The Hype Machine (Free subscription) | 08/18/2008
in post Missed Connections musical dedication of the day from The Swill Merchant .
A New Band A Day! (Free subscription) | 08/14/2008
So after frothing at the mouth a bit yesterday over Band Of The Day Indica Ritual, here's hoping for something a little less mentalistic and more soothing today. And that's exactly what Today's New Band, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, are. In many ways, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin are perfect A New Band A Day fodder - in so much that they fulfil all these precise and...
RealClearPolitics (Free subscription) | 08/19/2008
Almost 20 years ago, as the Soviet Union tottered, I chatted with Boris Yeltsin and came to two odd conclusions: He liked to drink vodka in the mornings and had lost all his faith in communism. I never learned whether alcohol, contrary to what usually happens, cleared his mind, but it may have. He was more brilliant in his cups than sober. At that time, his main fear was that the KGB might kill...
Davos Newbies (Free subscription) | yesterday
Douglas Muir at Fistful of Euros provides a pithy , essential summary of political leadership following the collapse of the Soviet bloc. In my Davos role, I saw many of this crop and it wasn’t a pretty sight: All across Eurasia, in the early 1990s, you had a first generation of post-Communist leaders taking power. And by and large, it wasn’t a very promising crop. You had drunks (Yeltsin), slimy...
A Step At A Time (Free subscription) | yesterday
Prague Watchdog’s Ramzan Akhmadov discusses Chechen reactions to Russia’s invasion of Georgia, and interviews some Chechen citizens: “…The Georgians must be constantly alert, because they can expect a stab in the back at any moment. In 1997 people also believed that the Kremlin was sincere, when Yeltsin and Maskhadov signed a peace agreement. And what happened [...]
Russia News Net (Free subscription) | yesterday
... the world’s unchallenged power, while Russia was still reeling from the Soviet collapse and Boris Yeltsin’s booze-cruise leadership style. Today, it is the American economy that is teetering, while the Iraq War blows a gaping hole in Washington’s budget, thereby threatening prosperity for future generations. The Kremlin, meanwhile, is flush with cash from skyrocketing energy prices, and...
Russia News Net (Free subscription) | yesterday
... and put an end to the humiliation that so many Russians felt for their country during the Yeltsin years. Equally important - Georgia has built an oil and soon a gas pipeline which will carry oil and gas from Central Asia - this will end Russia's monopoly control over access to energy in Central Asia. This in itself makes Georgia a target for Russia. Russia, as the controller and protector...
A Fistful of Euros (Free subscription) | 08/19/2008
... leaders taking power. And by and large, it wasn’t a very promising crop. You had drunks (Yeltsin), slimy connivers (Iliescu), petty, mean-spirited nationalists (Tudjman), slimy connivers pretending to be petty, mean-spirited nationalists (Milosevic), corrupt thugs (Lukashenko, Smirnov), guys who had no idea what the hell they were doing (Izetbegovic, Berisha) and just plain lunatics (Niyazov)....
Moscow Times (Free subscription) | 08/19/2008
... as Russia's financial system imploded. First, the announcement that the government of Boris Yeltsin would default on $40 billion worth of GKOs. Second, that the ruble would no longer be supported, signaling a 50 percent devaluation before the end of the month. Third, the declaration of a moratorium on banks repaying their foreign debt, effectively forcing the majority of the banking sector...
A Step At A Time (Free subscription) | 08/19/2008
... which chamber (it might have been the Security Council, for example). When in 1994 President Boris Yeltsin sent troops to Chechnya, which lay within the borders of his State, he had to go at least through a meeting of the Security Council. But now we are talking about an independent state, and for this the Constitution stipulates that there must be a decision of parliament. It’s obvious,...
Most Sincerely Folks (Free subscription) | 08/19/2008
... than constituting the inspiration behind radical free-market policies in Chile, Russia under Yeltsin and now in Iraq, which is the impression lent by the book, I think it’s more realistic to see them as something approaching expert legitimators. Where you have large institutions, state or non-state, in a new-found and unprecedented position of power, it’s reasonable to expect that they will...
bag of songs (Free subscription) | 08/15/2008
Some days it's all one big mystifying puzzle isn't it ? 1 : Mates Of State - Jigsaw Buy Re-Arrange Us 2 : Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Modern Mystery Buy Pershing 3 : Radiohead - Jigsaw Falling Into Place Buy In Rainbows 4 : The Rolling Stones - Jigsaw Puzzle Buy Beggars Banquet 5 : Son Volt - Mystifies Me Buy Trace
Pub Philosopher (Free subscription) | 08/18/2008
... refusal to support Gorbachev, the encouragement of a disastrous free-market experiment during the Yeltsin years and the encroachment of the EU and NATO into what Russia deemed to be its sphere of influence were all policies that on their own would lead to trouble. Taken together they have been a disaster. In the 1990s, Russia was weakened almost to the point of collapse. At one point, it...
The Lede (Free subscription) | 08/15/2008
In 1997, President Clinton led the way to the newly-expanded “Summit of Eight” in Denver. President Boris N. Yeltsin of Russia was a step behind him, on the right. (Photo: Beth Keiser/Associated Press)President Yeltsin, left, ushered Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto of Japan io during the summit in 1997. (Photo: Agence France-Presse)President Bush’s today was rather direct about urging...
The Daily Dish (Free subscription) | 08/13/2008
A reader writes: Putin isn't Brezhnez and he isn't Yeltsin. He's Bismarck and Richelieu. He's done a fantastic job of playing the game of international relations and centralizing the state. His every move radiates with genius and a sheer brutal...
