TODAY: Tanks on Red Square, Ban Ki-Moon visits Russia, big business pleads before Medvedev, China buying less weapons from Russia, castration for pedophiles, and the seven-year presidential term. The May 9th Victory Day parade in Moscow once again features parades of tanks and other displays of military might reminiscent of Soviet times – which poses extraordinary damage to the cobblestones of the UNESCO-protected Red Square. This year the tanks and vehicles will be fitted with rubber soles to ease the damage. Reuters writes that “The decision to revive the tradition is regarded by some observers as a sign the Kremlin is flexing its military muscles.” Others are more skeptical: “This is a military in crisis; there’s no other way to describe it,” said Stephen Blank, a security expert at the U.S. Army War College. “And it’s a crisis 17 years in the making.”