Cyrill Vatomsky, Where All Politics Are Global

At last, I got off my behind and actually did what I promised: I am posting this podcast of the latest Embassy of The New World Order radio show on KSCO AM 1080.
To get to the podcast, follow the link with the title of the article and then click on listen.

And as I promised elsewhere I talked a bit about the The New Republic column by Michael Idov. I tried to put some of Idov's  observations  tp make a point that although he is writing about Russia, he in a sense is not. He describes a late feudal society and lots of features of contemporary Russia are universal. Some Russians love to talk about how unique it is and how it always takes its own way. Too bad most of the time it is a detour.

Cusiously this article created quite a flurry of posts in English Language Russia-related blogosphere and opinions are quite different. Some predictably claim Russophobia, some liked it for its lack of corny  Cold War era slogans.

So i used the article as a trampoline to satisfy my own propensity for tangents ranging from Chinese manufacturing to Friedrich Barbarossa to Felipe Calderon and his meek attempts to revitalize Pemex. All of that by the way came from the Idov's article.

Predictably, when issue of globalization is addressed (and I did talk about the Columbian Free  Trade deal in the very end) some jump to talk about immigration. Illegal immigration is a painful subject int eh US especially among the talk radio population. So I got some of that as well.

As always, this is just a quick note, not even a summary of what the show was about. I thought it was a good one, so give a listen if you have time and interest.

Truly.

As always - this is not a transcript, only a brief outline of the radio show. Go to the blog site and click on "listen" button there when it is available to listen to shows and podcasts. Either listen there or download to your podcast software.

Opening with Hugo Chavez closing RCTV down. Similarities with Putin's policies are obvious. Also obvious is that Chavez is not against media moguls, he is fine with corporations that support him. Just like Putin is. And just like Mussolini was. Fascism, once again is a form of socialism where government and monopolism merge.

Moving on to other subjects, involving recently blogged ones like the Moscow Mayor Luzkov's law suits, rediculous ban on  export of medical specimen as well as perceptions by Russian people of who their friends and foes are.

The first Embassy of the New World Order radio show after I returned from my trip to Russia. Naturally, most of the show was dedicated to my views and my assessment of what is current state of Russia. As always, this is not a transcript, this is just an outline of what went on during the show. Take a listen.

Resignation of Tony Blair and assessment of his legacy will wait, but for eight now I can safely state that the main factor in Blair's legacy will be transformation of the Labour Party decidedly to the right. Gone are Clause Four and most of the Socialist agenda of the British Labour in force since early 20th century. Whatever else Tony Blair did will be overshadowed by this departure from Socialism.

Elections of Nicolas Sarkozy will have to wait as well, although there is really not much to say here, other then very soon he will find himself in the same situation Margaret Thatcher and Jacques Chirac found themselves. The situation that Thatcher won and that victory led to what is now the UK, and the situation that Chirac lost and  thus wasted  a decade of his country's future.

As I said, most of the talk was about Russia, its social and moral state, its economic state. And I have to admit I am quite afraid for its future. Socially and morally the country is in trouble. Combination of the clannish society that is in the early stages of transformation from feudalism (socialism, communism being really just versions of feudalism) towards capitalism and unheard of speed of such transformation attribute to various problems. The society is very uncaring, it is in fact downright hostile. My experiences with medical system and subsequently with death and funeral arrangements for my mother were quite eye opening.

But there is an economic component to this as well that scares me. I am afraid for the future of Russia and if it can avoid mistakes and problems of early capitalist development I will be happy for it, but I seriously doubt it will avoid them. Russians discovered mortgages and debt and they are treat them as booze. They are drunk with debt. Mortgages are everywhere and rates are astronomical. Real estate prices in St Petersburg and Moscow are through the roof and mortgages. People are borrowing like crazy without ever hoping to pay back. Consumer credit reaches I was told 60 percent and more. The balance of good vs bad debt is going to be very unhealthy.

Combine this with resurgence of Russian Nationalism brewed together with Russian Orthodoxy. Some of my dear friends have succumbed to this obscurantist psychobabble of Orthodoxy offering the only spiritual opposition to inhuman Western imperialism.  And when an economic crash comes this poisonous brew might create something really ugly. Combine this with isolationist policy Mr. Putin is dragging Russia into. One of my friends commented that the worst thing Putin has ever achieved was this foreign policy fiasco - that Russia has no friends. Some might disagree that Warsaw Pact was hardly a friendship club, but still the country was not alone. Now it is. Even Lukashenka, the mad President of Belarus is no longer a friend.

The second hour was mostly dedicated to Russian - Estonian standoff around relocation of the Bronze monument to Soviet Army from a square in the center of Tallinn to a military cemetery. Leaving aside clumsiness of Estonian authorities in carrying out what they had an absolute right, legal and moral, to do, reaction in Russia was absolutely inadequate. The Speaker of the Duma called for severing diplomatic ties with Estonia. Jerks in the streets called to send tanks into Tallinn. Russia stopped passenger train service between St Petersburg and Tallinn, as well as deliveries of some energy resources. Parliamentarians and cabinet members called for boycott of Estonian goods - the PR frenzy machine was working 24/7. And in the mean time, there was nothing from Putin. Vilhelm Konnander (an incredibly astute observer and analyst of all things Eastern European) has some interesting explanations. According to Albatz at Echo Moskvy, there were no interruptions in almost tax free transit through Estonia to Russia - the Putin Inc. money making machine was working all along.

And amidst all this I am talking to a friend of mine and he just drops in passing "I don't like Estonians". Add this to the nationalistic obscurantism. It does not even occur to some that stating something like that is sick. Imagine someone here say something like I don't like Mexicans?!

On the way back from Russia I picked up an issue of The Wall Street Journal Europe and read an interesting column by Amir Taheri about economic isolationist policies of Ahmadinejad - the president of Iran. I always thought it is important to recognize philosophic similarities to understand who's company who keeps.That column by Taheri is a great illustration of how the isolationists in the US are quite close philosophically to Ahmadinejad, Chavez or Zhirinovsky  - fascists and socialists. While they purport to be pro-capitalists. Just a side note.

The ending of the show somehow turned to discussing Putin. Thanks to La Russophobe who does a great job of finding all kinds of writings about Russia, I came to a new (to me) blog called  Streetwise Professor with some hard hitting comments about Putin's V-Day speech. Other links of note for this show: Marginalia has a very interesting discussion of how decades of falsifying history of the USSR affect our current views and attitudes towards contemporary events like the standoff in Estonia. Vladimir Socor writes about standard catch words that reveal the mystic obscurantism of Russian Orthodox Nationalism.

The last of the Embassy of the New World Order shows until I return from my overseas trip in mid may. I do promise to post blog entries just like I did when I was in Russia last September.

The first part of the show was dedicated to the coverage of the recent marches and demonstration in Moscow, St. Petersburg by the Western media. Almost all articles I saw seem to pretend these were rallies of pro-democracy freedom minded liberal pro-westerners, and this is not the case. Of course some participants favour western democratic principles, but one side of these events is conspicuously missing: the role of the Nutsballs. I just love this name, it is a rendition of  a Russian abbreviation for National Bolshevik party, but Nutsballs rolls of the tongue so well...

I made a search on Google news for Limonov - the leader of the NutsBall  party and got a very short list compared to the general list of articles about Moscow and St. Pete's rallies. And even these were nothing but in passing references. A glaring example of wishful thinking. Sure, like a lot of people in the media that cover these events, I would love for these demonstrations to be advancing values of capitalist based democracy, but they are not. One of the prominent objects in photos from the March 3 rally was the Confederate Flag. National Bolsheviks are not liberal democrats, well, in Russia even Liberal Democrats and not liberal democrats.

There of course will be a parade of pro-Putin blogs rightfully criticizing western media for this omission and some will likely suggest an anti-Russian bias or even a conspiracy. I think, however, this says more about how confused the western media reporters are. Edward Limonov and his Nutsballs  are in fact a very inconvenient phenomenon for any lefty or a socialist, because they represent the missing link between fascism and socialism - the two systems that came from the Left and are the Left. Most western media professionals are left of center but have been always pretending and insisting to classify fascism to be the far right. Limonov and the Nutsballs are a thorn in the side, a poke in the eye, a sword over shoulder of the left that illustrates to the left its political origins. It is no surprise the left wing media ignores the problem.

Needless to say, there is probably quite a bit of ignorance and  sloppy journalism involved.

Continuing on the last subject from the last week's show, more on the obscene, abhorrent ethanol folly. The chickens are coming home to roost. Food prices worldwide have risen 10% over last year because of this abomination. To turn food into fuel is worse then what Mari Antoinette could ever had suggested. Meat prices in the US are about to rise as well. Soy for vegans will be more expensive, but here I have no sympathy, suspecting that 99% of vegans are pro-ethanol moonbats.

The last subject was upcoming French elections. I do hope Sarkozy  wins and carries out badly needed reforms. He seems to be an admirer of the Anglo Saxon economic model and has a chance of digging France from the economic grave. The rest of the field are all a parade of lefties rushing again to step on the proverbial rake of socialism and get the nose bloodied again. And yes, I include Jean Marie Le Pen with the lefties as well. Please, France, no more fascists getting 20% of the vote this time! For the sake of your national psyche.

Catching up. Feb 4th Radio Show

If there is one world one could apply to my views and most of my shows across the board that would most likely be optimism. This show takes it further. Optimism is the main thread of it. And it was not planned. It just went on and developed ad lib.

Mentioning of Senator Webb and John Edwards and Jim Hightower and their vision of soup kitchen America took me to the simple statement – this country never had it as good. Which lead to the Economist article about the state of Great Britain, subtitled “You've never had it so good”

The place is enjoying a period of extraordinary prosperity. Fourteen years of stable growth have kept unemployment down. There have been social gains as well as economic ones: fewer children and pensioners live in poverty than ten years ago. Crime is broadly lower. And with prosperity has come renewed political clout. Britain has helped to shape aid for Africa, the debate on climate change, European enlargement and, last week, negotiations to restart world trade talks.

All this is especially remarkable in contrast with the recent past. A quarter-century ago, the home of the industrial revolution was closing factories and mines. The class war raged as unions took on the government and business.

In 2006, the country bought from Russia 24 Sukhoi 30 jet fighters, 53 MI-24 military helicopters and 100,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles.

Putin is building more nuclear submarines to fight his war in Chechnya.

And Finally, Nicolas Sarkozy is embracing “les Anglo Saxons” Why?!

Most Russians don't even seem to realize how pervasive their xenophobia is. They are routinely commenting about Azery traders at markets "taking over". There was a segment about falling Russian population numbers and a proposal in the Duma to impose tax on childless adults. At some point somebody mockingly suggested importing Chinese, but then in all seriousness the suggestion was scoffed since it would create a different nation. Apparently it is better to die as a nation then to mingle with inferiors.

Nationalizm is in all truths the last resort of a scoundrel and unfortunately, except for petrodollars, Russians have to go back into history to look for objects of pride. It is a very sad situation, but the nationalism helps prevent what Thomas Sowell called "cultural cringe" of Scotts and Japanese that propelled these two ethnic groups.

Instead, Russians, like the French, are drawing on former glory, dreaming of return of the empire.

It seems I can also listen to other people on the radio as well as talk...

Echo Moskvy is the only radio station, no, take it back, the only media outlet, in the whole country worth paying attention to. Well, Kommersant is still OK.

There is still quite a bit on the radio about nationalism and racism in Russia. Lots of debates, arguments and "analytica", using a fad Russian media word. For some background on growing Russian nationalism, look up La Russophobe's blog where she tracks events and commentary.

Several days ago a group of "anti-illegal immigration advocates" staged a rally in St Petersburg. The group name and purpose are quite misleading, though. For example, some people refer to Chechens in Kondapoga as illegal aliens, which is blatantly false - Chechens are all citizens of Russia. The illegal immigration protesters are referring to is ability of Russian citizens to move around, so, in essence they are demonstrating  in favour of reestablishing of propiska - forced registration and migration restrictions.

But this is not the cutest thing that happened. Apparently there is a new movement - anti-fascists, they call themselves "Anti-Fa". A large group of "antifas" attacked the "fas" and managed to beat them into pulp.

Not really funny, in the long run. There is an estimated 15-25% of Russian voters can swing into the "fa" camp. Sort of similar to France, but more dangerous and more serious.

Back to Echo Moskvy. One of the guests on one of the shows stated that there are two problems behind flares of nationalism. New migrants don't respect natives. Damn, it does not sound good in English at all. He   said verbatim: masters of land (literally, owners of land that live in an area - has nothing to do with legal ownership, by the way) do not appreciate newcomers. Bingo. As long this mentality persists, Russia is going to be a cesspool of ethnic problems.

The second excuse was that Russia is a uniquely tragic nation... Blah blah blah.