now, that was prophetic! :)

 
cross-posted from simplex

Izvestia - a look inside

I can't quite remember, how on Earth I got into this building, but never mind. That's Izvestia newspaper publishers. Look at the walls - the purest Soviet design with workers and peasants reading newspapers. Ironically, they are reading Pravda (the rivalry between these two Bolshevik papers at some point got so acute, that the Party had to interfere).
They also show off some old curiosities - like a typewriter that belonged to Bukharin, Izvestia's editor-in-chief, shot by Stalin.
 

Thank you Mr Bush

... and special thanks to Mr Saakashvili. You two have strengthened Putin's regime like nobody else. Before the war in Georgia it looked like Putin may finally retire and his cronies gradually go with him. Now it appears, that the military party in Russia is indispensable - especially when everyone around is yelling "Isolate Russia". 

1. I never liked Putin. But will I criticise him, when the war is around? No. Nobody ever will. That's what Brits taught me: before the war started we can be anti-war, but with the first shot, we'll all back our army (that's what they said about Iraq).
2. You only need clever, moderate, sensitive politicians in peacetime. Imagine Al Gore reacting to 9/11 - I'm afraid that might be a disaster. The US exactly needed a heavy-handed Bush to fight terrorist bullies. Yeah, with illegal ops, with undeclared prisons, with Guantanamo and Abu-Ghraib - but that yielded some result. Now, many Russians may ask: is President Medvedev tough enough? Another Cold war is seen coming. Maybe let Putin stay in charge? 

more about this war

No, seriously? Russian aggression in Georgia? Look, we got dozens of thousands Ossetian refugees. And where do they flee? To Russia. Amazing! Have you ever seen refugees running towards aggressors?

war in Georgia

Georgia counter-attacked yesterday, encircled Tskhinvali, pushed the offensive north and threatened the last Ossetian stronghold of Dzhava. Tbilisi reported, the Roksky tunnel, the only link between Russia and Ossetia is blown up (later denied by border guards). Russia and Ossetia are barely holding the attack. Would you imagine that? Apparently, Georgia was better prepared for the war, whereas Russia was not prepared at all. So, who started it? Georgian president, Mr Saakashvili said Russia invaded Georgia like it did in Czechoslovakia in 1968 and in Afghanistan in 1979. Laughable. When Moscow DID invade Afghanistan, Kabul was seized in a day, and president Amin got his head torn off by a grenade the same day. I guess, the same would happen to Mr Saakashvili, if Moscow really wanted to invade Georgia.

Okay, Russian troops are in Georgia. "We come as peacekeers", they say. "But we don't want you there", - Georgians reply. Well, who cares? Did the US ask Serbs if they want them in Kosovo? Of course, not. The Serbs would much rather keep smashing Albanians. Just like Georgians, given the opportunity, started razing Ossetian villages and pounded their capital to ashes. Now, in the best Western traditions, Russia is starting a humanitarian offensive (remember Belgrade? there were a lot of humanitarian achievements those days). Of course, we expect an outcry from Western media. That's what Russia media did, when the US bombed Yugoslavia or invaded Iraq. Luckily, nobody heard our cries. But not to worry, we won't hear yours, either.