TODAY: Russia to increase number of nuclear missiles; Duma to raise ‘financial literacy’, comedians avoiding the crisis; Russia wants UN corruption officials out; Nikita Belykh, Anna Politkovskaya.

The State Duma is in the process of creating a state program for 2009 that will raise the level of financial literacy in society, supposedly guarding against further financial crises by ‘raising the population’s level of trust in the banking system‘.  But there are worse jokes, particularly amongst Russian comedians who are steering clear of making any overly insightful gags about the crisis.  The Russian government is seeking to oust a senior UN corruption investigation team as revenge for their probes into a Russian diplomat and national, and supposedly as part of a larger push to thwart aggressive investigations.