· October, 2009

Stories about Russia from October, 2009

Russia: “Twitter Against Tyrants”

  30 October 2009

Oleg Kozlovsky links to and quotes from the text of a briefing held by US Helsinki Commission/Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, which included “a few recent examples of how we utilized Web 2.0 to spread information about electoral fraud” in Russia.

Russia: Riot Police vs “Senior Citizens”

  30 October 2009

Oleg Kozlovsky reports on a scandal that broke out after riot police used – during a drill – “water cannons, shock grenades, and tear gas” to disperse “a group of senior citizens that protested social injustice and blocked a federal highway.”

Russia: Nokia In and Out of LJ

  30 October 2009

Profy reports on the demise of Nokia's LiveJournal community: “But unfortunately for everyone (Nokia, the editorial team, and the overall corporate usage of social media) the community only existed for 25 days and was closed last week with the PR representative citing the fact that many bloggers used the community...

Pregnancy and Prisons: Women's Health and Rights Behind Bars

  24 October 2009

It is still a struggle to ensure human rights for pregnant women worldwide, and it seems that in the process, pregnant women in prison are many times overlooked. What have been some of the steps made to ensure that they are also treated humanely, with respect to the life they carry?

Russia: Soviet Legacy and Street Names

  23 October 2009

A few weeks ago, it seemed as if every single Russian blogger took the time to write something about the re-naming of Anti-Soviet Shish Kebab Restaurant in Moscow, a dissident journalist's protest article and a pro-Kremlin youth movement's counter-protest activities. One blogger alluded to the scandal in a post about street names that kept on preserving the questionable Soviet legacy.

Russia: Kindle

  21 October 2009

Profy reports on Amazon Kindle's “international expansion”: “This decision is obviously good at least because I personally don’t like any limitations and opening yet another window to the huge Russian market is hopefully a wise decision for Amazon. […] At the same time I myself suspect that the vast majority...

Serbia: Preparations for Medvedev's Visit

  21 October 2009

Belatedly, a mock review of the preparations for president Dmitry Medvedev's visit to Belgrade – at Belgraded: “He already was in Serbia once last year, but this time there’s a lot more fuss about his visit, presumably because we need to suck up to the East at least as much...

Russia: Election Fraud and Blogging

  19 October 2009

Reports of vote-rigging in the local elections, which took place in 75 of Russia’s 83 regions on Oct. 11, spurred protests by citizens and politicians in Moscow - and quite an outrage among some of the country's bloggers.

Russia: Photos From Yaponchik's Funeral

  14 October 2009

LJ user ssmirnoff posts a selection of photos and video (RUS) from the funeral of Russian mafia boss Vyacheslav Ivankov (aka Yaponchik), which took place on Oct. 13 in Moscow.

Russia: Protest Against Voter Fraud

  14 October 2009

LJ user avmalgin posts footage from and writes this (RUS) about the rally against voter fraud in Moscow, following the governing party's victory in local election: “On Pushkin Sq., it turns out, someone was going to protest against something. Naive people. It's like coming out of the theater and holding...

Serbia: Moja Rusija/My Russia Party

  12 October 2009

Belgraded writes about a new Serbian party – the Moja Rusija (My Russia) Party: “As it usually happens, the best kind of comedy is the non-intentional kind.”