"Far-right groups plan to hold rallies across Russia next month under the slogan "It's our country" as human rights organisations warned of a mounting racist campaign to drive out foreign workers. Anti-immigrant sentiments have been widespread in Russia for years but this month President Vladimir Putin said the "native population" must be protected from "ethnic" criminals after a series of fights between Russians and migrants from former Soviet republics."
Next I bet you will be telling us that Reuters is also in on this massive insider world press conspiracy that seems to be everywhere whenever inconvienent facts are printed about Mr. Putin and his government. ************************* That fucking idiot Thomas Friedman uncorks an anti-Putin rant in today's NYT. I love the way Putin makes people like TF fulminate, and there's not a goddamn thing they can do about him.
Doug ***********
As far as Friedman goes his economic policies are putrid. Seems to me his article is all about economic competition among different economic powers with oil now at the center of things. Rather than a rant it seems like ramping up the rhetoric on the other side. How any of this rhetoric from pro and anti-Putin adherents combats racism, neo-fascism, and poverty is not clear.
That said how is this inaccurate in the sense that this represents an aspect of Russian society today that Putin apologists spin and ignore: "Today, Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, flush with surging oil and gas profits, is crushing domestic opponents, renationalizing major energy companies, throwing out Western human rights groups and generally making himself the big man on campus in Europe."
What is really fucking despicable is how domestic problems in the US are ignored by Friedman and friends--for example see my article on Liberty City that I posted today. This says that he knows all about human rights and oppression only in terms of strategic advantage. ----
New York Times - October 25, 2006
The Really Cold War By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN