[russian health problems] press finds another case

I’m not trying to minimize in any way this western journalistic beat-up – it could well be so. First this:

Another mysterious illness has struck another prominent Russian. Former Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar became ill Friday at a conference in Ireland, vomiting and then losing consciousness for three hours, according to his spokesman. Doctors have not identified the cause of the illness and are considering the possibility that Gaidar, 50, might have been poisoned, his spokesman said. Gaidar became ill shortly after eating breakfast.

And then the inevitable Livinenko tie-in:

Former Russian intelligence officer Alexander Litvinenko died Thursday in London after being exposed to a radioactive substance. That death, which has set off wide speculation about who is responsible, remains under investigation by British police.

What is on safer ground is this:

Gaidar was one of the architects of the post-Soviet transition to a market economy. He was later reviled by many Russians who blamed him for their impoverishment as favored tycoons enriched themselves from the privatization of state assets.

So, one of the boys actually. You know, it’s a rummy thing but you noticed an increase in the number of my posts last week? No? Well, I was off sick actually – stomach problems. Yikes!