How can two men keep a secret?On August 31st, Russian web journalist Magomed Yevloyev was picked up by a police convoy in the region of Ingushetia. He was delivered to the hospital less than an hour later with a fatal gunshot wound to the head. He was the founder of the opposition website Ingushetia.org which had been consistently critical of Russia’s current politics. After cracking down on opposition newspapers, the internet is the final front for these free discussions.-U.S. News & World Report & Infowars.com

Putin Quite Pissed at U.S. FinancesVladimir Putin has sharply criticized the U.S. Congress for turning down the bailout bill as his markets sank down 50% since their peak in May of this year.On October 1st while speaking to his government he said this:”And what is really sad is that we see an inability to take appropriate decisions. This is no longer irresponsibility on the part of some individuals, but irresponsibility of the whole system, which as you know had pretensions to (global) leadership.” Critics of Putin point to Russia’s actions interfering with the west and its oil production as the chief reason why their markets are worse off then ours.-Times Online (UK) Looks like a Pyramid Scheme after all…The European Union, per the advice of a Dutch plan is contemplating their own bailout of 3% of each country’s GDP to a figure of about 300 billion Euros, or 414 billion dollars. Ireland meanwhile has told it’s investors to pretty much come pick up their cash before they can’t anymore. Britain is furious because they won’t have enough cash to meet their clients demands and Ireland’s move isn’t helping as it’s freezing out funds.-Times Online (UK)

700 billion Apple Pies, and a Slap on the Wrist to Wall StreetThe 700 billion dollar bill passed October 1st with a few tweaks to the bill. For the Republicans the senate wrote in 62 billion in tax breaks which upset some Democrats who are worried that since those tax breaks were written in without corresponding spending cuts the move would only increase the deficit. Also the plan voted to expand the 100,000 dollar Federal Reserve guarantee to 250,000 to discourage people from pulling their money out of banks and bankrupting others in the process. Meanwhile the U.S. dollar has reached a one year high against the euro to the tune of 1.38 dollars to 1 euro as investors speculate that it will take Europe longer to get a bill passed.-Bloomberg

Holy Cow!A solid gold sculpture of Kate Moss entitled “Siren” has just been unveiled at the British Museum. The artist Mark Quinn called Moss the “Aphrodite of our times” yet concedes she doesn’t even live up to that. The statue of Moss with her legs tucked behind her neck (looking somewhat like an angry turtle) is one of the largest gold statues made since ancient Egypt.-Telegraph (UK)

Soldiers Getting Jail time for Murder of Iraqi CitizensUS soldier Specialist Steven Ribordy has pleaded guilty to being an accessory to the murder of four Iraqi men back in April 2007. He was sentenced to eight months for “standing watch as fellow soldiers shot the four prisoners, then threw their bodies into a canal”. Three other soldiers have been charged with murder in connection with that case.-BBC

Endgame my ass…26,000 U.S. troops to deploy to Iraq this winter to the summer of 2009. Though president Bush has made the decision to withdraw 8,000 troops by next February, this new deployment will leave 14 combat brigades there instead of the current 15.-Al Jazeera