At least we have each other (23/01/22)

Edward Slavsquat's weekly open thread (sorry)

Jan 23, 2022

It’s that special time again.

Welcome to Edward Slavsquat’s weekly open thread, “At least we have each other.”

Please feel free to exchange uncouth banter in the comments section and/or copy-paste walls of URLs with zero relevancy to the topics discussed on this blog. (We enjoy inspecting your recommendations so please don’t hold back.)

If you don’t have any links to sling you can also just say hello.

As per tradition, here are some intriguing Russia-related stories we collected over the past week or so:

Russia to merge government services portal with state biometric system

Via Kommersant:

The Ministry of Digital Transformation signed a contract with Rostelecom to integrate the public services website with the state biometric system. As a result of the modernization, it will be possible to enter the portal using biometric data, and through a mobile application, citizens will be able to take face and voice samples. To speed up the collection of biometrics, the Ministry of Digital Development plans to limit the remote receipt of some public services for those who have not submitted biometric casts to the system, Kommersant sources say.

Moscow City Duma deputy asks why pregnant women are being subjected to “monstrous experiments”

Via news.ru:

Moscow City Duma deputy from the Communist Party Ekaterina Engalycheva compared vaccination of pregnant women against coronavirus to a “sacrifice”. On her Telegram channel, the parliamentarian wrote that vaccination can seriously harm the health of a child.
“How can pregnant women go to this sacrifice? For what? Pregnant women should not take an extra pill, how can one go for such monstrous experiments, the price of which could be the life of a child?” she wrote.

Mayor sincerely apologizes for calling unvaccinated pensioners “enemies”

Via Interfax:

Elabuga Mayor Rustem Nuriev apologized for calling pensioners who refuse to be vaccinated enemies at a closed meeting of the headquarters for combating coronavirus.
The words of the mayor from the closed meeting were quoted by the regional publication KazanFirst, which referred to an audio recording received from a source.
“I’m vaccinated, a pensioner comes to me for a personal appointment and infects me. I won’t get sick because I’m vaccinated, but I, a carrier, come to where an unvaccinated person without antibodies sits, infect him. [What? — Edward] Why do I need such a pensioner? This is not a pensioner – this is the real enemy,” quotes the publication.

St. Petersburg restricts planned medical care due to omicron scam

Via 1prime.ru:

St. Petersburg polyclinics have limited planned medical care for adults and clinical screenings against the backdrop of "omicron"
In addition, medical examinations and preventive medical examinations of "certain groups of the adult population" are suspended in the city, and medical examinations of certain categories of children are temporarily prohibited.
The restrictions will remain in effect until further notice.

Whiney St. Petersburg governor whines about how nobody likes him

Via dp.ru:

Governor Alexander Beglov said that a campaign was launched in St. Petersburg to discredit the authorities. According to him, its initiators will not be able to intimidate [his administration].

Beglov then added, “Evil will always triumph, because good is dumb”:

Beglov (left). Not to be confused with Dark Helmet.

Have a joyous Sunday.

Your internet friend,

Riley

Edward Slavsquat