Moscow Mayor: Gay Parade Is 'Satanic'

By Carl Schreck

Mayor Yury Luzhkov on Monday denounced gay rights parades as "satanic" and vowed that he would never allow such events to be held in the city.

Speaking during a Russian Orthodox Church conference at the Kremlin, Luzhkov said the city would reject any application to hold a gay pride parade and crack down on anyone who chose to march in defiance of the ban, just as it did in 2006.

"Last year, Moscow came under unprecedented pressure to sanction the gay parade, which can be described in no other way than as a satanic event," Luzhkov said in televised comments. "We did not let the parade take place then, and we will not allow it in the future."

At last year's parade in May, marchers were overwhelmed by militant Orthodox Christians and ultranationalists throwing smoke bombs. The parade had been banned by Luzhkov, and more than 100 gay rights activists and their opponents were arrested by police.

Nikolai Alexeyev, the chief organizer of last year's march, said it was "shocking" that such a high-ranking government official could publicly express such sentiments.

"To compare us to a satanic cult is not worthy of the top official of Europe's largest city," Alexeyev said. "It is a personal insult."

Alexeyev said the parade organizers would file a libel suit against Luzhkov in the coming weeks.

Alexeyev also said that on Monday the organizers of last year's parade had filed an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, seeking 20,000 euros ($26,000) in damages for the violation of their constitutional right of free assembly.

Gay activists will march again this year regardless of whether Luzhkov bans the parade, Alexeyev said.

Ahead of last year's march, the Council of Europe issued a statement that offered support to gay rights activists in Moscow in their struggle against homophobia.

The statement also called on city authorities to ensure the safety of the marchers.

Father Vsevolod Chaplin, a top spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church, said Monday that a majority of Russians were against gay rights parades.

Chaplin called Luzhkov a "responsible politician" for upholding the will of the people in his remarks at the Kremlin on Monday.

"Satanic" was not an exaggeration by Luzhkov, Chaplin said.

"The forces of evil are always emboldened by the propaganda of sin," Chaplin said.

A number of gay rights activists opposed last year's parade and labeled Alexeyev a self-promoter who sought to use the event to build his own reputation at home and abroad.

Gay activist Ed Mishin, director of the gay rights organization Together, said the gay parade dispute in Moscow was merely a personal conflict between Alexeyev and Luzhkov.

"This is not a conflict between city authorities and the gay community at large," Mishin said.

Luzhkov on Monday also accused countries in the West of trying to force their liberal values on Russia, thereby corrupting its children and its traditions.

Luzhkov said it was unfortunate that "religious institutions at various levels" in European countries had teamed up with governments to "bless same-sex marriages" and provide "manuals of a sexual nature" for use in the education of children "starting in the first grade."

"Supporters of such education appear in Russia propped up by generous grants from thoughtful Western 'educators,'" Luzhkov said, Interfax reported.

In April 2005, Luzhkov suggested that the construction of a golf course in the bucolic Strogino area in northwestern Moscow would help prevent homosexuals and barbecuers from frequenting the area and damaging the environment.

Source: themoscowtimes.com

Dangerous tendency: Journalist sentenced for publications in his blog

This is now a dangerous tendency: one may not be safe when writing in his blog.

A Kazakhstan opposition journalist Kazis Toguzbaev was sentenced to 2 year probation for anti-presidential publication in a blog named kub.

National Security Committee of Kazakhstan find them insulting the honour and dignity of the president Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Law enforcement was called due tov two articlesthe 58-years old journalist had written in April 2006. The names of the articles are eloquent: "Pope in Rome and Pope in Astana - feel the difference" and " Mafia regime covers Altanbek's killers".

In the second of these publications Toguzbaev alludes to the indirect involvement of the President of the country in the killing of opposition-politician Altynbek Sarsenbayev who was killed on February 23 last year.

As a result, on November 23 last year, the journalist was on the dock for the "negative assessment of the Nazarbayev's actions in connection with a murder investigation of Altynbek Sarsenbayev", that for the formal reason for the trial.

Despite a sentence of two years probation instead of the required charge three years colony, the protection remained dissatisfied.

Funny thing is that three days before the sentencing on the Day of Democracy Toguzbayev was awarded with the Svoboda (Freedom) Award for "fidelity to principles and inflexibility in defending the ideals of Democracy".

This has become an additional warning to bloggers: you can not be safe while publishing your posts via Internet. I seems like the last bastion of freedom will soon be seized, too.

Tunnel of Death in Moscow

This video was taken from a CCTV camera installed in one of the tunnels in Moscow. Horrible.

Disgusting Video: Student Gulps Back a Whole Bottle of Vodka at Once

Really disgusting. If you're a nervous person or a pregnant woman please don't watch it:

Some notes: it seems like those guys in video are students of one of Moscow Universities. Video shows a student drinking up a bootle of vodka at one draught. Then it shows his state in 50 minutes.

One Last Year of Peace, Perhaps

By Boris Kagarlitsky

As 2006 passes into the history books, it might just end up being lost, as nothing of really great significance took place in the country. There also wasn't much in the way of world events that significantly affected life in Russia.

Analysts summing up the last 12 months make mention of shake-ups in the Prosecutor General's Office and the Justice Ministry, as well as the Sakhalin-2 scandal, in which the state unexpectedly played the "concern about the ecology" card in order to increase Gazprom's share of the project's profits. But did these events make much of a wave with Russians?

The option of voting "against all" was removed from ballots, as it was labeled as somewhat offensive. But is that really important? Does anyone really believe that Russians, having lost faith in politicians, will vote for some mysterious and nameless candidate? No such threat ever really existed. Bureaucrats are just making their jobs easier. It's the same story with removing the minimum turnout requirement. Now there is no need to waste time mobilizing "dead souls" and falsifying reports.

The murders of journalist Anna Politkovskaya and former Federal Security Service agent Alexander Litvenenko, both known for their anti-Kremlin stances - came as serious blows to Vladimir Putin's presidency. The Western press is firm in its conviction that Russia is run by horrible people who are guilty of all manner of crimes. But has this changed anything in Russia?

Even government social policies that have generated a fair amount of trepidation among the population haven't brought serious changes. The mass demonstrations of 2005 didn't lead the government to abandon its program, but instead merely to implement it incrementally. Instead of protests, this has lead mostly to bewilderment and confusion.

It's much more likely that a breakup will occur among the ruling elites than that a wave of popular protests will erupt. If the people are confused by the leadership's reforms, then the authorities themselves are even more mixed-up by their own intrigues.

In this situation, it is safest to remain on the sidelines as an observer. By maintaining a distance from politics, the average Russian demonstrates a healthy instinct for self-preservation. In reality, people can't entirely detach themselves from current events. There is no firewall separating us from the authorities. Or at least there is nothing of this sort keeping the authorities from getting at us.

And that is the problem, because the more tempestuous and acute the imbroglio gets at the top, the greater the chances that it will spill over in a way that negatively affects ordinary Russians. As the politicians lock horns, the bureaucracy runs less and less like a well-oiled machine and more and more like a poorly organized terrarium, with each inhabitant ready to swallow up its neighbor at the first opportunity. The 2007 presidential election, which at first seemed as if it would be routine, now threatens to become a contest without rules and with unpredictable results. The people will be nothing more than spectators to the struggle.

It seems as if most Russians are satisfied with this role, in the same way that visitors to a terrarium rarely feel any real sympathy for the slippery and poisonous creatures weaving about in unimaginable combinations behind the glass. The more you observe them, and the closer you look, the harder it is to imagine yourself in their place. Who really wants to jump over the wall and join the fight between the snakes and crocodiles?

Source: themoscowtimes.com

ON-THE-SPOT DEBT COLLECTION FOR UNPAID TRAFFIC FINES

THE RUSSIAN FEDERAL SERVICE OF JUDICIAL POLICE OFFICERS (FSJPO) has teamed up with GAI (Russian State Road Police) to remind Russians of their duty to Mother Russia. According to Gazeta.ru, the GAI has now been given power to perform ON-THE-SPOT DEBT COLLECTION FOR UNPAID TRAFFIC FINES. This one's going to affect everyone because, as everyone knows, Russians makes it a point to never pay their traffic fines. GAI officers can now run a check through their computers on anyone they stop and, if they have outstanding fines, demand payment on the spot. And if they can't pay? Well, that's no problem at all. The new FSJPO-GAI partnership gives GAI THE RIGHT TO CONFISCATE PROPERTY (spare tires, car stereos and anything else of value that can be detached) as deposit on payment. The first test run spot-check happened on the main road connecting Moscow and St. Petersburg on December 22nd and brought in 11,000 rubles in unpaid fines in just 1 hour. Wow, that's just over $423 in 60 minutes! Gazeta.ru broke the story on December 21st and according to it's source in the GAI, this is just the beginning. These checks aren't just an end-of-the-year government mad rush to collect funds. Soon, this practice is going to spread all over the country and will continue indefinitely. 2007 looks to be the year of civic responsibility...

Source: www.exile.ru