Much is made in the western press about a demonstration in Kaliningrad  and something increasingly referred to as a "DePutinization" of Russia, yet nothing whatsoever is reported about the fact that Russian opinion polls, conducted openly and without an iota of manipulation, point towards massive popularity rates for the Government.

The Western media has a problem, a big problem: now that the Cold War has ended, there is no "them" to justify the "us" so they have been detailed to create one. Africa is a dark place where extreme weather conditions coupled with decades of mismanagement and a legacy of colonialism and imperialism have created situations of extreme poverty.

Therefore it is relegated to the status of "sick man of the world" and the only news that comes out of it is negative, but Africa is not powerful enough to be considered as a foe. Asia? Too far away. Latin America? Idem and anyway it was Uncle Sam's back garden. In the case of the Soviet Union, this same media had a wonderful adversary: strong, powerful, standing on the other side of the Iron Curtain and right on Europe's doorstep!

But what happened when the Union dissolved (voluntarily, as catered for under its own Constitution)? Easy! They just perpetuated the myth, even though the story did not exist. Hence the absurd references to Putin as "dictator" (he was democratically elected as President, not once but twice, with a huge margin of popularity, more than Presidents Bush and Obama together). Hence the sheer ignorance displayed in these propaganda outlets (let's call a spade, a spade) when referring to the Government party, United Russia, as anything other than the party the Russian people have chosen and the party which a vast majority still supports.

In the recent opinion poll carried out by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center, the second most popular party was revealed: The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF), led by Gennady Ziuganov. The voter approval rate? 7 (seven) per cent. In third place the LDPR (Liberal Democratic Party) of Vladimir Zhirinovsky, with 5% and in fourth place, A Just Russia (Spravedlivaya Rossiya, SR) led by Sergey Mironov, with 4%.

And Unified Russia, the party of President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin? First, with an overwhelming majority, with a voter approval rate over seven times higher than the second-placed Communist Party, with 54%.

Now where is that statistic in the western media, and where, by the way, is the darling of the western press, Gary Kasparov? In a word, and in answer to both questions, nowhere.

Therefore the media can make what it wants of demonstrations and protests (the ones which are legalised properly according to the law are authorized, the ones which are deliberately organized illegally to stir up trouble receive the same treatment as similar demonstrations everywhere else).

Certainly people protest. They have a lot to protest about. Those old enough to remember can only compare the system before and after (full employment, free housing, free public services, free or very cheap public utilities, excellent education system, leisure time, indexed pensions, versus unemployment, the drama it is to buy a house, the drama of keeping a job, rising prices and all the other utter marvels inherent in the market economy). But this is not the fault of the Government, this is not the fault of Unified Russia.

It is the fault of the global economic and financial system which lurches from boom to bust, which crashes from one disaster to the next and which carries in its wake firms, jobs and livelihoods. If Russia were a dictatorship as they say, the protests would not exist.

It would be interesting to see some truthful reporting in western media circles, and not hype, hysteria and histrionics. The protests and demonstrations are about economics, not politics and if Unified Russia had not run the country so skilfully, things would be far worse than they are.

That is why Unified Russia has an approval rate well over three times higher than the 3 leading opposition parties put together.  So when the Russophobic Western media speaks about the "Opposition" as a powerful force inside Russia, why don't they ask the people how they intend to vote?

Kind of makes a mockery of the utter drivel they write, does it not?

Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY

PRAVDA.Ru

 

Putin reality politics

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday March 8 is the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day, a national holiday in Russia (since 1965) to commemorate the remarkable achievements of women in guaranteeing victories for human rights despite continued constraints. International Women's Day serves as a focal point for us to document the present and future challenges facing women and to pool resources to implement women's rights on a global scale. Amazing it is that such a Day should still be necessary.

"The beating was getting more and more severe. In the beginning it was confined to the house. Gradually he stopped caring. He slapped me in front of others and continued to threaten me. Every time he beat me it was as if he was trying to test my endurance, to see how much I could take". (1)

History of International Women's Day

International Women's Day started in the United States of America, launched by a declaration of the Socialist Party of America on February 28th, 1909 using as a basis the need to guarantee women's rights in an increasingly industrialized society and was taken up by the international community at the first International Women's Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1910. The horrific and inhumane conditions at the New York Triangle Shirtwaist factory which caused the deaths of 140 garment workers (mostly women) in 1911 provided an added impetus at a time when women were pressing for the right to vote and demonstrations in Russia prior to the 1917 Revolution were the first signs of women's emancipation in that country, culminating in the declaration by Lenin of a Women's Day on March 8th; in 1965 it was declared a public holiday by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet.

"Emotional abuse is worse. You can become insane when you are constantly humiliated and told that you are worthless, you are nothing" (2)

Why March 8th?

Women had been demonstrating for their rights since pre-Classical times (e.g. the sexual strike called by Lysistrata in Ancient Greece, the March on Versailles by Parisian woman calling for "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" in the 1790s). Copenhagen had chosen 19^th March for the celebration of an International Women's Day but in 1913, Russian women chose the last Sunday in February (following the Declaration by the Socialist Party of America in 1909) as the date for their International Women's Day to call for peace on the eve of the First World War. As Springtime and local customs to give the first flowers to women combined, the end of Febuary/beginning of March began to be the time of year observed by the feminist movements, until in 1917, Russian women called a strike on the last Sunday of February to protest against the War (23d February) in the Julian Calendar; 8th March in the Gregorian.

"My husband slaps me, has sex with me against my will and I have to conform" (3)

Continuing the impetus

After having been considered "too stupid to have the right to vote", over the last century, women stood up for their rights and won victories, culminating in the right to vote and in gaining equal rights across a wide spectrum of professional activities.

"I take a blanket and I spend the night with my children out in the cold because he is hitting me too much and I have to take the kids to stop him hitting them too" (4)

However, so much more needs to be done and it is a telling statement that after 100 years, we are still faced by glaring and shocking statistics regarding women, such as:

Women own one per cent of the world's property, earn 10% of the world's income, yet perform 66% of the work, produce 50% of the food;

Women have to work longer hours than men to receive the same income;

Women are concentrated in insecure jobs in the informal sector and are far more vulnerable to unemployment;

Unacceptable statistics

How can we state that we have reached a collective state of civilization when we are confronted by statistics such as these?

A WHO study conducted in ten countries discovered that between 15 and 71% of women reported physical or sexual violence perpetrated by a husband or partner;

For the 15-44 age group, violence causes more victims among women than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents and war;

Up to 40% of women in some countries stated that their first sexual encounter was not consensual;

There are 5,000 honour killings worldwide per year;

20% of women worldwide experience sexual abuse as children;

In South Africa, one women is killed every 6 hours by an intimate partner; in India 22 women are murdered each day in dowry-related incidents, often burnt alive;

80% of the world's victims of human trafficking are women;

100 to 140 million girls have been the victims of Female Genital Mutilation, 3 million girls per year are subjected to this horrific act of intrusion;

There are 60 million girls per year forced into marriage as child brides;

Worldwide, 25% of pregnant women are subjected to physical or sexual abuse (including being punched or kicked in the abdomen);

40 to 50% of women in the EU have experiences sexual harassment at work;

83% of girls in the USA experienced some form of sexual harassment in public schools (5)

Conclusion

If we state that women's rights have been reached and ignore the facts presented above (but a minuscule sample of the horrific register of sexist abuse) then we are admitting that we live in an unjust, feeble and impotent global society which in over one hundred years of concerted efforts to set women's rights on an equal footing with those of men has still not managed to create universal and global structures.

While one of the biological functions of the woman is to carry the child through pregnancy (if

she so wishes), how can we say that we have reached any pinnacle of success if the right to employment is in many cases subjected to the precept that the woman will not have children and when hardly any societies worldwide have created the financial mechanisms for women to have full professional lives while performing their chosen roles as wives and mothers, quite apart from guaranteeing their right to inviolability of their physical integrity?

(1) UNO: Thai University Graduate

(2) UNO: Woman interviewed in Serbia/Montenegro

(3) UNO: Woman interviewed in Bangladesh

(4) UNO: Woman interviewed in Peru

(5) American Association of University Women. 2001. Hostile Hallways: Bullying, Teasing, and Sexual Harassment in School.  

Lisa KARPOVA

Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY

PRAVDA.Ru

 

International Women's Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Russian national soccer team is as from yesterday officially in a post-Guss Hiddink trauma syndrome, although it might not know it yet. If Hiddink didn't do it, who can? Who can make this group of players perform like those boys who ate the grass in the Summer of 2008, or who can make the perfect balance between the Russia of EURO-2008 and post-Maribor 2009? A name appears... two actually...

Guus Hiddink took Russia to a pinnacle the team had not reached for many years, gaining third place in the UEFA 2008 after stunning performances, principally against Holland. Everything led us to believe that the team would build on this success and go further.

The FIFA 2010 campaign was good, very good but with one stone in the shoe: Germany in the group. But for a dose of bad luck in both games against Germany, Russia would today be making travel plans for South Africa. Under Hiddink, Russia finished second in the qualifying group for the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa behind Germany, with 22 points - the best second place, and enough to win several other groups outright. Everything seemed set for a victorious outcome in the play-off over two legs with Slovenia.

Instead, a poor lacklustre and tired performance in both legs of the play-off (2-1 in Moscow and 0-1 in Maribor) spelt the end of this generation and a full stop in Hiddink's aspirations in Russia. The team was a shadow of itself just one year previously. Slovenia qualified for South Africa on away goals. Russia will watch the finals on TV.

He leaves declaring that "Do svidanya" means not "Goodbye" but "Until I see you again", meaning that the possibility of a come-back is open and departs for Turkey, where he will take up the challenge of coaching the national team in August.

His sins? Accused of not spending enough time in Russia and of relying too heavily on the nucleus of players who had done him proud in UEFA 2008,  Guus Hiddink did not need to prove himself before he came to Russia. His success as a coach is enviable: With PSV Eindhoven, he won the Dutch First Division Championship six times, (1986/87, 1987/88, 1988/89 2002/03, 2004/05 and 2005/06), the UEFA Champions League in 1987/88 and the Dutch Cup three times (1987/88, 1988/89 and 1989/90). To this he added the World Clubs Title with Real Madrid in 1998 and the English FA Cup with Chelsea in 2008/9.

As a national team coach, he took Holland and South Korea to the quarter-finals of the World Cup, respectively, in 1998 and 2002 and in 2006, guaranteed Australia their first presence in a World Cup final stage in 32 years.

After Hiddink who is next? The internal figure may be Kurban Berdyev who took FC Rubin Kazan to two successive championships in the Russian Premier League. Certain limited experience in Europe was a positive but the international career is limited. The external one may be the British Roy Hodgson. His pedigree is enviable: In club football, he has managed Viking FK, Malmo FF, Internazionale, Blackburn Rovers, Grasshoppers, FC Copenhagem, Udinese and is currently at Fulham FC. As national team manager, he took Switzerland to the 1994 World Cup Finals and the Euro 1996 Finals.

Having worked in UEFA and FIFA technical groups and being multi-lingual, Roy Hodgson has international experience which may prove irresistible to Russia.

Time will tell. But now that Hiddink has closed the door, who else?

Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY

PRAVDA.Ru

 

Hiddink Russia soccer Roy Hodgson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

President Hugo Chavez is right. There is a sinister and underhanded, hidden and deceitful side to Washington's diplomacy and the document we are about to reveal proves it. Who is in charge of the White House, President Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton and the arms and AIPAC lobbies? After reading this, there can be little doubt.

Eva Golinger* discovered this document, "Department of the Air Force, Military Construction Program Fiscal Year 2010" drawn up in May of 2009, sent by the Pentagon to the US House of Congress. This is the document denounced by President Hugo Chavez at the UNASUL meeting on August 28, 2009 in Bariloche, regarding the US base at Palanquero, Columbia and proves the veracity of the philosophy General Mobility of the US Air Force in Latin America.

President Alvaro Uribe and Secretary of State Hillary "War Zone" Clinton are liars, according to this document. He, and the US State Department, stated on October 30 2009 on the occasion of the signing of the military agreement between Washington and Bogota, that the document concerned only operations within the territory of Columbia (with a view to fighting drugs trafficking and "terrorism").

The document mentions "world class space superiority". On Page 217 of the document ** regarding the base at Palanquero it states clearly: "Mission or Major Functions: This Cooperative Security Location (CSL) enhances the U. S. Global Defense Posture (GDP) Strategy which directs development of a comprehensive and integrated presence and basing strategy aligned with the principles of developing relations with partner nations. Palanquero provides an opportunity for conducting full spectrum operations throughout South America including CN (Counter Narcotics) missions. It also supports mobility missions by providing access to the entire continent, except the Cape Horn region, if fuel is available, and over half of the continent if unrefueled".

Full Spectrum Dominance is a US military concept involving joint military structure control over all battlespace elements in a region (land, air, sea, space). It is a strategic doctrine espoused by the USA in recent years with regard to preparing to control any situation with a wide range of military options.

Page 218 speaks about operations not in Columbia, but in the "sub-region" and I quote: "Location (CSL) at Palanquero best supports the COCOM's Theater Posture Strategy and demonstrates our commitment to this relationship. Development of this CSL provides a unique opportunity for full spectrum operations in a critical sub region of our hemisphere where security and stability is under constant threat from narcotics funded terrorist insurgencies, anti-US governments, endemic poverty and recurring natural disasters".

The document goes on to mention "theatre operations", "operational aircraft" and then justifies the location of Palanquero because of its location and the fact that it "minimizes the US military profile" and refers to "regional access and presence".

"Palanquero is unquestionably the best site for investing in infrastructure development within Columbia. Its central location is within reach of Andean Ridge counter narco-terrorist operations areas; the superb runway and existing airfield facilities will reduce construction costs; its isolation maximizes Operational Security (OPSEC) and Force Protection and minimizes the U.S. military profile. The intent is to leverage existing

infrastructure to the maximum extent possible, improve the U.S. ability to respond

rapidly to crisis, and assure regional access and presence at minimum cost".

"Palanquero supports the mobility mission by providing access to the entire South

American continent with the exception of the Cape Horn region if fuel is available,

and over half of the continent unrefueled".

In the same section we have a reference to the need to perform upgrades to Palanquero because "If these upgrades are not accomplished, it will severely limit the ability of USSOUTHCOM to support the U.S. Global Defense Posture (GDP)

Strategy which directs development of a comprehensive and integrated presence and

basing strategy aligned with the principles of developing relationships with

partner nations, ensuring mutual benefits between US and partner nations, limited

restrictions on U.S. freedom of action by partner nations and appropriate sharing

of costs".

Is the State Department running the USA? It sure doesn't seem to be President Obama.

*Federal Promotor from New York, living in Caracas since 2005.

**http://www.centrodealerta.org/documentos_desclasificados/original_in_english_air_for.pdf

Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY

PRAVDA.Ru

 

Palanquero US military Colombia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is the difference between the current and previous US Administrations? The Bush regime was abrasive, bullying, chauvinistic and divisive, wantonly destroying bridges as it rode roughshod over an international community that did not act with a unified voice; the Obama approach is more agreeable, benevolent, cultured and dynamic. What a difference.

Two different generations, two different styles from one and the same people, the same country. While the Bush regime was perhaps the epitome of arrogance, belligerence and callousness, spelling out the ABC of the very worst the conspiracy theorists could level at Washington, Barack Obama, especially, and not necessarily the "regime" lurking in the shadows around him, is a breath of fresh air, representing instead the fundamental precepts of democracy, namely debate, dialogue and discussion.

His promise to listen has as yet produced little or nothing as regards foreign policy. The horrific and inhumane trade embargo continues to place a stranglehold around the heroic people of Cuba, just because the island decided to throw off the yolk of imperialism and constitute an alternative system. Hillary Clinton's request for Brazil to use its influence to act on the Islamic Republic of Iran may have fallen on deaf ears. The USA favours pressure, Brasilia favours dialogue and the United States' close relationship with the Uribe regime in Chile, complete with his background of para-militarism and narco-terrorism, is antagonistic to the collective psyche of the Continent.

However, there can be no doubt that the will for collaboration and cooperation is out there in the international community, and the fact that the US Secretary of State is speaking to Washington's international partners and not formulating a unilateralist policy behind closed doors is a very welcome change.

And this change has been noticed in Russia where a recent poll reveals that for the first time since the Georgia conflict, the number of Russians who declare that they like the USA has surpassed 50 per cent. The opinion poll, carried out by the Levada Center, reveals that while the figure was just 31% in November 2008 (shortly after the war in which Georgia declared a ceasefire, then violated it in a cowardly manner and slaughtered almost 2,000 Russian civilians in South Ossetia before being thrashed in a lightning campaign by the Russian Armed Forces) now 54 per cent of Russians declare they like the USA.

Those who stated they dislike the USA fell from 54% to 31% in the same period. What is the reason for this?

The death of unilateralism

The Obama team understood from very early on that the old abrasiveness and arrogance followed by Washington Administrations which were wholly insensitive to how people behaved and acted overseas would create far more enemies than friends.

The Russian Federation has for years been calling for a multilateralist approach which uses the UNSC as its forum for debate and decision-making as the dangers of the unilateralism followed by the previous administrations (Clinton's foreign policy disaster in the Balkans and the Bush catastrophe in Iraq) were revealed and the need for a new approach became apparent.

Obama's call for dialogue and his promise to listen is the presentation of an agreeable, pleasant modus operandi in which mutual respect for each others' cultures and the will to talk and learn together can become a fundamental precept of world diplomacy for the coming century. While Moscow has insisted that this be the cornerstone of diplomacy for decades, only with the commitment of Washington will it be possible.

With Obama, yes, we can.

Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY

PRAVDA.Ru

 

Obama USA Russia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With friends like Osama Bin Laden among the Bosnians, why should Radovan Karadzic need enemies? As the defence enters the last day of two, we see the utter injustice of the International Criminal Court, a NATO instrument of kidnapping, illegal detention and laundering of NATO war crimes. If it were a serious legal institution, Bush and his cronies would be languishing in a cell. As it is, it has again violated its own Constitution and the case is void.

Radovan Karadzic, the Bosnian Serb leader during the Bosnian war, entered the first of his two-day defence today in front of the ICC at The Hague. Denying two counts of genocide and nine others (murder, extermination, persecution, forced deportation and seizing hostages), he declares that he will "defend that nation of ours" which followed a "just and holy cause". After all, Radovan Karadzic was fighting international terrorism. And who was on the other side? The one the CIA referred to as UBL, himself: Osama Bin Laden.

Claiming that the Serbs were demonised for everything they did and promising to tell the "marble truth", Dr. Karadzic, a psychiatrist, has been accused of orchestrating a campaign to ethnically cleanse areas of Bosnia-Herzegovina in a campaign which included the 44-month siege of Sarajevo and the so-called "massacre of Srebrenica" in July 1995 in which 8,000 Moslem males were killed.

But what is the other side to the coin? Dr. Karadzic claims to "have good evidence and proof" that the Serbs were only defending themselves against the Croatian and Moslem "ethnocentric aims" of Franjo Tudjman and Alija Izetbegovic to carve out their own States and that the 8.000 figure was an invention by his enemies including civilians and soldiers killed by the Moslems themselves.

Furthermore, several Dutch soldiers from the Netherlands battalion in Srebrenica have come forward, declaring they were hated in their own country, that there is complete repression against them and claiming that they did not see any Serbs committing any war crimes, that they had to defend themselves against the Moslems and not the Serbs, and further stating that the Serb soldiers were helping the Moslem women and children (as they had done in Kosovo, where women were fleeing the KLA prostitute rings and trying to reach the Serb lines).

ICC breaks its own Constitution: Case void

The ICC was set up by the Rome Treaty. Under its own Article 55 on Rights of Persons during an Investigation, section 1 (d) it states that a person:

"(d) Shall not be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention, and shall not be

deprived of his or her liberty except on such grounds and in accordance

with such procedures as are established in this Statute."

Why, then was Slobodan Milosevic illegally kidnapped from the Republic of Serbia and taken to the ICC, where he lost his life under illegal detention, which went against every fibre of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Republic of Serbia at the time? Why does the ICC not have a massive compensation case pending against it to Milosevic's family?

Under Article 67 on Rights of the Accused, Section 1 (b), it states that a person has the right:

"(b) To have adequate time and facilities for the preparation of the defence and

to communicate freely with counsel of the accused's choosing in

confidence;"

Why then did Dr. Radovan Karadzic not have enough time to prepare himself, given that the prosecution submitted 415.000 pages to the trial since October? Who can read 2,766 pages a day and adequately prepare their defence? Given this, the case is void.

What was Dr. Karadzic fighting against?

For one, Osama Bin Laden is the proud holder of a Bosnian passport, according to an independent publication (Dani) which claimed that the Bosnian Embassy in Vienna "granted a passport to bin Laden in 1993" stating then that "High Moslem officials of the Bosnian Foreign Ministry agreed that (the destruction of these files) was of a high priority" and further that "the Bosnian government confirmed it had granted citizenship and passport to a Tunisian-born senior aide of bin Laden in 1997".

What was bin Laden doing? Establishing an Albanian operation, setting up terrorist camps (in Bocina Donja near Maglaj in Bosnia), training Islamic fighters to carry out terrorist attacks on Serbs and funding the NLA in Macedonia, which controlled the drugs trade through the region. Moreover, Alija Izetbegovic failed to live up to his commitments under the Dayton Agreement (to remove all foreign Moslem fighters from Bosnia), for large numbers of foreign Mujaheddin remained in the area after the agreement.

And Dr. Radovan Karadzic is in the dock?

Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY

PRAVDA.Ru

 

Bosnia Bin Laden Karadzic

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NASA scientist Richard Gross claims that the massive 8.8. magnitude Chile earthquake on February 27 may have shifted the Earth's axis by as much as 8 cm (3 inches) which would be enough to shorten the length of day.

According to NASA website, using a computerised model modeling the earth's rotation, Richard Gross of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, estimated that the figure axis upon which the Earth's mass is balanced could have been shifted by the Chile quake, the fifth largest in history, by 2.7 milliarcseconds, equivalent to 8 cm or 3 inches. This occurred because a portion of the earth's core collapsed swiftly and massively, altering the planet's equilibrium.

This, in turn, he claims would shorten the length of day by 1.26 microseconds, or 1.26 millionths of a second because the Earth's rotation would have been speeded up. For Gross, the Chilean quake is likely to have had an even greater effect on the Earth's figure axis than the larger Sumatra earthquake of 2004 (9.1 on the Richter scale) because the epicentre was located further away from the equator and nearer the mid-latitudes (having a greater lateral effect) and due to the fact that the Chilean fault line (the Nasca Plate) goes deeper down into the Earth's core.

Furthermore, the Chilean earthquake was the thust-type (with an inward pull) as opposed to the strike-slip type which has a horizontal pull.

Several other effects can lengthen or shorten the day (and these effects are never permanent), namely lunar tidal pulls and volcanic eruptions. Another study published today (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts) reports that the Chilean quake could have been the tail-end of the 1960 9.5-magnitude quake, the result of a stress build-up.

Lisa KARPOVA

Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY

PRAVDA.Ru

 

NASA Richard Gross axis

Doesn't it feel great to slam the door behind you as you walk out, stick up the middle finger using the palm of the left hand on the upper right forearm for extra leverage and blow a giant raspberry? That is exactly how it feels as Russia leaves Vancouver after disappointing Games with a question, was the Canadian ice hockey team on drugs?

The middle finger goes to the shockingly dangerous organization of the Games which cost the life of a Georgian luger right at the outset on day 1 (Nodar Kumaritashvili lost his life because the track was unfit, and indeed the corner where he crashed was elevated the following day) and the giant raspberry goes to the appalling, abominable and biased judging of events which cost Russia medal after medal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The middle finger and the giant raspberry go to the Canadian ice hockey team. Were they on drugs the day they beat Russia so overwhelmingly? These days, and since the USSR's 8-1 thrashing of Canada in the early 80s, Canada-Russia ice hockey games are always very closely fought events and there has not been such a monumental difference between the two sides. Very strange, the more so since the same Team Canada (whatever the hell that stupid expression is supposed to mean) put in an extremely lacklustre performance against lowly Slovakia and was lucky to reach Sunday's final. And for anyone who is about to be shocked by the question, one supposes it is OK to make cheap and gratuitous references to Russians and doping, but when the ball rolls back home it hurts. Right?

We will never know, will we? We will never know, because the officials at Vancouver predictably did not mete out to the Canadians the shockingly humiliating treatment given to the Russian skier Natalya Korosteleva, asked to produce a urine sample during the break between the quarter-and semi-finals of her event. Had she complied, she would not have had time to enter the semis.

The more shocking it was due to the insolence shown by Olympic officials already installed in Canada prior to the Games, insinuating that the Russian athletes are synonymous with doping. The fact of the matter is, however, that there has not been one single doping incident involving a Russian athlete in Vancouver.

Nobody in Russia will miss Vancouver. The entire team was affected by the death of Nodar Kumaritashvili (contrary to popular belief in the western media, Russians do not hate Georgians and have no desire to constantly humiliate the country despite the murderous adventures of war criminal and Washington protégé Saakashvili), the entire team was affected by the climate of hostility and intrusion shown by officials and the results were what we saw. Three Golds, Five Silvers and Seven Bronze medals.

Not bad by the standards of many but paltry for Russia. Now we see the value of the Soviet sports schools, now we see the value of the Youth Movements which raised children who were proud to represent and win for their country. It was not the Soviet Union that collapsed in the early 90s, it was discipline, fibre and morals.

For once and for all, let us blow that idiotic reference to "collapse of the USSR" into outer space and leave it there. The Soviet Union did not collapse. It simply disengaged, on a voluntary basis, as foreseen in its Constitution. No sweat, no problems, no big deal. Its original objectives had been achieved in full: security of the state, security on the streets, universal education, women's rights, excellent and gratuitous public services, zero unemployment, guaranteed and free housing, transportation, utilities, leisure time activities, an excellent healthcare service and guaranteed pensions. Pretty good in just a few generations, and this despite the trillions of dollars being spent by Canada and its friends trying to sabotage the model, assassinate Communist political leaders and so on as the Soviet Union freed countless countries from the yolk of Imperialism and implemented the same excellent public services in them. In Africa, in Latin America, in Asia.

However, times change and Russia has maintained, in general, good relations with its neighbours. It is not Moscow's fault that the Baltic States decided to side with NATO not out of any animosity towards Russia but more so because it is good business and greases a few palms, but don't tell Washington. It is not Moscow's fault that Georgia is run by a homicidal maniac who should be strung up by his balls. Yes, I said it. And I'll say it again. Mikheil Saakashvili is a war criminal, a homicidal maniac and should be strung up by his balls.

It will take Russia a few more years to reach the pinnacle of sporting excellence. This may come already at Sochi in 2014. Canadians will find themselves welcomed as friends. They will have their hands shaken in the streets. People will smile at them. The Organization at Sochi will not spend the weeks in the run-up to the Games making insolent remarks about Canadians and doping. Canadian athletes will not be asked to produce urine samples seconds before they are due to compete. This will be the difference.

Sochi, the Gateway to the Future, is about where North meets South, East meets West. The Games will not be dangerous for the athletes, the judges will not be biased. Sochi will show Vancouver how it's done, because despite the results of these Games, Russians do it better!

Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY

PRAVDA.Ru

 

Vancouver Olympics Russia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the United States of America, there are some 7,000 racial hate incidents a year. In the Russian Federation, in 2009, there were 71 such incidents with foreigners, down from 110 in 2008. Yet why is the international press full of stories about racial hate crimes in Russia and silent about everywhere else?

As usual, Russia is the victim of a slagging campaign by those who wish to gain a reputation by making derogatory comments in the "bought 'n' biased" western media, which likes to sell cosy packages of half-truths to its readers and viewers. In this case, the topic once again is racial hate crime.

The Russian authorities are as clear in divulging the facts and figures as they are in stating categorically that the Government is cracking down hard on what amount to be a handful of thugs, and nothing more or less than that.

In 2008, there were 110 recorded racial crime incidents and this figure decreased to 71 in 2009. In 2010, there have been 15 such attacks so far, resulting in six deaths and 15 injuries. In 2008, the number of deaths in the same period was 16, with 36 injured and in 2009, 26 and 48.

The facts are these and they are crystalline, for all to see. Nobody with a brain in Russia supports the extremist groups which perpetrate these crimes, and anyway, what is Russia but a wonderful mix of peoples and cultures and languages and cuisines?

The Russian Federation is composed of no less than 160 different ethnic groups who speak around 100 different languages.

Therefore being Russian and racist are two opposites, which makes no sense... and for this reason the criticism in the international media should be made more responsibly.

Let us take for example the JoongAng Daily of the Republic of Korea, with its outrageous editorial from February 24, claiming that "foreigners who aren't Caucasian gamble their lives" in Russia whose streets "are roaming with bands of ultra right nationalist groups" before using that idiotic phrase "the collapse of the Soviet Union".

Let us get one thing straight, once and for all: the Soviet Union did not "collapse" any more than it "lost" the Cold War. It simply dissolved voluntarily as catered for under the Soviet Constitution and morphed into something else, a Commonwealth of Independent States. No big deal. As for the Cold War, nobody can win or lose something that does not exist.

As regards the JoongAng Daily, lamentable as it is that four Korean students have been murdered this year alone, it is a gross exaggeration to claim that "15 per cent of the young Russian population supports the extremist nationalistic movement".

It depends on who you ask. Ask someone with a brain, and the answer will be no, of course not. Ask some half-wit with nothing else to do, and anything is possible.

The streets of Russia are as safe, if not more so, than those in most countries. And as in most countries, the authorities are composed by professionals who are doing their job, and well. Racial hate crime in Russia is a fraction of what it is in the United States of America, but of course nobody is going to speak about that.

Then for those who report with such bias and venom against Russia, please don't call yourselves journalists and for those who print such stories, don't call yourselves newspapers. Call yourselves guttersnipes writing for the gutter press.

Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY
PRAVDA.Ru

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Brazil's President Lula has just started his fourth trip to Cuba, in an atmosphere of friendship and good humour, expressing solidarity between two States and two peoples living happily  with two different economic systems. Why would it be impossible for a President of the United States of America to shake hands with Fidel Castro and sign a treaty of cooperation and friendship?

President Obama was elected on a ticket of change, claiming "Yes, we can". Then why don't you? What, for instance, has changed in the US policy towards Cuba since President Obama took office?

Precious little. True, family visits are less restrictive. True, it is easier to send remittances from the United States to Cuba. True, it is now easier to deliver humanitarian aid. However, this does not mean that all restrictions on travel to Cuba have been lifted and this does not mean that the inhumane trade embargo has been lifted.

In fact, there has been no substantial difference in the United States' policy towards Cuba for several decades. Therefore it comes as no surprise whatsoever that President Lula of Brazil can exchange frank and open smiles and embraces with the Secretary-General of the Cuban Communist Party, Fidel Castro, and the President of the Republic of Cuba, Raul Castro, on his fourth visit to the island during his Presidency, whereas as President, Barack Obama will not travel there once.

How, then, can the United States of America formulate policy from a basis of holier-than-thou directives issued at the whim and caprice of political favours granted to White House cronies, voting blocks or fundraisers and be taken seriously?

Is the policy of the United States of America really about fostering friendly relations, building bridges and listening, as Barack Obama had said, or does it continue to be about pandering to the wishes of those gray individuals who really control what happens? This being the case, the Presidency of the United States of America is a lame duck post from the word go, built for a puppet whose strings are pulled by AIPAC and the myriad of lobbies which gravitate around Washington.

As the rest of Latin America pulls together with closer and friendlier ties, Cuba included, the United States of America sits apart building up military bases in Columbia, antagonising Venezuela and others with coup attempts, turning a blind eye to Fascist narco-terrorists like Columbia's Uribe and holding on to the only tangible contact it has with Cuba, the concentration camp at Guantanamo Bay.

So as regards the Americas, with the south pulling together with mutual ties among socially progressive regimes, nothing has changed in the north. That is the difference between North and South America. A group of friends and a pariah.

Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY
PRAVDA.Ru

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Has anyone noticed how suddenly there is little or no news coming out of Iraq? Have the "insurgents" simply melted away, have they all been paid off? With the British and US troops cowering in massive military bases outside the main cities, is Iraq all right and rosy with law and order reigning in the cities while the invasion force looks on smiling?

In a word, no. New research conducted by Professor Michael Schwarz for Project Censored* indicates that the country has spiralled out of control, that violence has reached record proportions, that well over one million Iraqis have lost their lives as a result of the US-led invasion and that there are far more Iraqis pouring out of Iraq than there are returning, despite the cosy statements to the contrary.

The findings have been published in media circles in countries opposed to the war but have been ignored by the ever more discredited "mainstream media" in the clique of countries which supported this illegal invasion, in spite of the fact that the evidence has been backed up by creditable sources, namely studies undertaken by ORB (Opinion Research Business) and by demographic scientists working for The Lancet.

Moreover, the more than one million Iraqis killed are classified as civilians. The research was carried out in 15 of Iraq's 18 provinces (the three remaining are the most violent) and involved a poll of 2.414 Iraqis, a fifth of whom stated that they had lost at least one family member as a direct result of the 2003 invasion. 56 per cent of these, according to the report, were directly attributed not to "insurgents" but to the US or allied troops.

The figure also tallies with one that Schwartz discovered which had been released by the US military authorities and quoted by the Brookings Institute, namely one thousand combat missions per day for the first four years of the war in hostile neighbourhoods by the US armed forces (2003 - 2007) since when it has increased to 5,000 per day according to the report. Therefore, all is not right and rosy in Iraq.

"These patrols currently result in just under 3,000 firefights every month, or just under an average of one hundred per day", states the report, which reveals that each patrol invades 30 Iraqi homes a day with orders to detain, interrogate or kill "insurgents" or "terrorists". So, the torture continues, the difference being that today, nobody is speaking about it.

So horrific is the violence, according to the report, that an enormous humanitarian crisis has been caused, with over 5 million Iraqis fleeing their homes, at a rate which continues to be 100.000 per month. Therefore, how can everything be right and rosy in Iraq?

Most of the victims are not "insurgents" or "terrorists" but innocent civilians who refuse to cooperate with what they see as a foreign invasion force and Iraqi collaborators. In France, in the Balkans and elsewhere, the resistance to the Nazi horror were proclaimed as heroes. In Iraq, the truth is that...

*Project Censored selected 25 investigations undertaken by Professor of Sociology Richard Schwarz (Faculty Director of Undergraduate College of Global Studies at Stony Brook University). These reports are published in Voltaire Network. This report was conducted by Michael Schwarz and Joshua Holland, entitled "Is the United States killing 10,000 Iraqis every month?"

Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY

PRAVDA.Ru

 

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From time to time, a western newspaper gives space to Gary Kasparov, an Azeri who has a residence in New York and an apparent interest in stirring things up inside Russia. While it is understandable that he would prefer residence in the USA to Azerbaijan, his pretensions as regards Russia are curious, if not ominous. Who is pulling his strings?

Giving space to Gary Kasparov is paramount to plying an alcoholic geriatric town crier on the verge not only of senile dementia but also endemic unemployment, with his bottle of Ripple and sending him bawling into the night after telling him his wife has run off with the milkman and won't be coming back.

The result is the same - the inane ramblings of a disturbed and warped mind desperate for recognition. In short, reading the whining, snivelling diatribes of Kasparov smacks uncannily like reading the words of Saakashvili, another wannabe Russian from a failed state who has the maniacal delusion that he is someone.

The question is why the Guardian newspaper bothers to print the opinion of someone whose political pretensions inside Russia amount to less than three per cent of a voting intention for his United Citizens Front in a free and fair democratic vote. The article published in the UK newspaper The Guardian on February 23, 2010, entitled "Don't cosy up to Russia, Europe" is perhaps as puerile and inaccurate a piece as Kasparov has written to date.

Yet again, Kasparov refers to the "stifling" of the opposition and of the free media in Russia, carries on predictably to accuse Russia of "bullying" its neighbours and ends with a hotchpotch of agents provocateurs and failed politicians who underwrite his nonsense. Remind me not to bother reading the Guardian again...another one bites the dust.

Regarding the "stifling" of the opposition, Kasparov forgets to mention that there is a myriad of opposition parties in the Russian Federation today, among which are Ziuganov's Communist Party, or Zhirinovsky's Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, both of which garner far more votes that he will ever hope to get in a thousand years. Kasparov knows that, but the Guardian doesn't.

Regarding the "stifling" of rallies, Kasparov forgets to remember that he often stirs up trouble by holding illegal demonstrations without applying to the municipal authorities, as is the norm in any civilized State. Kasparov knows that, but the Guardian doesn't.

Regarding the banning of demonstrations, Karparov forgets to refer to the fact that Prime Minister Putin has stated that anti-Government demonstrations are a useful way to engage with the people and listen to them...because they occur. Kasparov knows that, but the Guardian doesn't.

As far as the media is concerned, I work for four Russian media outlets, the English version of PRAVDA.Ru, MoscowTopNews, RussianSentry and am Director and Chief Editor of the Portuguese Version of PRAVDA.Ru. Never have I received any directives at all as to what I can write or publish, never have I received a single restriction, never have I been given any instructions not to place this or that, or indeed to write this or that. The flow of information is not controlled, it is perfectly free.

Of course Kasparov knows that, but the Guardian doesn't.

Finally as regards his comments on Georgia and Russia bullying its neighbours, it is amazing that a newspaper with the reputation of the Guardian would purport to repeating the same lie time and again to see if someone will eventually believe it, following the adage that if water drips for long enough in the same place, it will bore a hole through stone.

Everyone knows, including Kasparov but evidently not the Guardian, that Georgia attacked Russia in a cowardly and underhanded manner after having declared a ceasefire and slaughtered around 2.000 civilians in an orgy of genocide. Maybe the Guardian thinks it is funny that Georgian troops strafed elderly women in the street. Maybe the Guardian thinks it is funny that young boys were burnt in basements. Maybe the Guardian thinks it is funny that Georgian missiles were fired against Russian residences.

Otherwise, why would they publish Kasparov's diatribes, and air them as if they were credible opinions, as if from an opinion maker? The Guardian, in so doing, has descended to the realms of the bought, assimilated tabloid press with nothing to do except try to make a profit from that tidy little package of half-truths presented to its readers every morning. How sad.

Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY

PRAVDA.Ru

 

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4 more medals for Russia in the Vancouver Winter Olympics: one Gold, one Silver and two Bronze, bringing the tally to 13 and moving Russia up to fourth place ahead of Canada and just two medals shy of Norway.

On Monday, after the Bronze medal won in the Women's Team Sprint Free by Irina Khazova and Natalia Korosteleva, it was the turn of Nikolai Morilov and Aleksei Petukhov to win another third place in the Men's Team Sprint in Cross-Country Skiing, an event won by Norway's Petter Northug and Oeystein Pettersen. Germany's Tim Tscharnke and Axel Teichmann won the Silver.

Shortly afterwards, another Bronze for Russia in the Figure Skating Ice Dance - Free Dance, Oksana Domnina and Maksim Shabalin finishing behind Canada's Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir (Gold) and the USA's Meryl Davis and Charlie White (Silver).

On Tuesday, a Silver and then Gold. Ivan Skobrev won the Silver medal (to add to his Bronze, see below) in the Men's 10,000 metre Speed Skating event, behind the Republic of Korea's Seung-Hoon Lee and ahead of the Netherlands' Bob de Jong and the Ladies' Biathlon 4x6 km relay produced Russia's third Gold. The heroines of the day were Anna Bogaliy-Titovets; Olga Medvedsteva; Olga Zaitseva (adding to her Silver) and Svetlana Sleptsova.

Russia's medals

Russia has 13 medals to date, three Golds, four Silvers and six Bronzes.

Gold medallists: Men's Biathlon 15 km mass start Evgeny Ustyugov; Men's Cross-Country Skiing Individual Sprint Classic Nikita Kriukov; Ladies' Biathlon 4x6 km relay Anna Bogaliy-Titovets; Olga Medvedsteva; Olga Zaitseva and Svetlana Sleptsova.

Silver medallists:  Women's Biathlon 12.5 km mass start Olga Zaitseva; Men's Figure Skating Evgeni Plushenko; Men's Cross-Country Skiing Aleksandr Panzhinskiy; Men's 10,000 metre Speed Skating Ivan Skobrev.

Bronze Medallists: Men's Two-Man Bobsleigh Aleksandr Zubkov and Aleksei Voevoda; Men's Skeleton Aleksandr Tretyakov; Men's 5000 m speed skating Ivan Skobrev; Women's Team Sprint Free Irina Khazova and Natalia Korosteleva; Men's Team Sprint in Cross-Country Skiing Nikolai Morilov and Aleksei Petukhov; Figure Skating Ice Dance - Free Dance Oksana Domnina and Maksim Shabalin.

Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY

PRAVDA.Ru

 

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In the United States of America, it has recently been concluded in a top-level report that lawyers who wrote covering memos authorizing torture did not violate legal ethics, an outrage which has prompted Human Rights Watch to call for a full inquiry into the abuse of detainees. The question also arises as to why the original charge of "professional misconduct" referred in the draft version of the Report was changed to "poor judgement".

Two words typed into an internet search engine will immediately lead the researcher to the British site Iraq Inquiry, an in-depth study of the behaviour of the British Government in Iraq to deem whether the United Kingdom acted illegally in going to war outside a UN mandate, a process in which Prime Ministers and Government Officials past and present are subjected to the same grilling as "ordinary citizens".

Would such an inquiry be possible in the United States of America? Hell, no! And after the results of the US Justice Department Report on the behaviour of lawyers working for the Bush Administration, this hardly comes as a surprise.

"Poor judgement" is the consideration of the Report, carried out by the Justice Department's office of Professional Responsibility, regarding the issuing of memos authorizing torture, but not a violation of legal ethics rules. So we may then infer that if in the United States of America it is "poor judgement" and nothing more to perpetrate an act of torture, what about terrorism? Were the culprits of 9/11 using "poor judgement" as well?

Yet there is something more sinister. "Poor judgement" was the term referred to in the final version of the report, revised by a David Margolis, from the Office of Professional Responsibility, who reviewed it and who overruled the adoption of the expression "professional misconduct" contained in an earlier version.

Nevertheless despite this apparent attempt to water down the Report, Andrea Prasow, senior counter-terrorism counsel at Human Rights Watch, considers that "Despite failing to find the former Justice Department lawyers responsible for misconduct, the Justice Department report nevertheless provides strong evidence indicating that the authors of these legal opinions should be investigated for their role in facilitating torture".

In short, if the United States of America and its President are serious about Change, and he should remember that he was elected on this ticket, then Change has to mean the execution and implementation of policy from the US Administration in a way which is transparent, above suspicion and wholly not only within the letter of the law, but also every code of ethics.

When senior lawyers issue opinions which are carefully drafted not to uphold the law but rather to facilitate torture, then surely if something is not deemed to be wrong, then we can only conclude that the United States of America has not changed one iota and probably never will, in the near future at least.

Where is the Change, President Obama?

Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY

PRAVDA.Ru

 

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A happier Sunday for the Russian Team at the Vancouver Winter Olympics after the inexplicable decision to award the silver medal to Evgeni Plushenko's flawless performance in the men's figure skating - the only skater to attempt the quadruple jump. Sunday saw Russia add a Gold, Silver and Bronze to the tally of medals, and on Monday another Bronze.

The Gold medal came in the Men's Biathlon 15 km mass start, Evgeny Ustyogov winning the event ahead of France's Martin Fourcade (Silver) and Slovakia's Pavol Hurjat.

Olga Zaitseva won Silver for Russia in the Women's Biathlon 12.5 km mass start, an event in which Germany claimed the other two medals. Magdalena Neuner got Gold and Simone Hauswald, Bronze.

The Two-Man Bobsleigh Team, Aleksandr Zubkov and Aleksei Voevoda claimed Bronze behind the Germany Andre Lange and Kevin Kuske (Gold) and Thomas Florshueltz and Richard Adjei (Silver).

On Monday, another Bronze medal. In the Women's Team Sprint Free Irina Khazova and Natalia Korosteleva came in third behind the German pair Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle and Claudia Nystad (Gold) and Sweden's Charlotte Kalla and Anna Haag (Silver).

In the Men's team Sprint Free, Russia's Nikolai Morilov and Aleksei Petukhov won their semi-final.

Russia's medals

Russia has nine medals to date, two Golds, three Silvers and four Bronzes.

Gold medallists: Men's Biathlon 15 km mass start Evgeny Ustyugov; Men's Cross-Country Skiing Individual Sprint Classic Nikita Kriukov.

Silver medallists:  Women's Biathlon 12.5 km mass start Olga Zaitseva; Men's Figure Skating Evgeni Plushenko; Men's Cross-Country Skiing Aleksandr Panzhinskiy.

Bronze Medallists: Men's Two-Man Bobsleigh Aleksandr Zubkov and Aleksei Voevoda; Men's Skeleton Aleksandr Tretyakov; Men's 5000 m speed skating Ivan Skobrev; Women's Team Sprint Free Irina Khazova and Natalia Korosteleva.

Photo: Evgeny Ustyugov

Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY

PRAVDA.Ru

 

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Ukraine's new President, Viktor Yanukovich, is the center of attention among the observers of eastern Europe, who are trying to categorize him as being pro-Russia or pro-West. This approach smacks of Cold War undertones. Two questions: When are they going to let the Cold war drop and suppose Viktor Yanukovich does neither, or both?

Unfortunate as it may appear to many Western opinion makers who make a living out of taking pot-shots at Moscow and its Government, the Russian Federation is not the antithesis or the Nemesis of the European Union, Western Europe or the United States of America. Therefore any talk of Ukraine's newly-elected President Viktor Yanukovich swaying towards Moscow and away from Europe is as nonsensical as is the notion that if you are with Moscow, you are against the West.

The outgoing President Viktor Yushchenko ended his last days in office with the sort of diatribes which saw him getting 5 per cent of the vote, declaring that Yanukovich is a Kremlin project. Had Yushchenko the Orange darling spent more time concentrating on the economy of his country and less on hysterical and provocative anti-Russian brinksmanship, his political legacy might have been a tad happier than his epitaph reads: an abject failure who led his country into a five-year void and who ended his days electing a Fascist and Racist Nazi collaborator as a National Hero. He may as well have claimed Himmler was Ukrainian and dedicated a statue to him in Independence Square.

First and foremost, Viktor Yanukovich was elected President of Ukraine by the Ukrainians, and rather than veering to the West or to the East, he promises, in his own words, to follow "a balanced and pragmatic" foreign policy. Yet it is in domestic policy where the hearts and minds of the voters lie, and as President Clinton pointed out, "It's the economy, stupid!"

Five years of bickering between Yushchenko and Yulia Timoshenko led to political deadlock at a time when Ukraine least needed it, a time when sensible leadership and fence-mending are the order of the day, not fence-building.

In his domestic policy, Viktor Yanukovich promises to avoid confrontation and work towards unification of the Ukrainian political capital to work together towards the development of the economy. In an interview to the Wall Street Journal, Europe, Ukraine's new President declared that his election campaign "Ukraine for the People" is "a deep and comprehensive plan that clearly specifies how to achieve social and economic progress".

It is here where he will start and once the political chaos has died down and the country starts moving forward, Ukraine can take advantage of its geographical position between Russia and western Europe and become very much a major player in both fields, establishing strong ties with both and being biased towards neither.

To do this, a Yanukovich Presidency will concentrate on building the economy from within, creating jobs, stabilising prices, fixing reasonable levels of wages and pensions, attacking corruption and preparing the ground for attracting foreign investment.

Having stabilised the economy, in a second term, he may review Ukraine's pretensions of joining the European Union while at the same time becoming a bridge between West and East but putting Ukraine and the Ukrainians first. After all, that was what he was elected to do and this is what he will set out to begin upon his inauguration, set for February 25.

Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY

PRAVDA.Ru

 

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We all knew it weeks before the game started, with accusations about doping being levelled at Russian athletes, and we all saw it on day one of the games, with the death of a Georgian athlete on a corner which miraculously was elevated the following day. Vancouver is not fit to hold the Winter Olympics.

Far from being a question of sour grapes, Russian commentators were already expressing their reservations as to the integrity of the Vancouver Lobby being able to host the Olympic Games weeks before the start. After all the IOC was starting to fire off in all directions before the first aircraft arrived.

We already have the case of a Russian skier being hounded to produce a urine sample after qualifying for a race, and if she had given the sample, she would not have had the possibility of entering the following round. Natalya Korosteleva was asked to provide a urine sample during a half-hour pause between the quarter-finals and semi-finals of a skiing event. "This seems against all the rules," she stated, as she refused to have the sample taken, alleging that if she did, she would not have had time to continue in the next phase. Why her?

We all know Canada has problems with the future lines drawn on Arctic maps and we all know Canada lives in the shadow of its larger neighbour to the south. The abject cruelty shown by Canadian soldiers in international conflicts is scantily referred to, as indeed is the utter incapacity of this county to host a major international event, due to its inferiority complex, born of a trauma being the skinny and weakling bro to a beefy United States and a colonial outpost to the United Kingdom, whose Queen smiles happily from Canadian postage stamps.

Maybe it is this which makes the Canadians so...retentive, or cowardly.  So it is not exactly a huge surprise to have international skating experts from the four corners of the Earth criticising the decision to award the Men's figure skating Gold medal to the US athlete Evan Lysacekv over the reigning Olympic Champion Evgeny Plushenko, whose superior performance was inexplicably ignored.

As Plushenko explains, "I did a great short program but did not get the marks I deserved. When I asked why, they told me I was skating early and they had to retain top marks for the last group...Then in the free program, I was the last to skate, did everything clean and still didn't get the marks".

Everybody who knows anything about Olympic skating, Winter Olympic sports and international politics will infer from the pitiful and dangerous conditions provided by the Canadian authorities, which already caused one death, that Vancouver is mutton dressed as lamb. Take off the outer veneer and the stench is horrific.

It is a surprise that any Russian athlete would wish to remain in that sort of environment for a second longer.

Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY

PRAVDA.Ru

 

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This afternoon, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and Special Envoy President Bill Clinton launched a joint appeal for international donors not to forget Haiti, as the rebuilding and aid efforts enter their second month. While the media circus has moved on, the World Health Organization singles out Cuba for its fundamental contribution towards the healthcare and well-being of Haiti's citizens.

The figure PRAVDA.Ru gave for the casualties just days after the earthquake was 200,000 while other international media outlets were speaking of 50 to 100,000. Today, the official figure is over 200,000 dead and a further 300,000 injured, over 1 million homeless and over 2 million dependent upon aid. 1.2 million are living in temporary camps and extreme weather conditions are about to strike. Right from the beginning, Pravda.Ru has stayed on the story, knowing that the media circus would soon get bored and drift away to find a new two-week adrenalin fix for the viewers and readers addicted to a drum-beat fix of hard and fast stories to pep up their lives.

However, for the sake of the people of Haiti, a massive reconstruction program is under way, which will take years, not months, to complete. As attention moves away from this devastated island, UN Secretary-General, Special Envoy President Bill Clinton and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, John Holmes, launch a joint appeal this afternoon, reminding the international community of the pledges given after the UN called for a 575 million USD package in emergency aid three days after the January 12 quake.

The World Health Organization stated in its latest update that the Haitian Health Ministry was virtually decapitated by the earthquake, due to the fact that over 200 ministry staff members died when the building collapsed, apart from many healthcare professionals. "Haiti's entire health system, from its infrastructure to the very staff and system that operated it, has been deeply affected by the Earthquake", the WHO reports.

Today, the main structural needs to be addressed are providing shelter, the removal of rubble and the creation of basic sanitation networks, while healthcare has to be focussed around the post-operative phase, providing follow-up for patients who underwent surgery, rehabilitation services and rendering facilities and services in overcrowded situations.

Cuba praised

The WHO report highlighted the tremendous help offered by Cuba, which apart from training (gratuitously) 80 Haitian doctors per year, every year, sent 1,300 doctors, in addition to the hundreds of healthcare workers already providing assistance in Haiti. The WHO Representative for Haiti, Henriette Chamouillet, stated that "They are absolutely important" for Haiti. Praise which is well deserved, but hardly ever referred to in the international media.

Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY

PRAVDA.Ru

 

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French soccer star Zinedine Zedane teams up with other sports personalities to remind the world of the Millennium Development Goals, creating minimum conditions for people in developing countries by 2015. While the global crisis threatens MDGs in Asia, so much remains to be done. For the Fat Cat Bankers, trillions are suddenly available yet for others who need hospitals, they ask how you pay for it.

 

Zinedine Zedane's message is "Willpower, Commitment and Teamwork" as the UN Goodwill Ambassador adds the goal of helping maintain the Millennium Development Goals on target, to add to his World Cup, Golden Ball and European Championship titles. As Zedane reminds Governments of the need to stay on track to achieve the 8 MDGs, the latest report from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) warns that the global economic crisis can hinder the achievement of the goals and pull another 21 million people below the poverty line.

 

The importance of social spending

 

The report (Achieving the MDGs in an Era of Global Uncertainty: Asia-Pacific Regional Report 2009/2010) states that the crisis has exposed vulnerabilities and warns that social spending must be considerably higher if the MDGs are to be met. It points out that Asia has weaker social protection measures than other regions and in the words of UNDP Assistant Director for Asia/Pacific Ajay Chhibber, "without better protection, people fall back into poverty with economic crisis, health pandemics and natural disasters and cannot recover easily".

 

The report further indicates that in Asia, only 20 per cent of the under- and unemployed have access to labour market programs or unemployment payments, while only 30 per cent of the population receive third age pensions. The ADB recommends higher social expenditure coupled with fiscal stimulus packages.

 

Before the crisis, Asia had been well on target to reach three of the Goals: gender parity in secondary education, universal access to primary school education and halving the number of people living below the poverty line (1.25 USD/day). In 2009, 17 million people fell below the line, while in 2010 this figure is due to increase by a further 4 million.

 

Women - again, the most vulnerable

 

Asia holds half the world's population living in poverty, without basic sanitation, Tuberculosis cases, people living without access to clean water and underweight 5-year-olds. The worst-affected segment of the population are the women, who make up the majority of low-skilled, low-salaried and temporary workers. The shockwaves in the labour market caused by the crisis therefore had a far more adverse affect among the women.

 

MDGs - so far to go

 

There have been some success stories (Tanzania increased its national school enrolment rate from 50 to 98% from 1999 to 2006; the participation of women in Government was far greater over the past decade in a growing number of countries; in Eritrea, child mortality has halved from 1990 to 2007; the adult HIV prevalence rate dropped from 15% to 5.4% over the same period; Malaria cases and deaths have been halved in many countries and in Mali, now 84% of the population has access to water, as compared with 55% ten years ago).

 

However, the following paragraphs show just how much more there is to do. It is up to opinion makers and role models like Zidane - and the responsibility of the international media - to make sure the message is not forgotten.

 

 

Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

Although there has been some success in India and the RP China in reducing the number of people living on less than one USD/day, poverty rates have been increasing in western Asia, and little or no progress has been registered in Sub-Saharan Africa.

 

MDG Goal 2: Universal Primary Education

The number of children without access to primary schooling decreased from 103 million to 72 million from 1999 to 2006. However, in Sub-Saharan Africa only 71 per cent have access and 38 million children continue to be outside the school system.

 

MDG Goal 3: Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women

Oceania has managed to go backwards in this respect, while in Western and Central Africa, school repetition and drop-out rates among girls are common, because they are expected to provide for the family while their brothers go to school. Various factors which contribute towards low school registration rates are far more devastating among the young female population than among the young males.

 

MDG Goal 4: Reduction of Child Mortality

Statistics show that a child born in a "developed" country is 13 times more likely to survive than one born on "the wrong side" of a frontier. 27 countries made no progress at all between 1990 and 2006 in terms of child mortality. Low education rates among mothers and children born in rural areas and into impoverished families are naturally most at risk.

 

MDG Goal 5: Improvement of Maternal Health

500,000 women died during pregnancy, childbirth or in the 6 weeks after delivery in 2005. Ninety-nine per cent of these were in the developing countries. Gender equality therefore does not exist as a birthright - one in 7,300 women dies from preventable causes related to childbirth in "developed" countries, whereas in the Less Developed Countries (LDCs) the ratio is a mere 1:22.

 

MDG Goal 6: Combating HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other Diseases

Every 15 seconds, a person dies from AIDS. 4 people per minute, 229 per hour, 5,500 per day, while a further 7,500 become infected with HIV/AIDS daily - 2.7 million people in 2007, while in the same year 2 million people died from the disease. Meanwhile the number of patients living with HIV increased from 29.5 million in 2001 to 33 million in 2007. The epicentre: Sub-Saharan Africa.

 

MDG Goal 7: Ensuring Environmental Sustainability

2005 saw 28 billion metric tonnes of CO2 emissions, which registered an upturn from 1990 to 2005 of 30%. In the "developed" nations, emissions are 12 metric tonnes/person/year - as against 3 metric tonnes in LDCs. Annual growth of CO2 emission from 2000 to 2005 was higher than from 1990 to 1999. Copenhagen saw quite how far the world is from any sort of agreement.

 

MDG Goal 8: Development of a Global Partnership for Development

Official Development Assistance (ODA) has dropped in recent years, while many areas of Sub-Saharan Africa continue to register zero growth rates in term of improvement of quality of life.

 

Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY

PRAVDA.Ru

 

MDG Zidane. Development

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After President Dmitry Medvedev stated that he was not satisfied with the status quo and that Russia needs to launch a drive towards modernization, investment Tsar Igor Shuvalov promises a "new country" over the coming decade, clearing the way for fresh investment whose knock-on effects will allow Russia to parallel the performance of its fellow BRIC members - Brazil, PR China and India.

 

First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov promises to reduce red tape and fast-track the court system, move the Russian economy forward from dependence on raw materials and tackle corruption as the first measures towards emulating the economic stability of Russia's partners in BRIC.

 

Russia addresses the needs

 

Most analysts agree that Russia needs to be more innovative, less bureaucratic, to launch the tech sector with short-, medium and long-term investment programs. As Shuvalov rolls up his sleeves to do precisely this, Russian Finance Minister Aleksei Kudrin declares that at the latest, in three years' time Russia will be receiving the same levels of investment as before the economic and financial crisis.

 

Before the crisis, investment into Russia was around 70 bn. USD, falling sharply to 40 bn. USD in 2009. Kudrin promises to reverse this trend by implementing stricter macroeconomic policies.

 

Favourable forecasts

 

Russia's economy is already the subject of favourable forecasts: the International Monetary Fund predicts a growth rate of 3.6 % in 2010, followed by 3.4% in 2011, while the World Bank forecasts 3.2% and 3.0 % respectively. Ernst&Young partner Aleksandr Ivlev declared last week that "we shall most probably see growth in investments in two to three years' time" while he predicts that the raw materials market will continue to be the most lucrative, but points towards infrastructures, farming and technology as being prime areas for expansion.

 

Oleg Tsarkov, managing partner for direct investment funds at Svarog Capital, also claims that the farming industry will be the subject of great attention for foreign investors and considers that farming and the retail area "will be the first to recover from the crisis".

 

Russia is attractive for foreign investment

 

For Aleksei Kudrin, "Russia remains a country that is attractive for investors by and large" and like Shuvalov, considers the area of new technologies to be crucial for new investment. He points out that this is the opinion of the President, the Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and of the Russian Government and for that reason there will be additional tax breaks for foreign investors which bring new technologies to Russia.

 

As Russia takes concrete measures towards guaranteeing more foreign direct investment in the short-term, there can be no doubt that there is enormous potential. Russia's internal market is big and it creates demand for a myriad of goods from motor vehicles to household appliances.

 

Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY

PRAVDA.Ru

 

Investment Russian economy Medvedev