By John Helmer, Moscow It’s a pity it had to wait until the Facebook folly for a lawsuit to be launched against Morgan Stanley on the double-barrelled charge — the investment bank and underwriter lies in its prospectuses and makes saps of share-buyers. According to the federal US court filing, “the [Facebook] registration statement and […]

by John Helmer - Friday, May 25th, 2012
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By John Helmer, Moscow Rupert Murdoch has produced this week an item for the clinical casebook on the brain-challenged. The criminal investigations now under way against him, his son James, his senior executives at News Corporation, company lawyers, and hired hands in the UK, the US and Australia are, he tweeted, nothing more than “every […]

by John Helmer - Sunday, April 1st, 2012
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Because the JFC company spokesman refused to confirm the name of Vladimir Kekhman’s wife, and thus clarify whether she has played a role in the management and board direction of JFC, it was incorrectly reported that Tatiana Litvinova, until very recently a board director at JFC, was Kekhman’s wife. This appears to be incorrect, based […]

by John Helmer - Monday, March 19th, 2012
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By John Helmer, Moscow When British prime ministers borrow horses to ride from Rupert Murdoch’s employees, and Scotland Yard inspectors are entertained on their tab, it has been natural for Murdoch to expect he could tie a bridle on prime ministers and policemen and lead them in whatever direction he wanted. And so he has. […]

by John Helmer - Tuesday, March 6th, 2012
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By John Helmer, Moscow For three years, between 2008 and 2010, Rupert Murdoch and his subordinates in charge of the Russian asset he owned, News Outdoor Russia (NOR), were under the investigation of the Moscow city prosecutors, the city Duma, and other government agencies for alleged bribery of municipal officials in exchange for business favours. […]

by John Helmer - Monday, March 5th, 2012
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By John Helmer, Moscow Turning modestly paid public office into extravagant personal wealth isn’t provably criminal, particularly not if there’s a decent interval of time between performing the first and scoring the second. It may be indecent for elected politicians or officials on the taxpayer’s payroll to intend to turn the one into the other. […]

by John Helmer - Tuesday, January 17th, 2012
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By John Helmer, Moscow In this thriller the evil genius (EG) is, for once, not a Russian oligarch, Kremlin grandee, Russian computer hacker – not even a Moscow muzhik trained to use Facebook and Twitter to make or join flash mobs.

by John Helmer - Sunday, January 15th, 2012
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ERIC KRAUS & ALEXANDER TEDDY krausmoscow@yahoo.com DESK NOTE 12 DECEMBER 2011 Russian Facebook Protest – A Field of Dreams

by John Helmer - Tuesday, December 13th, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow On November 29, following up Russian media reports and after an investigation lasting a week, the Moscow Times published the following article, which speaks for itself. A week later, on December 7, the newspaper’s editor, Andrew McChesney, sent this letter:

by John Helmer - Saturday, December 10th, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow The last time Russia’s leadership assembled to listen to a piece of classical music was seventy-five years ago. It was on January 26, 1936, that Josef Stalin and the entire Politburo were at the Bolshoi Theatre to hear Dmitry Shostakovich’s opera, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. Stalin was seen not to like […]

by John Helmer - Friday, September 9th, 2011
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