Представители политических партий дискутируют, как изменить избирательную систему
Political parties discuss how to change the electoral system

(Source: 1tv.ru)

Баскетболисты ЦСКА выиграли 12-ю встречу подряд в Евролиге
Basketball CSKA won the 12th consecutive meeting in the Euroleague

(Source: 1tv.ru)

Putin Tries Making Nice With Angry Russian Voters

Russian president-in-waiting, Vladimir Putin, has been the source of much disdain since the Dec. 4 Parliamentary elections. His party, United Russia, was accused of fraud. No criminal charges have occurred since. United Russia also lost over 50 seats in the Parliament to rival Communist and Liberal Democrats, which, ironically, are not liberal democrats but are a pro-nationalistic anti-immigrant party. Their voters, and others, have taken to the streets to demonstrate their disdain for Putin and his party, which he leads. Putin is expected to be voted in as President once again in March. He is now Prime Minister. So to calm the rabble, Putin penned an op-ed in Izvestia, a daily newspaper, earlier this week where he wrote about corruption and what he heck Russia should do, after they elect him.

Putin, the charismatic ex-KGB agent, called politics “short of breath” and limited to matters of preserving or redistributing power and wealth.

“Traditionally, in Russia this situation was caused by weak public control over politicians as well as by an underdeveloped civil society. This is gradually changing, but still very slowly. There can be no real democracy without policies that are accepted by a majority and that also reflect the interests of this majority,” he wrote. “It is possible, for a short period of time, to captivate a large part of society by colorful slogans, by images of a wonderful future. But if people then do not see themselves in this future, they will permanently turn away from politics and society. This has already happened many times in our history.”

The article continues on the original source page!

President Barack Obama has stepped in and said he would not support the bill.

SOPA has been delayed, for now. The House has agreed to revisit the issue next month, but they now know the White House will veto any bill that’s not more narrowly focused.

(Source: lehtonenbobrovsky)

Russia squabbles over Phobos-Grunt debacle

Russia was understandably upset and perhaps more than a little embarrassed when the Phobos-Grunt probe - slated to explore a Martian moon - failed to escape Earth’s orbit and crashed into the ocean.

Some individuals in the Russian space community hinted that a radar station in Alaska could have caused interference that ultimately damaged the probe.

Of course, Russia hasn’t officially accused the US or any other countries of tampering with their probe. However, certain officials noted it was quite curious that a number of spacecraft were lost at a point where ground control couldn’t receive telemetry or communications.

So it comes as little surprise that 
Russia will now officially attempt to determine if a radar station manned by the US could have inadvertently interfered with the Phobos-Grunt probe.

The catch for Moscow? Russian space experts argue that the claims of US radar interference with the Phobos-Grunt is quite unlikely. 
Nevertheless, Russia State news agency RIA Novosti quoted the former head of Russian space agency Roscosmos, Yury Koptev, as saying that investigators from Russia will conduct tests to see if the US radar could have interfered.

“The results of the experiment will allow us to prove or dismiss the possibility of the radar’s impact,” Koptev claimed. 

As noted above, Russian scientists scoff at the suggestion that US satellite stations could have damaged the probe and caused it to fail. For example, Alexander Zakharov from the Russian Academy of Sciences and Space Research Institute (the very place where the Phobos-grunt probe was researched and developed), says the US had absolutely nothing to do with the failure.

Zakharov said, “Consider the power of the impact. I don’t think the Americans have radars capable of ensuring such power at such an altitude [about 200 kilometers].”

Zakharov figures that the theory of US interference is simply a smokescreen to cover up the mistakes of some people on the program. The scientist went so far as to call the suggestion of US radar interference “far-fetched.” He also recommended that the spacecraft be examined.

“You can come up with a lot of exotic reasons,” explained Zakharo. “But first you need to look at the apparatus itself, and there is a problem there.”

Meanwhile, Alan Stern, former associate administrator for science at NASA and now director of the Florida Space Institute at the University of Central Florida, said “the Russian Space Agency would do themselves and the future of Russian planetary exploration some good to look inside the project and the agency to find the cause of the Phobos-Ground mishap.”

Some individuals in the Russian space community hinted that a radar station in Alaska could have caused interference that ultimately damaged the probe.

Of course, Russia hasn’t officially accused the US or any other countries of tampering with their probe. However, certain officials noted it was quite curious that a number of spacecraft were lost at a point where ground control couldn’t receive telemetry or communications.

So it comes as little surprise that 
Russia will now officially attempt to determine if a radar station manned by the US could have inadvertently interfered with the Phobos-Grunt probe.
 
The catch for Moscow? Russian space experts argue that the claims of US radar interference with the Phobos-Grunt is quite unlikely. 
Nevertheless, Russia State news agency RIA Novosti quoted the former head of Russian space agency Roscosmos, Yury Koptev, as saying that investigators from Russia will conduct tests to see if the US radar could have interfered.
 
“The results of the experiment will allow us to prove or dismiss the possibility of the radar’s impact,” Koptev claimed. 
 
As noted above, Russian scientists scoff at the suggestion that US satellite stations could have damaged the probe and caused it to fail. For example, Alexander Zakharov from the Russian Academy of Sciences and Space Research Institute (the very place where the Phobos-Grunt probe was researched and developed), says the US had absolutely nothing to do with the failure.
 
Zakharov said, “Consider the power of the impact. I don’t think the Americans have radars capable of ensuring such power at such an altitude [about 200 kilometers].”
 
Zakharov figures that the theory of US interference is simply a smokescreen to cover up the mistakes of some people on the program. The scientist went so far as to call the suggestion of US radar interference “far-fetched.” He also recommended that the spacecraft be examined.

“You can come up with a lot of exotic reasons,” explained Zakharo. “But first you need to look at the apparatus itself, and there is a problem there.”

Meanwhile, Alan Stern, former associate administrator for science at NASA and now director of the Florida Space Institute at the University of Central Florida, said “the Russian Space Agency would do themselves and the future of Russian planetary exploration some good to look inside the project and the agency to find the cause of the Phobos-Ground mishap.”

Russia Slams New U.S. Envoy 

MOSCOW—Russian authorities ripped into Washington’s new ambassador to Moscow on Wednesday for meeting with opposition figures on his second day of work at the U.S. Embassy.

The harsh criticism highlights worsening relations between the U.S. and Russia as the Kremlin copes with political unrest ahead of March presidential elections. Moscow is bracing for street protests in coming months, and has blamed a swell of outrage over alleged vote fraud in December parliamentary polls on Western-funded stooges.

The new ambassador, Michael McFaul, is a longtime expert on U.S.-Russia relations, and seen as architect of the Obama administration’s efforts to “reset” relations with Moscow. But hard-line circles in the government view Mr. McFaul suspiciously, saying his past work has helped sow political chaos in Russia through democracy promotion.

Russia’s main state-run television channel aired a program Tuesday night suggesting Mr. McFaul’s real agenda is to support opposition leaders and foment revolution. The channel questioned Mr. McFaul’s previous work in Russia with the U.S.-funded nonprofit National Democratic Institute—”known for its proximity to the U.S. intelligence services”—and his connections to “the so-called democratic movement” of the 1990s “whom he financed, instructed and waved into office.”

“The fact is that McFaul is not an expert on Russia,” said Channel One analyst Mikhail Leontiev. “He is a specialist in a very specific kind of democracy promotion.”

Aleksey Pushkov, head of the parliamentary committee on international affairs and member of the pro-Kremlin United Russia party said Mr. McFaul had undermined his mission to Moscow “by his own actions taken during the first hours of his presence on Russian soil,” adding that “it is one thing when such a meeting with representative of the opposition is held in a calm atmosphere, and quite another when it happens as the political situation escalates in Russia in the run-up to the presidential election.”

In his personal blog, Mr. McFaul called Tuesday’s meetings with opposition figures a routine matter of “dual-track engagement” that were arranged for this week’s visit by Deputy Secretary of State William Burns.

Mr. McFaul wrote that on Monday, he accompanied Mr. Burns to meetings with high officials from the Kremlin, Russian White House and Foreign Ministry. “All senior U.S. officials visiting Russia make a point of meeting with both government officials and civil society leaders,” he wrote. “We learned a lot from listening to these leaders.”

In response to the state television report late Tuesday, Mr. McFaul wrote on Twitter that the commentary included “no word about the 3 years of reset.”

“Yesterday my mtgs with WH/Kremlin officials could not have been warmer. pluralism!” he wrote.

Russia analysts have noted that Mr. McFaul is the first non-career diplomat to be appointed as ambassador in almost 20 years, and his past work and academic writings could be used as fodder in Russia to allege lack of objectivity.

Mr. McFaul headed the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Moscow office and taught political science at Stanford University. For the past three years he has served as special assistant to the White House for Russia and Eurasian Affairs at the National Security Council, and in 2008 coauthored an article in Foreign Policy magazine arguing that Russia has sacrificed political stability under Vladimir Putin by building a top-down government structure.

The Russian state television program on Tuesday alleged that Mr. McFaul wrote “hundreds” of articles critical of Mr. Putin. Noting the title of Mr. McFaul’s 2001 book was “An Unfinished Revolution in Russia. The political change from Gorbachev to Putin,” Mr. Leontiev asked, “Has Mr. McFaul arrived in Russia to work in the specialty? That is, finish the revolution?”

State-run television aired footage of opposition figures as they arrived at the U.S. Embassy for their meetings with Mr. McFaul on Tuesday. In the footage, video producers and pro-Kremlin youth groups shouted to them and asked why they had come to see the ambassador.

As some left after the meeting, a caption on television read: “An hour later instructions have been received.”

(Source: The Wall Street Journal)

Russia urges quick missile defense deal with US

MOSCOW — A deal with Washington to assuage Moscow’s concerns about U.S. missile defense plans in Europe is still possible, but time is running out, Russia’s foreign minister said Wednesday.

Sergey Lavrov reaffirmed that Moscow will take retaliatory action if moves by Washington to deploy missile shield components around Europe pose a threat to Russia.

The U.S. says its planned missile shield is aimed at deflecting potential missile threats from Iran, but Russia fears that the missile shield will eventually grow powerful enough to undermine Russia’s nuclear deterrent.

“Like any responsible state, we proceed not from declarations, but from concrete action when it comes to security issues,” Lavrov said. “Our response will strictly correspond to the potential of the European component of the U.S. missile defense as it develops.”

Moscow agreed in 2010 to consider NATO’s proposal to cooperate on the U.S.-led missile shield, but the talks have run into a deadlock over how the system should be operated. Russia has insisted that it should be run jointly, which NATO has rejected.

In a televised address to the nation in November, President Dmitry Medvedev threatened to deploy missiles to the Kaliningrad region, bordering Poland and Lithuania, and to other areas of Russia to be aimed at U.S. missile defense sites, if the U.S. and NATO fail to reach a deal allaying Russian worries. He urged the U.S. to provide firm and specific guarantees that its future missile defense potential will not be directed against Russia.

Lavrov said Wednesday that Russia doesn’t want confrontation with the U.S. and doesn’t think that Washington is making a specific effort to erode Russia’s nuclear deterrent.

But he added that the growing power of the U.S. missile shield could eventually make it capable of engaging Russia’s nuclear forces. “I hope that it’s not their goal, but its development undermines the strategic parity,” he said.

“We still have time to solve the acute problems, but it’s not unlimited,” Lavrov said, adding that Russia hopes that differences over missile defense wouldn’t throw Moscow and Washington back to a Cold War-style pattern of confrontation. “We must be heard and there must be a response to our legitimate concerns.”

Washington’s missile defense plans have been a key irritant in U.S.-Russian relations since President Ronald Reagan’s “Star Wars” plans that spooked the Kremlin in the 1980s.

The current toughening of Moscow’s rhetoric has posed a challenge to President Barack Obama’s policy of “resetting” relations with the Kremlin, which suffered badly under George W. Bush’s administration.

Russian ‘Pirate Party’ Joins Anti-Piracy Protest

Russia’s tiny but vocal Pirate Party joined on Wednesday in the global campaign against anti-piracy bills in the U.S. Congress that it says will jeopardize Russia’s emerging internet-dependent democracy and infringe on internet freedom.

“If these bills are adopted, U.S. judges would get the legal right to block the Russian social network Vkontakte as internet pirate №1, as well as Twitter and Facebook,” Pirate Party member Sergei Kolennik, 26, said.

A dozen party members attempted to stage a rally near the U.S. embassy in Moscow but were prevented by police, who detained two. However, the activists managed to pass a petition to U.S. Ambassador Michael McFaul through the embassy’s post office.

“We ask you not to remain indifferent but to convey to the U.S. public and government how important it is for the democratic future of Russia to save the freedom of internet,” the petition said.

It also cited the case of the Lopukhovs, who in 2007 set up the torrent tracker interfilm.ru to share movies and music. The couple is now facing a six-year prison term and the Russian Anti-Piracy Society (RAPO) has estimated the damage caused by their actions to film companies at $1 billion.

Hundreds of web resources all over the world, including English-language Wikipedia, blog-hosting site WordPress, social-media news site Reddit and the web page of the Pirate Party of Russia went dark on Wednesday in protest of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA) which are currently under discussion in the U.S. Congress.

The U.S. bills are intended to crack down on online movie and music piracy by blocking access to web resources thought to contain unauthorized copyright material and have already stirred serious discontent from web giants and internet users.

The music and film industries have backed the controversial bills, but Google, Facebook and Twitter have said the proposed measures represent a serious threat to innovations in the web industry.

A prominent Russian intellectual property lawyer Svetlana Kokina said that even if SOPA and PIPA are adopted, this will not strongly impede internet piracy.

“In my view, it’s impossible to tackle internet piracy; several attempts have already been made and they failed,” she said, adding that governments should rather come up with a legal framework to regulate internet piracy, as has been done with prostitution in several countries.

fuckyeahrussianpolitics:

euralmanac:

Alexei Navalny: Russia’s new rebel who has Vladimir Putin in his sights

On a freezing winter day last month, a tall man with blond hair walked up to a microphone in northern Moscow and began speaking to 80,000 people. This was not a rock concert or a football match. It was a demonstration against the government – the biggest in Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

The figure marching across the stage was Alexei Navalny, a 35-year-old lawyer. Virtually unknown two years ago, in the past six weeks Navalny has become the talisman of a growing movement for change that has put the Kremlin and Russia’s prime minister, Vladimir Putin, on the back foot.

Russians of all backgrounds joined the rally on Sakharov Avenue on 24 December, in protest at the Kremlin “stealing” a parliamentary election for Putin’s United Russia party earlier that month. Some waved placards ridiculing Putin’s comment that ribbons worn by people at a previous protest looked like condoms. They clapped the speakers, including a former MP in a flat cap like an English country gent – but when Navalny stepped up, a frisson of excitement passed through the crowd.

“I’ve been reading this little book,” cried Navalny, who wore jeans, a black coat and a knotted grey scarf. “It’s called the Russian constitution. And it says that the only source of power in Russia is the people. So I don’t want to hear those who say we’re appealing to the authorities. Who’s the power here?” “We are!” the crowd shouted in delight. “Who’s the power?” Navalny repeated. “We are!” (via guardian.co.uk)

I’m reblogging this just because I like his sweater vest lol

My father was there.

sashastolemyheart:

Vladimir Tarasenko is going to play for SKA St. Petersburg !!!

Лидер “Сибири” Владимир Тарасенко продолжит карьеру в СКА. Взамен питерский клуб отправил в новосибирскую команду форварда Вячеслава Солодухина, сообщает официальный сайт СКА.

В армейском клубе Тарасенко будет играть под 91-м номером. Впервые за новую команду молодой форвард сыграет в воскресенье, 15 января, в матче против “Барыса”. В этом сезоне Владимир Тарасенко входит в число лучших бомбардиров чемпионата КХЛ, в 39 матчах на его счету 38 (18+20) очков.