As many readers are aware, the Russian government has been on a recent censorship tear, including talk of banning off-color and proudly offensive animated TV imports such as The Simpsons, Family Guy, and South Park (oddly, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez has already done the same).  No reason to stop at TV shows.  Today we're seeing reports that the government has ordered Russian retailers to pull the video game title Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 from its shelves while a ban on the game is considered.  The game, which pits players in bloody gunfights in a slew of imaginary international conflict zones, is already being called one of the decade's most successful product launches - hitting $310 million in one day alone....

Deputy Economic Development Minister Andrei Klepach has suggested that the ruble could return to its 2008 high and reach 23 against the dollar next year, if oil prices continue going strong, spelling problems for exporters.  The Duma has passed the budget in a first vote, with it receiving 315 votes to go with United Russia's 315 deputies.  Vladimir Putin has met with business leaders from Germany, its biggest trading partner: German businesses are apparently faring well in Russia, despite the crisis.  President Medvedev is apparently confident that Russia's hopes to join the WTO have not been jeopardized by its dalliance with the idea of a three-party customs union bid.  First Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank, Gennady Melikyan, has told Reuters that financial institutions are weathering stress tests well, although a report in Bloomberg puts on different spin, quoting Melikyan ...

TODAY: Clinton turns attention to civil society and gives speech tackling human rights abuses; Walt Whitman statue unveiled; Putin advises against intimidating Iran; opposition politicians stage Duma walk out.  Memorial to appeal.  Putin turns pop svengali?'In an innovative society, people must be free to take unpopular positions, disagree with conventional wisdom, know they are safe to challenge abuses of authority': Hillary Clinton affirmed her support for dissidence and human rights protection in a speech at Moscow State University.  'That's why attacks on journalists and human rights activists are such a great concern, because it is a threat to progress', she is quoted as saying in the New York Times.  Click here for a video of Clinton ...

TODAY:  Georgia-Russia tensions simmer in advance of EU report; Council of Europe hullabaloo.  Russia edgy on Washington's new defense scheme; Obama forward looking; Kremlin does not feel Iran missiles justify sanctions.  Journalist in hiding over anti-Soviet article; no joy for beer drinkers and hackersAccusations are flying ahead of today's publication of EU-backed report on the war in Georgia which is expected to be critical of both parties.  The Times says that Georgia has preemptively accused Russia of spreading 'patently false information about fictitious attacks on Russian peacekeepers'.  Tbilisi has also claimed that the report has concluded that Russian troops were responsible for ethnic cleansing during the conflict.  Russia is bristling at motions in the Parliamentary ...

Although some parties may be pleading its case, a Nomura analyst says that Russia will not need to fall back on a second ruble devaluation, Bloomberg reports.  Central Bank Chairman Sergey Ignatiev has suggested that policy makers may decrease the bank's benchmark interest rates as early as this month as the ruble has stabilized and inflation appears to have lessened.  The submitting of the budget, which usually opens the fall session of the state duma, will be delayed until October 1st due to disagreements over its terms.  The Moscow Times relays Communist Deputy Sergei Obukhov's complaints that the budget will be hurried through without deputies being correctly informed.  With demand for cars plummeting, Renault plans to create a series of car part manufacturers, ready for when the market rebounds.  Sberbank has announced a net profit of $194 million in ...

According to Bloomberg, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin has said that the budget deficit may reach 6.8% of GDP next year, 4% in 2011, and 3% in 2012.  The Duma has recommended the ousting of banking lobbyist Anatoly Aksakov, whose comments earlier this year on devaluation shook the financial market, from the National Banking Council.  Car sales fell by 54% in August, the smallest decrease (year-on-year) in four months.  Belgium's Solvay has announced it has agreed to buy Sodium Group Investments Limited's majority stake in Russia's Berezniki soda ash plant for $230.2 million, Reuters reports.  The board of General Motors has met in Detroit under pressure from the German government to elucidate their plans for Opel.  Dixy, Russia's third biggest retailer, expects retail sales to rise by up to 18% this year.  Russia has been ranked...

It's September again, and that means the children are heading off to school, and the birds - heading south. And, as tradition goes, Comandante Chávez has embarked on a world tour. This time, the Lt. Col. - the leader of the Bolivarian revolution - visited Libya, where he observed the 40th anniversary in power of another colonel, Muammar Qaddafi. Then - Algeria. Then - he went to Iran. Then - popped into Turkmenistan, which, it seems, turned out to have been a surprise for president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow [We are using the spelling the Turkmens themselves use as they switch from Cyrillic to Latin script, instead of "Berdymukhamedov", which is actually a transcription from Russian--Ed.].

...

TODAY: 1998 Starovoitova murder case to be reopened; Moscow city Duma election opposition candidates outraged; Nashi vs Nemtsov thrown out of court.  Lavrov positive on reset; new police chief; Moscow mayor to fight weather.According to Bloomberg, Russia has reopened the investigation into the 1998 murder of lawmaker and human rights activist Galina Starovoitova as new evidence has appeared.  The assassinated activist's assistant, Ruslan Linkov, who was also injured in the attack which killed her, has suggested that the reopening may be to do with an appeal sent by himself and Starovoitova's sister to President Medvedev in July.  An independent election-monitoring group has criticized election officials for preventing all but one opposition candidate to stand in next ...

This column in the Moscow Times argues that the Stalinist renovation of the Kurskaya metro station is an elections ploy by United Russia to win the votes of the elderly.  Interestingly, the author Sergei Obukhov, a duma member from the Communist Party - so the "glory" of Stalin is not in question, just the instrumentalization of it.

The current pro-Stalin PR campaign by the authorities coincides with the campaign for the Moscow City Duma elections on Oct. 11. The United Russia party traditionally has far worse electoral results in the capital than in other regions. But for Mayor Yury Luzhkov, whom the new City Duma will ultimately decide either to reappoint or retire, a strong showing by United Russia would be his

...

Vladislav Surkov is one of the most creative minds inside the Kremlin, and I write with total honesty.  No one else seems capable of weaving such elaborate fictions and improvised almost-believable narratives, such as his hit novel Sovereign Democracy -- a story of how Russians aren't yet mature enough to vote.  For me, it was no surprise to see the novelist transform himself and launch into the mystery and thriller genre, as the papers this week are rumoring him to be the secret author of a hit book (Reuters broke the story in English, followed by the Independent).  In his latest work of "gangsta fiction," a title written under a pseudonum called "Close to Zero," we get a sordid tale of ...