well, this is depressing as hell, on top of everything else:
Armed Chechens storm Moscow theater, audience held hostage

Putin has been waiting for any excuse to further pound Chechnya into dust. I can't imagine he won't find this a perfectly reasonable one.

and what the fuck is this?
"By the scope it can only be compared to the tragedy in New York. The situation is extreme now," liberal Russian lawmaker Boris Nemtsov said in a television interview. "We must start a dialogue."
how exactly can this ("Those released did not see any dead bodies, but said the hostage-takers had beaten some in the audience. Two pregnant women were later released.") be compared with the "tragedy in New York?" The Russians are fishing.
I shudder to think of what Vladdie and George have to talk about.