The State of Affairs in Russia

[Martinus]

I read Polish newspapers, contrary to what you might think - and if this was a raising phenomenon someone would have written about this. The NYP article is the first time I heard about such groups being more than a bunch of fringe weirdos (and that was also the way Polish media reported on it).

[Syt]

On the subject of laying a wreath at the Soviet War Memorial in London:
http://tass.ru/en/world/784237

All our friends from CIS [Commonwealth of Independent State] countries and other countries will be there, along with our British partners, of course

"All our friends. And Britain."

Though apparently the ambassador didn't feel the need to add, "Our words are backed with nuclear weapons."

[The Brain]

Are we talking about the Times or the Post now?

[Solmyr]

Though apparently the ambassador didn't feel the need to add, "Our words are backed with nuclear weapons."

Someone with Photoshop skillz needs to make a Civ1 meme with Gandhi's face replaced by Putin's.

[Valmy]

Well I am bummed my dreams of Marty drilling in an anti-Russian militia have not yet come to pass.

[Ed Anger]

Well I am bummed my dreams of Marty drilling in an anti-Russian militia have not yet come to pass.

The Swishy brigade

[grumbler]

Well I am bummed my dreams of Marty drilling in an anti-Russian militia have not yet come to pass.

But your dreams of seeing Marti argue that "if I'm not aware of it, it can't be true" have come to pass, so there's some consolation. 

[KRonn]

Though apparently the ambassador didn't feel the need to add, "Our words are backed with nuclear weapons."

Someone with Photoshop skillz needs to make a Civ1 meme with Gandhi's face replaced by Putin's.

[Syt]

So here's the Russian side of the Denmark story:

http://tass.ru/en/world/784466

Denmark unlikely to join NATO's missile shield — expert

The European Missile Defense System and its further deployment as an integral part of the US ballistic missile defense poses a threat to Russia's strategic nuclear forces

MOSCOW, March 23. /TASS/. Denmark is unlikely to join NATO's missile defense program, otherwise its ships will become a potential target for the Russian Armed Forces, Editor-in-Chief of the National Defense magazine Igor Korotchenko said on Monday.

Earlier, Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics voiced concern over an article by Russian Ambassador to Denmark Mikhail Vanin published by the Jyllands-Posten newspaper, in which the diplomat dwells on the possible negative effects of the move.

"I believe the Danish political and military leadership will weigh all potential risks and will eventually not join the programs that have a destabilizing effect on the international strategic stability," Korotchenko told TASS.

The expert noted that, if Denmark deployed the Aegis naval system as a component of the European missile defense shield, "it could be absolutely sure that its ships would become a potential target for the Russian precision weapons."

"Any NATO member country that has joined the European Missile Defense System by deploying on its territory ground infrastructures (command centers, interceptor sites, radar), and also having vessels equipped with the Aegis system should be aware that these facilities will be viewed as potential targets for the Russian Armed Forces," Korotchenko said.

According to him, this is due to the fact that the European Missile Defense System and its further deployment as an integral part of the US ballistic missile defense poses a threat to Russia's strategic nuclear forces.

Oddly, the article doesn't mention that the Russian ambassador threatened Denmark with nuclear weapons.

[KRonn]

Seems like a backwards viewpoint. If they're worried about their ships being targeted in a war, isn't it better to have those ships and a defense system that will have some ability to respond in that war??      

[Razgovory]

Thanks Jake.

[Admiral Yi]

We all know this Star Wars shit doesn't work anyways.

[Valmy]

We all know this Star Wars shit doesn't work anyways.

These technological terrors we have constructed are insignificant next to the power of the Force.

[Syt]

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/news/article/russian-orthodox-priest-parental-violence-campaigns-are-anti-family/517976.html

Russian Orthodox Priest: Parental Violence Campaigns Are 'Anti-Family'

A Russian Orthodox archbishop who heads a patriarchal commission for children's and mothers' rights has criticized advocacy campaigns against domestic violence, arguing that they constitute "anti-family propaganda" and pose a threat to society.

Speaking with Russia's children's rights ombudsman, Pavel Astakhov, Archbishop Dmitry Smirnov said that public criticism of domestic violence raised distrust among family members and discredited traditional methods of discipline such as "parental punishment," according to a statement on the Russian Orthodox Church's website.

"Very often, unfortunately, to solve societal grievances we are offered a cure that is worse than the actual disease. This is exactly the case with campaigns against so-called 'domestic (or family) violence,'" Smirnov said, according to the statement.

Smirnov, who has served as a priest for nearly 35 years, added: "Instead of protecting children and women, we are allowing this anti-family propaganda, as a result of which family relationships are no longer seen as desirable, but as a threat."

He reasoned that campaigns warning against domestic violence lead society to perceive family relations not as sacred but as threatening, adding that just as the law protects society from harmful ideas and ideologies such as racism and Nazism, it should also protect the family unit from being undermined by public campaigns.

This is not the first time Smirnov has voiced his opposition to public discussions of domestic violence.

Last month, he cautioned against the signing of a Council of Europe convention on preventing and combating domestic abuse, saying it could run contrary to Russia's "national interests," according to a statement on the Church's website.

While data on domestic violence is scarce in Russia, statistics presented by the State Duma Committee on Public Health in 2012 showed that some 40 percent of all violent crimes in Russia were committed within families.

In his meeting with Astakhov on Friday, Smirnov said the family "in which a husband and wife are joined in marriage was and is the safest and best place for children to be raised."

[Valmy]

patriarchal commission for children's and mothers' rights

Lolz