Stories about Eastern & Central Europe from November, 2009
Russia: Luzhkov vs NYTimes; “Destruction of Old Moscow”
IZO posts a translation of an open letter to president Medvedev “about the destruction of old Moscow under Mayor Luzhkov,” written by urbanism scholar Yuri Bocharov. Russia! reports on the defamation lawsuit against the New York Times, filed and won by the Moscow mayor.
U.S.: Redesign Of Vladimir Nabokov's Book Covers
At Design Observer, John Gall writes about the redesign of Vladimir Nabokov's book covers: “All twenty-one of them.” (Link via Maud Newton.)
Russia: Videos of Ulyanovsk Arms Depot Blasts
LJ user oleg_kozyrev posts six YouTube videos of Ulyanovsk arms depot blasts, shot by Russian video bloggers.
Hungary: Flu Vaccination as “the Great Hungarian Experiment”
The vaccination campaign of the Hungarian National Public Health and Medical Officer Service has inspired a public debate among the institution itself, doctors, politicians and ordinary people who are just not sure whether the Hungarian-made swine flu vaccine is good or not.
Russia: Article On Social Network
The Daily Telegraph published an article “Social-media and networking websites booming in Russia” [ENG] by Denis Terekhov, one of the marketing specialists in Russian social networks.
Russia: Bird's Eye View Photos of Central Part of the Country
Russian landscapes from the board of a small plane. LJ-user Makarena [RUS] shared some breathtaking photos here.
Russia: Flashmobbers Connect With Each Other Via USB (photo)
About three dozen of Moscow flashmobbers got together to participate in a 7-minute flashmob act they called "USB global connect". Each actor held a USB cable to connect to the others.
Hungary: Comments on the Interview with Imre Kertész
The anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall has inspired Hungarian bloggers, too: they are discussing an interview with Imre Kertész, a Nobel Prize-winning Hungarian author living in Berlin, which appeared in the German newspaper Die Welt.
Ukraine: Flu Stats, Panic, Gauze Masks (and Some Lingerie)
According to Ukraine's Health Ministry, 1,031,597 people in Ukraine have fallen ill with "flu, acute respiratory illness and their complications (pneumonia, etc.)" between Oct. 29 and Nov. 9 - and 174 of them have died. In the Ukrainian blogosphere, much of the discussion of the current medical emergency focuses on whether there are enough reasons to panic or not.
Russia: Bloggers Discuss 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall
Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall just a handful of Russian bloggers mention what some call "the most important event in the history of the 20th century." Some use the date to remind readers about the current political situation, others practice their cynicism, but most ask themselves: "Why no one talks about this date? Why is it not publicly celebrated?"
Featured Author: Maryna Reshetnyak
As Global Voices Russian Language Health Editor, Maryna Reshetnyak spends most of her time covering the Kiev-based Rising Voices grantee project, The Drop-In Center. She also blogs on Global Voices about discussions in the Russian-language blogosphere related to health.
Ukraine: Internet Offers Swine Flu Common Sense
Inconsistency in health officials’ reports about the flu epidemic in Ukraine has led to rumors and gossip. The Internet has served as a medium for unbiased information about the epidemic, as well as professional advice on how to stay safe. .
Russia: Officer Exposes Police Corruption Using the Web
On November 6, a police officer at the Department of Internal Affairs in Novorossiysk used his personal Web site to address Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and talk about numerous problems police officers face in Russia.
Ukraine: Flu and Politics
Jamestown Foundation Blog and Ukrainiana – on the politics around the flu situation in Ukraine.
Russia: Major Search Engine Closes Its Blog Rating
Yandex.ru, Russian most popular search engine, announced on November 3 that it would close its blog ranking service Yandex Blogs Top (YBT) [RUS] by the end of the month.
Serbia: Sinisa Boljanovic Wins Climate Change Blogging Contest
Sinisa Boljanovic, a GV author and Lingua Serbian editor, became one of the winners of Round 1 of TH!NK2: CLIMATE CHANGE blogging contest; here's Sinisa's winning entry: Black Point of the Danube Basin.
Hungary: Genetic Research on the Origin of Hungarians
Hungarian Spectrum writes about genetic research on the origin of the Hungarian people.
Russia: Markelov's Alleged Killers Arrested
Russia Blog reports on the arrest of the alleged killers of lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasiya Baburova.
Russia: Calling Abkhazia Via Russia
Eternal Remont reports that “as of November 16, Abkhazia will adopt Russian area codes for telephone service. This means than everyone trying to reach Uncle Bagrat in Gagra will have to call Russia and not Georgia.”
Belarus: Webmaster and Politics
Andrei Khrapavitski reports on problems faced by a Belarusian political party following the election of a new leader: “According to the Belarusian blogosphere, a webmaster, loyal to the previous leader, is refusing to pass passwords and website requisites to the new team. Thus they can’t update the party website. […]...
CEE: Social Networks and the Media
Information Policy links to a BusinessWeek/TOL article on social networks and the media in Central and Eastern Europe.
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