Russia can follow through on that commitment.”

    The same BBC report followed up with a Free Syrian Army video, which expressed frustration at the Russian plan: “We ask that the international community not be content with withdrawing chemical weapons, which are a criminal instrument, but to hold the perpetrator accountable and prosecute him at the international criminal court. Removing criminal tools is one matter; holding the criminal accountable is another.”

    Wrapping up his piece, Putin said optimistically that “If we can avoid force against Syria, this will improve the atmosphere in international affairs and strengthen mutual trust. It will be our shared success and open the door to cooperation on other critical issues.”

    Read the full piece here.

    [Image via a YouTube interview of Vladimir Putin describing how the chemical weapons exchange plan came about]

  • Ann Coulter: Neocon bomb thrower thinks Obama is “Monkey”?

    Yesterday evening, the popular neoconservative commentator and author Ann Coulter felt impulsive enough to call Barack Obama a “monkey” who is apparently being danced around by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

    To put it mildly, Coulter is not new to controversy. Like a precision clock, she has the remarkable penchant for saying something so outrageous every month that you can almost bet your mortgage on it.

    If it weren’t for Coulter’s academic accomplishments – she is an alumnus of Cornell University and Michigan Law School – her wildly successful writing career, and vast knowledge base, one could almost write her off as a crackpot venting her spleen on live TV. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTxLfSw8Gvc

    But given the huge audience she commands through her columns, books and TV appearances, the shock value her comments represent cannot be taken lightly.

    Most of us who are aware of the dark history of slavery across the world, know that certain words and phrases carry an extraordinary degree of offensiveness to certain races or ethnic groups. The word “monkey” when used to describe a Black person, carries a special connotation which is deeply revolting to say the least.

    Outrageous as it may be, do such remarks serve Coulter’s political cause well? Her earlier twitter comment on Syria sounded vastly more normal compared to her TV shock-jock theatrics, where she made a valid point about American diplomacy and military involvement in Syria:

    Perhaps a more poignant assertion can be made here that the level of discourse across the political spectrum, from far right to far left, has taken the form of verbal twerking, where political points, viewership volume, and TV ratings are scored based on how much outrage, titillation and drool it can create.

    While the casualties in Syria are mounting to a level not seen since Iraq war, the Dollar is on life support thanks to endless wars, “free” trade, and inflationary printing, national debt is spiraling out of control, Medicaid is delivering half of all babies in America, the last thing we need is to distract America with yet another verbal “twerk” that causes gnashing of teeth, raised eyebrows, flurry of condemnations throughout social media, but little thoughtful debate, introspection and decision making.

    [image via wikipedia]