Stories about Russia from September, 2007
Russia: Nashi
Darkness at Noon writes about the pro-Kremlin youth movement Nashi and the impact they may have on Russia's political development.
Russia: Moscow Subway Myth
The Turkish Invasion writes about one myth of the Moscow subway that's actually true.
Russia: “Art Concrete”
Copydude writes about what may pass as Soviet roadside art, and about a misadventure with a Russian woman in Kaliningrad.
Russia: Kasparov; “The Italian”
The Accidental Russophile comments on the New Yorker 12-page piece on Garry Kasparov, and writes about The Italian, a Russian movie by director Andrei Kravchuk.
Ukraine: The Language Issue
Victor Yanukovych's Party of the Regions is pushing for a referendum on granting Russian official status as a national language, in addition to Ukrainian. Below is a selection of views on the "language issue" from the Ukrainian blogosphere.
Russia: Conference on Renewable Energy Sources
Web 2.0. is finally coming to the Balkans: SeminarskiRad.com, a portal based on the share principle and offering free resources to Serbian students, has become really popular very quickly. A few days ago, the portal's blog supplement opened on Blogger, dedicated to the topics relevant to Serbia's youth. The first post is a report from a recent Moscow conference on renewable energy, whose aim was to educate young scientists in order to make this planet greener.
Russia: The Pulse of the Blogosphere
Scraps of Moscow tries the Pulse of the Blogosphere, a new feature of the Russian Yandex portal and writes about some of the findings – here and here: “Consider this...
Russia: Media and Blogs on Zubkov
Scraps of Moscow posts a comprehensive review of blog and media coverage of Russia's new prime minister Victor Zubkov.
Russia: More on Ingushetia
David McDuff links to his own translation of a piece on the situation in Ingushetia.
Latvia: N. Irish Football Fans and Russian Nationalists
All About Latvia writes about an encounter between Northern Irish football fans and Russian nationalists in Riga.
Former Soviet Union: Yegor Gaidar's Book
De Rebus Antiquis Et Novis reads Yegor Gaidar's book, in which the Soviet Union's collapse is explained from an economic perspective.
Russia: Moscow's “Unusual People and Peculiar Foods”
BusterPh.D.Candidate of moscowthroughbrowneyes writes about “unusual people and peculiar foods” that make Moscow feel like home.
Free Speech Roundup: Turkey, Russia, Pakistan, India
For the second time in a year, a Turkish court ordered, on Tuesday September 18, to block access to YouTube.com over videos deemed insulting to the country's leaders. In Russia, the 23-year old LiveJournal blogger, who wrote a fictional story on his blog inspired by the Virginia Tech shooting, could face up to three years in prison for "falsely warning of a terror threat." In Pakistan, access to the popular blogging platform blogspot.com has been blocked again. And Mumbai's police are planning to install keystroke loggers in cyber cafes.
Russia: Ingushetia Not Chechnya-II
Window on Eurasia explains why the situation in Ingushetia “is not Chechnya-II but possibly something worse.”
Russia: Demography
Window on Eurasia writes about the lack of improvement in Russia's demographic situation: “…the small rise in the number of births reflects instead a temporary increase in the number of...
Europe: Romani Culture
TOL's Romantic writes about Lojze Podobnik, a Slovenian author whose works focus on Romani culture. Pesha's Blog links to Professor Steve Balkin's compilation of online resources on Romani culture.
Moldova: Transnistria
Douglas Muir of A Fistful of Euros writes about Transnistria, “a sort of post-Communist gangster state”: “Travellers unanimously agree that Transnistria is weirdly fascinating for the first hour or two,...
Ukraine: Car Accidents
Petro of Petro's Jotter writes about car crashes that he sees regularly during his morning commutes in Kyiv.
Russia, Ukraine: “Fiddling” With Voters’ Lists
Elections approach both in Russia and Ukraine, and politicians start “fiddling” with the numbers of registered voters’ – or accusing their opponents of doing so. Window on Eurasia reports that...
Russian LiveJournal blogger could face three-year sentence
The 23-year old Russian blogger, Dmitry Shirinkin, who wrote a fiction story on his blog inspired by the Virginia Tech shooting, could face up to three years in prison. In...
Russia: Hotel Baltika in Kaliningrad
Copydude writes about Kaliningrad's Hotel Baltika, “centrally located in the middle of nowhere”: “But for some inscrutable reason, Internet only works on Mondays. To help you feel helpless, this vast...
