Stories about Eastern & Central Europe from April, 2009
Russia: Hyde Park; WinRAR; Hot Water; etc.
A few links to recent posts at IZO: president Medvedev “to create a Russian Speaker's Corner, based on Hyde Park”; a Russian ad agency shows “how the WinRAR data compression utility shrinks files” – “bad idea, badly executed”; a useful link for Moscow-based readers who'd like to know when there'll...
Estonia: “The Fog of Cyberwar”
IZO links to the Guardian piece on “NATO's cyber-defence headquarters in Estonia.” Evgeny Morozov links to his own piece on it on Newsweek.com.
Bosnia & Herzegovina: Genocide Prevention Month Commemorations
Srebrenica Genocide Blog writes about the Genocide Prevention Month commemorations in Sarajevo – here and here.
Bosnia & Herzegovina: Re-Naming of Towns
Amila Bosnae writes about re-naming of towns in Bosnia & Herzegovina's Republika Srpska.
Bosnia & Herzegovina: Intermarriage
Gray Falcon writes about intermarriage in Bosnia & Herzegovina.
Bosnia & Herzegovina: Bihac
Travel report and pictures from “Bihac and surroundings” – at Bosnia Blog.
Czech Republic: “Kuličky”
The Reference Frame writes about the Czech movie “Marbles” (Kuličky), screened at the 22nd Festival of Czech Films.
Bosnia & Herzegovina: 1,000 More Srebrenica Victims To Be Buried July 11
1,000 new funerals of victims of the Srebrenica massacre have been scheduled for July 11, 2009, Srebrenica Genocide Blog reports.
Albania: Trees in Tirana
A Nevada Yankee in King Zog's Court writes about the efforts of the Tirana mayor's office to make the city greener.
Sri Lanka: Lamenting On The War
Sri Lankan blogger Mathawaada, who blogs at A Collision Of Ideas, laments on the civil war hearing the news that the LTTE rebels are finally being defeated militarily: “Ah…this war. Yes, this war is older than me, just like anyone in their early twenties I also grew up with it....
Ukraine: Ceramics Museum; Chernobyl Exclusion Zone
The Uncataloged Museum reports on a trip to the National Museum of Ukrainian Ceramics in the village of Opishne, in the Poltava region. Chernobyl and Eastern Europe posts a 2006 video from a Pripyat.com editor's trip to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.
Ukraine: Cleaning Up and Littering Down
Observations on the “public, private and personal space” in Kyiv – at The Uncataloged Museum. Photos and video of the damage done to Kyiv's environment during this year's Easter holidays – at Ukrainiana.
Russia: Bakhmina's Parole; Khodorkovsky's ‘Not Guilty’ Plea
Former Yukos lawyer Svetlana Bakhmina has been granted parole today, while former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky has pleaded not guilty before court, Robert Amsterdam's Blog reports.
Georgia: War speculation
Lingeliens Ludicrous Legends comments on speculation from the media and some blogs that a new military conflict between Georgia and Russia might break out.
Moldova: “Making Sense of Recent Events”
Below is a follow-up to the three earlier GV posts on the blog coverage of the protests and rioting in Chisinau, Moldova, that followed the April 5 election.
Georgia: Russian youth movement provocation
Wu Wei Thoughts from the Tao comments on news that the pro-Putin Nashi youth movement attempted to cross into Georgian territory during last week's protests in Tbilisi. The blog says that such an attempt will do nothing to help the opposition in its attempt to force the Georgian president to...
Serbia: Thoughts on Doubt and Faith
Orthodox Christian believers will celebrate Easter on Sunday, April 19. On this occasion, some Serbian bloggers posted their thoughts about different legends and dogma related to Jesus Christ. Sinisa Boljanovic has translated two of these posts.
Global Recession: “Underdevelopment is a mixed blessing”
There are governments which insist that their countries are not affected by the global economic crisis. Most of the time they are not convincing; and their constituents do not believe in the supposed improvement of the economy. Countries with very small economies and countries which are not globally-integrated are usually the same countries which claim that the financial crisis has not affected them so far.
Macedonia: Alexander the Great as Media Bait
For several years now, the Macedonian traditional media have have been involved in relentless promotion of all and any claims related to Alexander the Great deemed "positive" in terms of generating public approval and more readers/viewers. Such coverage tends to grow more bizarre, as shown by recent events.
Russia, U.S.: YouTube Orchestra's Gennady Krutikov's Visa Ordeal
Podstantsiya, a Russian podcasting portal, posts an interview (RUS) with Gennady Krutikov, member of the Russian National Orchestra and one of the three Russian participants of the YouTube Symphony Orchestra project, who is on his way to the United States but will not be able to perform his part at...
Ukraine, Russia: Local Women, Western Men
“Why Ukrainian women go for Western men” and vice versa – at IZO.