Boris Yeltsin has died

[MonkeyFunk]

Source: AP, MSNBC

Wire reports just in saying former Russian President Boris Yeltsin has died.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/obit_yeltsin;_ylt=AocwwtoPlP0rB9BuM6wNL.lbbBAF

[underpants]

1. Link to MSNBC with banner

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/

[cal04]

2. link: Russia's former president Boris Yeltsin has died: Kremlin

Former President Boris Yeltsin has died, a Kremlin official said Monday. He was 76. Kremlin spokesman Alexander Smirnov told The Associated Press that Yeltsin died, but gave no cause of death or further information
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070423/ap_on_re_eu/obit_yeltsin

[Ian David]

3. Fox News viewers ask, "The guy from Rocky & Bullwinkle?"

Fact: We're just not
that much smarter We're no better informed now than in 1989

By Diego Vasquez
Apr 17, 2007

The marketing people at Comedy Central are sure to have some fun with this: According to a new study, regular viewers of “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and “The Colbert Report” are way more knowledgeable about current events than regular viewers of Fox News Channel. That’s one of the findings from a study released Sunday by the Pew Research Center that measures knowledge of current affairs and media patterns among the well-informed. It found that those who watch “Colbert,” “Daily Show” or Fox News’ “O’Reilly Factor,” listen to National Public Radio or Rush Limbaugh, or read major newspapers’ web sites tend to be better informed than the general public, averaging a more than 50 percent knowledge level on current events questions asked in the poll. By contrast, those who watch mainly local TV news, Fox News Channel or network morning shows all had knowledge levels of 35 percent, the national average, or below. The study also concluded that the range of new and emerging news formats, such as podcasts, the internet and satellite radio, have not had much of an effect on how much the public knows. Compared with 1989, Americans’ general knowledge of current events is about the same, though that’s far from encouraging: Only 69 percent could recall Dick Cheney’s name when asked who the vice president is. Richard Morin, senior editor at Pew Research Center, talks to Media Life about what high-knowledge folks have in common, why they tend to watch Jon Stewart, and why more news sources doesn’t equal more news knowledge.

<snip>

Speaking of, you found that the regular audience for Comedy Central's faux news shows has a higher knowledge level than that for network morning news shows and Fox News. Why is that?

In a way it’s understandable. If you don’t know anything about politics, you’re going to have a hard time seeing what’s funny about Stephen Colbert or Jon Stewart. If you have no interest in politics, or don’t follow current affairs, you really wouldn’t be interested in “The Colbert Report.”

More:
http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_11457.asp

[Robbien]

4. Ha

Sad thing is, many fauxnews viewers probably do think that.

[liberal N proud]

31. I just lost my sandwich. - The problem is it is a correct observation of FAUX viewers

[The Count]

37. ROCKY & BULWINKLE - way above the intellectual level of Faux viewers!

[HereSince1628]

5. Farewell Boris

Прощание Boris

[LiberalEsto]

6. His heart stopped

The "Eesti Paevaleht" newspaper of Estonia reported the following:
(My translations in parentheses)


Boriss Jeltsin on surnud, kinnitas Kremli esindaja. (Boris Yeltsin is dead, the Kremlin confirmed.)


Jeltsin suri südame seiskumise tõttu. (Yeltsin died because his heart stopped)


Boriss Jeltsin oli Venemaa esimene Nõukogude Liidu järgne president. Jeltsin oli president kaks ametiaega järjestikku: 1991 – 1999. (Boris Yeltsin was Russia's first president after the USSR. Yeltsin was president for two succeeding terms: 1991-1999.)


Boriss Jeltsin sündis 1. veerbruaril 1931.
(Boris Yeltsin was born Febriary 1, 1931.)

Tuleb lisa!
(More to come)

[Ian David]

7. Well, at least he's not radioactive... is he? n/t

[LiberalEsto]

8. I hope not

I worry that they dosed him with "KGB tea".
A heart stoppage can mean anything.

[Ignacio Upton]

10. Why would I not be surprised

However, Yeltsin hasn't been active politically since he stepped down 7 years ago. I doubt that he posed a threat to Putin.

[Phrogman]

11. What? Is vodka radioactive?

Used to give me a glow.

[Matilda]

42. More likely pickled.

n/t

[MonkeyFunk]

15. yeah

that's usually the cause of death.

[Wheezy]

22. exactly what I was thinking. ;-) n/t

[gauguin57]

9. The Yeltsin Admin. in Russia can now be seen as the "good old days."

The people of Russia have never been so free as during the Yeltsin years. Things are going backward ... Yeltsin is barely dead, and I'm sure he's already rolling over in his grave over what Putin is doing to the country.

I have a matryoshka (nesting doll set) that starts with Yeltsin (bought in Moscow, 1992) and "nests" down to a tiny Czar Nicholas II.

[Ignacio Upton]

13. He chose Putin to be his sucessor

Also, I hate Putin too, but many Russians will support him because Yeltsin yet the mob take over during his reign, and also saw the collapse of the ruble in 1998.

[TheLastMohican]

44. This is the understanding of an average american

From the Russian point of view it is vice versa.
Putin pulled together a country falling apart after he inherited this mess from Yeltsin. No wonder Putin is having over 70% rating on any given day. Maybe he is doing something right for Russia?

[FourScore]

12. Goodbye Boris.

I always wondered if Yeltzin had anything to do with the "kidnapping" of Gorbi and his wife right before Yeltzin came to power. It was portrayed in Germany as though it was just an opportunistic time for Yeltzin to take over. Since I loved Gorbi, I wasn't real happy about Yeltzin taking over. Still, I liked him better than Putin.

[Wiley50]

14. Proves that some can stay shitfaced on vodka all of their lives

and still live to 76

and give away most of his countries industrial wealth
for pennies on the ruble
to the russian mafia

[HereSince1628]

20. Western banks really fucked Russia in the late 90's when they yanked out

cash and closed up shop. During that period of Cowboy capitalism several of my good friends lost their very limited life-savings. It wasn't Amerika's or the "West's" best moment and the _people_ in Russia ended up hurt and angry.

Russians have memories that make elephants look like victims of Alzheimer's dementia. Their anger gave us Putin and the "push-back" against the West. They're still pissed, and we are going to have to work to get past that for a long time.

[TheLastMohican]

45. It is too late already

And Bush admin is not helping it either. Russia embarked on its own journey.

[gauguin57]

16. Dance your pants off in the great beyond, Mister Yeltsin.

[Kolesar]

17. They used that video in The Daily Show's intro for several years

Back when TDS was new and Craig Kilborne was host. Yeltsin was throwing punches and they switched to video of rabbits boxing.

[Nedsdag]

23. That picture

won a Pulitzer Prize.

The video's a classic.

[Javaman]

18. Alcoholism?

:shrug:

[Squatch]

19. Unheard of in Russia

:sarcasm:

[bleedingheart]

21. well at least they won't have to embalm him...he did that to himself..

[Stinky The Clown]

24. Mkes me long for the "Good Old Days" when our nemesis was a loveable drunk.

[KittyWampus]

25. Oh, that footage of Clinton laughing during a Presser with Yeltsin.

[eppur_se_muova]

26. RIP, Boris Nikolayevich. You were a long way from perfect, but history needed you. nt

[RFKHumphreyObama]

27. Russian Ex-President Yeltsin dies

Source: BBC News

Boris Yeltsin, who oversaw the Soviet Union's demise and became Russia's first president, has died aged 76, the Kremlin says.
Mr Yeltsin had a history of heart trouble, though the cause of death has not been announced.

He came to power after being promoted by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, a man he then outmanoeuvred.



Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6584481.stm

---

RIP President Yeltsin. You were a great leader in some ways, a deeply flawed leader in others but you played an important role in shaping my interest in history and politics and for that I thank you

[YOY]

28. Dasvidaniye Boris

Lozhitecs s angelami.

[Doctor_J]

29. I remember him launching a rocket attack on Parliament

killing 1000 or so MP's, and the media applauding his "restraint".

If Smirk were to do the same, would the MSM cheer him too?

[MonkeyFunk]

33. Then you remember

very very wrongly.

a 1000 or so MP's? Absurd. I don't think a single MP died.

[LeftishBrit]

35. No - that's inaccurate

There were clashes and protests in 1993, which were crushed by the military under Yeltsin's orders. There are different estimates of how many people were killed in the fighting, but some do suggest about 1000. However, although some of this did happen around and in the parliament building, no MPs were killed.

Not a fan of Yeltsin here; but Putin is worse.

[Doctor_J]

38. Sorry, you're right - he killed around 1000, not MPs

The reason that he fired on the White House was that there were angry protests to his tearing up of the Constitution. What basically happened was that the (freely elected) Communists refused to join into the wholesale submission of Russia to the "world market". This was too much for Boris the gentle, so he tore up the constitution and fired on the protestors.

[MonkeyFunk]

41. Do you have ANY link to 1000 dead?

The reports I can find mention 3 dead.

[Forkboy]

30. Russia had a drunken world leader before we did!

That has to count for something.

I kinda liked ole Boris (and not just cuz he was named Boris,which is cool enough).

[smirkymonkey]

39. At least he was up front about it - and a jolly, rather likeable

type of drunk. Unlike our own closeted, fake-Christian, deep-in-denial, malignant narcissist type of drunk. Ours will probably live a lot longer too. x(

[Forkboy]

40. It's just typical

Bastards abound in this world.

Get used to it. :)

[MADem]

32. Heart failure, had been sick for some time.

Per CH five in Boston.

[JVS]

34. Good.

He sucked!

[Odin2005]

36. The vodka finally got to him...

RIP.

[Vidar]

43. I still remember Yeltsin facing down the tanks in the corrupt

communist coup against Gorbachev government. Yeltsin has a lot to answer for, especially Chechnya, but that moment & its aftermath still make him a hero, albeit a tarnished one. Rest in peace, comrade.