On Tuesday it was reported that huge trove of art had been stolen from Russia's most famous museum, the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. At that time, Russian sources told Reuters the art was worth $5 million.

But by Thursday, when art dealers had had the chance to review the list of items stolen, the estimate was revised upwards slightly: It became $130 million, as the Moscow News reports.

This is just more evidence of Russia's seeming pathological inability to simply tell the truth, even when the truth will inevitably come out and humiliate the country totally. We saw it at Beslan, we saw it at Dubrovka, we have seen it since Ivan the Terrible and we will see it until the end of time, because the Russian people will never stand up and say "NYET!"

Russia is a society founded on the lie as a way of life. It should come as no surprise that such a society has come to verge of extinction.