Vladimir Putin Museum Opens in Russia

Pootie-Poot* Museum Opens in Russia
from Oddity Central A museum centered on Russia’s Controversial president Prime Minister has been set up in Strelna, near Sankt Petersburg. Apparently, this small museum dedicated to Vladimir Putin is set up on one of the upper floors of Lindstrom Villa, an iconic structure that hosted the 2006 G-8 summit. The villa was leased to Konstaninovsky Co., owned by Oleg Rudnov, the boss of most of Sankt Petersburg’s media outlets, and a close friend of Putin. In return, Rudnov decided to turn one...

Putin looks for ways to modernize economy
KHABAROVSK, Russia, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says he expects the country's Foreign Intelligence Service to help modernize Russia's economy. "At a time when we are facing a problem related to modernization of The Economy, assistance from the intelligence services is not superfluous," Putin said in an Ria Novosti report. Putin said Russia would not violate the laws of other entities to establish the goals. Putin also didn't rule out that he could lead in a pro-Kremlin...

Hospital 'set up' for Putin visit, doctor tells TV show
A cardiologist is in serious trouble with his local authorities after telling Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin that he had been conned while on an official visit to a regional Hospital. Ivan Khrenov, a doctor from the Ivanovo region in Western Russia, phoned into to a four-hour question-and-answer session with Mr Putin that was aired live on Russian television on Thursday. Mr Khrenov told Mr Putin that during a recent visit to an Ivanovo hospital, a Potemkin village had been set up by the...

Russian whistle-blowing doctor fears dismissal (AP)
Moscow – A Russian cardiologist said he feared dismissal and beating after phoning Vladimir Putin to say that an impressive Hospital display for the premier was faked. And then, Putin called him back. Ivan Khrenov told Putin during a live call-in show Thursday that his bosses instructed doctors and nurses to show fake pay slips and pose as recovering patients surrounded by new equipment during the premier's November visit to a Hospital in the central town of Ivanovo. Khrenov told Putin t...

Gates of Vienna News Feed 12/17/2010
For the last several days there have been nationalist riots in Moscow, which had to be suppressed by the police. The trouble was sparked by the shooting of a Russian by Muslims from the Caucasus, and the targets of the riots have been people of Muslim ethnicities. Some of the nationalist anger has been directed at Vladimir Putin, and official news reports refer to the rioters as “Racists” and “Hooligans”. In other news, authorities in the Washington Metro have announced t...

Iraqi PM To Name Cabinet Monday
(NewsCore) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki will present his cabinet Monday, potentially bringing an end to nine months of political impasse after inconclusive March Elections. The announcement came Saturday as parliament voted to overturn Controversial bans placed earlier this year on three members of a Sunni-backed political bloc for their alleged ties to ex-dictator Saddam Hussein's Baath Party. "Mr. Maliki has officially asked to present his cabinet to parliament on Monday," an aide sa...

Vladimir Putin Defends Central Control in Russia
Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on a television screen in an electronics shop during his annually televised question-and-answer session on Thursday. Moscow — Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin on Thursday said that an outburst of nationalist violence in Moscow proved that Russia could not allow its Law Enforcement bodies to weaken, despite the arguments of “our liberal intelligentsia.” In a marathon question-and-answer session that went on for four hours and 29 minut...

Is Joe Biden trying to impersonate Vladimir Putin?
It’s bad enough that the Obama White House is willing to surrender to Moscow over the heavily flawed New START Treaty, but does it have to resort to impersonating Russia’s leaders too? Watch this astonishing clip (hat tip: RealClear Politics) of Vice President Joe Biden’s interview with Andrea Mitchell during a taping of Hardball with Chris Matthews on MSNBC. In the video, an angry Biden warns Republican senators Jim DeMint and Jon Kyl to “get out of the way” i

Putin: Everyone should feel comfortable living in Russia
On Thursday, December 16, Vladimir Putin, the head of the Russian government, answered Russian people's questions during a call-in show. One of the questions was about recent ethnic riots in Moscow. TV host Maria Sittel said that "A Conversation with Vladimir Putin" program received many questions about the subject. "The government did not respond properly [to Sviridov's death] and this triggered the disorders," Putin said during his annual televised Q&A session. "The people involved in the ...

Vladimir Putin 'Mistress' Alina Kabayeva Graces Cover of Russian Vogue
(Dec. 16) -- Gossip whispered among Russia's political elites this week isn't about Moscow's troubling ethnic riots or even a jailed tycoon the Prime Minister called a "thief." Instead, rumors are swirling over who's on the cover of next month's Vogue. The answer might embarrass Vladimir Putin. The January 2011 issue of Russian Vogue is splashed with a risque front-cover photo of Alina Kabayeva, a former Olympic Gold medal gymnast -- and Putin's alleged mistress. She's shown wearing a $33,000 go...

Vladimir Putin: Russian secret services don't kill traitors
The "swine" who exposed the 10 Russian sleeper spies in the United States will not be tracked down and killed, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Thursday, saying Russia has abandoned the Soviet-era practice of killing turncoats....

Vladimir Putin Will Now Take Your Questions
In a sort of Russian-style town hall meeting, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin fielded questions Thursday about his government’s policies and practices in a lengthy televised session (running time: 4 hours and 29 minutes) that included the cheeky query, “How is your puppy, Buffy?” How indeed. —KA His tone was set a few minutes into the televised program, which is an annual event. A caller said the police were not protecting members of ethnic Minorities from attacks by ethnic...

Fury at claim that doctors posed as patients for Vladimir Putin visit
A RUSSIAN cardiologist has said he fears dismissal and a beating after telling Vladimir Putin that an impressive display at his Hospital was faked for the Prime Minister's visit. Mr Putin visited a Hospital in mid-November in the central town of Ivanovo where he saw new medical equipment and met doctors boasting about salaries of $1,000 a month. The visit was televised. Ivan Khrenov told him during a live call-in show th ADVERTISEMENT at the sophisticated equipment he was shown during the visi...

Russia to see out economic crisis in 2012: Putin
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Thursday gave an upbeat assessment of the Russian economy two years after the global economic crisis broke, saying he expected it to finally beat the slowdown in 2012. In his annual question-and-answer session with Russians, Putin said the country would post growth of 3.8 percent in 2010 and gross domestic product (GDP) will see a return to pre-crisis levels in the first half of 2012. "We are restoring the level of our GDP to the pre-crisis level," Putin said. ...

Russia's Putin: Khodorkovsky 'should sit in jail'
Russia's Prime Minister says the crimes of former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky's have been proven, and a "thief should sit in jail." Khodorkovsky is serving an eight-year sentence after being convicted of Tax Fraud and is awaiting the verdict in a second trial that could keep him in Prison for many more years. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's comments during a call-in show Thursday will likely be seen as additional pressure on the judge to find Khodorkovsky guilty. Putin said Khodorkovsky's pr...

Iraqi lawmakers lift ban on Sunni politicians
BAGHDAD - Iraq's parliament on Saturday lifted a ban on three Sunni Muslim politicians barred from running in national Elections last March after being accused of having ties to Saddam Hussein's ousted regime. The vote brings Iraq closer to a unity government and an end to months of political turmoil that began when the March 7 election failed to produce a clear winner. It paves the way for broader Sunni participation in the emerging government, headed by Shiite Incumbent Prime Minister No...

France, Germany, UK, others urge EU budget freeze
Paris | Sat Dec 18, 2010 5:13am EST Paris (Reuters) - Britain, France, Germany, Finland and the Netherlands called on Saturday for the EU Budget to be frozen until at least 2020, in a joint letter to the European Commission. The letter, addressed to European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, said that the European Union's joint Budget should not grow faster than the rate of Inflation in the bloc's post-2013 long-term budget. "European public spending cannot be exempted from member sta...

France, Germany, UK, others urge EU budget freeze
The letter, addressed to European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, said that the European Union's joint Budget should not grow faster than the rate of Inflation in the bloc's post-2013 long-term budget. "European public spending cannot be exempted from Member States' considerable efforts to get their public spending under control," the letter, which was released by the French presidency, said. The EU's 27 countries will start talks in mid-2011 on the long-term budget, which runs from 2...

France, Germany, UK, others urge EU budget freeze
Paris | Sat Dec 18, 2010 5:13am EST Paris (Reuters) - Britain, France, Germany, Finland and the Netherlands called on Saturday for the EU Budget to be frozen until at least 2020, in a joint letter to the European Commission. The letter, addressed to European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, said that the European Union's joint Budget should not grow faster than the rate of Inflation in the bloc's post-2013 long-term budget. "European public spending cannot be exempted from member sta...

The Best World Photos of the Week
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, speaks with Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi at an EPP party meeting ahead of an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, Dec. 16, 2010. Disagreements over how to fight Europe's Debt crisis deepened as a two-day summit of European leaders began on Thursday, meanwhile violent Protests and uncertainty have fueled investors' concerns. When the dust settled, Chancellor Merkel won agreement to change the Lisbon Treaty to head off future currency crises. (AP Phot...

Cameron denies backroom deals in EU budget battle (AFP)
Brussels (AFP) – British Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday hailed his alliance with France and Germany in a campaign to keep EU spending under control but denied backroom deals to win them over. Fresh from victory after pressing the EU Parliament to limit a hike in next year's Budget, Cameron rallied support from the other two powerhouses for a drive to restrict European Union spending during an EU summit held to check the Eurozone's Debt crises. "All around Europe, cou...

Britain, France, Germany demand EU budget freeze
Three of the European Union's big four states on Saturday demanded a freeze in the EU Budget, saying Brussels cannot carry on spending more money as countries fight to sort their finances out. Britain, France and Germany, backed up by Finland and the Netherlands, told European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso there should be a real terms freeze at 2013 levels, as the EU next year begins negotiations for the 2014-2020 period. The letter, signed by British Prime Minister David Cameron, Ger...

Iraqi lawmakers lift ban on Sunni politicians
BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraq's parliament on Saturday lifted a ban on three Sunni Muslim politicians barred from running in national Elections last March after being accused of having ties to Saddam Hussein's ousted regime. The vote brings Iraq closer to a unity government and an end to months of political turmoil that began when the March 7 election failed to produce a clear winner. It paves the way for broader Sunni participation in the emerging government, headed by Shiite Incumbent Prime Minister No...

Lost in the fog of misinformation
Last spring, it was difficult to turn on the television or radio, glance at a newspaper or drive anywhere in Canada without seeing advertising touting the Harper government’s Economic Action Plan. The stimulus plan had been outlined in the 2009 Budget, then reinforced in the 2010 budget. Everywhere you turned, the government’s communication machine was in overdrive telling Canadians all about it, the subtext being that the Harper government had brought the people all these good job-c...

Knicks Fans Hope For Good, Old Days Against LeBron
LeBron James and his manager Maverick Carter NEXT » Tonight, the Knicks face off against the Miami Heat, led by supreme Decision maker LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh, at Madison Square Garden tonight. And, after the home team's hot streak of late (before the heartbreaker against the Celtics, at least), fans are hopeful. Spike Lee, uber-fan (and Google enthusiast and Brooklyn sellout to some), confidently told the Daily News, " We're gonna kick LeBron's ass. We're going to win t...