Is Stratfor worth paying attention to? I’ve never been clear on this. Some of their articles seem pretty insightful, but on the other hand some of them seem like something a bright sophomore might come up with after half an hour with google. This recent article about Russia seems closer to the latter category

Russia will leave the strategic Black Sea port of Sevastopol if its lease is not renewed by the Ukrainian government, said the Russian deputy prime minister, Sergei Ivanov.

I suppose I shouldn’t be so surprised to find that the default position on the left over the Georgia crisis is one of passive sympathy with Russia. Attitudes formed in the past can leave powerful legacies, after all.

An excellent comment was posted in response to an article in the DT moaning about childcare provision for "Poor Mothers". R Mason had this to say:There is no sense in paying women - and even teenage girls - to have babies on condition that the father does not live with them, paying them more for every baby they have, forcing them to go to work, to leave their babies with strangers, the strangers t...

Russia and Ukraine have left Europe without gas for Orthodox Christmas Day (7 January), with each country continuing to blame the other for unprecedented supply disruptions which have totally eclipsed the 2006 crisis.

Last Friday took me one step closer in my move to Russia, I successfully obtained my visa. The day was long and hectic but so fun as well as I got to spend the day in London with my mum. The day started at 4:15am when mum walked in to wake me so that we wouldn't miss our coach to London that was due to leave around 5am. For anyone who knows me, this time for me is more like bedtime rather tha...

Commenting on Government proposals to introduce trial road pricing schemes, Liberal Democrat Shadow Transport Secretary, Norman Baker said: "There is a real danger that motorists will end up paying their road tax twice over if road pricing is introduced without scrapping Vehicle Excise Duty. "Motorway and trunk road pricing is the way forward but only if it replaces other taxes. Otherwise it will ...

After days of suspense with Russia’s “will they, won’t they?” withdrawal from undisputed Georgian territory the BBC now reports that they plan to leave a contingent of 500 troops in a “buffer zone” outside the breakaway republics. In all likelihood this should have been expected.  Even Russia is not bellicose or secure enough to think that it

Townhall: "Blame Everyone But Russia!" by Victor Davis Hanson An inventory of Western reactions to the Russian invasion of Georgia ... European public opinion is probably sharply divided between the American Left wing and the liberal mainstream. Hanson's conclusion sounds about right: "The more Russia promises to leave Georgia, the more it seems to stay put. One reason may be that Putin keeps...

Townhall: "Blame Everyone But Russia!" by Victor Davis Hanson An inventory of Western reactions to the Russian invasion of Georgia ... European public opinion is probably sharply divided between the American Left wing and the liberal mainstream. Hanson's conclusion sounds about right: "The more Russia promises to leave Georgia, the more it seems to stay put. One reason may be that Putin keeps...