Stories about Eastern & Central Europe from June, 2007
Russia: Perelman Riding Metro
LJ user ub7com posts pictures of the famous Russian mathematician Grigori Perelman, taken on a subway train in St. Petersburg.
Slovenia: Photos of Musician Tadej Kenig
Dancing Photography – Borut Peterlin posts photos of Tadej Kenig, a renowned Slovenian clarinetist, “photographed as a shepherd, in a concert suit playing a clarinet to the sheep.”
Russia: Train Station and Train Photos
Photographer Oleg Klimov departs for Siberia and Kamchatka – and posts pictures of the Yaroslavsky Train Station in Moscow and the Moscow-Perm train.
Russia: Volga Cars
The Turkish Invasion writes about and posts pictures of the Russian-made Volgas: “So you thought that the only machines Soviets built were Ladas and Tanks, but indeed they also had a superior brand called “Volga”, named after the biggest river in Europe (and also the farthest frontier the Germans ever...
Russia: CNN International's “Eye on Russia”
Sean's Russia Blog is disappointed that it's CNN International – not CNN in the United States – that's broadcasting a whole week of daily half-hour series called “Eye on Russia: The New Dawn.”
Moldova: Development Strategy
“Moldova's development concept lacks any connection to the external environment, perpetuating isolation and self-centeredness,” Public Policy Watch writes about Moldova's “Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (EGPRSP), developed with the support of the World Bank.”
Estonia: Interior Minister
Itching for Eestimaa writes about Estonia's interior minister.
Croatia: “Feral Tribune” May Return
East Ethnia reports that the Croatian weekly Feral Tribune may be “returning through the good graces of, of all corporations, the prodigal monopolist WAZ. That would be half-good news, I suppose.”
Latvia: Economy
Edward Hugh of A Fistful of Euros posts a thorough examination of Latvia's economy, complete with some policy proposals.
Russia: PwC Withdraws Yukos Audits
PricewaterhouseCoopers “now believes that information and representations which was provided to PwC by Yukos’ former management may not have been accurate.” Siberian Light comments: “If some of the biggest, and supposedly best auditors in the world can be so easily deceived, then there is absolutely no reason why anyone should...
Serbia, Russia: “What About the Russians?”
Jasmina Tešanović guest-blogs at Boing Boing about what may appear as Serbia's misguided trust in Russia: “Back in 1999, Russians didn’t veto the bombing of Serbia. The Russians are using the Kosovo issue in order to reclaim ex-Soviet territories with Russian populations. Serbs know that the Russians have their own...
Russia: “Completely Different Other Russias”
There was no police "overreaction" during the opposition's latest Dissenters' March in Moscow - possibly, because the organizers decided not to follow up the rally on Pushkinskaya Square with the actual marching. Everyone made their speeches - or so it seemed, until the blogosphere offered a not-so-pleasant revelation: opposition activist Maria Gaidar was prevented from addressing the crowd by Eduard Limonov, leader of the National Bolshevik Party and Garry Kasparov's close ally in the Other Russia anti-government coalition.
Serbia: A Special Case of Blog Plagiarism
Does a Creative Commons License help protect your blog from plagiarism? Is it a crime if a person from China copies your blog to overcome the so-called Great Firewall of China, trying to get some money along the way. How to protect yourself from web infringement? Danica Radovanovic is a...
Russia: “Weaponization of Psychiatry”
Another article from Yezhednevniy Zhurnal on “the increasing weaponization of psychiatry” in Russia – translated, at Publius Pundit.
Ukraine: Ukrainian Music Blog
The history of Ukrainian band Mandry and more – at Ukrainian Musical Matters blog.
Russia: Friday Night Ethnic Fight
Sean's Russia Blog reports on the fight between ethnic Russians and Caucasus natives that took place in downtown Moscow last Friday.
Russia: Beslan Evidence
A Step At A Time reports on the copies of faxes published by PravdaBeslana.ru, which “show that the local [North Ossetian] authorities were aware of preparations for a major terrorist attack involving the movement of convoys of vehicles, and targeting a public building, most probably a school, on “Knowledge Day”...
Latvia: The Battles of Cesis
An outstanding post by Marginalia‘s Peteris Cedrins on the history of Latvia's the Battles of Cesis – as well as some musings on the Internet vs real libraries: “Though I adore and am addicted to the Internet — I would rather my mind resembled a library than looked like cyberspace....
Europe: “Baltic” and “Nordic”
Itching for Eestimaa browses through the Time Magazine archives “to discover how those two loaded terms, Baltic and Nordic, were used in the 1920s and 1930s.”
Estonia, Russia: Echo of a Childhood War
Itching for Eestimaa looks at the European leaders’ childhood years, in order to find an explanation for some of their current policies: “The young Putin learned that Estonians were fascist betrayers. Can anyone wonder why Russia now sees Estonia in the light, even though to most of us the concepts...
Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina: “Fuse”
As Albanians prepared for George W. Bush's visit, Bosnia Vault was reminded of a wonderful film – “a dark comedy” – about Bill Clinton’s visit to the Bosnian town of Tesanj: Fuse.