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By John Helmer, Moscow  @bears_with The brainwashing of the peoples of the NATO alliance is working much better with the British than the Americans. For the time being, Russia-hating is a peculiarly English phenomenon. Almost half the Americans polled a month ago said they did not believe Russia was an adversary with whom the US is […]

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By John Helmer, Moscow  @bears_with To keep western children safe from being misled by Anglo-American reporters on this topic,  here is a primer on what exactly the newly enacted Russian law says; what Russian public opinion thinks; what the Russian courts, judges,  and lawyers have interpreted the law to mean; and what the record of enforcement […]

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By John Helmer, Moscow  @bears_with There were only two ways for Alexei Kudrin to become the president of Russia that he and the US government have always wanted. The first was for him to become prime minister first, and for him to get the job through the back door, exactly as Vladimir Putin got it from […]

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By John Helmer, Moscow  @bears_with A German walks into a bar and orders a beer. The bartender tells him: “That’ll be 100 euros.” The German is in shock. “What do you mean, 100 euros? Yesterday it was only 10!” “Well today it’s 100.” “But why 100, dammit?!”

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By John Helmer, Moscow  @bears_with Robots can be easily programmed to correct their mistakes; robot voters can be programmed to re-vote. But robots are missing the intelligence to cover up their tracks. In the twenty-four hours since the Russian polls closed on Sunday at 8, the robot voters of Russia have exposed themselves to one of […]

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by John Helmer, Moscow   @bears_with In a plan Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin initiated two years ago called “Smart City 2030”, the Russian capital has attempted to catch up with China’s cities and to London in the mobilization of electronic and digital tools for following the city’s inhabitants, enforcing the laws, and catching criminals, tax cheats, speeders […]

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by John Helmer, Moscow   @bears_with There’s an invariable rule of politics the world over. “It was worthwhile making sure of your potential friends,” the English novelist C.P. Snow put into the mouth of a rising cabinet minister in London a half-century ago. “As a rule you couldn’t win over your enemies, but you could lose your […]

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by John Helmer, Moscow   @bears_with It’s an old tsarist ploy. When government officials grow fearful of public protests, attacks on the authorities, and rioting, they increase the volume of alcohol for sale but decrease the number of places where drinkers can gather in public. Vodka is the opium of the people: this has been the Russian […]

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by John Helmer, Moscow  @bears_with “The immediate priority is to prevent the quick spread of this disease”, President Vladimir Putin (lead image, top left) declared in his state speech on the corona virus last week.   This is the point on which there is no disagreement, not now at least. But how restrictive for the economy […]

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by John Helmer, Moscow  @bears_with Two weeks is not a long time in Russian politics. But it’s just enough for Kremlin deputy staff chief Sergei Kirienko to send the instruction to the Central Election Commission head Ella Pamfilova (lead image) that any turnout, big or small, for the national vote on constitutional amendments will be enough.  […]