Sunday, December 2, 2012

Фото пресс-службы Президента России|На заседании Совета Безопасности в расширенном составе.|Москва, Кремль|21 ноября 2012

Заседание Совета Безопасности в расширенном составе

21 ноября 2012 года

21 ноября 2012 года Москва, Кремль Фото пресс-службы Президента России

На заседании Совета Безопасности в расширенном составе.

Putinology Update: 12.2.12: The "butterfly rash" on the left side of the face is clearly visible

Comments:

The "butterfly rash" on the left side of the face is clearly visible and cannot be masked by a make-up. It appears to be larger, more wide-spread and probably with a deeper tissue damage than in 2010: disease progresses despite the best and most intensive treatment.

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Вступительное слово на встрече с руководителями фракций Государственной Думы

30 ноября 2012 года Московская область, Ново-Огарёво

HD .mp4 (148.9 MB) .mp4 (43.8 MB) .wmv (29.4 MB)

Подробнее о встрече

Comments:

Hair appears to loose its elasticity, appears to be fragile and brittle, especially on the back of the head, where it looks messy and disorderly, stands up; which is quite untypical for usually accurate V.V.P. (was he resting, lying down before the meeting?). The whole haircut looks somewhat strange. The speech is mildly slurred: possibly the effects of medications (possibly analgesics and others).

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Российско-германские межгосударственные консультации

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16 ноября 2012 года

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8^Фото пресс-службы Президента России|С Федеральным канцлером Германии Ангелой Меркель на пресс-конференция по итогам российско-германских межгосударственных консультаций.|Москва, Кремль|16 ноября 2012 года|http://news.kremlin.ru/media/events/photos/big/41d4299dc64accc9fa7c.jpeg|

16 ноября 2012 года Москва, Кремль Фото пресс-службы Президента России

С Федеральным канцлером Германии Ангелой Меркель на пресс-конференция по итогам российско-германских межгосударственных консультаций.

Comments:
Strange, scar-like curve running smoothly (post plastic surgery?) from a hairline split to the eyebrow on the left side of the face.

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Comments:
The right half (on the right side of the face) of "butterfly rash" is clearly visible, with more or less defined, distinct borders.

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Saturday, December 1, 2012

Reuters: "It's about (President Putin's) health problem. This is not something that can easily be made public," Jiji cited one of the officials as quoting Noda as saying

Putin aide denies Russian president has health problems

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Russia's President Vladimir Putin meets with leaders of Russia's parliamentary parties at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, November 30, 2012. REUTERS/Michael Klimentyev/RIA Novosti/Pool

By Kiyoshi Takenaka and Alexei Anishchuk

TOKYO/MOSCOW | Fri Nov 30, 2012 7:44pm GMT

TOKYO/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Vladimir Putin is in good health, his chief of staff said on Friday after Japanese media said Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda had postponed a visit to Moscow next month because the Russian president had a health problem.A former KGB officer who enjoys vast authority in Russia, Putin has long cultivated a tough-guy image, and health issues could damage that. His condition though has been questioned in some media since he was seen limping at a summit in September.

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Three Russian government sources told Reuters late in October that Putin, who began a six-year term in May and turned 60 last month, was suffering from back trouble, but the Kremlin has dismissed talk that he had a serious back problem.
Putin's health troubles stem from a recent judo bout, Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko said this week.
Then on Friday Japanese news agencies Kyodo and Jiji reported that Prime Minister Noda talked about the delay of a visit planned for December in a meeting with municipal officials on the northern island of Hokkaido.
"It's about (President Putin's) health problem. This is not something that can easily be made public," Jiji cited one of the officials as quoting Noda as saying.
But Putin's chief of staff Sergei Ivanov denied there was any problem.
"Please don't worry, don't be concerned. Everything is in order with his health," Putin's said in Vienna, according to state-run Russian news agency RIA.
In an interview published on Friday in the popular Russian tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda, Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said rumours about a spine problem were "strongly exaggerated".
"He is working as he has before and intends to continue working at the same pace," Peskov said.
"He also does not plan to give up his sports activities and for this reason, like any athlete, his back, his arm, his leg might sometimes hurt a little - this has never gotten in the way of his ability to work."
Putin had been expected to make several foreign trips in late October or November, but they did not take place.
Putin is however due to visit Turkey on Monday and Turkmenistan on Wednesday.
Putin's foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, made amply clear the Kremlin was displeased by the public discussion of scheduling by Japanese officials and denied that Noda's visit had been postponed, saying no date had been set.
"It is just unethical to name the dates that were discussed. There were several: at first it was October, November, December, January ... then we even shifted to February," Ushakov said, adding that the sides eventually agreed tentatively on January.
He said the diplomatic process of agreeing dates for the visit should have been "hermetically sealed".
Putin's image as a fit, healthy man helped bring him popularity when he rose to power 13 years ago because of the stark contrast with his predecessor Boris Yeltsin, who was sometimes drunk in public and had heart surgery when president.
He has used activities like scuba diving and horseback riding to maintain that image.
On Friday, Putin met leaders of parliamentary factions in his Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow. He appeared in good health and was walking without any sign of a limp.
Likely to be on the agenda in talks between Russian and Japanese officials are energy cooperation and a decades-old dispute over islands north of Hokkaido known as the Southern Kurils in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan.
(Additional reporting by Darya Korsunskaya; Writing by Tomasz Janowski and Steve Gutterman; Editing by Nick Macfie and Jon Hemming)

Путин в курсе, что говорят о его спине, уверил Песков: у президента "может заболеть и рука, и нога" - NEWSru.com

from В мире – Новости Google

Путин в курсе, что говорят о его спине, уверил Песков: у президента "может заболеть и рука, и нога"
NEWSru.com
Пресс-секретарю президента Дмитрию Пескову пришлось снова доказывать, что Владимир Путин чувствует себя хорошо - слухи о серьезно подорванном то ли стерхами, то ли спортивными тренировками здоровье главы государства не затихают. Однако даже если предположить, что ...

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Friday, November 30, 2012

Russia ranked dismally in the yearly Rule of Law Index

via Johnson's Russia List's Facebook Wall by Johnson's Russia List on 11/29/12

WP: Russia Ranks Dismally in Rule of Law Index
russialist.org
Russia ranked dismally in the yearly Rule of Law Index published by the nongovernmental World Justice Project, scoring in the bottom third for each of the ranking’s eight criteria. Russia ran...

MAFIA STATE

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Russian mafia whistleblower found dead outside UK mansion

Wed, Nov 28 2012

* 44-year-old Alexander Perepilichny found dead on Nov 10
* Had been helping Swiss investigate Russian money-laundering
* Also provided evidence linked to killing of Sergei Magnitsky
* Police say post-mortem inconclusive, more tests under way
By Maria Golovnina
LONDON, Nov 28 (Reuters) - A Russian businessman helping Swiss prosecutors uncover a powerful fraud syndicate has died in mysterious circumstances outside his mansion in Britain, in a chilling twist to a Russian mafia scandal that has strained Moscow's ties with the West.
Alexander Perepilichny, 44, sought refuge in Britain three years ago and had been helping a Swiss investigation into a Russian money-laundering scheme by providing evidence against corrupt officials, his colleagues and media reports said.
He has also provided evidence against those linked to the 2009 death of anti-corruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, a case that caused an international outcry and prompted the United States to push for a bill cracking down on Russian corruption.
Perepilichny, a Russian citizen, collapsed and died abruptly outside his home on an upmarket estate in the English county of Surrey on Nov. 10, police said on Wednesday, the first time the case has come to light.
Perepilichny is the fourth person linked to the Magnitsky case to have died in strange circumstances.
"It is being treated as unexplained," a police spokeswoman said. "A post-mortem examination was carried out which was inconclusive. So further tests are now being carried out."
British media reports said Perepilichny appeared to be in good health when he collapsed in the evening outside St George's Hill, one of Britain's most exclusive estates, where he was renting a house for 12,500 pounds ($20,000) a month.
Dubbed as Britain's Beverly Hills and surrounded by neatly trimmed golf courses, the sprawling leafy estate is home to many prominent magnates and celebrities, its list of one-time tenants boasting stars such as Elton John and Ringo Starr.
Far beyond Russia's borders, Magnitsky's death has become a symbol of corruption in Russia and the abuse of those who challenge the authorities there.
This month the U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to "name and shame" Russian rights violators as part of a broader trade bill, brushing off warnings from Moscow that the move would damage relations.
William Browder, a former employer of Magnitsky and a prominent London-based investor, said Perepilichny had come forward in 2010 with evidence involving the Magnitsky case that subsequently helped Swiss prosecutors open their investigation.
"Alexander Perepilichny approached us in 2010 as a whistleblower with evidence about the complicity of a number of Russian government officials in the theft of $230 million which Sergei Magnitsky had uncovered," said Browder, founder of Hermitage Capital Management.
"He provided us with copies of many of the original bank documents. In January 2011, Hermitage filed an application to the Swiss authorities seeking an investigation. It was announced in March that the Swiss prosecutor's office opened an investigation and froze the assets in a number of accounts."
Browder, whose grandfather was the general secretary of the American Communist Party, was one of the biggest Western investors in Russia but was barred from Russia in late 2005 and most of his staff left the country as Hermitage found itself coming under increasing official pressure.
Magnitsky was jailed in 2008 on suspicion of tax evasion and fraud, charges that colleagues say were fabricated by police investigators he had accused of stealing $230 million from the state through fraudulent tax refunds. The Kremlin's own human rights council has said Magnitsky was probably beaten to death.

MAFIA STATE
Leaked secret diplomatic cables from the U.S. embassy in Moscow once described Russia as a "virtual mafia state", and London has long been the chosen destination for Russians seeking refuge from trouble at home.
But concerns have been growing in recent years that Britain might be turning into a playground for Russian mobsters as gangland violence seems to be spilling over Russian borders.
In April, a former Russian banker was shot near London's Canary Wharf financial district, sending a chill through the immigrant community. In 2006, former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko died after drinking tea poisoned with polonium-210.
Asked about Perepilichny's case, Swiss prosecutors said it started its criminal investigation in March 2011 following a complaint made by London law firm Brown Rudnick filed on behalf of Hermitage Capital Management.
"Concerning the death of Mr Perepilichny and its consequences on the criminal proceedings, we'd like to stress that our strength resides in our ability to minimise the influence of such a regretful event on our investigation," the Swiss Office of the Attorney General said in a statement.
"A good cooperation with other judicial authorities is also essential to carry on our investigation efficiently."
Perepilichny was also a witness against Russia's notorious Klyuyev Group, a murky network of officials and underworld figures implicated in tax fraud who used European bank accounts to buy luxury property in Dubai and Montenegro, Britain's Independent newspaper reported.
"Perepilichny was the guy who brought all the evidence they needed to open the investigation," a source told The Independent. "He brought with him records of shell companies, Credit Suisse accounts, property transactions. The whole lot."

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Thursday, November 29, 2012

NYT: Chekhov Melancholy, Never So Welcome

Chekhov Melancholy, Never So Welcome

Sara Krulwich/The New York Times

Ethan Hawke as the title character in “Ivanov,” a revival from the Classic Stage Company.

By BEN BRANTLEY

Published: November 29, 2012

A SOUND rises from the throat of a terminally ill woman in the second act of Chekhov’s “Ivanov,” and it is the noise of life itself. You can hear it rendered, with nuanced form and contradictory content, by Joely Richardson in the Classic Stage Company’s current revival of this early play by Anton Chekhov, one of a multitude of productions