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NYT-1201: STATE OF THE ART A Thermostat That's Clever, Not ...

NYT-1201: STATE OF THE ART A Thermostat That's Clever, Not ...

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<strong>NYT</strong>-1209: EDITORIALS<br />

As Russians protest their fraudulent elections, th<br />

e prime minister wants to blame the United States<br />

instead of acknowledging voters' dissatisfaction.<br />

===== notyet<br />

Twenty years after the fall of communism, Prime Mi<br />

nister Vladimir Putin of Russia seems determined t<br />

o resurrect the Soviet playbook. His United Russia<br />

Party tried to steal a parliamentary election on<br />

Sunday, and, when the results still delivered a st<br />

inging rebuke, he claimed the United States was wh<br />

ipping up protests and demonstrations.<br />

Mr. Putin could have acknowledged voters’ dissatis<br />

faction — his party’s parliamentary majority plumm<br />

eted from 315 to 238 seats — and tried to address<br />

it, like democratic leaders might do. Instead, on<br />

Thursday, he accused Secretary of State Hillary Ro<br />

dham Clinton of instigating street protests. He wa<br />

rned that Russia must protect against “interferenc<br />

e” by foreign governments and hinted darkly at rep<br />

risals against demonstrators.<br />

The charges are bizarre. After international obser<br />

vers reported widespread fraud by Putin supporters<br />

, Mrs. Clinton expressed “serious concerns” on Mon<br />

day and Tuesday that the vote was neither free nor<br />

fair. It was ludicrous for Mr. Putin to claim tha<br />

t that was a “signal” that brought Russians to the<br />

streets three days running despite a heavy police<br />

presence and more than 1,000 detentions. The prot<br />

esters were clear what motivated them: They were o<br />

utraged by the fraud and tired of the status quo a<br />

nd Mr. Putin.<br />

It’s true that Golos, Russia’s only independent el<br />

ectoral monitoring group, receives grants from the<br />

United States and Europe. But, as a member of the<br />

Organization for Security and Cooperation in Euro

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