Tag: russia

And the setup of a Russian client state in Crimea continues apace.

Told you this would happen. Meet the new boss, taking orders from the old bosses:

The newly installed, pro-Russia prime minister of Crimea declared on Saturday that he had sole control over the military and the police in the disputed peninsula and he appealed to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia for help in safeguarding the region.

[snip]

In his statement Saturday, the Crimean prime minister, Sergei Aksyonov, said, “Understanding my responsibility for the life and safety of citizens, I appeal to the president of Russia, Vladimir V. Putin, for assistance in providing peace and tranquillity on the territory of the autonomous Republic of Crimea.”

Continue reading And the setup of a Russian client state in Crimea continues apace.

некултурны. #sochi #rsrh

“Nekulturny,” or “uncultured” in English. I learned it as “nyeh kulturny,” back when it was the nastiest thing that you could possibly call a Soviet Russian. Ah, the dubious joys of the Second World:

Beating women with whips for the cameras.  Russian regimes never change.

More via

“Police seize painting of Vladimir Putin in a negligee.”

I got nothing, sorry.

Police seized a painting of Russia’s president and prime minister in women’s underwear from a gallery in St Petersburg, saying the satirical display had broken unspecified laws.

The painting showed President Vladimir Putin wearing a tight-fitting slip and brushing the hair of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who is wearing knickers and a bra.

…Wait, that’s a lie: I figure that if we do end up blowing things up in Syria we’re going to first do a few things to kiss up to the regime that’s can’t bear to see their proto-Little Father be shown as a sweet transvestite*. We wouldn’t actually have to kiss up – the Cold War ended twenty years ago, and well, we won – but we’d still be going to. I’d respect the President’s decision to be so unilateral in his foreign policy decisions, except that I’m pretty much convinced that it’s due to fundamental incompetence on Barack Obama’s part.

[pause]

I’m going to have to show the painting, aren’t I?

I apologize in advance. Continue reading “Police seize painting of Vladimir Putin in a negligee.”

Ed Snowden defects to Russia.

.

MOSCOW — National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden has been granted temporary asylum in Russia for one year and left a Moscow airport Thursday to formally enter the country’s territory, according to his lawyer.

Anatoly Kucherena, Snowden’s legal representative, told RT, a Russian television network, that the papers issued by the Russian Immigration Service allow him to live, work and travel in Russia for a year.

So, if there was anything that the NSA knew that you didn’t want the Russians to know… yeah, that ship may or may not have sailed. I’d snark about that more, except that I don’t actually think that any of this was or is funny.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

PS: You may safely assume that I am not taking seriously any suggestion that Ed Snowden’s adventures in Russia will be over within the year. Certainly Russian intelligence and counter-intelligence agencies intend for Snowden to have a nice, long visit…

Tweet of the Day, HAHAHAHA :Breathe: HAHAHAHA edition.

You all know my views on Ed Snowden.  But this is… somehow apropos.  Or symbolic:

Via Twitchy. Hot Air has more; Ed’s being nicer about it, or at least laughing in private.

Moe Lane

PS: BTW, NEVER TRUST CONTENT FROM GLENN GREENWALD. Trust him and you’ll end up on a twelve hour flight from a former Commie hellhole to a current Commie hellhole with no story, and probably nothing to read.

Ed Snowden flees Hong Kong, goes to… Russia.

Told you he wasn’t legit.

This isn’t civil disobedience, by the way: civil disobedience is when you tell the cops to go ahead and arrest you, the legal system to go ahead and convict you, and the government to go ahead and actually put you in jail. Civil disobedience is about doing what you think is right and accepting the consequences. Otherwise, it’s presumption, arrogance, and the arrogant presumption of privilege (literally: “private law”).  Which is an excellent way to describe Ed Snowden, frankly. And Wikileaks, come to think of it.

No, what we have here instead is some good, old fashioned Lefty agitprop going on here:

The global cat-and-mouse hunt for Edward Snowden took a dramatic turn Sunday when the man wanted on U.S. espionage charges fled Hong Kong and may be in the air over Russia.

Snowden, who leaked top-secret details about U.S. surveillance programs, left Hong Kong on Sunday “through a lawful and normal channel,” the Hong Kong government said.

He took off with the help of WikiLeaks, which assisted with Snowden’s “political asylum in a democratic country, travel papers (and) safe exit from Hong Kong,” the group said on Twitter.

He’s gone to Russia.  Russia, where they kill uppity journalists.  Continue reading Ed Snowden flees Hong Kong, goes to… Russia.

Speaking as a former commuter…

…All I’d care about is whether the dogs are likely to start drunkenly shouting about the Islanders, then vomit all over the seats.  No?  Then leave me alone; some of us are trying to sleep, here.  The dog gets this; why can’t you?

Via:

Boston Marathon aftermath: feds warned by Russia about Tamerlan Tsarnaev in 2011.

Let me just put this FBI press release out there for you.  It’s dated April 19, 2013, by the way: this will be important later.

2011 Request for Information on Tamerlan Tsarnaev from Foreign Government

The two individuals believed to be responsible for the Boston Marathon bombings on Monday have been positively identified as Tamerlan Tsarnaev, now deceased, and Dzhokar Tsarnaev, now in custody. These individuals are brothers and residents of Massachusetts. Tamerlan Tsarnaev was a legal permanent resident and Dzhokar Tsarnaev is a naturalized U.S. citizen. Charges have not yet been filed against Dzhokar Tsarnaev and he is presumed innocent. Continue reading Boston Marathon aftermath: feds warned by Russia about Tamerlan Tsarnaev in 2011.

“It is good to be Vladimir Putin…” (Kinda NSFW)

“…da?”

Via Instapundit.

Moe Lane

PS: I should probably note here that I happen to despise the SOB personally; I just don’t think that he’s going to throw nukes at us, or in fact do anything much except be the de facto Little Father for the rest of his life. Which scenario apparently the Russians themselves aren’t too upset about, so what the hell can we do about it?

Russians looking to protect Cypriot… investments?

The American Interest and Hot Air are covering this one pretty well, so here’s the executive summary: the EU wants to raid Cypriot individual bank accounts in exchange for a bank bailout; this is freaking out Russians crony capitalist oligarchs, who have been using said banks to deposit their… questionable… gains for the last decade; and so the Russian energy company Gazprom is making a counter-offer to stabilize the banks, in exchange for what are frankly speculative natural gas exploration rights. The Cyprus government may or may not take that offer, but they will probably use it as leverage in order to screw over… somebody.  Either the EU, or the Russians, or maybe both.  Reply hazy: try again later.

That’s pretty much it, except for this operation: if you’re really worried about crony capitalism, check out Russia’s.  They make the Obama administration look like pikers, and the average Republican White House look like Milton Friedman and F. A. Hayek’s love child.