We would probably be banned in Russia

"In America, you can always find a party. In Soviet Russia, party finds you!" - Yakov Smirnoff

I love the Russians. Every one I've met so far has been gregarious, fun to hang out with, and pretty light-hearted about things. Partly full of bullshit, but the same goes for the rest of humanity.

Well, this story reeks of bullshit in my opinion. Seems that if you are part of the Russian opposition, you can't even get on television. If you do get on, you get digitally edited out (sometimes your legs are left behind though). It's a clever ploy. One cannot say that you aren't being allowed to speak your mind, the state is just not going to allow anyone to hear you. It's no secret that Russia is not exactly rushing headlong to embrace democracy or free markets. But editing people out of broadcasts? That's just bushleague. I'd expect to see that on some Taliban-sponsored political show, right after Johnny Chimpo re-runs, not from someone quite as bad-ass Vladimir Putin (left, looking scary).

Five for Friday

First out, an interesting column from former Phillie, Cub, and Ranger Doug Glanville on how quickly a baseball player goes from green horn to wise old vet. But, I think there's a subtext here that we can apply to the 2008 election. Writes Glanville:

These inspirational anomalies make us understand that experience and time are not one and the same. You could have sat in major league locker rooms for decades and still not have the impact of a one-person movement. And when that kind of universal and era-free player comes knocking, we have to answer the door and let him in.

Second, if you're in the Vermont dating scene like me, watch the eff out.

Third, back to baseball. Anyone catch Justin Masterson's line yesterday? 6 IP, 2H, 1ER, 4BB. Not bad for a 23-year old making his debut against a lineup that includes Torii Hunter, Vlad the Impaler, and the AL hits leader, Chone Figgins. Also, Masterson is the first Jamaican-born player to make it to the bigs. Not bad at all Mr. Masterson. He's been lights-out in AA, with a 0.95 ERA so far. Can't wait to see what he can do in the rotation full-time.

Fourth, and I'm super pumped about this one: Guillermo del Toro is going to direct the forthcoming Hobbit movies. In my opinion, the man is a genius. They are going to be spectacles to behold.

Last, on the international scene, the NYT ran a feature on Vladimir Putin and his cronies essentially making the Russian Orthodox Church the official religion of Russia, or at least the official Christian church of Russia. There's a ton that you can read into this article, but I think that the most striking, in my opinion, is how illustrative this is of the lengths Russia still needs to go to become a modern democracy. It's not just that there is no practical freedom of religion in Russia; its that the people interviewed in this article don't seem to understand the concept. The article displays some cognitive dissonance: they are intellectually in favor of religious freedom, but on a day to day basis support hegemony and state-sponsored religion in the name of preserving Russian-ness. There simply isn't a practical understanding by the Russian people as a whole of what this means, or so this article demonstrates. It's truly sad.

Have a great weekend everyone!