Russian Govenrment Cracking Down on the Internet

First the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs established the Россвязьохранкультура, or Rossvyazkhrankultura, which roughly translates as the Russian Online Culture Protection Service. Among other things, the Rosokhrankultura will eventually use data mining (now it is still done manually) to identify sites which carry “extremist” material (which is already illegal in Russia).

Note: in Russia, the definition of what is extremist is somewhat open to interpretation. The news and human rights site Ingushetia.ru is currently fighting the Moscow courts to avoid being declared extremist and closed. In November 2007 the site was closed more directly, when local ISPs blocked access and redirected visitors to a p*rn*graphic site). Their court case, which is was set for April 11 in a Moscow court (the government appealed after the Supreme Court of Ingushetia refused a request by the Ingushetian Public Prosecutor's Office to close the site), but that court refused to hear it on the grounds that the case was not within its juridiction and instead directed it to the Kuntsevo District Court, where Magomed Evloev the owner of the site in question, is registered. That it in the courts at all instead of just closed is because of timing; the case predates the creation of the Rosokhrankultura, which can simply declare sites “extremist” without any court involvement. The entire investigation is reported to have been initiatead by the FSB. The English news articles I could found about this have since been taken down, but here is a cached version of one. The same applies to coverage of the hearing itself.

The role Rosokhrankultura is not purely cultural of course (otherwise it would have bee formed as part of the Ministry of Culture, as opposed to the security-minded Ministry of Internal Affairs), but technically it has no power beyond identifying the sites. Enter the General Prosecutors Office; they were just given the power to close “extremist” sites. This is not the most important part, however. They were also given the power to suspend operations of Internet Service providers (ISPs) that host such sites. The option to shut entire businesses if they do not cooperate is a strong incentive for cooperation, as well as for ISPs to self-police.

Within days (on April 8) of gaining those powers, the General Prosecutor’s division of St. Petersburg temporarily suspended the operations of ten Internet Service Providers (ISPs) operating in that city, although the exact sites for which they were being punished for hosting is unclear. Even the exact companies are unknown. The police stated that they closed the ISPs only very briefly, which looks more like they did it as a warning to ISPs across Russia that their operations could and would be damaged should they choose to host such sites.

Should ISPs not police themselves as well as the state would like, there is a back-up plan: Deputy General Director of the Russian general Prosecutor Alexei Zhafiarov also called for legislation mandating such involvement if self-policing is not instituted. According to his reasoning, it is not always possible to determine who posted extremist materials, but it is possible to determine who is hosting it, and as such they should be held responsible.

Russian "How to Be a B*itch" Training Manual

A little over a year ago, the Western press got itself in a tizzy over Russian "Bitch Schools," which basically teach women how to go after men and get them. For the woman unable to attend such classes or seeking additional advice, there is now a book, as seen in what was supposed to be a new-age, peace-and-love Orientalist shop near my Moscow apartment called "The Way To Yourself." The real issue at hand is how women are expected to act, and what their are expected to achieve themselves, combined with a lack of good prospects and an obsession with becoming "elite."

Translation:
No longer bogged down - the way to go
Be Happy
and Rich!
Bitch -Training
For Love and Money

The Growing Credit Market in Russia

I am a strong supporter of mortgages, as for many families they are the only means of ever building any real equity in anything; trying to save and invest money while also paying rest is just too hard. I've never had one, but I get car loans, as in many cities (including Dubai) the lack of option in getting around by any other way make cars are a necessity, although some aspects are more distasteful, including higher interest rates, the tendency to sell cars according to the monthly payment rather than total cost to the buyer, and the willingness of dealers to extend credit to people who really can't afford it, long-term (just like mortgage brokers, they resell the loans while getting a commission for making it, so long-term default rates don't really bother them). Credit cards and other consumer credit programs are another story; they are quite often deliberately usurious and use tricks to make it difficult to pay the bills or avoid additional hidden fees.

All of this is a real issue in the US, where poor mortgage decisions and high debt (credit card and otherwise) have made it very difficult for some families to live solvently and spend any money in the economy. The Russian economy is still growing, but I see worrying signs that credit is about to Reach Russia in a big way. Car loans are widely available, at least here in Moscow, and credit cards are promoted everywhere. The waiting couch at my neighborhood travel agency even had fake credit cards pushing debt as a means of paying for vacations. The small room also had a large banner offering up to 600,000 rubles with no interest for 90 days. On the metro I see little paper ads promising credit in one hour for up to 3500 rubles for all citizens of the Russian Federation, while the magazines, television and the two fashion channels on TV promote a lifestyle 95% of the country can't afford. Hopefully things won't get too out of hand, but the way things are looking now many Russian consumers are heading down the same credit-abuse path of the US, if not planning to exceed it.

Middle East Falcon Trade Threatens Russia's Birds of Prey

Just as I was reading Samurai Sam's Interesting Links of the Day on the UAE Community blog on Dubai's falcon hospital, the Russian news started to run a story on falcon smuggling from Russia, which is a cruel process during which many birds die. Even if they do not, the process poses a very serious threat to several of Russia's birds, which are taken out of the breeding population while they are young or at prime breeding age. All of this got me thinking as to where the UAE's birds come from. I know there are nurseries in the UAE and Saudi, but I also know that smuggling is a serious issue (the first case of bird flu in Saudi was actually detected in eagles smuggled from Kazakhstan), and in the case of some species (including the aforementioned Kazakh eagles), threatens their very survival.

Once in the UAE, I believe that most people treat their birds well. An acquaintance 's family even has their own falcon medical center, while every falcon that I've seen, in the UAE or Saudi, looked well-cared for. I'm also glad to know that there is a free hospital for owners who want to ensure that their birds get the best care without worrying about how to pay for it. But I just can't see it all as a feel-good story; these birds come from somewhere, and in many cases, it really hurts their species and their homelands.

A Thoughful Russian Mindful of His Country's Reputation

I was running late this afternoon to meet a friend for coffee, so I took a taxi, and at the end of the admittedly short trip, my driver (not a taxi driver- just a regular citizen who picked me up for the fare - a common phenomenon in Russia. You just put your hand out, cars stop and you negotiate the fare) told me that the ride was on the house, the gift of the Russian people to their visitor on Women's Day (really yesterday, but its become a de facto three-day event starting on Friday). Seriously. He would not take payment. It was a very nice, generous thing to do and was also appreciated. Thank you, Respected Driver!

Update on the Russian Presidential Election Results

An update on this story...

It appears that Team Putin/Medvedev got what they wanted. Voter turnout was the highest on record (Official turnout in Chechnya was 91%, which was interesting, seeing as I didn't think that 91% of the registered population still lived there at all), and Medvedev won with a high percentage of the vote, 67.5%, the combination of both which made his victory look like it really was the result of the majority's will, even if his candidacy was created by Putin.

In further good news for Medvedev, his official victory results were not so high that they embarrassed Putin. The latter's highest election win was with 70.1%, and to exceed that might make Medvedev look more popular than his mentor, which would not due. Fortunately,
with 67.%, he scored high, won big, but did not exceed that threshold.

The Dilemma of Voting Results

Today are the presidential elections here in Moscow, and although everyone expects Dimitri Medvedev to win, the big question is at what percentage. There is a major push to get people to vote; advertising is everywhere, including on my metro fare card:

Translation: March 2 - Presidential Election of the Russian Federation

This effort is not just from above; governors, and in the case of Moscow, Mayor Luzhkov, are falling over themselves to get high turnout in order to show support for President Putin (and soon to be Prime Minister) and future President (and current Deputy Prime Minister) Medvedev. This is because high voter turnout numbers are necessary to provide legitimacy to the elections. It was always obvious than whomever Putin chose would be the next president (just as he became president after Yeltsin chose him), and if the elections are to appear legitimate, then a really high percentage of the electorate must vote. That way, when Medvedev wins, he can say that it really was the will of the people, despite the circumstances of his candidacy. If 80% of the country votes, and he wins 70% of the votes, then he has a case. If only 40% votes, then even 80% of that 40% won't be enough to show that he has a true mandate.

At the same time, he doesn't want too much of the actual vote. Putin got almost exactly 70% of the vote during his last election; to exceed that number would embarass his patron (and Prime Minister), and Medvedev has been very cautious not to do that. Even in Medvedev's own campaign billboards (some of which he shares with his patron) Putin stand a little forward.

A Breakdown of Russia's Presidential Candidates

With Russia's presidential elections this Sunday, I've been getting a lot of questions about who is running, both about current President Valdimir Putin's personal choice and heir presumptive Dimitri Medvedev, but also the other people running against him. Now seeing as Barak Obama doesn't know Medvedev's name at all, preferring instead to call him "the successor," and Hillary Clinton can't pronounce it, I'm not that surprised that others don't know that much about them, and I hope that the following helps.

Dimiri Anatolyevich Medvedev: The crown prince, heir apparent, half of the Kremlin dream team, what ever you want to call him, he is the expected winner of Sunday's elections. In December 2007 President Putin announced that Medvedev was his chosen successor, which, given Putin's own popularity and dominance of the political process, basically means that Medvedev will be president when Putin's second term runs out. The two campaign together, occasionally dress alike, and Medvedev has announced that he will ask Putin to be prime minister if he wins. Medvedev's appointment was a bit of a surprise to many, who expected Prime Minister Vitkor Zubkov, First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov former Prime Minister Mikhail Fradov or one several other candidates. Not everyone thought he didn't have a chance, however; his campaign website went online this January, but it was registered by "Private Citizen" in 2005, months before any other potential candidates' domain.

Medvedev's own career looked like it would end in the private sector. He knew Putin from when the current President was in St. Petersburg, working for then-mayor Anatoly Sobchak. In November 1999, he came along with many other St. Petersburg politicians brought to Moscow right before Putin became president . In December of that year, when Yeltsin resigned and made Putin acting president, Medvedev became deputy head of the presidential staff. During the 2000 elections a few months later Medvedev was the head of Putin's presidential election campaign. He then left politics (officially, anyway), to chair or deputy chair the board of directors at Gazprom, Russia's largest, wealthiest, most influential company (which if often used as a tool of domestic and foreign policy) from 2001 until 2003. In 2003, he returned to official politics and became Putin's chief of staff. In November 2005 Putin appointed him first deputy prime minister, first deputy chairman of the Council for Implementation of the Priority National Projects and chairman of the Council's Presidium. He remained in charge of Gazprom's board, although he gave in up in order to become President.

Gennady Andreyvich Zhuganov: Perennial Communist Candidate. Zhuganov leads the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, and has been running for president since he ran against former president Boris Yeltsin in 1996 (I voted in those elections, in place of a Russian friend's mother, but, as requested by the person's whose place I was using, I voted for Yeltsin). He promises enhanced social services and higher pensions and salaries, as well as an end to corruption. He has support across all age groups, but older people tend to make up the bulk of it.

Vladimir Volfovich Zhirinovsky: are immune. He also gained attention with some of his crazier pronouncements, like his suggestion that depopulation can be solved by polygamy, or when he gave President Putin a photo of himself for the The leader of Russia's Liberal Democratic Party, he, and it, are neither liberal nor democratic. They are populist, however, and were famous during the 1990s for having the strongest party discipline of any party, less because of any ideological purity and more because of how corruptible they were. They were also famous during that time for giving criminal spaces as MPs (the party chooses the MPs, and the names provided on the party lists during elections are just campaign promises) to help them avoid prosecution, as MPs are immune from prosecution. He is also famous for giving President Putin a photo of himself for the latter's 50th birthday (a time of general gift giving form all over the Former Soviet Union, including wines from Moldova, horses from Turkmenistan, and an exact copy of the Cap of Monomakh, the fur, gold and gems-encrusted crown of the tsars). He is generally supported either by people looking for a demagogue, or by those voting in protest to the other options, such as happened after Yeltsin and the parliament had a violent showdown over who controlled what powers in 1993, when the LDPR gained its highest percentage of the vote.

Andrey Vladimirovich Bogdanov: The non-candidate. Officially head of the Democratic Party of Russia, a party which is often accused of existing only to give elections the appearance of being truly contested. Bogdanov is the same; after Kasyanov, a more credible (although in reality small) threat, was disqualified, Bogdanov got into the race. His platform is application to the European Union and joining NATO, and then putting NATO bases on Russian territory. Officially this is to protect against China, but it is really to ensure that no one will vote for him. Most Russians don't trust either institutions, and would view NATO basses in Russia as proof that the US DID want to control Russia, and now is. I haven't seen him campaigning either.

And a few people who aren't running, but who merit mention anyway:

Mikhail Mikhailovich Kasyanov: group, he worked for Putin when the latter Originally part of the Yelstinbecame president. He served a Prime Minister in that administration until Putin dismissed him and the rest of his cabinet in 2004. More recently, he was charged with corruption and accused the state of the same, as well as of authoritarian and illegal practices to maintain power. He would probably be a lot more popular in Russia if he hadn't aligned himself with the Other Russia, a political group associated with Gary Kasparov, US neocons and disgraced oligarchs. He doesn't belong to Other Russia any more. Kasyanov leads the People's Democratic Republic of Russia. He also hoped to lead the Russian Federation, but his candidacy was denied on the grounds that 13 percent of the two million signatures on the petitions required to get on the ballot were forged. He appealed this decision, but was rejected. Kasyanov accused Putin of orchestrating his disqualification to ensure that Medvedev had no real opposition, and is boycotting the election.

Garry Karparov: Famous chess champion, beloved in the West as a defender of freedom, mistrusted in Russia for his willingness to accept parties such as the National Bolshevik (read Russian neofascists) and the Vanguard of Red Youth (ultra-left, with a Kashnikov and a Communist star on the flag). He is also mistrusted because he as a board member of the US neo-con Center for Security Policy and has given speeches at the equally neo-con Hoover Institute. From my US-centric perspective, it looks like Kasparov's politics are scary and objectionable. To many Russians' eyes, this looks like he is in Cheney's pocket. He wanted to run for president, and expressed his plan to do so, but in order to do so, his party is required to meet, and vote for him as their candidate. Oddly enough, every single venue large enough for his party to meet was unavailable, and he was therefore unable to run. Funny that. The following video is one targeting Kasparov for his connections to the US neo-conservative political movement. Its mostly wordless, but the title and end phrases say "it would have been better had he stuck to chess." This phrase is a lot shorter in Russian because the Russian language is cool like that.

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin: The President. Dominates politics. No real opposition, crushes any that could become such. Many of the accusations of authoritarianism, corruption and fixing the elections are true. He has also stabilized Russia, increased Russian power abroad and doubled incomes across the country during his tenure. He chose Medvedev as his successor, and campaigns heavily for him. He has also declared his willingness to serve as Prime Minister for as long as the country needs him after Medvedev becomes President. He's also a bit of a babe, when he wants to be. This picture came from his office's website.

Lost Treasure Found: Did Someone Solve the Mystery of the Tsar's Lost Amber Room?

A few days ago, a German treasure hunters and politician Hans-Peter Haustein and his partner Christian Hanisch announced that they may have found the lost Amber Room of the Tsar's Catherine Palace. The entire room was covered in amber marquetry placed above gold leaf and mirrors, a feat which took eight tons of amber, several years and even more millions to complete. During World War Two, however, German forces looted and destroyed every palace and museum they came across. The Catherine Palace was not spared, and the entire Amber Room was stripped from the walls and sent back to Germany. As the Soviets advanced, it disappeared again, this time to destination unknown.

The Old Amber Room from a 1940s Photograph

Since that time, many archaeologists, historians and treasure hunters claim to have found the Amber room, always to turn out wrong. The Soviet government eventually gave up, reconstructing the Amber room (a project which began in 1979 and only ended in 2003). I don't know the total cost, but when the project ran into financial difficulties, a German company made up the shortfall with a 3.5 million dollar donation.

Now someone may have found it for real though. The difference between this theory and the others is that something is already found. Mr. Hanisch found notes in his father's documents after the latter's death that said he had helped bury the Amber room as well as large store of precious metals in a man-made cavern near the Czech border. The two men already conducted scans of the spot using a sophisticated metal detector, which found a large quantity of what is probably silver or gold 60 feet (20 meters) beneath the surface. If this is true, and it really is a store of hidden gold, then the Amber Room may be there too. Which would be great. Although what they will do with the new, already-installed replacement room I don't know.

Diaghilev Burns, the Moscow "Elitny" Scene and Property Raids

Moscow club burns itself down to avoid going out of style?

One of the more annoying features of life here in Moscow is the obsession with "elitny." A cognate of the English word "elite," and sometimes used to mean exclusive, it really means expensive. There are elitny apartments, elitny restaurants* and even a free HR and employment newsletter available at my gym, "Elitny Personnel." The reason this is so annoying is that Moscow doesn't have much "in the middle" - most of the city is either cheap, and not that nice, or "elitny," which means you have to buy into the whole "I am visibly and vocally better than everyone else" vibe. Which is a pain if you're me, who likes nice things, and even a flashy time sometimes, but lacks the patience, insecurity and (hopefully) pettiness that means it needs to be about being better than others more than just a good time with the people I came with. The whole vibe makes me feel guilty and is a real turn off. It also calls to mind one of my favorite sayings by former British Prime Minister* and chancellor of my undergraduate university Margaret Thatcher; "Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't."The same applies to being elite, and while Moscow does have some of the truly elite, they aren't at most of these establishments, and most of the people aren't them.

The main focus of all this is a few night clubs, where a door policy called face control (really money control. People like to say it is wealth for men and beauty for women, but I’ve noticed that the former goes a lot farther than for both genders). It can be strict, or arbitrary, and groups of friends are sometimes broken up to increase the social pressure. The weird part is how pushy it can get; I’ve seen people bunch up at the door and push, so that there is a dense cluster at the entrance and empty space a few feet back. Everyone wants to be in front of the bouncer and is afraid to wait their turn.

Of course this isn’t a very line-friendly country anyway (trying to navigate the aisles at my Perekrestok grocery store during peak hours can be hazardous), but the tight ball of people/empty space pattern is fairly extreme, and a little silly. Back in the day (I think it was in 1999) I went to a Versace show in Milan where the Backstreet Boys performed. The entrance was swarmed with girls wanting to see their idols (one of which kissed the gay director’s cheeks to kiss the Backstreet Boy molecules which might still be there after he cheek-kissed them hello). Face control involves less people than that shriek-fest, but is more intense.

That said, I occasionally yield to the temptation and abandon my one-woman abstention from the elitny fuss. They are flashy, they are trashy, they are overpriced and they aren't elite, but they can be a lot of fun.

Which is why I was torn between Schadenfreude and dismay when Diaghilev burned down. Arguably the most famous of the elitny clubs, Diaghilev has been promoted by a thousand reviews and travel guides calling it "the most exclusive club in Moscow." This was not entirely true, but it was elitny, and it was one of the best clubs in the city. Named after Sergei Diaghilev (who really was elite), it was for a time the premier club of Moscow, or at least the hardest to get in. So hard, that when a Moscow Diskoschnitte actually risked denial and insulted the chief bouncer, a local expat paper wrote an article about it.

This started to change last summer; new competition combined with the natural life cycle of any "next big thing" meant that face control relaxed a little (although not so much, as to do that would immediately make all the people who still wanted to go there, stop). The holiday week following New Year's even brought an advertisement for Diaghilev's events in a banner over Tverskaya Street.

Which is why, when the club burned down (on a Thursday morning - three people were injured but no one waas killed), my first reaction was aggravation, as the Leading Man was visiting from the US and this meant that a lot of Diaghilev's customers would be at Rai, the club to which I planned to take him. Russia must be wearing off on me because my second thought was "whom does it benefit?" This is a Russian phrase used to work out the true machinations behind any government conspiracy and/or shady deal. There are a few explanations, all of which are completely crazy, but which shed interesting light into some of the craziness at work in this wild city.

The first theory was hinted at in the Associated Press story which, in a parting sentence, mentioned that "more recently a Moscow government-linked construction firm has been pushing to redevelop the building, which occupies valuable land." Real estate in Moscow's center is very hard to come by; 140 million people want to live there, but only 1.5 million do, and raids on companies lucky enough to occupy it are common. In the early nineteen nineties, when the city was even wilder and property rights less clear, this could take the form of an actual raid, with mafiosi thugs physically taking possession of a building and then arguing that it was theirs to being with. Now it is a bit more complex, and often business owners are charged with crimes, or forced out in some other way. This may be what happened to Diaghilev; someone wanted their property, but they weren't leaving.

Diaghilev was fairly high-profile though, making it that much harder to launch a raid, but add in an an unfortunate accident in the form of a fire, and then all of a sudden, it becomes a bit more possible. What is more, it occupied city land, and Mayor Luzhkov is expected to leave office soon after the upcoming presidential elections. He and his associated patronage networks including his wife - quite possibly Russia's wealthiest woman - and her multi-billion dollar business empire, much of it in Moscow real estate). Someone may be feeling the pressure to move now, while their own position and influence is more certain.

The story I prefer, if only because it is more dramatic, and, in a way, more principled, is that the people behind Diaghilev may have burned the place down itself. Ad I mentioned before, although still popular, its star was on the wane, and the management, aware of how much their status and that of all their establishments (they own several clubs and other businesses, both within Russia and without) hinges on the hyper-fickle wind of popular opinion and reputation, may have opted to burn out rather than fade away.

It could also be some combination; knowing that Diaghilev was doomed to fade eventually, the arsonist may have gambled that it was a bit safer to go after Diaghilev when the management wouldn’t mind quite as much, or the management could be sing the fire as part of the larger real estate scheme, this way preserving their reputation and eliminating some restrictions on building/renovating/tearing down yet another historical building.

Of course, it could really have been just a fire. My gym was a strip club previously, before a fire gutted it and it became my gym. It's a nice gym and the prices relatively steep, but such a moneymaker it isn't.

*Cafe Pushkin is perhaps the most famous, and is the subject of way too much hype, but it is exempt from the above complaints. I really like it, in spite of (and perhaps a little because of) all it's theme-iness. That the first floor is open 24 hours is the icing on the cake.

A [Literal and Figurative] Sign That the Revolution May Be Over For Good

It's an ad from the Moscow metro for ArbatPrestige cosmetics and accessories stores, and says "Great October Price Revolution."

PS The owner of the ArbatPrestige (Arbat is a nice area here surrounding the charming Old Arbat and busy New Arbat streets) chain may have been adhering to free market principles a little too well; he was just arrested for tax evasion. I believe he did it (almost everyone does), but I wonder whom he upset to be arrested now? Maybe someone wanted his stores' real estate?

Update: It turns out that Semyon Mogilevich and Arbat Prestige are not the victims of a real estate raid or some other, more prosaic, type of conflict. That may be part of why he was targeted for prosecution now, but Mr. Mogilevich's history is not that of an honest businessman. He is wawnted by the FBI for racketeering, fraud and money laundering and is also accused of running drug, prostitution, smuggling and stolen art operations. He hasn't been on the run or in hiding - he's been operating quite openly here in Moscow, but now something happened so that he could be arrested. According to the Economist, he is also tied to a company that trades gas between Russian and Ukraine, a very sensitive issue, and one which makes the issue that much more complicated. Shortly after Mr. Mogilevich's arrest Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko came to Moscow to discuss just that, with little real progress.