Russia for the last 8 years has benefited from America's war on terrorism, with high fluctuating oil prices and the stranglehold of gas supplies to Europe from central Asian states. Most of the economic growth was also from the maturation of many reforms passed under Yeltsin. Putin's strong stance against Chechnya and dismantling of oligarchy wins favour with the Russian public. Anything is possible for the people of Russia as long as they do not think of becoming involved politically against the Putin's KGB cadre.

However with the economy now entering recession people's lives will be affected, Putin froze the prices before elections earlier in the year, dissent would rise as the illusion of economic growth now fades and change is pushed for. The Kremlin will come down hard on anybody who will start to resist. This is the reality of State Managed Democracy in Russia.

More:
The Rise of Pro-Putin Youth
Putin Warns Countries Not To Interfere With Russian Affairs
Why Democracy: Russia's Village of Fools
ex-KGB spy speaking against Putin shortly before his death
Real News: Eric Margolis comments on Putin and Russia's Duma
Russians back Putin, Russian Elections deemed a 'farce'
Suppression of Opposition Groups in Russia
Putin's Message to the West
Death of a Nation: Russia in 2006 by Marcel Theroux
Kasparov on Maher--Being Very Clever
Panorama - The poisoning of Litvinenko
Russians mark Anna Politkovskaya's Murder

DEC 14 2008 MOSCOW— The Russian police detained dozens of antigovernment protesters attempting to hold an unsanctioned rally in Moscow on Sunday.

Police officers and armored riot control personnel prevented the planned protest in central Moscow from materializing, in the latest sign that public expression of dissent against the authorities would not be tolerated under President Dmitri A. Medvedev any more than it had been under his predecessor, Vladimir V. Putin.

As many as 100 people were detained, including Eduard Limonov, the head of the banned National Bolshevik Party, said a spokeswoman for Other Russia, a coalition of opposition groups led by Mr. Limonov and the former chess champion Garry Kasparov, among others. The police said that about 10 people were detained during a similar protest in St. Petersburg, Interfax reported.
The Moscow demonstration was meant as a protest of the Kremlin’s handling of the financial crisis and its plans to change the Constitution to extend presidential and parliamentary term limits. Government critics say such a move could be used to extend the authority of Mr. Putin, who is now prime minister, and possibly lead to his early return to the presidency.

Mr. Putin, while he has said Mr. Medvedev will remain president until his term ends in 2012, has not ruled out running for a third term after that.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/15/world/europe/15russia.html?_r=1

Tags for this video have been changed from 'st petersburg, hitler, nazi, WWII, firestorm, bloodiest battle in human history' to '40s, st petersburg, hitler, nazi, WWII, firestorm, bloodiest battle in human history' - edited by swampgirl

Merci:) if you know/see more senior culture, let me know, my playlist
http://www.videosift.com/playlists/Eklek/Senior-culture
is still relatively small. Somehow there are few videos featuring seniors.

In reply to this comment by alien_concept:
I adore old people who have still got a massive zest for life. This lady has no shame, it's beautiful. And in the russina accent this is just hilarious. Happily *promoted

OK, first of all, since when is a Sift Roast a charity event? I mean, for fuck's sakes, this guy is so pathetic, making fun of people named Biggus Dickus is more challenging. Besides, I'm fairly certain we'll have exceed the total sum of all his lifetime verbal conversations ("Hi..." "Piss off!" x 237) in this thread by noon tomorrow.

I mean, the hardest thing is to decide where to start.

This man is so utterly lonely he tries to pass himself off as a geek, and fails spectacularly. I mean, how does one fail at GEEK, the one label losers like me and you all around the world use to comfort ourselves that there might be a community somewhere that accepts and appreciates us?
For one, he's boasting how he's at the computer all round the clock as if it's some WoW achievement (if it is, I say it's discriminatory, as it effectively singles out people with no lives). Take a look at his hobbies (#23) - I mean, wow, it takes some serious effort to exclusively come up with ones you only do on a computer. And come on, he added a fucking ® to both Photoshop© and Adobe™ (same exotic symbol twice in a row, loser), because everybody cares about indicating trademarks on the Series Of Tubes. It's serious business!

His 'picture', if one is blasphemous enough of photography by calling it that:
Apart from the fact that he might as well be Jessica Alba (we'll never know, his shaky camera skills are effing l33t), it's additionally cropped to show off pixelation and camera noise, there's a shitload of unnecessary blur and even a fucking lens flare effect for goodness' sakes! And did I mention how hip it is to take photos of yourself in outstretched hands? LONELYPHAIL15, man. By the way, when you say you wouldn't like to be Fart-Man, I urge you reconsider. There's advantages - you'd be more likely to score ladies than you are now, for one. Also, cops/people on the street might mistake you for an entertainer or a mascot every once in a while.

And I don't mean to nit-pick here, but what the hell is this guy doing here anyway? Obviously, he's implying that out of the 33 boring videos he's sifted (I suggest you go downvote all of them so that he doesn't get his hopes up), he's yet to enjoy any of them, as this remains his ultimate goal (#30). He mentions another, "self-entertainment", which is followed by "lol". Congratulations on achieving that second goal on such short notice. Although I do immensely pity karkarlee if you're equally easy to satisfy in other areas.

Finally,
>> ^karkarlee:
^ 32. What made you pick Obsidianfire as a username?
I mean look at it: obsidian fire. Imagine black fire, that's fucking awesome emo.

Here's an image of black fire for you. Since it's obviously the most awesomest thing ever for you, I hope you experience your very first orgasm over it. Then you might actually not feel too guilty while reassuring karkarlee for the hundredth time that you're very experienced in this secksing business.

Other roasters: here's your dessert.

estonia? finland? st petersburg?

There's no liberal media?--then why do liberals pine for the days of the "Big 3" networks, when a lone old fart like Walter Commie-kite could offer his treasonous take on Vietnam without any resistance?

Conservative bias...FOX News.

Mainstream Liberal Bias: New York Slimes, St. Petersburg Slimes, Washington Compost, San Fran Carbuncle, MS-DNC, CNN (Crescent/Clinton News Network), ABC, CBS, PBS, NPR, USA Hippie, Slime, Newsweak magazine, BankruptAir Amerikkka and 99% of Hollywood dreck.

Liberals: "WHAT liberal media?"
Fish: "WHAT water?"

The voice of the "Plutocratic Kleptocracy" known as the US government. You are kidding yourself if you think the USA is a Democracy. No matter what party is in charge.

>>> Actually, the USA is a Republic w/ a representative democracy. BTW nice work with the 2-dollar words. Usually the beret-wearers say "plutocratic oligarchy."

QM you're talking that polarised shit again.

>>> PolariZed? Why? Because I choose a side and have values? The answer is Yes. I wonder if you'll ever do the same. If you're a bloody "--ist" of any kind, just say so.

By the way, how is that Bush/Cheney small government going?

>>> Hey I'm still for small government as are all real conservatives. Bush pissed off a lot of conservatives with his liberal spending and immigration stances. We have to win the Iraq war almost singlehandedly cause Europe is too busy kissing the asses of Muslims, so yeah, we've had to hit the ATM more than we'd like. You'd think American liberals would be joyous Bush spends like one of them, but they're never joyous about anything, they thrive on misery.

What next QM? Weimar backstab after the war in Iraq cascades to shit?

>>> What are YOU going to do when we WIN the Iraq war? We're winning it now, why do you think your uh, "non-liberal" media is so silent?

These motherfuckers at Faux News should be thrown into jail for the rest of their lives... and they deserve worse than that for what they do on a daily basis.

>>> More of that liberal "free speech for all" I see. Thank God you guys are out of power, even with a majority in Congress, you're hated.

This is nothing short of ideological sabotage on a national level. The end result is people like QM- blithely ignorant, totally convinced that they are right and that their worldview is the only one which is acceptable (EVERYTHING else is just "libs").

>>> The "need to be right" is a deadly human disease. I would never claim to be right ALL the time, only 98%. I think the left, for all its moral relativism and nihilistic fervor, doesn't stand for jack shit and has no spine, and that's why they can't bear to hear anyone with a point of view.

Qauntum Mushroom - do you even realize how moronic your statement is? Was it sincere? Or do you know its bullshit, and say it anyways?

>>> Do you even realize how to spell?

Thats the question I've always wondered about dumbass neocons - do they know they are evil, or do they somehow think they are in the right on this?

>>> No need for insults, mamaluke. And how can you call anything or anyone evil? According to the left there IS no evil! Everything is relative! See, how can we tell a cannibal his culinary choices are wrong? That would be judgmental!

now let's compare the two ideologies' media footprint:

Conservative bias...FOX News and talk radio (which is not news but mere commentary.

Mainstream Liberal Bias...New York Slimes, St. Petersburg Slimes, Washington Compost, San Fran Carbuncle, MS-DNC, CNN (Crescent News Network), ABC, CBS, PBS, NPR, USA Hippie, Slime, Newsweak magazine, BankruptAir Amerikkka and 99% of Hollywood dreck.

The drive-by media no longer hide that they're a fifth column liberal propaganda machine, working and walking in lockstep for the 'Crats.

Libs had 50 years of unopposed 3-network bullshit. The party's over. ha ha ha ha.

Conservative bias...FOX News.

Mainstream Liberal Bias...New York Slimes, St. Petersburg Slimes, Washington Compost, San Fran Carbuncle, MS-DNC, CNN (Crescent News Network), ABC, CBS, PBS, NPR, USA Hippie, Slime, Newsweak, BankruptAir Amerikkka and 99% of Hollywood dreck.

The drive-bys no longer hide that they're a fifth column liberal propaganda machine, working and walking in lockstep for the 'Crats.

Libs had 40 years of unopposed 3-network bullplop. The net's here and now the party's over. ha ha ha ha.

Mildly Amusing. The Simpsons gave up trying or are trying too hard...either way they're not funny and haven't been for years.

Conservative bias...FOX News.

Mainstream Liberal Bias...New York Slimes, St. Petersburg Slimes, Washington Compost, San Fran Carbuncle, MS-DNC, CNN (Crescent News Network), ABC, CBS, PBS, NPR, USA Hippie, Slime, Newsweak magazine, BankruptAir Amerikkka and 99% of Hollywood dreck.

Libs had 40 years of unopposed 3-network bullplop. The party's over.

This short can be found on the "The Animation Show" Vol.1 DVD by, Mike Judge and Don Hertzfeldt.
It is done by Alex Boduvsky and named Bathtime In Clerkenwell (2002)
Here is some text that came in the DVD booklet about it, very rich.

ALEX BUDOSKY is calling from somewhere in the 917 area code, in New York City where he and his family call home, and his cell phone signal is breaking up. "Basically the entire family emigrated because of, you know, hard times in Russia in the nineties. we left in December of '94, garble garble garble garble garble garble. Yeah. So it was a good choice, I guess." Never having found out what their alternatives were, I have to say I agree with his assesment, the former immigrant who arrived with only artistic aspirations and no English vocabulary to speak of, is now the animator of choice for pop act The Real Tuesday Weld with a singular style and a rising career as a commercial artist.
Budovsky, who was born in St. Petersburg in 1975, came to America with his family and settled in New York, where they all still live. The then not-quite-20-year-old set his sights on higher education, but the fisrt priority was a practical linguistic one. "I didn't speak English when I arrived," he says, "so I went to Brooklyn College and took some English as a Second Language classes. Then I took some film classes, and graduated as a sound designer, with an emphasis on film".
He graduated in 2000 with an aptitude in all the film basics, including editing, screenwriting, and photography, and discovered a program called Macromedia Director, which is now software generally used in business presentations. He began animating as a lark, without any formal training. "I was working as an electrician in the New York City ship terminal and doing film in my spare for fun", he says, "so I just had fun entertaining myself".
At a friends house, he happened to hear Where Psyche Meets Cupid, a collection of droll cabaret/electronica by Stephen Coastes, a.k.a. The Real Tuesday Weld. He immediately decided to make a video for the haded hip-hop/hot jazz ballad "Terminally Ambivalent Over You".
"I knew nothing about copyright", Budovsky says, "and one of my friends told me, 'You can't just use this guy's music. You have to at least contact him and ask for permission'. So I wrote him and asked for permission, even though the film was laready made. He gave me permission. I waited several weeks, and sent him the film". The Flash-animated depiction of a love-distracted prisoner on a Gramaphone assembly-line unfolds mostly in black and white with a few color accents, and barring the contemporary soundtrack and the ultra-clean frame, it could pass for a particularly accomplished product of the Kruschev-era Zagreb Studio of former Yuogoslavia.
Coates loved what he saw, and sent Budovsky sketches for the songs from his upcoming CD "I, Lucifer". Alex heard "Bathtime in Clerkenwell", decided it was destined to be a hit, and immediatly set to work on a vdieo. The demented product is full of confused humans, belligerent cuckoos, and princers dangling over assembly lines - icons that seem to recur often in Budovsky's work. Don't bother asking where they come from, though, because Alex doesn't have a clue. "I never even think about what I do. It just comes out on its own", he laughs. "I can't really explain how all those characters appear."
To Budovsky's surprise, once Bathtime started making the festival circuit in 2002, it began to pick up an array of prizes, and the notoriety led to more shorts and commercials. He's worked on campaigns for Lucozade and Converse, his latest short is a music video based on Geoff Muldaur's version of "Brazil". Budovsky reworked the song with the help of The Real Tuesday Weld and friend Girt Chatrou (who is a two-time world champion whistler). He couldn't secure an internet license for "Brazi", but most of the rest of Budovsky's work is online at his own Figli-Migli Productions web site. (It means "low jinks.")
Budovsky doesn't have any feature film plans at the momment; his work method wouldn't support it. "All of my films - I don't do any pre-production whatsoever", he says. "I don't do scripts, I don't do storyboarding or animatics. I just build the film shot-by-shot, and halfway through the film I don't know what the end is going to be". For Alex, up to this point, short form has been the way to go because of the amount of contol he carries on the prokect. "In animation, you're a king, and you're a god, and you can accomplish so much alone", he laughs but adds, "I do like to collaborate though. It's exciting to see where people's input can take you."

/my wrists hurt, probably typos

What's conveniently overlooked by the drive-by media about Obama:

* Little to no political experience; no-balls for national defense

* Votes exactly like Ted Kennedy, aka the Chappaquiddick Aquacrat

* Gigantic ears

----------------------------------

Conservative bias...FOX News?

MAINSTREAM Liberal Bias: New York Slime (aka Traitorag), St. Petersburg Slime, Washington Compost, San Fran Carbuncle, MS-DNC, CNN (Crescent News Network), ABC, CBS, USA Hippie, Slime and Newsweak magazine, BankruptAir Amerikkka and 99% of Hollywood.

The drive-by media no longer pretend to be objective, if they ever did. They're now openly a fifth column liberal propaganda machine, working and walking in lockstep for the 'Crats.

Let the dweebs go on carrying the Dems' water; FOX continues to kick ass in the ratings while the drive-bys' audience atrophies.

Conservative bias...FOX News.


Liberal Bias: New York Slime, St. Petersburg Slime, Washington Compost, San Fran Carbuncle, MS-DNC, CNN (Crescent News Network), ABC, CBS, USA Hippie, Slime and Newsweak magazine, BankruptAir Amerika and 99% of Hollywood.

The drive-by media no longer hide that they're a fifth column liberal propaganda machine, working and walking in lockstep w/ the 'Crats.

Let the neo-maxie zoom dweebies go on carrying the Dems' water; FOX continues to kick their collectivist ass in the ratings.