What's going on in Putin's Russia?

Vladimir Putin is a monster. He has radically altered the calculus on Russia's interactions with the world. Let us recall that right after his tacky hosting of the Olympics (you remember the bathrooms with too many toilets in them and no dividers, right?), he swooped in and stole Crimea. Then he attacked Ukraine and his hooligans shot down a plane full of Dutch tourists.

So what's Puti doin' now? Here are a few postcards from Russia:

Russia signed a contract Friday to build two more nuclear reactors in Iran to be possibly followed by another six, a move intended to cement closer ties between the two nations.

Russian soccer teams are facing a severe financial squeeze, with the Ukraine conflict and plummeting ruble leaving clubs short of money but with soaring wage bills.

The international news channel CNN says it will halt broadcasting in Russia due to recent changes in media legislation.

Hmmm, doesn't sound good, does it? And let's remember the man has nukes, lotsa nukes. This will not end well. I fully expect Putin to erupt in the coming months and do something incredibly destructive. It's just the way he is: flawed beyond imagination. The man truly is a monster (and the Russian people aren't far behind him in this respect; they just love beating up their gay boys).

Russia is a pig sty, and a dangerous one.

Aravosis beat me to it

I was going to rip Russia from stem to stern this morning, but John Aravosis at AmericaBlog beat me to it. Just go read this.

Take that, Vladdy!

More on the strange Johnny Weir

This fellow, Johnny Weir, is a real piece of work. Rather than rehash the story, I'll cede the floor to John Aravosis. G'wan over there and read his piece. And remember, Johnny Weir is going to be one of NBC's commentators at the Sochi Olympics. Ugh.

Weir is an odd combination of things: he's a mash-up of out-gay and closet-case. He tries to live the life of the former, while acting like the latter.

We need allies, not frenemies. I wish he'd get lost.

Torch for anti-gay Sochi Olympics gets around

A Russian rocket soared into the cosmos Thursday carrying the Sochi Olympic torch and three astronauts to the International Space Station ahead of the first-ever spacewalk for the symbol of peace. 

The unlit torch for the 2014 Winter Olympics in the Russian city of Sochi is to be taken on a spacewalk Saturday, then return to Earth on Monday (late Sunday EST) with three departing space station astronauts. 

Last month, the Olympic flame traveled to the North Pole on a Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker. Later this month it will sink to the bottom of the world's deepest lake, Lake Baikal. In early February, it will reach the peak of Mount Elbrus, at 5,642 meters (18,510 feet) the highest mountain in Russia and Europe. 

And finally, the Olympic Torch will make its way into Putin's body, to a top-secret place where the sun don't shine -- a fitting end for the world's first anti-gay Russian Olympics.

Sochi's gay scene

There is an interesting AP article this morning about the gay scene in Sochi. I kid you not. Russia is an odd country.

Sleazy Putin

Sleazy is the perfect word for an op-ed in the NYT today, allegedly written by Vlad Putin hisself. I won't run it down here. Russia is trying to sound more sensible than Obama; that's it in a nutshell. But I think it's amusing that the op-ed ends with this sentence:

We are all different, but when we ask for the Lord’s blessings, we must not forget that God created us equal. 

Are you roaring with laughter? You should be.

Delicious Sochi goings-on

Check out John Aravosis' post about the state of the Sochi Olympics. Seems the evil slobs in the IOC and Russia are finally getting upset about all the negative publicity. But all they want to do is make gay people's lives miserable. So why is everyone so upset with them?!

The head of the Sochi Olympics has asked the International Olympic Committee for help in making you annoying gays, and friends of gays, stop being so mean to them.

I love the idea that hardly anyone will attend the games. That would be the best outcome. The athletes would get to compete, while Russia would look like the pig sty that it actually is. Good stuff!

This should be interesting

Let's see. First Obama refuses to meet with Putin because Russia is harboring Edward Snowden. And now this:

MOSCOW — Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights activists said Tuesday they have been invited to meet with President Barack Obama on the sidelines of this week's Group of 20 summit in Russia. 

What will Putin do? It's all so junior high, so tit-for-tat, when you get right down to it. Will Putin view Obama's meeting with gay reps as "propaganda" and arrest him? That would be fun. On the other hand, will Putin punish the gay reps afterward? I wouldn't like to see that happen.

But seriously, the whole thing is like a cartoon. The Russian president with a fixation on personal manliness goes after the gays. And the American president who promised the most transparent administration in history goes after whistleblowers with demonic vengeance. (And after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, tries to start World War III -- to prove his manliness.)

These are cartoon times, for sure.

Russia is lost

Russia is "becoming a 'bona fide' dictatorship". That's the headline at Der Spiegel. I'd argue with their use of the word "becoming". It's already happened. Here's an excerpt from the article:

Russia continued its series of raids on non-governmental organizations on Wednesday with visits to Human Rights Watch and Transparency International. The operation, say German commentators, is just the latest sign that Russian civil society is eroding and President Putin is turning into a dictator.

Turning into? The man is and always has been a dictator. It's just that people are noticing now that he's amped up the process. The country is gone. Again.

Pity the Russian people

Ed's got it covered.

Russian dash-cams

Thanks to the prevalence of forward-facing dash cams in the cars of ordinary Russians, the world was able to see video of Friday's meteorite. But perhaps you found yourself wondering, as I did, why so many Russian drivers have these cameras in their cars. Apparently, they're popular for very good reasons.

One is that “psychopaths are abundant on Russian roads” and even the slightest perception of rude driving can quickly escalate into a fist fight or worse. The second reason, is that if you get injured or have your property damaged in such a fist fight, the best evidence in a Russian court is camera footage. Also, the website says, Russian websites are hungry for gory, horrifying footage of automobile accidents.

Russians also install dashboard cameras as a way to protect themselves from corrupt law enforcement officials.

So there you go. Gotta have a dash-cam in Russia. Who knew?

Religious fools will go wild

So there wasn't one meteor/asteroid event yesterday, there were two. You already know that. But you're wrong, Blanche, you're wrong. There were three.

HAVANA (AP) — Cuba apparently experienced a phenomenon similar to the meteorite that detonated over Russia this week, island media reported, with startled residents describing a bright light in the sky and a loud explosion that shook windows and walls. 

This happened on Tuesday evening. Hoo boy! Are the religious loons gonna go nuts, or what? Three close passes, one of which almost hit. What could it mean? Is jeebus pranking us? Is he unhappy? I expect to see many priests saying stupid things today.

But why do they never say the obvious? The meteorite over Russia was god's way of warning Russians about the dangerous theocracy they're establishing. Jeebus was saying, "church and state don't mix!"

And the asteroid passing over Indonesia was god saying, "Muslim terrorism is an atrocity! Give up religion! Give up the idea of gods entirely!"

And as for Cuba, god is happy because travel to and from Cuba has resumed. This one was a form of celebratory fireworks. Now, let's see what the crazy priests have to say. Should be fun!

Russia's meteorite enlivens the priests

An foolish Russian priest is all over the meteorite story. It took him only minutes to realize this was a sign from jeebus.

YEKATERINBURG, February 15 (RIA Novosti) – A meteorite which injured hundreds of people in Russia's Chelyabinsk Region on Friday was "the Lord’s message to humanity," a senior local clergyman said.

“From the Scriptures, we know that the Lord often sends people signs and warnings via natural forces,” Metropolitan of Chelyabinsk and Zlatoust Feofan said in a statement released on Friday.

"I think that not only for the Ural [regions] residents, but for the whole of humanity, the meteorite is a reminder that we live in fragile and unpredictable world,” the clergyman said.

He called on people to support each other and pray to God in thanks for saving the world from a devastating disaster.

Wow, jeebus saved the world!! None of the media mentioned that important point. Give him a few more minutes and he'll connect the disaster to gay marriage. Folks, religion has never been right about anything. It belongs in the dust heap.

There are a lot of things out there in space, and sometimes they hit Earth. It's not mysterious at all. But they love to connect their god to disasters. Just love it.

Odd timing

So on a day when an asteroid will come very close to Earth in the afternoon, meteorite fragments harm people in Russia in the morning. Very odd, don't you think? Can you remember any other meteorites "striking" the Earth? Other than Tunguska, I can't. (Note: in neither case did they "strike"; they exploded in the air.)

MOSCOW — Bright objects, apparently debris from a meteorite, streaked through the sky in western Siberia early on Friday, accompanied by a boom that damaged buildings across a vast area of territory. Hundreds of people were reported to have been injured, most from breaking glass. 

This seems wildly improbable. Two completely separate close passes on the same day? Last night I watched a broadcast where they finally said what country will be under the asteroid as it passes. The answer is Indonesia. I hope NASA is right and it passes by without harming anyone. I'm going to watch the NASA feed this afternoon. It's scheduled to pass by at 2:24 pm EST. Interesting times we live in, eh?

Russia: going, going...gone?

There's a sad article in the New York Times about Russia's return to its authoritarian past. Putin is back in power, which means jackboots, truncheons and detentions for dissenters.

Here is a longish excerpt from the article:

  When testimony began in the trial of the activists from Pussy Riot, Mr. Terekhov served tea as his workers watched prosecutors request seven-year sentences for three women who had lip-synced a crude anti-Putin song at an Orthodox cathedral. The judge ultimately sentenced each to two years (one was released early).

  He described the atmosphere in the room as one of “black humor, like sarcasm. Laughter through tears.”

  ...“From the point of view of international PR, if earlier Russia was associated with balalaika-matryoshka-caviar-Gorbachev-perestroika, now of course we have to add Pussy Riot,” Mr. Terekhov said, his distaste apparent. “Balalaikas, bears — they were fun. They were something you could joke about. But this is some sort of marvel from the Middle Ages.”

Russia is slipping into a dictatorial nightmare. Observing this from elsewhere is painful -- I can't imagine what it's like to actually live through it. Without freedom, life is a sham. I wish the Russian people well. Their situation is a tough one.

Russian megalomania

I love this:

MOSCOW (AP) — A Moscow court on Thursday ruled that the video of punk band Pussy Riot's performance in Russia's main cathedral is extremist and ordered it to be removed from the web. 

Well, that's that. It'll be off the web by 11 pm, I imagine. Made me laugh.

Authoritarians try to take over internet

Pretty good article at Yahoo about the insane rush to assert control over the internet. The usual suspects -- Russia, China, Iran, UAE, etc. -- want to control what people see on the net. Control, control, control. I swear, governments are morphing into churches.

Here's an excerpt in case you don't make it to the article (which is worth reading):

Google's Vint Cerf, the ordinarily diplomatic co-author of the basic protocol for Internet data, denounced the proposed new rules as hopeless efforts by some governments and state-controlled telecom authorities to assert their power.

"These persistent attempts are just evidence that this breed of dinosaurs, with their pea-sized brains, hasn't figured out that they are dead yet, because the signal hasn't traveled up their long necks," Cerf told Reuters.

You have to love a guy like Vint. You hafta.

The Russian church-state nightmare

Chills went up my spine as I read this NYT article about the collapsing line between church and state in Russia. That something like this can happen in the year 2012 is shocking. But humanity's nonsensical craving for an authoritarian god will always come to this -- unless rational people guard against it (ahem) religiously.

Alas, in Russia it seems two megalomaniacs have come together in a most unholy way: Putin and his "spiritual father". Seriously, read this and worry. It can happen anywhere, even here in the U.S. In fact, we have GOP loons aiming for this very thing: a communion between government and religion. Shudder.

Latest religious insanity: Apple can't use logo

Via Ed Brayton:

A group of Christians in Russia says the ubiquitous bitten apple is too symbolic of the idea of original sin and should be replaced with the symbol of Jesus Christ. And they may have the law on their side.

Technology website xbitlabs.com says Apple “may run into problems” if Russian parliament passes a set of laws designed to protect citizens’ religious and spiritual values from “blasphemy and insult.”

Blasphemy laws are a huge problem. They always signal the end of democracy and freedom. Haven't these people ever heard of the Inquisition?

Bad juju in Russia

No civilized society can have anti-blasphemy laws. The two cannot coexist. It's literally impossible. Russia doesn't seem to know this, or rather, is hell-bent on establishing a theocratic government to stifle all dissent. (Hat tip to Ed Brayton.)

Nilov said a proposed amendment would introduce criminal responsibility for offences against religious beliefs and feelings and impose a jail term of up to three years.

Putin, in recent comments on Pussy Riot, the global protests over the video “The Innocence of Muslims” and the killings of Islamic leaders in Russia, has said that extremists were trying to tear Russia apart and that the feelings of the faithful must be protected by the state.

Putin has always seen himself as a dictator. Now he's bringing this fantasy to life. I pity the Russians if this comes to pass.