World Politics

[Beech Mtn]

Is Natanyahu going to paint
הפוך שוב הגדול בישראל
on his new fence?

(Hope Google Translate got that right)

 

[Merckx index]

Re:

...things are getting weird in Israel, first Labour loses its collective mind and then there are the wild beasts...maybe the two are related...?....
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Netanyahu plans fence around Israel to protect it from 'wild beasts'

Source: The Guardian

Binyamin Netanyahu has announced his intention to “surround all of Israel with a fence” to protect the country from infiltration by both Palestinians and the citizens of surrounding Arab states, whom he described as “wild beasts”.

The article forgot to mention that Bibi expects the Palestinians to pay for the fence.

 

[Bustedknuckle]

Re:

....this does not sound good does it ?....
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"On Sunday night, Israel’s Labor Party unanimously approved their leader’s diplomatic plan.

Labor’s premier Isaac Herzog laid out his vision a few weeks earlier at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, telling the audience that he “wish[es] to separate from as many Palestinians as possible, as quickly as possible.” Herzog continued by explaining that “we’ll erect a big wall between us. That is the kind of co-existence that is possible right now… Ariel Sharon… didn’t finish the job. We want to finish it, to complete the barrier that separates us.”

Examining Labor’s new plan more closely, what becomes bitterly clear is that “We are here, they are there” does not signify the withdrawal of Israeli power from Palestinian territories, but rather a devious way of entrenching the colonial enterprise even further.

Herzog’s underlying assumption is that under current conditions a two-state solution is impossible. He is, however, adamantly against a one state solution, whereby Jews and Palestinians live together as equals. His objective is to formulate a plan that guarantees the continued existence of a Jewish state, with about five million Palestinians living within its territory.‫

On the one hand, then, Israel should not take steps that would undermine the two-state solution, because sustaining the two-state chimera is crucial for preventing the alternative: a democratic state between the Jordan Valley and Mediterranean where Palestinians, like Jews, enjoy full citizenship. On the other hand, Herzog realizes that the two-state solution is no longer an option. He therefore lays out the blueprint of a plan that is in effect an Apartheid regime.

The specifics informing the plan, which the Labor Party approved, are not really new, but the fact that they have been outlined in writing is another crucial step in the consolidation and legitimization of Apartheid rule





The Labor Party, which is the only viable alternative to the current Likud government, and which is considered by many both in Israel and among international leaders to be a progressive substitute, has, in other words, unanimously supported a plan that would have been applauded by Apartheid South Africa.

Given this reality, it does not seem likely that a just solution to the Palestinian plight will come from within Israel. Indeed, at this historical juncture, international pressure is perhaps the only hope and is desperately needed.



Cheers


http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/02/09/israeli-labor-party-adopts-the-apartheid-mantra/


.

Sounds like trump...

"The article forgot to mention that Bibi expects the Palestinians to pay for the fence."

Holy crap, it IS trump!

 

[gooner]

I never knew Sanders' brother ran in the UK election last year.

He's just appointed now as the Green Party health spokesperson.

 

[blutto]

Re: Re:

...things are getting weird in Israel, first Labour loses its collective mind and then there are the wild beasts...maybe the two are related...?....
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Netanyahu plans fence around Israel to protect it from 'wild beasts'

Source: The Guardian

Binyamin Netanyahu has announced his intention to “surround all of Israel with a fence” to protect the country from infiltration by both Palestinians and the citizens of surrounding Arab states, whom he described as “wild beasts”.

The article forgot to mention that Bibi expects the Palestinians to pay for the fence.

...... .....that is now the new international standard in the adding insult to injury category....un-forking-believable....and this from a veritable beacon of democracy and goodness and stuff....and did I mention they hate us for our freedoms....

Cheers

 

[Maxiton]

As an aside: anybody have any idea why on a British website we have a thread devoted to US politics, one devoted to world politics, but no thread for British politics?

 

[Beech Mtn]

Re:

As an aside: anybody have any idea why on a British website we have a thread devoted to US politics, one devoted to world politics, but no thread for British politics?

The British politics fights take place in the various Sky threads in the clinic, and generally involve Blackcat invoking Gordonstoun and Muscular Christianity or somesuch

 

[aphronesis]

Re:

As an aside: anybody have any idea why on a British website we have a thread devoted to US politics, one devoted to world politics, but no thread for British politics?

One could proffer several obvious and less obvious incremental reasons, but Brits and residents have some vestigial spaces in which to discuss politics in person without clear repercussion.

And why would Sky fans want to?

 

[Amsterhammer]

Re: Re:

As an aside: anybody have any idea why on a British website we have a thread devoted to US politics, one devoted to world politics, but no thread for British politics?

The British politics fights take place in the various Sky threads in the clinic, and generally involve Blackcat invoking Gordonstoun and Muscular Christianity or somesuch

A minor reason why I shun the clinic as much as humanly possible.

To answer your question, Max. Look at the date when I started the US topic. We were in the throes of the US election run-up, and US politics completely swamped the general politics topic. For example, today alone, the US topic has added 3-4 pages - it's election time again.

Before the 12 election hotted up and lots of Yanks started posting for that, the one size fits all general topic was enough. As I recall, Alpe was dubious about another topic, but his apprehensions were soon overtaken by the number of posts.

And anyway, there's so much more to talk about, laugh at, and be deeply depressed about, in Murkin politics.

 

[Maxiton]

Re: Re:

As an aside: anybody have any idea why on a British website we have a thread devoted to US politics, one devoted to world politics, but no thread for British politics?

The British politics fights take place in the various Sky threads in the clinic, and generally involve Blackcat invoking Gordonstoun and Muscular Christianity or somesuch

I like Blackcat's posts. He's hilarious, if occasionally a little hard to follow what with the typos and all.

As an aside: anybody have any idea why on a British website we have a thread devoted to US politics, one devoted to world politics, but no thread for British politics?

The British politics fights take place in the various Sky threads in the clinic, and generally involve Blackcat invoking Gordonstoun and Muscular Christianity or somesuch

A minor reason why I shun the clinic as much as humanly possible.

To answer your question, Max. Look at the date when I started the US topic. We were in the throes of the US election run-up, and US politics completely swamped the general politics topic. For example, today alone, the US topic has added 3-4 pages - it's election time again.

Before the 12 election hotted up and lots of Yanks started posting for that, the one size fits all general topic was enough. As I recall, Alpe was dubious about another topic, but his apprehensions were soon overtaken by the number of posts.

And anyway, there's so much more to talk about, laugh at, and be deeply depressed about, in Murkin politics.

Oh, so it's your fault. Well, I don't know, I was commenting on The Guardian for a while, and, believe me, they have plenty to talk about, laugh at, and be depressed about. (Have you heard the one about David Cameron and the pig's head?)

As an aside: anybody have any idea why on a British website we have a thread devoted to US politics, one devoted to world politics, but no thread for British politics?

One could proffer several obvious and less obvious incremental reasons, but Brits and residents have some vestigial spaces in which to discuss politics in person without clear repercussion.

And why would Sky fans want to?

Good points, especially about the Sky fans.

 

[python]

...so, turkey has bombarded the syrian kurds for 2 days now sending the shells across its border with syria. this morning, according to reuters, the us and france publicly and officially had called on turkey, their nato ally, to seize.

had turkey not been a nato member and would the syrian kurds not supported by both russia and america, it would be considered a secondary border incident. no one probably would even learn of it. unfortunately turkey IS in nato and the russo-americansupport for syrian kurds is a hard fact, as weird as it seems.

i am trying to peruse as diverse sources as i can to figure out what prompted yet another turkish violation of a sovereign state

the turks say they are defending their national security, but i could not find any reliable reports that the syrian kurds attacked any turkish outposts. other 'independent' observers report that turkey is simply reacting to the kurds advances against the rebel groups sponsored by turkey. i tried to clear WHO are those rebel groups in northern syria ? most sources refer to the bombardment trigger - al nusra being pushed from a menagh air base.

The Turkish army began shelling Kurdish positions near the town of Azaz in northern Aleppo province on Saturday in response to an advance by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) that saw them capture the Menagh air base from the al-Qaeda-aligned Nusra Front.

http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/turkey-retaliates-against-kurds-syria-433165528
is this not a direct evidence that the official ankara will do anything, including propping the barbaric terrorists, to prevent the syrian kurds from achieving independence ?

from where i am, it looks like the arrogance of the sultanate (and the transparent provocation to draw nato into its domestic fight with kurds) has just reached the new explosive level.

the interesting caveat here, some commentators noted, is that if previously turkey simply violated the syrian airspace to bomb the kurd at will, hey cant do it now...b/c vlad is waiting for his chance to avenge the blood of his pilots. so, the indiscriminate cross-border shelling was all that's left to the erdo nut.

why is nato tolerating this loose cannon is beyond logic

 

[blutto]

Re:

...so, turkey has bombarded the syrian kurds for 2 days now sending the shells across its border with syria. this morning, according to reuters, the us and france publicly and officially had called on turkey, their nato ally, to seize.

had turkey not been a nato member and would the syrian kurds not supported by both russia and america, it would be considered a secondary border incident. no one probably would even learn of it. unfortunately turkey IS in nato and the russo-americansupport for syrian kurds is a hard fact, as weird as it seems.

i am trying to peruse as diverse sources as i can to figure out what prompted yet another turkish violation of a sovereign state

the turks say they are defending their national security, but i could not find any reliable reports that the syrian kurds attacked any turkish outposts. other 'independent' observers report that turkey is simply reacting to the kurds advances against the rebel groups sponsored by turkey. i tried to clear WHO are those rebel groups in northern syria ? most sources refer to the bombardment trigger - al nusra being pushed from a menagh air base.

The Turkish army began shelling Kurdish positions near the town of Azaz in northern Aleppo province on Saturday in response to an advance by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) that saw them capture the Menagh air base from the al-Qaeda-aligned Nusra Front.

http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/turkey-retaliates-against-kurds-syria-433165528
is this not a direct evidence that the official ankara will do anything, including propping the barbaric terrorists, to prevent the syrian kurds from achieving independence ?

from where i am, it looks like the arrogance of the sultanate (and the transparent provocation to draw nato into its domestic fight with kurds) has just reached the new explosive level.

the interesting caveat here, some commentators noted, is that if previously turkey simply violated the syrian airspace to bomb the kurd at will, hey cant do it now...b/c vlad is waiting for his chance to avenge the blood of his pilots. so, the indiscriminate cross-border shelling was all that's left to the erdo nut.

why is nato tolerating this loose cannon is beyond logic

....if Turkey were the only loose cannon here it may well, almost, maybe be manageable but it seems almost everyone in this sad little caper is a loose cannon....see the article below to get some idea how utterly clusterfuckistical this situation is at the present....this is the dream world the neocons and their brothers in arms the neoliberals have foisted on the world.....the bid question at this point is trying to figure out at which point this dreamscape is going to stop expanding because as of right now this is more than a little out of forking control...

http://www.moonofalabama.org/2016/02/the-race-to-raqqa-is-intensifying.html

....and its not like the future is looking that bright either....the Merikans who are one of the puppet masters in this disaster are facing an election that at best will bring to power a war monger lite and at worst some bat-$h!t crazy lunatic playing to a lunatic audience and with the current odds on favourite the incompetent idiot neoliberal who was a major moving force behind creating the current situation....

Cheers

 

[python]

Re: Re:

snipped..

http://www.moonofalabama.org/2016/02/the-race-to-raqqa-is-intensifying.html

....and its not like the future is looking that bright either....the Merikans who are one of the puppet masters in this disaster are facing an election that at best will bring to power a war monger lite and at worst some bat-$h!t crazy lunatic playing to a lunatic audience and with the current odds on favourite the incompetent idiot neoliberal who was a major moving force behind creating the current situation....

Cheers

the us election politics aside (which does does play a part and increasingly will play in more) it was an interesting article. the military situation outline in the azaz corridor was in fact informative and consistent with the other sources i find credible. the article's long term projections imo are a tad far-reaching, b/c a lot of the actual developments would depend on the russian reaction, which i believe will be very cautious (more local fires isn't along their plans imo for economic and purely military reasons)

 

[blutto]

....the latest on Syria...
-----------------------------------------------
http://www.unz.com/tsaker/week-eighteen-of-the-russian-intervention-in-syria-a-dramatic-escalation-appears-imminent/

http://www.moonofalabama.org/2016/02/the-race-to-raqqa-a-syrian-campaign-plan.html

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article44216.htm

http://sputniknews.com/columnists/20160212/1034661819/syria-crisis-munich-conference-lavrov-kerry.html

....happy reading...

Cheers

 

[blutto]

....US led coalition eh?....so they are laying any resulting effects of any future clusterfuck on Washington's doorstep....interesting ain't that...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir has said that any decision for the deployment of special forces to Syria would follow the will of the US-led coalition allegedly hitting hideouts of the Takfiri Daesh militants.

"The Kingdom's readiness to provide special forces to any ground operations in Syria is linked to a decision to have a ground component to this coalition against Daesh in Syria - this US-led coalition - so the timing is not up to us," al-Jubeir told a news conference in Riyadh, adding, "With regards to timing of the mission or size of troops, this has yet to be worked out."

The top Saudi diplomat, however, refrained from elaborating further on the issue.

http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/02/14/450322/US-Saudi-Arabia-Adel-alJubeir--Syria-Turkey-Russia

Cheers

 

[blutto]

....speaking of weird, Orwell and world class metaphorical backflips....here is a comment on The Guardian's attempt to do an NYT....
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"
The position of the al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front, also excluded, is more nuanced. If left alone, they could conceivably join Assad’s more moderate opponents in upholding a truce,

Yes, you read that right. “the al-Qaida-linked al Nusra Front”, or “al Qaida in Syria” as they were previously known, are now people we can work with apparently. The gentlefolk at Graun HQ are under orders to repackage the allege perps of 9/11 as the friendly face of mass murder."

..... http://off-guardian.org/2016/02/15/19017/

....nuanced is a nice word which I just love using when appropriate...and bull$h!t is another...

Cheers

 

[python]

Re:

....speaking of weird, Orwell and world class metaphorical backflips....here is a comment on The Guadian's attempt to do an NYT....
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"
The position of the al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front, also excluded, is more nuanced. If left alone, they could conceivably join Assad’s more moderate opponents in upholding a truce,

Yes, you read that right. “the al-Qaida-linked al Nusra Front”, or “al Qaida in Syria” as they were previously known, are now people we can work with apparently. The gentlefolk at Graun HQ are under orders to repackage the allege perps of 9/11 as the friendly face of mass murder."

..... http://off-guardian.org/2016/02/15/19017/that's just repugnant. particularly from the guardin which i grew consider an alternative source in the ocean of

....nuanced is a nice word which I just love using when appropriate...and bull$h!t is another...

Cheers

that's just repugnant. especially from the guardian which i started to consider a somewhat refreshing read in the ocean of pyss colored western media.

speaking of words...when i was growing i leaned that a fork is something you stick in your meatballs or herring. then my dad showed me a chess fork (simultaneous threat to 2 pieces) and now i came to appreciate a cluster fork - as the total forking mess going on both on the ground in syria and corrupt or wicked heads of some journos and politicians

 

[blutto]

Re: Re:

....speaking of weird, Orwell and world class metaphorical backflips....here is a comment on The Guadian's attempt to do an NYT....
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"
The position of the al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front, also excluded, is more nuanced. If left alone, they could conceivably join Assad’s more moderate opponents in upholding a truce,

Yes, you read that right. “the al-Qaida-linked al Nusra Front”, or “al Qaida in Syria” as they were previously known, are now people we can work with apparently. The gentlefolk at Graun HQ are under orders to repackage the allege perps of 9/11 as the friendly face of mass murder."

..... http://off-guardian.org/2016/02/15/19017/that's just repugnant. particularly from the guardin which i grew consider an alternative source in the ocean of

....nuanced is a nice word which I just love using when appropriate...and bull$h!t is another...

Cheers

that's just repugnant. especially from the guardian which i started to consider a somewhat refreshing read in the ocean of pyss colored western media.

speaking of words...when i was growing i leaned that a fork is something you stick in your meatballs or herring. then my dad showed me a chess fork (simultaneous threat to 2 pieces) and now i came to appreciate a cluster fork - as the total forking mess going on both on the ground in syria and corrupt or wicked heads of some journos and politicians

Cheers

 

[python]

when i first saw this impressive wall, i said to myself,'must be a prison behind it'...then i read the title and it turned out it is the structure along the turkish border with syria kurds. 'wait a minute', was my 2nd thought, - didn't the turks said all along they can't possibly seal off their 60 mile border strip in syria over which isil smuggles oil, gets weapons etc. iow, the very small border stretch - and importantly the only one NOT controlled by syrian kurds - over which the bloodthirsty barbarians called isil get a lifeline.

that last sentence i just typed isn't an exaggeration or another spin (which is so prolific in war-torn syria). it's a well known fact now acknowledged even by the state dept.

yet, the official america and to be fair not just them, pretend that turkey is an ally helping to fight isil.

could there be a better example that we, the sideline observers, are regularly taken for stupid idiots incapable of NOT swallowing an obvious lie

edit: decided to add the source so that i dont get accused of spin
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-turkey-idUSKCN0VQ10C?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

 

[Amsterhammer]

Re:

....speaking of weird, Orwell and world class metaphorical backflips....here is a comment on The Guardian's attempt to do an NYT....
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"
The position of the al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front, also excluded, is more nuanced. If left alone, they could conceivably join Assad’s more moderate opponents in upholding a truce,

Yes, you read that right. “the al-Qaida-linked al Nusra Front”, or “al Qaida in Syria” as they were previously known, are now people we can work with apparently. The gentlefolk at Graun HQ are under orders to repackage the allege perps of 9/11 as the friendly face of mass murder."

..... http://off-guardian.org/2016/02/15/19017/

....nuanced is a nice word which I just love using when appropriate...and bull$h!t is another...

Cheers

This link takes me to a bizarre page going on about Ukraine, not to 'The Guardian' about Syria.

 

[Amsterhammer]

One of my boys is on his way to the Philippines for a holiday. Following him on flight tracker, I noticed that the flight makes a long-ish northerly diversion via Poland and Belarus to completely avoid flying anywhere near Ukraine.

 

[blutto]

Re: Re:

....speaking of weird, Orwell and world class metaphorical backflips....here is a comment on The Guardian's attempt to do an NYT....
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"
The position of the al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front, also excluded, is more nuanced. If left alone, they could conceivably join Assad’s more moderate opponents in upholding a truce,

Yes, you read that right. “the al-Qaida-linked al Nusra Front”, or “al Qaida in Syria” as they were previously known, are now people we can work with apparently. The gentlefolk at Graun HQ are under orders to repackage the allege perps of 9/11 as the friendly face of mass murder."

..... http://off-guardian.org/2016/02/15/19017/

....nuanced is a nice word which I just love using when appropriate...and bull$h!t is another...

Cheers

This link takes me to a bizarre page going on about Ukraine, not to 'The Guardian' about Syria.

....just tried the link and it went to...

"Observer wants us all to forget 9/11 and embrace al Qaida as the friendly face of mass murder"

...which is the article I had hoped to link....weird glitch...

Cheers

 

[movingtarget]

Re:

One of my boys is on his way to the Philippines for a holiday. Following him on flight tracker, I noticed that the flight makes a long-ish northerly diversion via Poland and Belarus to completely avoid flying anywhere near Ukraine.

Makes sense. There is not much information coming out through the western media about Ukraine at the moment apart from unhappy Tartars in Crimea and firing still going on near the border. But I have heard that some countries are pushing for sanctions to be lifted soon. That would surprise me especially with what is happening in Syria.

 

[Merckx index]

Interesting article on censorship in Russia:

https://theintercept.com/2016/02/15/putin-doesnt-need-to-censor-books-publishers-do-it-for-him/

I am a Russian journalist who writes books in English. Only one of my books, about a mathematician, has been translated into Russian. The rest, it seems, have struck publishers as politically risky. Several publishers have inquired about buying the rights to a biography of Putin that has done very well in another 20 or so languages, but each time, negotiations have ended with a vague, “Well, you must understand,” often followed by an even vaguer “Maybe some day.”

The Soviet Union had censorship. Every publishing house and media outlet had its own censor, accountable to the censorship authority, who read every manuscript before it could be published. The censor worked with a complex but intelligible set of criteria. Some writers, both Soviet and foreign, were off-limits because they had been critical of the Soviet Union. Some topics were off-limits — one might argue that most topics, from state secrets, which included most of the country’s history, to sex, which included so much as the mention of genitalia, were off-limits. Literary styles were scrutinized, and whatever was not “socialist realism” was usually off-limits.

Prior censorship was outlawed in Russia [some time after the fall of the Soviet Union]. In the last 15 years, though, Russia has introduced a slew of laws and practices that have restricted publishing in ways that are much less clear than the old Soviet system. Danishevsky swims in murky waters. Like all editors, he engages in constant negotiation. It quickly emerges that all sorts of people are constantly telling him what to do

The fear of the censor has been replaced, to a great extent, by the fear of losing money. If a publishing house puts out a book that stores will not sell, it will face losses. Like when Danishevsky was readying an edition of the Russian emigre classic Romance with Cocaine, from the 1930s, and could secure no pre-orders. None. Booksellers were worried about the ban on the propaganda of drug use, which has been used to confiscate even harm-reduction booklets put out by AIDS organizations.

This is where things get complicated. The Russian reading public’s tastes have distinctly narrowed in the last few years: All the publishers I interviewed for this series mention that readers increasingly reject serious topics, be they politics or, say, cancer, in favor of escapist entertainment (so Danishevsky has named his most serious series Anhedonia). Then again, the Russian public’s tastes have been heavily influenced by the onslaught of official propaganda of which the censorship laws are but a small part. The ban on “homosexual propaganda,” for example, was a minor component of a major anti-gay campaign. As it turns out, bookstores fear their customers more than the law — or, they fear their customers before they fear the law.

The strange setup, in which the objects of potential censorship are running ahead of actual censors, has turned unlikely citizens into enforcers. These are library patrons who demand that certain books be banned, policemen who regularly visit Phalanstere to take books “for inspection,” the anonymous people who called the police to report certain books in the first place, and, of course, those who self-censor. For instance, the police came to Phalanstere a couple of months ago and removed a book on the Koran and an academic book on the period of the Khrushchev thaw, probably because its cover featured a classic Russian and Soviet protest slogan: “For your freedom and ours.” The police never return the books, Kupriyanov says, even though Phalanstere, unlike some booksellers and librarians, has not yet been dragged into court.

In 2005, someone set fire to Phalanstere, badly damaging the space and destroying the bulk of its books. During an unrelated trial a few months ago, one of the defendants, a member of a far-right nationalist group, testified that he had taken part in the arson along with a member of the Kremlin-affiliated youth movement Young Russia. This confirmed what Kupriyanov had suspected all along.

 

[blutto]

Re:

Interesting article on censorship in Russia:

https://theintercept.com/2016/02/15/putin-doesnt-need-to-censor-books-publishers-do-it-for-him/

I am a Russian journalist who writes books in English. Only one of my books, about a mathematician, has been translated into Russian. The rest, it seems, have struck publishers as politically risky. Several publishers have inquired about buying the rights to a biography of Putin that has done very well in another 20 or so languages, but each time, negotiations have ended with a vague, “Well, you must understand,” often followed by an even vaguer “Maybe some day.”

The Soviet Union had censorship. Every publishing house and media outlet had its own censor, accountable to the censorship authority, who read every manuscript before it could be published. The censor worked with a complex but intelligible set of criteria. Some writers, both Soviet and foreign, were off-limits because they had been critical of the Soviet Union. Some topics were off-limits — one might argue that most topics, from state secrets, which included most of the country’s history, to sex, which included so much as the mention of genitalia, were off-limits. Literary styles were scrutinized, and whatever was not “socialist realism” was usually off-limits.

Prior censorship was outlawed in Russia [some time after the fall of the Soviet Union]. In the last 15 years, though, Russia has introduced a slew of laws and practices that have restricted publishing in ways that are much less clear than the old Soviet system. Danishevsky swims in murky waters. Like all editors, he engages in constant negotiation. It quickly emerges that all sorts of people are constantly telling him what to do

The fear of the censor has been replaced, to a great extent, by the fear of losing money. If a publishing house puts out a book that stores will not sell, it will face losses. Like when Danishevsky was readying an edition of the Russian emigre classic Romance with Cocaine, from the 1930s, and could secure no pre-orders. None. Booksellers were worried about the ban on the propaganda of drug use, which has been used to confiscate even harm-reduction booklets put out by AIDS organizations.

This is where things get complicated. The Russian reading public’s tastes have distinctly narrowed in the last few years: All the publishers I interviewed for this series mention that readers increasingly reject serious topics, be they politics or, say, cancer, in favor of escapist entertainment (so Danishevsky has named his most serious series Anhedonia). Then again, the Russian public’s tastes have been heavily influenced by the onslaught of official propaganda of which the censorship laws are but a small part. The ban on “homosexual propaganda,” for example, was a minor component of a major anti-gay campaign. As it turns out, bookstores fear their customers more than the law — or, they fear their customers before they fear the law.

The strange setup, in which the objects of potential censorship are running ahead of actual censors, has turned unlikely citizens into enforcers. These are library patrons who demand that certain books be banned, policemen who regularly visit Phalanstere to take books “for inspection,” the anonymous people who called the police to report certain books in the first place, and, of course, those who self-censor. For instance, the police came to Phalanstere a couple of months ago and removed a book on the Koran and an academic book on the period of the Khrushchev thaw, probably because its cover featured a classic Russian and Soviet protest slogan: “For your freedom and ours.” The police never return the books, Kupriyanov says, even though Phalanstere, unlike some booksellers and librarians, has not yet been dragged into court.

In 2005, someone set fire to Phalanstere, badly damaging the space and destroying the bulk of its books. During an unrelated trial a few months ago, one of the defendants, a member of a far-right nationalist group, testified that he had taken part in the arson along with a member of the Kremlin-affiliated youth movement Young Russia. This confirmed what Kupriyanov had suspected all along.

....to the bolded....interesting that Mother Russia is becoming more, uhhh, market driven and Westernized on this key means of ensuring the orderly operation of society ( as we know here in the West that economic pixie dust is just magic...and does its work so cleanly and effortlessly....hardly ever leaves a trace of anything, not the manipulation, the reality, or the truth....)

Cheers