1. Lesbian Schoolgirls in Uniforms [Delicious!]

2. Sarah Palin: Barbie Doll & the Fear Society

3. Why the Bailout Will Fail

4. The Democrats: Wall Street's Servants

5. McCain vs. Obama: Tepid Debate

6. McCain & Obama's 'Performance'

Lesbian Schoolgirls in Uniforms

The Russian duo Tatu shocked the record-buying public (or titillated it heartily, depending on your point of view) with their faux-lesbian schoolgirl shenanigans a few years ago.

Now they're back, older (but still only 23), a little less lesbian and, they say, a lot wiser.

The two skinny, barely pubescent girls in their school uniforms, wailing lyrics of confusion and kissing in the rain. The dodgy producer who was running the show. The rumours that the lesbian antics were all a cynical ploy to sell records. Remember Tatu?

Well, the Russian double act, who made it to No 1 in the UK and dozens of other countries with their 2002 hit "All the Things She Said", are set for a comeback.

They never really went away, but you'd be forgiven for not having noticed them much since those heady days of 2002.

After a pretty ropey Eurovision performance and the cancellation of a high-profile set of gigs at Wembley Arena and other venues in 2003, they haven't exactly made headlines too often this side of the Volga.

But this autumn the pair, now a bit older, a bit more serious and a bit less lesbian, are back with a new album, and believe it or not, a Hollywood film starring Mischa Barton.

I decided to catch up with them in Moscow and find out about how life has treated them since that infamous, rain-drenched kiss.

Before I get to meet the girls two-on-one, I've been invited to see them play live at a concert they're giving in the Russian capital, on a vile, rainy September night.

I'm ushered into the dressing room to say a brief hello before the show, and am introduced to Yulia Volkova and Lena Katina, the brunette and the gingery blonde who make up the double act.

In real life, both of them seem incredibly tiny, even with high heels on, and while time has aged them, they still look like teenagers.

Lena, the quieter and plainer of the two girls, greets me in polite English, while Yulia, being the diva, absentmindedly shakes my hand, while looking the other way and complaining that she's cold.

The room is boiling. At the first sign of a camera, she strikes up a melodramatic pout, and throws a suggestive hand on to the inner thigh of Lena, who looks faintly bored.

The dressing room is a hive of activity, with many mostly male hangers-on lurking. One of them, I later discover, is Parviz, the smartly dressed boyfriend of Yulia, and the father of her second child. Some of the others look pretty shifty.

"I love it when everyone's watching," jokes Yulia, striking ever more absurd poses for the camera. More men appear, and the girls give them excited hellos.

Then another woman shows up wringing her hands and kicks everyone out – they only have 10 minutes to get changed for the performance. And so we all troop out, leaving only the make-up artists and boyfriend in the room.

Outside, a foxy Russian television presenter, a pair of purple D&G knickers escaping out from her jeans, is loudly complaining that she was supposed to have time with Tatu, and is promising trouble for whoever has dared to deny her the interview.

Ten minutes later, they're ready, in high heels and matching shiny raincoats, one white and one black, and we walk with them to the side of the stage as they prepare to wow the public.

Sarah 'Evita' Palin: Barbie Doll & the Fear Society

Please understand what you are looking at when you look at Sarah "Evita" Palin. You are looking at the designated muse of the coming American police state.

You have to understand how things work in a closing society in order to understand "Palin Power." A gang or cabal seizes power, usually with an affable, weak figurehead at the fore.

Then they will hold elections -- but they will make sure that the election will be corrupted and that the next affable, weak figurehead is entirely in their control.

Remember, Russia has Presidents; Russia holds elections. Dictators and gangs of thugs all over the world hold elections.

It means nothing. When a cabal has seized power you can have elections and even presidents, but you don't have freedom.

I realized early on with horror what I was seeing in Governor Palin: the continuation of the Rove-Cheney cabal, but this time without restraints.

I heard her echo Bush 2000 soundbites ("the heart of America is on display") and realized Bush's speechwriters were writing her -- not McCain's -- speeches.

I heard her tell George Bush's lies -- not McCain's -- to the American people, linking 9/11 to Iraq.

I heard her make fun of Barack Obama for wanting to prevent the torture of prisoners -- this is Rove-Cheney's enthusiastic S and M, not McCain's.

Athough he shamefully colluded in the 2006 Military Tribunals Act, he is also a former prisoner of war and wrote an eloquent Newsweek piece in 2005 opposing torture.

I saw that she was even styled by the same skillful stylist (neutral lipstick, matte makeup, dark colors) who turned Katharine Harris from a mall rat into a stateswoman and who styles all the women in the Bush orbit -- but who does not bother to style Cindy McCain.

Then I saw and heard more. Palin is embracing lawlessness in defying Alaskan Legislature subpoenas -- this is what Rove-Cheney, and not McCain, believe in doing.

She uses mafia tactics against critics, like the police commissioner who was railroaded for opposing handguns in Alaskan battered women's shelters -- Rove's style, not McCain's. I realized what I was seeing.

Reports confirmed my suspicions: Palin, not McCain, is the FrankenBarbie of the Rove-Cheney cabal. The strategy became clear. Time magazine reported that Rove is "dialed in" to the McCain campaign. Rove's protege Steve Schmidt is now campaign manager.

And Politico reported that Rove was heavily involved in McCain's vice presidential selection. Finally a new report shows that there are dozens of Bush and Rove operatives surrounding Sarah Palin and orchestrating her every move.

Why the Bailout Will Fail

Treasury Secretary Paulson’s grand scheme to buy $700 billion of toxic derivatives from ailing financial institutions is a pipe dream that logic and history show will not work.

The Paulson plan is nothing but manna from heaven for distressed institutions. No doubt there will be a momentary burst of confidence and markets will rally but longer term serious problems remain.

The bailout is an attempt to bring confidence back to the lending market that has seized up in fear and is not making loans.

The concern is that the cessation of liquidity and lending will exacerbate the meltdown on Wall Street and ripple broadly into the economy. The Paulson plan fails to address the issue of fear that is behind the crisis.

The market runs from the extremes of greed to fear and once a mentality sets in its stays for a very, very long time. Nobel Prize winning economist Robert Mundell described the renitence of consumers to buy things in the 1930’s as a deflation (falling prices) mentality.

Because demand fell off a cliff retailers were forced to reduce prices to sell their products.

Consumers eventually realized that by postponing their purchases they could save money.

As they held off buying retailers were forced to reduce prices further to entice buyers.

This created a self fulfilling spiral pushing prices lower that eventually had many buyers forgoing buying totally.

Admit that Reaganomics and Free Markets Don’t Work

The unfortunate thing is that the Bush Administration and Republicans refuse to admit that the problem we are suffering from today is the failure of free market and Reagan's ideology.

The cause of our current problems from the meltdown on Wall Street, to higher gas prices, to higher food prices can be traced squarely to the failure of free market/neoliberalism/Reaganomics ideology.

Government needs to regulate and get rid of the excesses created by the free market’s binge of the past few decades. Bold and aggressive initiatives such as the government seizing control of financial institutions are needed at this time. Fear has set in and throwing good money at bad as we have done successively with bailouts since the 1987 stock market crash have not worked.

Bailouts create a moral hazard and reckless behavior that necessitate further bailouts where eventually you reach a point where the size of the bailout bill is insurmountable. Today we are being forced to fork over a massive $700 billion.

Capitalism is failing again as it did during the 1930’s with the Great Depression. They say “fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.” How many more times will we allow our self to be fooled? Free market ideology does not work! Bold initiatives that empower “we the people” are needed.

The Democrats: Wall Street's Servants

The Democratic Party, as the past week’s events have clearly demonstrated, is the servant of Wall Street. Long gone are the days when liberal Democrats postured as opponents of the moneyed interests.

There is virtual unanimity among the Democrats on the need to bail out Wall Street and grant the treasury secretary full authority to deal with the crisis in the credit markets.

The Democrats privately welcome the opportunity to implement the plan before the elections, in order to provide an all-purpose excuse for an Obama administration to abandon its campaign promises and implement austerity policies.

The Republicans are equally committed to the defense of the financial aristocracy, but a section of House Republicans has disrupted the deal-making in Washington, at least temporarily, with a demagogic populist campaign against the bailout.

While claiming to oppose a taxpayer subsidy to Wall Street, the House Republicans are merely proposing to change the form of the handout. They advocate the elimination of the capital gains tax and massive cuts in corporate taxes as an alternative.

The official debate in Washington entirely excludes the most fundamental class question: Who is responsible for the crisis?

Working people did not cause the collapse of the market for mortgage-backed securities, created by Wall Street speculators to generate quick profits through financial manipulation.

More than 90 percent of American homeowners are current on their mortgage payments—often at great sacrifice, despite the impact of deepening recession, layoffs, wage-cutting and exorbitant expenses for health care, education and other necessities.

Nonetheless, the full burden of the crisis is to be imposed on working people through cuts in social spending and increased taxes that will be required to pay for the bailout.

The class divisions in America were underscored by a second development on Friday. The House of Representatives passed a Democratic-supported economic stimulus bill, providing $61 billion in additional funding for extended unemployment benefits, tax credits for small businesses, food stamps, Medicaid programs and infrastructure projects.

The Senate failed to achieve the 60-vote margin required to bring a similar bill to a vote, falling eight votes short, and President Bush promised a veto should any such legislation gain passage.

The contrast is stark: Unlimited funds are available for Wall Street, but even a comparative pittance for working people and small business is out of the question.

McCain vs. Obama: Tepid Debate

At one wooden lectern stood the Republican nominee, tempestuous and tightly wound. A few steps across the red carpet stood his Democratic opponent, cerebral and condescending.

"Is John McCain too hot?" Chris Matthews of "Hardball" broadcast from the Ole Miss campus before Friday night's first general-election debate. "Is Barack Obama too cold?"

But when they opened their mouths, what came out was neither hot nor cold, but a tepid gruel.

McCain was controlled. Obama was succinct. And both were so mild that moderator Jim Lehrer didn't know what to do. "Talk to each other," he urged. "Say it directly to him," he pleaded.

"Do you have something directly to say, Senator Obama, to Senator McCain about what he just said? . . . Respond directly to him about that, to Senator Obama about that. He's made it twice now."

No use. Lehrer asked about the financial-bailout plan gripping the nation. "Do you favor this plan?" the moderator pressed.

"We haven't seen the language yet," Obama demurred.

"Are you going to vote for the plan, Senator McCain?"

"I -- I hope so," McCain hedged.

It was 75 minutes into the 90-minute debate before any real blood was drawn, when Obama was defending his willingness to meet with foes.

"So let me get this right," McCain snapped. "We sit down with Ahmadinejad, and he says, 'We're going to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth,' and we say, 'No, you're not'? Oh, please."

Laughter came from the audience. Obama struggled to respond but McCain kept cutting him off. "And Senator Obama is parsing words," he said.

"I am not parsing words," Obama insisted.

"He's parsing words, my friends."

Presidential Debate: It's All about Performance

There were no surprises in what the candidates had to say; the point was to see how they "performed."

Performance is what our culture demands: "John McCain and Barack Obama: Together Again," an evening of improv with your host Jim Lehrer.

One candidate old, one young (well, middle-aged); one tall, one less tall; one thin, one stout; one urbane, one folksy.

If they decide to give up this running-for-president business, they're perfectly shaped for a career in comedy.

McCain dropped his Gs and a bucketload of names: Eisenhower, Schultz, Kissinger, Petraeus, Reagan (whom he sounds a little like). He waxed sentimental, waved flags, tried to play the wise owl to Obama's barn swallow.

Obama, who dropped a G or two himself, was a little more straightforward, but he'd clearly practiced (if only in his mind) making straightforward work for him.

Words came and went and came again: Wall Street, Main Street, hatchet, scalpel, deficits, drilling, Taliban, Pakistan, ethanol, nuclear, walk the walk, talk the talk, I, I, I, me, me, me.

It was clearly tense for them -- they were not chummy, though each got a laugh or two -- but it was tense for me too. This election is making me a wreck.

Who won?

It all depends on who's scoring. Like gymnastics or boxing or "Dancing With the Stars," the criteria are slippery and personal and hard to quantify.

Let's call it a tie, friends, to stay friends. Neither candidate fell apart; each had rehearsed inconvenient facts about the other; both knew the names of foreign countries and the people who run them. (That was refreshing!)

It wasn't thrilling, but neither was it horrifying.

At the end, they kissed their wives, stood briefly together like couples at a cocktail party. The audience, asked to hold its applause to the end, released it with vigor.