This is fine but kind of getting away from my main point, which is that the NYT is denigrating Russia, not because of it's economic and social problems which are real, but because it is an independent country that is rich in natural resources, therefore a target for the West. But it is too powerful to be threatened militarily, hence articles like this about its problems instead.
Oh my god, conspiracy theories abound on HN now. :-(
Living in Western Europe, life is busy. I spend all my time implementing conspiracies against Russia, Pakistan, etc, etc...
In fact against all countries which are controlled by authoritarian b-ds that use West as an external enemy to keep people from complaining about how much they steal. Weird coincidence.
