Chapt. 270 – 3,956 words
Kremlin clans battle over rights to smuggle, launder bucksi
MOSCOW, November 6, 2007 -- 2353 hits

Igor returns
…and brings back joy
He gets registered,
… professes undying love,
…and holds my dick while I pee!
His epilepsy returns
And he heads to St Pete
Until I can get rid of the twins
Zhorik weighs in with a reminder
Andrei averts arm amputation
I’ll remain here barring disaster
…which might be war with Iran
Bizarre secret services shoot-out
…bares the gangland rule of Russia

Chapt. 269 - 812 words
Zhorik goes berserk and I pick up the tab
MOSCOW, October 16, 2007 -- 2201 hits

Zhorik goes berserk
I pick up the tab

Chapt. 268 – 1,735 words
Beautiful students lighten heavy class load
MOSCOW, October 9, 2007 -- 2270 hits

Full schedule gets fuller
Igor, officially an “invalid,” at last headed home?
Afternoon with dissident Andrei
Over 6,000 Russians are a century old!
Army reforming? Probably not
Politkovskaya’s murder hasn’t curbed press attacks

Chapt. 267 – 2,213 words
Russian Sputnik launched 50 years ago
MOSCOW, October 2, 2007 -- 2282 hits

Putin’s Youth patrols will keep Russia “stabilized”
While his mysteries preoccupy Russian politics
Igor still in Moldova
Zhorik’s long distance affection persists
“Gemeroi” is a pain in the ass
50th Sputnik anniversary sparks nostalgia

Chapt. 266 - 1885 words
Busy sched, Zhorik’s, Igor’s absence, curb love life
MOSCOW, September 25, 2007 -- 2437 hits

Correcting my political errata
Alexei’s promotion
Lugovoi: member of parliament?
Prosecutors try to silence independent newspaper
The Red Queen’s less than exciting routine

Chapt. 265 – 2,687 words
Even without Putin, Russian “democracy” wouldn’t be
MOSCOW, September 17, 2007 -- 2341 hits

Putin confounds the Kremlin watchers
As election season – and dirty tricks – begin in earnest
Russian “democracy” no democracy – even sans Putin
“Narco-man” Denis endangers my apartment
…But we’ll stay anyway
Zhorik’s hand not broken, but nerve damaged
Igor will be home this week

Chapt. 264 – 3,754 words
Craig: Scratch a homophobe and you’ll find…
MOSCOW, September 9, 2007 -- 2532 hits

Fall schedule kicks in
…And disrupts Red Queen chronicle
Igor – and Denis -- back In Moldova
Another Russian army hazing victim
…besides Zhorik
…whose LD notes are becoming more affectionate
Russia post-Putin: More democratic?
Journalist’s murder “solved” – like Litvinenko’s
The Larry Craigs and Ted Haggards –
…Why? The Red Queen’s theory

Chapt. 263 – 4,165 words
The KGB IS the State
MOSCOW, August 28, 2007 -- 2488 hits

Igor still here
Despite turns for the worse
My classes – and money – return
Volodya almost brings new “gift,” new problem
Igor and I resume sex
The Economist unveils Russia
…The KGB is the government
…God told them to
…greatest Danger is from the West
…a huge ego with a huge inferiority complex
Come on Baby, light my fire – Russian style

Chapt. 262 – 3,614 words
Igor’s brain contusion will take him back to Moldova
MOSCOW, August 21, 2007 -- 2339 hits

Simpsons movie comes to Russia
Crack train derailment prompts speculation
…Ultra-nationalists?
…Muslim terrorists?
…Or Kremlin power house?
Putin’s re-write of history successful
Novelist under investigation for slandering cops
Cop boss beats patrolman over traffic ticket
Igor’s head pain continues
He goes to the hospital
…for three days
…back to Moldova for treatment
Police follow-up: Potential oh-oh
…but registration issue avoided for now
Money drought ends at last

Chapt. 261 – 4,546 words
Present from Sochi: Dick bigger than his brain
MOSCOW, August 14, 2007 -- 2282 hits

Wages of sin in Moldova: Update
Bucksi crisis continues; rent due
Sergei, Andrei, bring “present”
Who seems a miracle,
But turns into bad dream
A sort of happy ending
After Igor gets beaten for insult
I fondle a Moldovan teenager
I’m now a Russian teacher!
I could have been a millionaire, but….
Chechens defect to Finland

Chapt. 260 – 4,289 words
Igor returns to play, but Zhorik keeps top spot
MOSCOW, August 6, 2007 -- 2581 hits

Igor brings his playing field back home
But Zhorik will probably keep top billing
Sergei got as far as Sochi
U.S. headlines mimic Russia’s, BUT…
Puritans punish American for Moldovan sex
Dissident sent to psych ward for forced treatment
Gorby trashes Bush, applauds Putin
Putin “taking Russia in the right direction”
Russian prison population high, but America’s soars
What international diplomatic crisis?
Time’s typical Russian

Chapt. 259 – 3,785 words
Igor headed home from Moldova
MOSCOW, July 30, 2007 -- 2342 hits

Igor headed home
…and preempts Victor
Mixed messages from Zhorik
…but he’s making big plans for post-army
Top lawyers will go to bat for Kuznetsov
Russian church growing too strong: scientists
Kremlin orchestrating party registrations
And drawing up blacklist of unacceptables
Putin’s Youth does Kremlin’s dirty work
Russians not world’s most dishonest

Chapt. 258 – 3,214 words
Putin wraps himself in a constitution he doesn’t believe in
MOSCOW, July 23, 2007 -- 2342 hits

Twins exit again
…and I’m broke
Time brings Zhorik reunion closer
England elevates extradition to diplomatic crisis
Another lawyer flees Russia in fear
One who didn’t flee wins Strasbourg case
Russians like Putin’s tough-guy image
UFO pal needles pols on flying saucers

Chapt. 257 – 5,532 words
Sergei roller-coast takes to the road
MOSCOW, July 17, 2007 -- 2934 hits

Sergei has a new plan: Travel
…and crime
…maybe murder
…but back to travel and getting rich
…while revenge plot reveals literary bent
Andrei back in our lives -- and my apartment
They’ll split as soon as I can give them 0
Zhorik POs CO, shredding New Year’s plans
So I’ll go back to Spain
Our dream of life together reaffirmed
Flying saucers unearth old acquaintance
…prompting a look at UFOs in Russia – in 1663
Kremlin now writing history textbooks
Russia takes new tack in curbing human rights cases
Orthodox Christers, skinheads, overrun gay cruising spot
New law would jail vagrants

Chapt. 256 – 4,364 words
Independence Day: Why is there tyranny?
MOSCOW, July 10, 2007 -- 4912 hits

4th of July raises question: What makes people evil?
How does a yogi celebrate freedom?
74th birthday lunch with Peter – anti- or pre-climactic?
Hydrocarbon companies will recruit their own armies
Sergei-Tanya breakup prompts threats – idle, I hope
Outlook for classes, income, improves
Chocolate for high blood pressure?
Basil goes to Elton John concert
2014 Winter Olympics in Russia will line pockets

Chapt. 255 – 4,584 words
Putin races Bush for “most contemptible” title
MOSCOW, July 2, 2007 -- 2594 hits

“Honey” gets an SOS from “my” Igor
Putin one-ups Bush: He’ll steal the North Pole
Russian economy good for another four years
…while rest of the world “languishes”
…U.S. economy collapse already started?
Homophobic mayor promises to double incomes
…Half of Russia in the middle class by 2020?
Putin’s international stature drops; Bush’s drops more
Kremlin critics’ noose tightens another notch
Anti-Putin youth newspapers “extremist”: KGB>FSB
Kasparov’s perceived anger: wishful thinking?
Update on bee collapse in Russia
…prompts “Senate borshch” recipe
Brit youth prefer cell phones to sex
Maxim offers something to look forward to

Chapt. 253 – 3,662 words
Landlady lifts sense of oncoming disaster
MOSCOW, June 18, 2007-- 2270 hits

Gloom lifts as landlady offers registration
…Did Igor threaten his Mom?
Sergei vetoes Tanya as surrogate mother
… then loses her – maybe
Three-day holiday zaps budget
…but gives me and Peter a chance for a boat ride
…”I’m no any less free” under Putin, he says
Dissenters gather without police violence
But art investigation squashes freedom of expression
Russia “worst country to do business in” – MasterCard
America, Russia, share honey bee crisis
…while Missy and I share dog food
What’s in a name

Chapt. 252 – 3,466 words
New crime: opposing Putin
MOSCOW, June 11, 2007 -- 2169 hits

Igor “plays” one last time before he goes
…which may be for a very long time
…so maybe I’ll go to him
Zhorik again tells me: “Wait for me”
Survival just got a little easier
Sergei bridges the sex gap
Stalinist “Intelligentsia pogrom” returning?
“We’re living in a police state”
Bush doublespeak: “I am a dissident”
College student dissenter may be expelled
Hostage taking a thing of the past?
Stavropol bristling with racial hatred
No revolution, only implosion, says dissident
Red Queen’s Basil a computerized chicken plucker

Chapt. 251 – 3,773 words
Is U.S.-Russian conflict unavoidable? Probably
MOSCOW, June 4, 2007 -- 2583 hits

A sense of life unraveling
…as Igor and I grow closer…
……and he leaves
Duma moves to restrict smoking
Death of Maxim’s grandfather further unnerves me
Conflict – but not armed – is probably unavoidable
Western-style Journalist training targeted for elimination
Putin snubs world journalist meeting
US stifles dissent too
America, Russia, among least peaceful countries
Super-rich flaunt Ralph Lauren’s ,000 purses

Chapt. 250 – 2,676 words
Second attempt at a gay parade thwarted
MOSCOW, May 28, 2007 -- 2378 hits

Moscow heat setting records
Moscow-EU summit points up repression
Putin’s hatred of Estonia explained
Gay “parade” again suppressed
Russians getting shorter
More sightings of Finish piska
…and new commitment from Igor
Blond Alex with the big dick exits
Apartment crisis resolved – I’m staying