Tag Archives: Duma
Fearbox
Come next Saturday, Russians will find that their cigarettes look very, very different. Following up on a highly controversial and uberblunt anti-smoking ad campaign, the Duma has introduced a law that will eliminate the bland “Smoking is harmful to your health” … Continue reading
Do you know who I am?
Today, I bring you another tale of swaggering servants of the Russian people. On Victory Day, May 9, a huge column of tanks, armored vehicles, and missiles paraded through Moscow, but then they had to get back to their base … Continue reading
Serious allegations: Kalmyk governor leaks classified information to 'humanoid' aliens
Andrey Lebedev, a Duma deputy for the right-wing nationalistic LDPR party, is pissed: there is a traitor in Russia’s house, and he’s a traitor of the very worst order. Lebedev’s allegation, which he addressed yesterday to President Dmitry Medvedev, is … Continue reading
Now that's love
Presid– Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is an hour into his three-hour state of the nation address to the State Duma (the parliament). This was a tradition instituted, conveniently, when Putin became prime minister. Today, Putin clearly has a bad, bad … Continue reading
The government water-filter self-endorsement wars (WTF)
A ZF-MChS (Shoygu) water filter may set you back $4o, but it comes with several apparent guarantees: It has MChS in its name — which is the acronym for the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry; It has Shoygu in its name … Continue reading
Mock elections result in mock revolution
Earlier this week, I had a piece in Foreign Policy about the disputed regional elections of October 11 (they of the George Will campaign ads). It outlines how widespread reports of fraud led to the walk out and week-long boycott … Continue reading
Looking for clemency in all the wrong places
Today, the Russian parliament approved changes to the criminal code that guarantee that extradited Russian criminals won’t be executed on their return to Russia and that women who are pregnant or have children under 14 will be free from punishment. … Continue reading
Russia wants to castrate sex offenders
A law proposed by the pensioners/working-man’s A Just Russia party would have sex offenders chemically castrated for “forced sexual acts” with anyone under the age of 14 and for any kind of sexual activity with minors under 12. The law … Continue reading
