Latest posts by Veronica Khokhlova from November, 2009
Russia: At Least 25 People Killed in the ‘Neva Express’ Train Crash
An express train traveling from Moscow to St. Petersburg derailed at 9:34 PM on Friday, Nov. 27, near the town of Bologoye, killing at least 25 people. Below are some of the initial reactions from the Russian blogosphere.
Russia: Blogging the Winter in Yakutia
Winter is yet to arrive in much of Europe, but one of its geopolitical attributes is already back in the spotlight: fears of disruptions of Russian gas deliveries are growing more intense, due to the recurring dispute between Russia and Ukraine. Politics aside, though, in some of Russia's regions winter has been there since early fall. In Yakutia, for example.
Ukraine: News and Views Roundup
Ukraine roundup: flu and politics – at What's Up, Ukraine? and at Jamestown Foundation Blog, here and here; the latest on the tense relationship between the Ukrainian president and PM – at Ukrainiana, as well as two posts – here and here – on one of the 18 presidential candidates,...
Hungary: More on Imre Kertész's Interview
More on the Hungarian reactions to Imre Kertész's Die Welt interview – at Hungarian Spectrum. (Marietta Le's GV post about it is here.)
Czech Republic, Slovakia: Velvet Revolution, 20 Years On
On Nov. 17, the Czech Republic and Slovakia are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, and The Czech Daily Word lists “most frequent stupid arguments and errors” of those who believe that “the era of communism was better than the post-revolution times.”
Russia: Medvedev's Speech and IT; Twitter and the Police
Profy writes about the IT dimension of president Medvedev's annual address: “The draft speech was initially published online as a lengthy article by the president and he invited all the citizens to voice their opinions out via the Kremlin official website – and people were definitely very willing to participate...
Russia: Forbes Website
Profy writes about the newly-launched ForbesRussia.ru website and “their obvious lack of interest in anything local and specific to the Russian market, in particular in the field of social media and social networking.”
Slovenia, Russia: Thoughts on Blogging
Dr. Filomena and Profy are musing on what it means to be a blogger.
Russia: Quarantine in Yekaterinburg
Russian Blog reports that Yekaterinburg authorities have announced a flu-related quarantine from Nov. 13 to Nov. 20.
Ukraine: Updates on the Flu Epidemic
Last weeks’ posts on the flu epidemic: Tetyana Vysotska of What's up, Ukraine? falls ill (doctor tells her it's “impossible to have a test on whether it may be a swine flu”) and recovers; Foreign Notes writes that “there is no reason to expect the medical profession in [Ukraine] to...
CEE: The Berlin Wall
The 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall: How To Marry a Bulgarian hosts a series of readers’ personal reflections: Biliana Velkova, Alexandra Grashkina-Hristova, Maria Vassileva; Hungarian Spectrum writes that “for Hungary and the Hungarians the whole thing started much earlier”; Belgraded writes about the upcoming and much-awaited...
Russia: 1999 Chechen Diary, Part 4
The final part (part 4) of Polina Zherebtsova’s 1999 Chechen Diary – at Sundry Translations and Other Tangentialia. (More links: intro, part 1, part 2, part 3, Russian-language original.)
CEE: Recycling & Bicycles, Energy Consumption, and More
At Th!nk About It, a climate change blogging competition, Adela reports on the construction of a highway in Romania, which will go through a national park, endangering “the only virgin forest on our good old continent”, and also writes about the Recicleta project in Bucharest, and one Romanian man's roof...
Finland: The Language Issue
Nordic Voices writes about Finland's “language issue.”
U.S., Europe: Immigrant Writing; Diaspora Mentality
Maud Newton writes about a newly-published anthology of immigrant writing, “Becoming Americans.” Sublime Oblivion examines the views of “Russian political analyst & nationalist Konstantin Krylov” on “international diasporas” and “the diaspora mentality.”
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.
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.
Ukraine: Flu and Politics
Jamestown Foundation Blog and Ukrainiana – on the politics around the flu situation in Ukraine.
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.
