December 12, 2011
- 1:00 pm
By Avery - UNC Chapel Hill

Russians dealt a blow to Vladimir Putin, the longtime president, in elections last week. After years of unquestionable power in Russia, Putin’s glory is finally beginning to decline. His United Russia’s Party in Parliament lost it’s grasp on the legislature, losing it’s majority of 67% to less than 50%. Without his party in power, Putin won’t be able to get things done the way he used to. And when he runs for reelection in March, he’ll face a steeper uphill battle. Some think this is the beginning of a ‘Russian Spring,’ with young people uprising against the government the way they did in the Middle East earlier this year. Putin must think so too, because he ordered students to school on a Saturday to prevent them from gathering. School on a Saturday? Oh helll nooo. Not the way to win students’ approval…
A gunman shot and killed a Virginia Tech university police officer on Thursday, then turned the gun on himself. The event happened only four years after the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre, when 33 people were killed by a disturbed student. The school immediately went on lockdown when the murdered officer Deriek Crouse was discovered. Authorities issued the all-clear four hours later when they found the shooter dead in a nearby parking lot, apparently by his own hand. Read More »
October 12, 2008
- 7:41 pm
By CC Staff
Since it’s a holiday weekend, you don’t have to spend your Sunday catching up on homework. Why not use the extra time to do something for fun? Bake some brownies, go for a run, or…learn judo!
Russian Prime Minister Vladmir Putin has released a DVD tutorial called "Let's Learn Judo with Vladmir Putin." And as you can see (and hear...if you speak Russian), Putin can definitely lay the smack-down.
No word on when the English translation will be available.
February 26, 2008
- 9:30 am
By ccandysuzie
Russians will go to the polls on Saturday, March 2, to elect a new president. Unlike our suspenseful US elections, in Russia it is all but a foregone conclusion that Dmitry Medvedev will be the winner.
Why such a farce? While hardly anyone really claims to “get” the Russian political system, it is generally agreed that Putin’s current power over the Russian public stems directly from the state’s chaotic transition during the 1990s.
Russia emerged from the ruins of the USSR on January 1, 1992 led by reformist Boris Yeltsin. Economically speaking, it was an entirely new country. The Russian nouveau riche established their positions through purchasing the most lavish of cars, furs, and mansions. The most flamboyant were members of an elite group of young billionaires known as the “Oligarchs”. Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Roman Abramovich, Oleg Deripaska, names that bring up images of bad 1970s spy flicks, dominated Russian business interests.
While the Oligarchs enjoyed their imported champagne and Aston Martins, the middle and lower classes lived a much different life. For all its evils, life under the communist system included full employment and price controls for housing and basic food…provided you could find housing and a market with food still on the shelves and didn’t mind being a university educated bathroom attendant. Read More »