The State of Affairs in Russia

[celedhring]

But Borden was long gone from the scene when Newfounland enterested confederation.  This was in the late 40s, more than 20 years after Borden's era.  And nobody was forced to take anyone - Newfoundland voted (reluctantly) to enter Confederation, and Canada gladly accepted them, even offering some inducements.

Wasn't there a movement within Newfoundland to get in the US after WWII, too? Which was quickly shut down by all involved powers.

[Syt]

The timeline for companies to store personal data of Russians exclusively on servers located within Russia has been moved up by 20 months to 2015:

http://en.itar-tass.com/russia/751082

Foreign companies should keep Russians' personal data on servers in Russia from 2015

MOSCOW, September 24. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia's State Duma lower house of parliament has approved the second reading of a bill obliging foreign companies to keep Russians' personal data only on servers in Russia starting from January 1, 2015.
   
This was planned earlier that this rule would take effect starting from September 2016. But, in the view of authors of the initiative, the deadline for the regulation entering into force delayed until January 2015 will promote "more urgent and effective exercising of rights of Russian citizens for preserving personal data and observing the secrecy of correspondence in information and telecommunications networks."

In July, the lower house has endorsed a law compelling foreign companies which particularly run mail exchange services, social networks and search engines, post personal data of Russian users only on servers in Russia. Companies will have to lease or build their own data centers in Russia that, in the view of specialists, may complicate their operation.

Experts are concerned that companies will not manage to build their data storages before 2015 and those operating in Russia will not be enough. Meanwhile, the State Duma pledged that there would be enough possibilities for all. "We realize that from the start of the next year someone will hardly be able to build its data center, but if companies want to work in Russia, possibilities are quite large here, including in terms of leasing," one of authors of amendments from the Communist Party Alexander Yushchenko said.

Under the bill adopted on Wednesday, when collecting personal data, including through the Internet starting from 2015 "an operator should provide for registration, systemizing, accumulation, storage, specifying [update, changes], extraction of personal data of Russian citizens with the use of databases located in Russia."

The specific State Duma committee for information policy noted that new rules would not embrace popular foreign services related with foreign hotel, taxi, ticket booking and etc. "If someone wants to book a hotel room, rent a car, travel abroad, he or she can use transfer of trans-border data as before, but should give a personal permission for this transaction," first deputy chairman of the committee Leonid Levin pledged.

The bill also envisaged some concrete sanctions. For instance, domain names and Internet addresses which will violate regulations of this law are offered to put on a special register of rights breakers of personal data holders. Russian telecommunications supervising agency should keep this register and a valid legal act will give a reason for putting on the list. Meanwhile, violation of the law will entail a restricted access to this resource, but after violations are eliminated the access will be restored.

[Solmyr]

Today, a Duma member from Zhirinovsky's party asked to review the legality of the sale of Fort Ross and wants to check the Alaska sale too. So watch out America, Putin might be coming for Alaska eventually.

[CountDeMoney]

He nukes the Palins, I'm happy.

[Barrister]

But Borden was long gone from the scene when Newfounland enterested confederation.  This was in the late 40s, more than 20 years after Borden's era.  And nobody was forced to take anyone - Newfoundland voted (reluctantly) to enter Confederation, and Canada gladly accepted them, even offering some inducements.

Wasn't there a movement within Newfoundland to get in the US after WWII, too? Which was quickly shut down by all involved powers.

I don't know about a "movement", but with all the dollars the US was spending in Newfoundland during WWII there was some sense among Newfoundlanders that joining the US would be the way to go.  No idea how realistic that would be at the time though.  Remember this was the late 40s - the UK was dead broke (which was why Newfoundland had to find a new path in the first place - the UK couldn't subsidize the island any more) and the US had a whole hell of a lot of other commitments around the world.

Newfoundland was pretty pro-British and loyal too - hell they used the Union Jack as the Newfoundland flag up till the 80s.

[Martinus]

He nukes the Palins, I'm happy.

Whoa...

[Syt]

http://news.yahoo.com/russian-rights-group-calls-state-legal-attack-insult-004339866.html

Russia rights group calls state legal attack an 'insult'

Moscow (AFP) - Russia's most prominent rights group Memorial on Saturday called a legal assault on their organization an "insult", warning it could seriously disrupt their work.

Senior members of Memorial, which investigates everything from the Stalin-era Gulag to government death squads in Chechnya, said a justice ministry case against the organization's coordinating body was groundless.

The Supreme Court is set on November 13 to hear the case in which the government seeks to liquidate Memorial's umbrella organisation, overseeing dozens of human rights groups nationwide.

"The very existence of the case is an insult against people who have for the past 20 years been doing the work that the state should have done," Yan Rachinsky, a senior Memorial member, told AFP.

If prosecutors succeed, many individual groups working under the Memorial name would "have to re-register," Rachinksy said.

That would throw many separate branches into legal limbo, even if the most famous offshoot -- the Moscow-based Memorial human rights centre -- would not be affected for now.

Rachinsky's colleague Oleg Orlov called the case "a shot across the bow."

"Further pressure can be expected," Orlov told AFP, adding that authorities could move against the Moscow rights centre, seen as the group's most prized asset.

- 'Severe blow to Russia's image' -

President Vladimir Putin's rights adviser Mikhail Fedotov said that if the court indeed ordered the shutdown of the group it would be a "severe blow to Russia's image."

"I hope it will not happen," Fedotov, head of the Kremlin's rights council, told AFP, expressing hope that the court would postpone the hearing.

Memorial said it would file a complaint to the Constitutional Court.

Memorial executive director Elena Zhemkova said separately that the group would ask the Supreme Court to postpone the hearing so that they could change its charter.

In the worst case scenario, "we will come up with a new form and structure," she said on Echo of Moscow radio.

Registered in 1992, Memorial is one of Russia's most respected human rights organisations.

It gained prominence for chronicling the victims of Communist repression, a painful subject that modern Russia has been reluctant to address.

The group became an even bigger presence through its investigations of executions and kidnappings committed against civilians during Moscow's wars, starting in the 1990s, to subdue Chechen separatists.

The authorities have steadily clamped down on rights organizations since the outbreak of street protests against Putin's return for a third term in the Kremlin in 2012.

Memorial, along with other rights groups, has been ordered to register itself as a "foreign agent" under a controversial 2012 law.

The legislation forced NGOs which carry out political activities and receive international funding to register and name themselves as "foreign agents" in all their documents -- a term laden with connotations of treachery and espionage.

-'This is Russia, baby'-

On Friday, another prominent rights group, the Mosow-based Sakharov Centre, became the target of religious activists when it hosted a meeting of gays and transgender people.

Around 30 activists, some clutching icons, tried to break into the centre and pelted its employees and guests with eggs, said gay rights activist Dmitry Svetly, who helped organise the meeting.

Svetly complained that police on the scene were more interested in ensuring that no minors had participated in the meeting than in maintaining public order.

Meanwhile, top opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta said it had received a reprimand from the state media watchdog on Friday.

The watchdog claimed one of the newspaper's articles, headlined "If we are not the West, then who are we?" and penned by outspoken commentator Yulia Latynina, violated a law against extremism, Novaya Gazeta said.

Two reprimands within the space of a year give authorities legal grounds to shut down a media outlet.

The paper, which had been seen as a contender for the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize, quipped that instead of the prestigious award it got a state warning.

"This is Russia, baby," it said on Facebook.

[Syt]

The blue on white says "International Agent."

[CountDeMoney]

The blue on white says "International Agent."

Real estate?

[Syt]

http://rt.com/politics/199739-russian-prostitutes-marriage-bill/

Clients must marry prostitutes or face jail – St Pete deputy

A municipal lawmaker in Russia's second-largest city has drafted a bill introducing heavy fines for the clients of prostitutes, but they'll be forgotten if client agrees to marry the sex worker.

The initiative is from Olga Galkina who represents the pro-business Civil Platform party in the St Petersburg city legislature. She stressed that her bill was in response to the recent suggestion to make prostitution a criminal offence drafted by Vitaly Milonov, known for his anti-gay drive, and other campaigns bordering Christian fundamentalism.

In an interview with business daily Kommersant-St Petersburg Galkina said she wants to change the Russian Administrative Code and introduce fines of between 4000 and 10000 rubles ($95- $240)or up to 5 days of arrest for buying sex services. If clients know that prostitutes had been forced into this business the fines increase to 50-100 thousand rubles ($1200 - $2380) and the terms of administrative arrest to 10 or 15 days. The bill would also see convicted foreign nationals deported immediately after they pay the fines or their time of arrest ends.

The most interesting part of the bill is the possibility for clients to evade punishment altogether if they "marry the person that provided the sex services."

In the explanatory note attached to the bill Galkina quotes international experience, saying that introducing responsibility for clients had helped to decrease the prostitution rate in Finland, Norway, Sweden and Iceland.

If the St. Petersburg city legislature approves the bill in two readings it would be sent to the Federal parliament with the possibility to become a national Russian law.

Law experts say that while the purpose of the bill is good it might face difficulties in real life as it would be very difficult to collect proof of the crime.

In further comments with Kommersant-St Petersburg Galkina said that in reality she advocated legalization of prostitution and drafted the controversial bill in order to start a public discussion on the issue.

[Maximus]

The thread title was never more appropriate.

[DGuller]

The thread title was never more appropriate.

[CountDeMoney]

Needs dashcams.

[Tonitrus]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/russian-advertising-ban-on-paid-cable-and-satellite-channels-threatens-independents/2014/11/05/ebbf933e-6370-11e4-ab86-46000e1d0035_story.html

MOSCOW — An advertising ban on Russian cable and satellite TV stations could decimate regional television broadcasting from the suburbs of the capital to the far reaches of Siberia, leaving the country almost entirely dependent on state media for news and information.

The law, which will prohibit commercial advertisements on paid cable and satellite channels starting next year, is one of many measures Russian authorities have adopted in recent months to tighten control over the flow of information, reduce foreign money in Russian media and force journalists to hew closer to a pro-Kremlin line.

And...

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/11/new-putin-art-exhibit-shows-him-spanking-obama.html

Not even a month has passed since Vladimir Putin's devotees organized a Hercules-themed art show for the Russian president's birthday, but that doesn't mean it's too soon for another round of Vlad in Celebratory Caricature. An exhibit called "No Filters" opened Friday in Moscow, and despite the Halloween-y date, it was no trick.

Organized by the youth arm of Putin's party, United Russia, the exhibit shows the Russian leader facing off with adversaries in the European Union and the U.S. In the image above, for instance, the artist is trying to convey a more accurate illustration of anti-Russian sanctions. Check out some of the latest Putin masterpieces below.

[Razgovory]

Well he got the GOP vote.