There’s an old saying – not everyone with a knife is a cook. Take the EU trade commissioners, for example, and the European Commission’s Directorate-General III (Industry). For years, these appointees of every European manufacturing interest, large and small, have hectored audiences in Moscow about the desirability of reform in the Russian steel industry. They […]

by John Helmer - Monday, February 25th, 2002
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A Moscow investment bank recently concluded that President Vladimir Putin’s popularity has become so solid, “almost no imaginable political development can significantly affect it.” That’s quite a leap of imagination for a banker but, as the assessment is widely held in both domestic and foreign circles, it’s worth taking a closer look at the evidence […]

by John Helmer - Monday, February 25th, 2002
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The ancient wit of Aesop was born out of misfortune and is especially sharp on the subject of people getting their just desserts. You see, Aesop was unlucky enough to have been captured in war and sold into slavery as a personal secretary for his owners. In Aesop’s fable about the middle-aged man and his […]

by John Helmer - Friday, February 1st, 2002
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One of the old Russian toast wishes everyone more pies and buns, fewer blackeyes and bruises. It seemed the exporters of platinum group metals were following the toast’s advice, until last week’s announcement from Ford Motor Company. The new U.S. accounting rules obliged the auto giant to disclose the value of palladium it acquired last […]

by John Helmer - Saturday, January 26th, 2002
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Now that we are all done with cheering and feasting, it is worth remembering the pagan roots of the 12 Days of Christmas and the celebratory season in general. Long before Jesus Christ was born, the ancient Greeks and Romans held festivals in late December to mark the winter solstice. For them, the rebirth of […]

by John Helmer - Friday, January 18th, 2002
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If you want to achieve the miracles required for sainthood, one of the great advantages of the Russian Orthodox Church is that it allows you to perform them after you are dead. This not only relieves qualifiers for canonization of a lot of pressure while they are alive. It also gives them the benefit of […]

by John Helmer - Friday, December 21st, 2001
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When the epic tale is told of how Russia’s defense industry broke out of the chokehold of gunrunning commission agents and of well-heeled U.S. and European rivals, Malaysia will have a prominent part in the story. That’s because the Malaysian air force was the first Western-equipped air force to break the mold and select Russian-built […]

by John Helmer - Friday, October 12th, 2001
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A good legend takes at least a hundred years to establish itself. That’s because the heroics, magic and certainty that legends are made of aren’t real. It takes time for reality to die out and for the evidence to be buried where no one alive can find it. That King Arthur was a Russian has […]

by John Helmer - Friday, April 13th, 2001
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A few days ago, the British Broadcasting Corp, published what its researchers claim is the most accurate likeness ever made of the face of Jesus Christ. The face of the bearded, thick-lipped youngish man reveals a slight asymmetry between right and left eye, and a disheveled look, as if he had just woken up and […]

by John Helmer - Friday, April 6th, 2001
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If you knew the people I know, it would not require advanced science to realize there is no fundamental difference between some people and rats. Don’t get me wrong – I respect rats for their resourcefulness under pressure and for the sharpness of their teeth. I wasn’t surprised when the English and American partners in […]

by John Helmer - Saturday, March 3rd, 2001
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