Feb

28

Personality Cash Cow

February 28, 2008 | 8 Comments

T-minus three days and counting.  Russians will go to the polls on Sunday to cast their votes for a new President.  But one shouldn’t get to carried away with the casting votes part.  Yes, Russians will vote, but no one has any doubt who the victor will be. Dmitri Medvedev will be the third President […]

Popularity: 3% [?]

Feb

28

Monetary Middle Class

February 28, 2008 | 7 Comments

The Russian “middle class” remains an elusive and rather unclear category. It’s an entity that is recognized, but what exactly are its contours is rarely clearly defined. Kommersant has fitted one piece into the Russian middle class puzzle. The Russian middle class, at least as defined by Kommersant, is purely monetary. I’ve […]

Popularity: 3% [?]

Feb

24

Two Reviews of Four Books

February 24, 2008 | 46 Comments

The 3 March issue of the Nation has two reviews of four recent books on Soviet history. The first review, “The Ice Forge,” written by Jochen Hellbeck, examines Lynne Viola’s Unknown Gulag and Orlando Figes’ The Whisperers. Viola’s book chronicles the deportation of Soviet “kulaks” during collectivization. About it Hellbeck writes, “The […]

Popularity: 3% [?]

Feb

23

“The President is the symbol of power, and the Prime Minister is only a manager.”

February 23, 2008 | 101 Comments

Kommersant has an interview with Elena Shestopal, the deputy chair of the Political Psychology Department at MGU, on how Russian society views the inevitable election of Dmitri Medvedev. I think the title of the interview, “Thus far Medvedev’s character remains unclear in the consciousness of the masses” says it all. Here is an […]

Popularity: 4% [?]

Feb

21

“A war is going on now and we all must participate in it”

February 21, 2008 | 11 Comments

Those Nashi kids really, really want to go to Estonia.  So bad that they’re protests are beginning to sound more and more deranged.  Leave it Nashi to push a campaign to the brink of absurdity.  Is Estonia bashing all they have left?  I guess they “10=5″ campaign just doesn’t provide that populist umph.  If this […]

Popularity: 3% [?]

Feb

19

Kagarlitsky: “Such is the logic of capitalism.”

February 19, 2008 | 6 Comments

Boris Kagarlistky’s new article “Labor Movement and Civil Society” is a must read. I especially liked these two excerpts:

The significant outcome of the events at the “Ford” plant lies in the fact that the labor movement has attracted public attention. They started to talk and write about it, they started to look at it […]

Popularity: 3% [?]

Feb

18

Dima Bangs his Head

February 18, 2008 | 3 Comments

Smoke on the fuckin’ water. If you think soon to be Russian prez Dmitiri Medvedev is a square, think again. Forget the Russian pretension for opera and ballet. Dima is a metalist, a head bangin’, shout at the devil, Rock afficionado.
One of Medvedev’s dreams came true. Last week, Deep Purple, one […]

Popularity: 3% [?]

Feb

17

Kasparov Sues Nashi for his Honor

February 17, 2008 | 13 Comments

If you can’t beat them in the streets, try the courts.  That’s what Garry Kasparov looks to be doing with his 30 million ruble lawsuit against Nashi.  According to Kasparov’s camp the lawsuit is in defense of his “honor, dignity, business reputation and compensation for moral injury” inflicted by Nashi.  At the center are Nashi’s […]

Popularity: 4% [?]

Feb

17

Living High on the Svin’ia

February 17, 2008 | 14 Comments

The Russian financial magazine Finans has published more proof that capitalism under Putin is doing just fine. Fine for the Russia elite that is. Over the last year, Finans reports in its yearly tally of Russian super rich, the number of Russian billionaires has shot from 61 to 101. Their combined wealth […]

Popularity: 3% [?]

Feb

16

On “s” Words and “i” Words

February 16, 2008 | 6 Comments

Dmitri Medvedev’s speech to the Krasnoyarsk Economic Forum might be an indication of what he has in store for Russia. Before a crowd of Russian businessmen, Medvedev laid out his vision in a forty minute speech; a vision that when boiled down doesn’t look to rock the boat too much.
One of Medvedev’s themes […]

Popularity: 3% [?]

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