Because its Thursday Friday

I know, I’ve been lazy. I blame the Capitalist running dogs for sucking all the energy out of me.

But laying back a day enabled me to hear this little gem on NPR about Conde Nast publications advising GQ not to run a story by Scott Anderson in their Russian version of the magazine. The subject of Anderson’s article? Vladmir Putin’s Dark Rise to Power.  Putin’s rise from Prime Minister to President was based on his reactions to a series of “terrorist” bombings by Chechen separatists groups in 1999 that, some sources indicate, may have been orchestrated by some of Putin’s old KGB contacts. But good luck finding the story unless you happen to pick up GQ. The companies ban on printing the article abroad (at the advice of their lawyers) extends to web publication.

And while Communism in Russia may be “dead” even if the KGB style tactics aren’t, that doesn’t stop people from worrying about a new red menace right here at home. Folks like Glen Beck finding commies in every piece of art he sees. Chez Pazienza blogs about Beck’s most recent insanity with his post I see Red People at Deus Ex Malcontent.

UPDATE: Simon over at Bloggasm has alerted me of Gawker’s plans to translate the article into Russian and make it available via their site. You can read more about that decision here.

Russian translations of the first page, and scans of the article from the magazine, can be seen at Gawker here.