Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uunet!aplcen!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!psuvax1!psuvm!auvm!UMKCVAX1!CARBUCKLE From: CARBUCKLE@UMKCVAX1.BITNET (Valentine M. Smith) Newsgroups: bit.listserv.politics Subject: USSR(#34) Message-ID: <90039.0438.CARBUCKLE@UMKCVAX1> Date: 8 Feb 90 04:38:00 GMT Sender: Forum for the Discussion of Politics Reply-To: Forum for the Discussion of Politics Lines: 70 Approved: NETNEWS@AUVM Gateway First, I must apologize to the lists. I have been misspelling Schevardnadze's name all week, saw it tonight, and realized I had been spelling it wrong. Sorry. Speaking of Schevardnadze, he said tonight that he had "broken party discipline" for the first time in his life when he left the Central Committee plenum to greet Sec. of State Baker. Beijing had a reaction to the CC actions today-"A similar path in China would cause civil war." Today ABC had a story about three generations of Soviets having come to see Lenin in his tomb, but today the line was longer at McDonalds. Meat consumption has fallen, Jennings said, in the USSR by 20% in the past two decades. The average Russian is lucky to get 2-5 pounds of meat a month, or 8 to 20 quarter- pounders in a one month span. Ghastly, we take our meat availability far too casually. Earlier, CNN showed folks occupying high CP official's dachas, most of them without a place to live. Baker said in Moscow this evening,"If 1989 was the year of sweeping away, 1990 is the year of rebuilding." The only building I see from the US is a continued committment to a very fat military budget. I say that there's so much going on inside the USSR, who's got time for superpower war? A great quote from a man on the street in Moscow(could have been a CC member, not sure)-"There is no such thing as a conservative in the Communist Party, there are only slow thinkers." A quote yesterday from one of several academicians interviewed-"If Gorbachev thought the CC meeting would weaken him, he wouldn't have let the meeting happen." No one got canned from a party post today, though Ligachev provoked Gorbachev greatly by attacking privitization and the multi-party proposal. I bet some are let go before the Party Congress happens at the end of June. The party secretary for internal affairs is a fellow named Falin- he said yesterday that the "CP no longer holds a vanguard role" in the USSR. "The party must know its days are numbered," he said. Latvia and Lithuania have another minor problem. Due to some crafty planning (probably by Stalin), 40% of their populaces are Russians. What are they going to do about thses sizable minorities? A quote from Bush on the changes happening(I believe said to soldiers on war games in CA)-"We can't let down our guard. America must always be prepared to fight for freedom and security." For once, an American President sounds more bellicose and paranoic than a Soviet leader, how about that? He also said today that he'd" rather be cautious than reckless." Yet he recklessly submits to Congress the largest US military budget possible. (What does this guy think he's doing?) Marvin Fitzwater has also offered a gem,"The Soviet challenge is very real. This is no time to lay down our arms." As far as I know, no one has advocated such a posture, just a reduction in SDI and Stealth, which is not disarming! Several quotes from Russian citizens over the past two days- "The least we have is fresh bread." "Of course, things are worse." "It's much worse...there's nothing in the stores."(CNN showed a party officials store, and apartment block late this afternoon, no wonder the populace begrudges the party guys their perks!) "...a peaceful revolution, for now." "Tired of all the words!" "The economy is bankrupt, the society is corrupt." "Disband the party!" A poll released yesterday said that 12% of Russians believe even the economic reforms won't make any differencve in their lives.