Of course it needs no explaination in your mind, it's part of your agenda, case close. I bet ya never heard of that old saying about "not believing everything you read and only half of what you see" have you. Pity.

Well have fun Igor, I'm sure you can entertain yourself.

Igor,

Your lack of a response to the Russian Media being able to report FREELY speaks VOLUMES!

And you bitch about the West.

Your lack of a response to the Russian Media being able to report FREELY speaks VOLUMES!
* Bones, there are people, that speak three languages, there are those, that speak two, and there are the americans. How many main TV stations are there in RF? Heh.

Kisako,

That's not the question but a nice deflection. Now, answer the original question. Can the Russian Media report FREELY concerning any topic? Quit skirting the issue.

Bones,
the point is that You neither speak nor read Russian - You would understand otherwise (I am, at least, curious). There are three main TV channels, with the first (ORT) one being a kind of conservative and pro-Govt., the second (RTR) one being a kind of mediator and the third (NTV) one private trouble-stirrer and in no way a Govt. "lover". And I'm not talking about the printed media, some representatives of which border on outright, he-heh, libel.
Your question makes me think, that You stuck in Cold War.

Sorry, but I'm far from being stuck in the Cold War and my ability to speak or write Russian is irrelevant. Thank you for pointing out the main TV stations in the RF but again, irrelevant to the question posed. Why can't you answer my simple American question? Is the truth THAT hard to swallow? Just say it. NO, the Russian Media eigher by TV or in print can report FREELY about any topic it so chooses.

Again, not being able to answer a simple question, even in Russian, speaks VOLUMES!

Sorry, but I'm far from being stuck in the Cold War and my ability to speak or write Russian is irrelevant.
* Sure, it showed in that "simple american question".
Thank you for pointing out the main TV stations in the RF but again, irrelevant to the question posed.
* My pleasure, if only You could read English ...
Is the truth THAT hard to swallow?
* What "truth", Yours or objective?
Just say it.
* I did it in my previous post, just think of it.
NO, the Russian Media eigher by TV or in print can report FREELY about any topic it so chooses.
* Yes, if my previous post wasn't enough.
Again, not being able to answer a simple question, even in Russian, speaks VOLUMES!
* No-o-o-o, it's Your last word, that's "volumed".

For the victory of patriots of Russia


Citizens of Russia! My compatriots!

I appeal to you in a difficult time when a new grave threat is hanging over our Motherland.

The authorities are trying to conceal the truth about the tragic situation in the country. It is my duty to bring it to each voter.

* * *

Should the current policy be continued, at the beginning of the summer Russia will see a new economic collapse.Millions of people will lose their jobs. Prices will skyrocket. People's meager savings will further depreciate. Pensions, stipends, allowances and wages payments will be again stopped.

Housing rents, communal fees, transport fare and communications rates will zoom several times over.

Free education and medical services will be abolished.

* * *

The oligarchs that have robbed the people know better than others that a new collapse is approaching fast.

To remain in power, they have decided to deceive you once again.

They have removed Yeltsin from power and announced an early presidential election before the truth is revealed.They have decided to enthrone an obedient and merciless executor who will pacify the hungry and protect the oligarchs' property.

The regime of Yeltsin's heirs will bring you poverty and extermination. Dictatorship and rampant violence are in store for Russia if you let yourselves be deceived.

* * *

To save the country, the economic and social policy must be immediately changed.

The Communist Party of the Russian Federation and the For Victory! movement, which have nominated me for President, have devised a program of the country's salvation.

We have come out with a package of urgent measures which will ensure stable economic growth.

These measures will be carried out by a team of professionals – the Government of People's Trust working under control of the parliament.

* * *

We will immediately raise pensions, allowances and salaries to civil servants.

A minimum wage and pension will be not less than 1,000 rubles.

Salaries of teachers and doctors will be not less than 3,000 rubles.

I guarantee the recovery, within five years, of your savings depreciated by Gaidar and Kiriyenko.We will restore citizens' rights to cheap housing and communal services, to free education and health care.

The State will establish rigid control over prices for basic foodstuffs and essentials.

Electricity and communications tariffs and transport fare will be reduced.

A journey across Russia, from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok, will cost only three minimum wages.

* * *

I know where and how to find money to fulfill my program.

Our country is still very rich.

To "sew the holes" in the budget, the people and the State must be returned the property they have been robbed of.This will let us cut taxes which now stifle domestic production.

This will attract large investments in industries and agriculture.

Millions of highly skilled specialists – workers, engineers, scientists – will be able to get back to jobs they are committed to.All honest entrepreneurs will breathe easily.

I guarantee timely and fair labor remuneration, immunity for legally obtained property.

The State will support enterprises of all forms of ownership, in town and in the country, and will ensure equal conditions for their development.

* * *

The economic growth will help:Stop the extinction of the Russian people.

Ensure a worthy future for our children and grandchildren.

Restore the country's defense potential.

Provide tangible assistance to the development of culture and enhance public spirit.

Wage a resolute struggle against crime and corruption.

* * *

I am not seeking absolute power which Yeltsin sought and which his heirs strive to retain.I am ready to cooperate with all those who share the ideals of justice, sovereignty of the people, and patriotism. With all those who respect freedoms, human rights and everything that is sacred to our nation.Together we will ensure peace and order in the country, and wellbeing of every family.

I am sure that life will get back to normal!

* * *

We will build a Free Russia which we will be proud of. A New Russia that will attract all fraternal peoples. A Great Russia, the first among equals in the international community.

If you want Russia to be like this, vote for me!

The future of our Motherland, your future and the future of your children is in your hands!Your vote can save Russia!

VOTE FOR G. A. ZYUGANOV THIS SUNDAY!!!

VOTE FOR GENNADY ZYUGANOV!!! THIS SUNDAY THE ELECTIONS ARE HELD!!! ZA RODINU!!! ZA POBEDY!!! ZA KPRF!!!

SO CALLED BRAVE MUSLIMS WAS AGAIN SEIZE HOSTAGES

---

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines: Islamic rebels raided two schools and seized dozens of students and several school officials in the southern Philippines on Monday, the military and police said.

Estimates of the exact number of hostages taken by the guerrillas from schools in two towns on Basilan island ranged from about 60 to more than 80, but 27 of them were later freed, Basilan provincial police chief Akmadul Pangambayan said.

Pangambayan told reporters the kidnappers were believed to be members of the fundamentalist Abu Sayyaf group, one of two insurgent groups fighting for an Islamic state on southern Mindanao island, 500 miles south of Manila.

The abductions occurred after nearly a week of clashes between government forces and another group of guerrillas belonging to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Lanao del Norte province, 80 miles northwest of Basilan.

Dozens of people, mostly MILF rebels, have been killed in the Lanao del Norte fighting.

Pangambayan said initial reports he had received showed about 70 students and seven school teachers were abducted by the Abu Sayyaf from Claret school in Sumisip town on Monday morning.

He said the Abu Sayyaf guerrillas were being pursued by government forces when they entered the school campus and seized the students and teachers to use them as ``human shields.''

``Apparently they were having difficulty taking all of them so they released 27,'' Pangambayan told reporters.

Hours later, another group of suspected Abu Sayyaf guerrillas abducted 11 teachers in Tuburan town also in Basilan, Pangambayan said.

The MILF, with an estimated 16,000 fighters, is the biggest insurgent group fighting for an Islamic state in the south of the country. The military estimates the Abu Sayyaf's strength at more than 1,000.

Unlike the MILF which has opened peace talks with the government, the hard-line Abu Sayyaf has shunned negotiations with Manila. (Reuters)

Zyuganov Thunders At Kremlin Ahead Of Vote

Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov projects his bass voice across a large hall, thumping the podium as he lashes out at former president Boris Yeltsin and bemoans the weakened state of Russia.

Taking his message to students and professors at a metallurgical institute, Zyuganov slams Yeltsin and 10 years of post-Soviet reforms for many woes, from a failing health care system to the collapse of Russia's world standing.

He rails against Acting President Vladimir Putin, the runaway favorite in the March 26 presidential election, for failing to meet him for face-to-face debates.

"A great performance!" shouts one man in the ground, "Zyuganov! Zyuganov! Zyuganov!" chant some people, greeting the fleshy faced and burly Communist leader like a football star.

Zyuganov, the man who dragged the Communist Party from disarray after the collapse of the Soviet Union, is on the campaign trail again.

Brandishing his spectacles like a weapon, shooting his sleeve cuffs from a suit where a Communist Party badge flashes in the spotlight, Zyuganov sets out his party's plans for the economy.

He displays a gift for figures he undoubtedly picked up as a mathematics teacher, although some analysts have criticized the party's economic plans as unrealistic.

"You, young people, do not have a gram of your own coal...a band of thieves took it all," Zyuganov thunders, blasting the businessmen he says control Russia's natural resources.

He has taken his message as the tribune of Russia's left around Russia, been greeted with the traditional offer of bread and salt in towns by women dressed in colorful national costume and appeared, statesmanlike in a plush study, on television.

"The regime of Yeltsin's successor will bring you poverty and gradual extinction, dictatorship and a free rein to violence. That is what awaits Russia if you allow yourselves to be deceived," he says in a television address.

His audiences at meetings are generally favorable, many of them older people, nostalgic for the Soviet past, disenchanted with the cataclysmic economic changes which have left many millions below the poverty line.

COMMUNIST ECONOMIC GOALS CLEAR

Unlike Putin, Zyuganov speaks concretely of what he would do if elected president.

He would raise the minimum wage and increase salaries for teachers and doctors. He would cut costs for health care, housing, transport and fuel. He would cut taxes, increase spending on the weapons industry, science and culture.

Big promises, but where would all the money come from?

From nationalizing the oil and gas industry, putting an end to capital flight, which he put at $1.5 billion a month, and nationalizing the vodka industry.

Zyuganov also lets fly at Anatoly Chubais, one of Russia's early reformers, now in charge of the huge electricity monopoly UES.

Zyuganov says he would "introduce order" in UES, which would provide more funds. He would "normalize" money supply, which analysts take as code for printing money to fund spending.

He also promises in a letter to voters to introduce price controls, guarantee work to each Russian in the space of two years and to bring about the birth of "renewed Soviet power".

NATIONALIST APPEAL, STRONG STATE

Although he refers often to the might of Russia when it was the leading power in the Soviet Union and the Communist bloc, Zyuganov's appeal is more to Russian's nationalism, summed up in one of his slogans, "For the victory of Russian patriots!"

With this goal, he embraces the Russian Orthodox Church, anathema to the Communists of the Soviet era, Cossacks, farmers, followers of former Soviet dictator Josef Stalin and workers in the under-funded areas of science and culture.

He promises not to be a totalitarian leader but stands for the building of a strong state, reducing the wide powers enjoyed currently by the president and restoring parliament's control.

His campaign dispels worries that the Communists mean a return to Soviet controls as the doom mongering of its opponents.

"Why do they fear us? Because only the Communists will return peace to the nations, the factories to workers and land to the farmers!"

AND YOU ASKED WHY I AM A NATIONALIST? BECAUSE I AM A PATRIOT FOR MY COUNTRY. A RESTORATION OF SOVIET POWER TO HELP STRENGTHEN AND HELP MY COUNTRY!!! - Ultra Russian Nationalist

URN, give it up. Z will not win. P is going all the way.

General Kharchevsky is the head of the 4th flight training center (CBPiPLS) from Lipetsk, where one of the most capable Russian Air Force units is based. Several years ago Kharchevsky visited the United States, where he flew a number of simulated combat missions on his Su-27 fighter against some of the best American pilots. Kharchevsky won all of the 26 missions flown. (It was after Kharchevsky's trip to the U.S. that several Western military aircraft manufacturers, including Lockheed and Saab, declined an offer by Sukhoi Design Bureau to conduct a public one-on-one close combat simulation at an international air show between any of the latest Western fighters and the Su-35 air-superiority fighter.)

NATO's Crimes

The Spectator on line
March 11, 2000

It is a year since Nato presented Serbia with an ultimatum at Rambouillet whose terms were totally unacceptable to any sovereign nation, and which Nato must therefore have known would be rejected. It was spoiling, if not for a fight exactly, at least for somewhere to bomb. A military alliance, after all, cannot survive for ever without an enemy, and foreign adventures are useful to presidents of the United States in domestic difficulties, as Mr Clinton was at the
time. Serbia's weakness made it the perfect enemy for bullies, cowards and poltroons.

The ex post facto official justifications for the bombardment of Serbia were revolting in their dishonesty. We were told both that the bombing was a response to ethnic cleansing and that it was necessary to prevent the ethnic cleansing which would happen without it. We were told both that it was necessary to bomb Serbia because Mr Milosevic was an inveterate ethnic cleanser, and that we could not possibly have
foreseen that he would react to the bombing of his country by ethnic cleansing. The leaders of Nato relied on the cynical, but no doubt
justified, belief that their respective publics would not remember what they were told yesterday or the day before.

Nato continued to lie throughout the war. Its propaganda machine was no more truthful than Serbias, though Mr Clinton and Mr Blair far
outdid Mr Milosevic in unctuous sanctimony. Whenever civilians were killed, Nato denied it until the publics kaleidoscopic mind had moved on to something else. These were the equivocations of deeply guilty men.

And well they might have been guilty; for, once it became clear that Serbia would not collapse in the purely military sense, Natos only policy was to destroy Serbia's civilian infrastructure. But
deliberately to destroy civilian targets with the intention of rendering the daily life of a population impossible is a clear breach of the very international law which Mr Clinton and Mr Blair claimed to uphold, and by which they allegedly set such store. According to their own lights, therefore, Messrs Clinton and Blair are war criminals; and, if Mr Cook truly believed in his ethical foreign policy, he would at once extradite himself to Belgrade.

Nor was the moral disaster compensated for by its practical political benefits. Natos policies all too predictably produced not one, but two episodes of ethnic cleansing: first, of the Albanians from certain parts of Kosovo; and, second, of the Serbs from most of Kosovo. To
this latter example of the phenomenon, Nato - ever sparing of the lives of its own troops - has turned a blind eye. Thus Mr Clinton and Mr Blair are against ethnic cleansing, except for that which occurs under their own patronage and protection.

Moreover, peace has not returned to the region as a result of Natos intervention. Can any sensible person doubt that if Natos troops were withdrawn, a bloodbath far more terrible than
anything yet seen would soon occur? Nato is thus faced with a dilemma: either it remains as an army of occupation for good, or it becomes a
party to real genocide.

But perhaps the worst effect of all was the military humiliation which Nato suffered in Serbia (without, of course, Serbia having achieved a
victory). This crushing humiliation has been disguised from the public by a chorus of journalistic flatterers and by the clever manipulation of facts. But for those who believe that there is a reality independent of the webs woven by spin doctors, the military weakness both of the United States and of Nato could not have been more clearly exposed than it was in Serbia.

Contrary to what the public was mendaciously led to believe, the combined forces of the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands were not sufficient to impose upon Serbia all the conditions laid down in the Rambouillet ultimatum. Nato was thus as compelled to negotiate as was Serbia; and, considering the immense disparity in the resources of the two sides, this represented a deep humiliation for Nato. Anything other than complete victory over a country as small and poor as Serbia was for Nato an utter defeat.

Nato was quite unable to destroy the Serbian armed forces - which is why it had to embark upon its criminal terror-bombing campaign. Its
technological sophistication was rendered completely useless by the simple Serbian expedient of hiding tanks in hillocks and placing mock tanks elsewhere. Nothing short of an invasion could have destroyed the Serbian army, but for political reasons this was impossible. A
military power that is afraid to lose men in pursuit of its objectives is not a power: it is the military equivalent of a whited sepulchre. And virtual war is not war.

None of this will have gone unnoticed in Moscow or Beijing. It is hardly surprising that Beijing is now making belligerent noises towards Taiwan, for it knows that, in the event of a decision to invade, it would have as little to fear from America as from Liechtenstein. Likewise if Moscow decided upon genocide of the Chechens. Messrs Clinton and Blair have made the world safe for ethnic cleansing.

From Anonymous:

Friends:

I am in a SouthEast Asian nation not far from
Indonesia. I have been to Indonesia myself several times in the past few years, so the following letter, which I received by e-mail today was especially disturbing to me.

A Christian group I work with stopped what they were doing and we immediately prayed for one hour when we heard about this situation. This situation is happening right now! Your prayers are needed right now. Also, please forward this letter to anybody you know who will pray and pray fervently!

I would also encourage you to forward this to
newspapers, TV, or radio stations in your area. You may need to edit it a little. International
pressure forced NATO (Christian nations!) to
defend the Muslims of Kosovo from "ethnic cleansing." Why does nobody care now that Christians in Indonesia are being ethnically cleansed (slaughtered) by Muslims? Of
course, the Christians are now defending themselves and some of them have done
terrible things in the rage of vengeance. This
must stop. It's time for peace! The Middle East looks tame compared to this! Wake up people! Let's try to put some international pressure on the
Indonesian government to rein in their military which continues to perpetrate such terrible crimes against Christians. East Timor proved the Indonesian military to be a very undisciplined lot and they have not changed even though General Wiranto was removed by President Wahid.

All the names in this e-mail have been changed to protect the innocent! Because e-mails can be forwarded all over the world, for safety, even my
name has been changed. Some of you have figured out who I am, However if you haven't (especially if this was forwarded to you) you can trust me, I exist, I know the one who sent the letter to me, and this information is accurate.
The situation is real and "D-Day" is coming up
fast.

-Michael Davidson

13 March 2000

---

Hi Michael:

Back from the Maluku (Spice) Islands! I am alive!
Many died and many more will die! My heart is broken . The Christians in the Maluku Islands need and deserve all your support! Please pray for the remaining Christians there! (See bottom)
I'll give you a brief update on the situation in
'Halmahera Utara', the district of the The Malukus where Morotai, Tobelo and Galela fall in. What is happening there is nothing less than the 'Ethnic Cleansing' that happened in Kosovo! Except without any news covering it because it is a 'concentrated religious fight'. This is not true! This is an organized 'cleansing' of the
Christians!!! .

When we arrived in the port of Tobelo I was taken to the home of Mister Smith a Christian who has spent most of his life in the remote islands of Indonesia. On the way to his house I was shocked to see so many burned down
houses, stores and churches. Almost every one I
saw was wearing some sort of weapon. Mr. Smith was surprised to see me. When I told him that I was on my way with to Galela, he said that Galela is in Muslim hands now and that
there are no more Christians left.

I was introduced by him to a leader of the
'Evangelical Church of Halmahera Utara' who, together with the owner I met of the local Christian radio station, gave me most of the next information:

The island of Morotai has been in Muslim hands for four days now. Only about 3000 Christians survived and are hiding in the mountains. The rest (thousands!) have been brutally killed . . .
Muslims from neighboring islands have gone over there and without warning killed the Christian
population! The army which was supposed to protect the civilians, assisted the Muslims. The army in Indonesia is almost all Muslim. One Christian Captain was shot by his own man. A policeman who tried to protect a church and its pastor was approached by his own brother and shot by the same. The adults were beheaded and the children thrown in to the ocean with their
legs tied! Many people tried to escape by boat but an Indonesian navy vessel sunk the ship. Very few people made it to Tobelo alive and brought this news.

The reason why there is no news (or "false" news) is because there are people in the Indonesian government who want to free Indonesia from the lesser people. Muslims see the Christians as dogs. (They eat dog over
here.)

Tobelo was attacked about a month ago. It is a
town where the Christian and Muslims had lived together for many years. The attack had been well organized by the Muslims. In one day many
Christian houses and some of the churches were put to fire. Christians were towed through town behind motor cycles. It took the Christian population two days before they woke up out
of their shock. Then the Christians started their
furious defense. One thousand Muslims were killed and only 30 Christians. Many Muslims fled to army barracks close to Galela. The Muslims have called for a holy war (Jihad) against all the remaining Christians on Halmahera on the 16th of March! (Indonesia time, of course.) This is being
broadcast on the government radio station! Three boat loads of Muslim warriors have
already arrived from Ternate and Tidore. Many will come from Morotai and while I was in Tobelo
two army trucks with militaries drove through town to Galela. The army has also provided some weapons for the Muslims and will back them up. Two navy ships are said to be scheduled to arrive in the harbor of Tobelo in the
morning of the 16th. This will not be a small
operation!.

Without the help of our God (Jesus Christ) and
your prayers, all the people I have spoken of (and their families) will be dead in three or four
days!!! They are my brothers and sisters. We are related! And it will not stop there! Please pray! Ask your church, your Pastor, your Bible study to
pray. PRAY! I am calling for THREE DAYS of FASTING AND PRAYER. March 15 (preparation) 16 (the battle) and 17 (the
aftermath.)


In His Love, Andrew