Stories about Russian from June, 2009
Russia: Paradoxes of population growth
LJ user about:blank comments on [RUS] recent research comparing Russian population growth with average income in various regions and cities 1990-2009, coming up with the interesting result that the country's second and third cities, St. Petersburg and Nizhny Novogorod, are making moderate progress in comparison to many other less developed...
Russia: Stalin visits Voronezh
LJ user Vaziani tells about [RUS] how the local Voronezh communists have wallpapered the city with huge pictures of Joseph Stalin in commemoration of the 22 June 1941 attack on the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany.
Grimaces of education in Kazakhstan
From June 01 to June 10 school graduates in Kazakhstan were undergoing Unified National Test (UNT) – the first and one of the most important tests in their lives. As Zara, one of our bloggers, writes, the average test result has been 74.9 points, which is 7 points higher than...
FSU: Soviet Toys
Photos of Soviet children's toys – at LJ user varjag_2007‘s blog (RUS).
Belarus: Death penalty and Europe
LJ user Plaschinsky discusses [RUS] Belarus’ moratorium on capital punishment and its road to the Council of Europe parliamentary assembly – as a first step towards reintegration with West European structures – and points out the difference between an ethical and a utilitarian position on the abolition of the death...
Kazakhstan: Bureaucracy, diplomacy and personality cult
Bloggers keep on commenting political situation in Kazakhstan. megakhuimyak reports that according to the new presidential decree, the Financial Police has got extra authority, informers against corrupt officials will be awarded, the civil servants’ property and income will be monitored [ru]: The bad thing is that now officials will stop...
Belarus: A game of pointed questions
LJ user Devushka iz vostoka [RUS] asks for directions for this summer's first game of “Tochka”. The question may seem as a paradox, as directions is really what this game is all about. Two opposing teams are set to the task of finding a specific place, and in the process...
Russia: U.S. Ambassador's Blog
Russian-language blog of John Beyrle, U.S. Ambassador to the Russian Federation: http://beyrle.livejournal.com/.
Kazkahstan: Educational Deadlock
The problem of Kazakhstani textbooks for secondary school is still very urgent – numerous misprints, factual errors and inadequate language are charachteristic for these books. Lately, the Minister of Education reported to the ruling party on his activity, and told that his ministry is not responsible for them, as they...
Russia: “I'm a Russophobe”
A popular Russian blogger known for his often provocative posts on the Russian economy, published this mock manifesto (RUS) on his blog on June 10, noting with irony that those who attempt a critical look at Russia's past and present are frequently labeled Russophobes by those who consider themselves patriots, while in fact the opposite may be said to be true in many cases.
Russia, U.S.: Reactions to WSJ Story on Web-Savvy Homeless
Earlier this month, Russian social networking portal Habrahabr.ru featured photos and some translated text from the May 30 Wall Street Journal piece on the online presence of the U.S. homeless - On the Street and On Facebook: The Homeless Stay Wired. The original English-language story has generated 93 comments. On Habrahabr.ru, there are currently 183 responses - and below are some of them.
Russia: The Fourth Son
A month or so ago, LJ user voinodel (Russian journalist Vadim Rechkalov) started a second LJ blog (voynodel) - for “unhurried posts.” So far, Rechkalov has posted twice on this new blog. The first text is about the funeral of one of the victims of a Moscow police officer who shot at least three people to death at a Moscow supermarket in April; the second one is a sketch about a Chechen family - and below is a translation.
Kazakhstan: “Statistical Error”, a new corruption scandal
Yesterday the Kazakhstani court sanctioned the arrest of Nurman Bayanov, the Deputy Chairman of the Statistics Agency on charges of misappropriation of the funds, assigned to the national census [ru]: “There was total of $7.6 million allocated for the census. As a result of investigation it was determined that in...
Ukraine: Photos of Crimea
Beautiful photos of Crimea, Ukraine – by Oleksa Haivoronsky, a Crimean historian, writer and employee of the Bakhchisaray Khan Palace Museum.
Azerbaijan: Science fiction author dies
Nigar [RU]] and Jja_verner [RU] report that Yana Kandova, chairwoman of the Baku Club of Science Fiction Authors and herself a blogger, has passed away at the age of 30 from heart disease. Her works can be accessed online here [RU].
