Veronica Khokhlova · December, 2007

Latest posts by Veronica Khokhlova from December, 2007

Russia: Holiday Charity (via Egoism)

  29 December 2007

Russia is embarking on a 10-day national vacation: from Dec. 30 to Jan. 8, the country will be celebrating the New Year's and Orthodox Christmas - and should also have enough time to rest, relax and sober up in between. Charity isn't among the most popular subjects in the Russian blogosphere during the festive season, although some bloggers do discuss ways of helping the poor and needy this year. Below is one blogger's musings on charity and selfishness, as well as a perfectly explicit call to action.

Poland: Bhutto's Tractor Scam

  29 December 2007

the beatroot writes about a 1990s Polish-made Ursus tractors scam, in which Benazir Bhutto was allegedly involved: “Benazir had launched the Awami Tractor Scheme for the welfare of poor farmers in Pakistan and allegedly received 7.15 percent commission in the purchase of tractors through their front men – Jens Schlegelmilch...

Ukraine: Tymoshenko's Budget

  29 December 2007

Foreign Notes reports on the article in a Ukrainian daily that accuses Yulia Tymoshenko of going against her election promises and approving the 2008 budget that includes “a multimillion INCREASE in the money provided for the maintenance of deputies, kabmin ‘big-knobs’, and the President and his secretariat.”

Slovenia: Dimitrij Rupel

  27 December 2007

Sleeping With Pengovsky writes about Slovenian foreign minister Dimitrij Rupel and the stuff he's written for Sinfo, a PR magazine issued monthly by the governmental Communications office”: “(great choice of name, BTW. Fire your chief marketing officer toot-suite!)”

Poland: Christmas

  27 December 2007

the beatroot cites an opinion poll that shows that Christmas in Poland “is a time where family and traditions take precedence over the religious nature.”

Russia: Ded Moroz Ad Banned; Yolki in Moscow

  27 December 2007

James of Robert Amsterdam's blog writes about the government's ad on “a TV ad from an electronics retailer which poked fun at the existence of this mythical gift giver on the grounds that it broke a rule discrediting parents and teachers.” Lyndon of Scraps of Moscow posts his 2005 pictures...

Romania: Dracula

  26 December 2007

Csíkszereda Musings re-reads Bram Stoker's ‘Dracula’ and writes about his surprising ethnic origins as well as Romania's flourishing Dracula-centered tourism industry.

Poland: “Troll” Sues Wikipedia

  26 December 2007

The beatroot reports: “Arnold Buzdygan […] – sometime wannabe presidential candidate, and a regular on usernet sites in Poland – went to court in Wroclaw, southwestern Poland, last week, to sue Wikpedia Polska for deformation of character. […] Buzdygan claims that his fiancée’s mother refused to let the marriage go...

Poland: Simon Mol

  26 December 2007

The beatroot writes again about Simon Mol, a “Cameroonian ‘refugee’, poet and human rights activist” charged with infecting 12 Polish women with HIV. (Many of the 213 comments to this post do not seem to have much to do with the subject.)

Veronica Khokhlova's space

Neeka's Backlog, my blog

Nika Smetana on Instagram

Nika Smetana on Facebook

@smetanka on Twitter

Flickr

Work Log, where I keep my GV texts

Filed Away, where I keep some of my pre-blog and pre-GV work