http://exiledonline.com/russia-blog-day-1-the-strange-activist-who-provoked-chechnyas-anti-gay-crackdown/
http://exiledonline.com/russia-blog-day-2-anti-semitic-activist-who-provoked-chechnyas-crackdown-on-gays-sues-novaya-gazeta/
https://paper-bird.net/2015/07/20/gay-hanging-in-iran/
pogfan1996 posted:
just wanted to pull out this part for reference
It was through Long’s blog, Paper Bird, that I learned about Alekseyev’s alliance with a far-right xenophobe from Zhirinovsky’s party back in 2007. Long knew about it because he was at the 2007 Moscow pride march; he was the one who reported on Alekseyev’s announcement that he wanted to run for the Duma on Zhirinovksy’s ultranationalist party ticket. Long has written several takedowns of Alexeyev and his many high-profile western boosters who’ve been accessories to Alexeyev’s shitty politics and opportunism.
If there’s one reason I’m at all “glad” I dipped into this rancid side-story to the current Chechnya crackdown, it’s been finding and reading Scott Long’s blog. For example, his posts on Egypt’s brutal crackdown on gays and transgender people under dictator Sisi are really worth reading. Sisi’s Egypt is one of many countries closely allied to the US where violent homophobia is state policy. And it’s interesting to say the least that you don’t hear peep about Egypt’s violence against gays—or really any violent homophobia from friendly countries where the US has real influence and can do something about it. Like Saudi Arabia, or like Egypt—which for decades has been the second largest recipient of US aid, mostly of the military and police sort. Instead our media and our human rights lobby is far more interested in the plight of gays living under our adversaries, where we have zero influence—unless we can effect regime-change in the targeted adversary.
Thanks xipe for posting the Iran story from Paper Bird. I remember reading that at the time too but never paid much attention to the blog beyond that. Looks like it's worth following properly
http://exiledonline.com/russia-blog-day-3-about-that-credit-suisse-russia-inequality-report/
The Guardian just published a piece on Russia’s inequality problem — first and worst in the world, according to a new Credit Suisse report. Funny to see Credit Suisse wringing its hands over Russian inequality, given that bank’s active complicity in designing and profiting off the privatization of Russia in the early-mid 1990s. Shortly before Credit Suisse arrived in Russia, it was the most equal country on the planet; a few years after Credit Suisse arrived and pocketed up to hundreds of millions in profits, Russia was the most unequal country on earth, and it’s pretty much been that way since.
Last week, protesters stormed Macedonia’s parliament injuring over 100 people, among them almost a dozen members of the new ruling parliamentary coalition. The ostensible reason was the naming of an ethnic Albanian in the majority Slavic Eastern Orthodox country—but others had even simpler explanation.
“Macedonia ‘at risk from Russian meddling’”—the Sunday Times screamed, describing the protesters who stormed parliament as “pro-Kremlin thugs.”