Latest posts by Veronica Khokhlova from March, 2011
Ukraine, Japan: Fukushima Discussion at Pripyat.com
Forum users of Pripyat.com (RUS), a portal devoted to the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, are examining news reports and discussing the technical aspects of the situation at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant and the response to it on the ground, pointing out some of the differences between the current disaster and...
Japan: Iodine Distribution Needed
@Traysizzzle writes: “I hope #Japan starts distributing #iodine asap to anyone close to the radiation…it's not #Chernobyl but its prognosis is not good…”
Ukraine, Japan: Drink Red Wine to Reduce Radiation Toxicity
@DJLoli shares a health tip that was popular in Ukraine in 1986: “If u r in the area affected by Japan radiation: drink red Wine to get it out. It what helped us in Ukraine during #Chernobyl. […]” (Here's an article on a 2008 study that showed that “resveratrol, the...
Japan: Fukushima Reactor Has Different Design Type Than Chernobyl
@BrianDunning, author of a science podcast Skeptoid, explains: “Fukushima nuclear plant does NOT have a combustible graphite core like Chernobyl. A total meltdown should flow into underground containment.” (This explanation has been retweeted by over 100 people already.)
Belarus: Petition to Move 2014 Ice Hockey Championship Elsewhere
Pyotr Kuznetsov posts a petition (RUS, ENG) to the International Ice Hockey Federation, drafted by Lithuania-based Belarusian opposition activists, in which they are proposing “to change the location of the [2014 ice hockey championship] from Belarus to another country” – because “[t]he atmosphere in Belarus and the actions of Mr....
Japan: Tweets From Lviv, Ukraine
Ukraine-based @hiranotakaci (Hirano Takaci) tweeted this (UKR) and this (UKR) a while ago: “As for the earthquake in Japan, it's chaos in my feeds now. No gas and electricity, fill bathtubs with water, metro trains aren't running. Don't go to the coast. […] Announcements that trains and metro won't be...
Russia: Ramzan Kadyrov's Brazil Game
Siberian Light comments on the “football match between an ageing team of Brazilian World Cup winners and a Chechen team featuring […] Ramzan Kadyrov,” which took place in Grozny, Chechnya, earlier this week: “The money to pay all these Brazilian superstars came from somewhere – and I’ll bet most of...
U.S.: Flood Damage, Recovery in Cedar Rapids’ Czech Village
At CzechPosition.com, Rosie Johnston talks to business owners in the Czech Village in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, one of the areas damaged most by the June 2008 flood.
Russia: Putin Party
@MiriamElder is tweeting from the “racy ‘Putin Party’” taking place at one of Moscow's nightclubs: “No one here basically but strippers and photographers shooting the strippers http://plixi.com/p/82136606.”
Estonia: The Singing Revolution
Kovács & Kováts remind readers that some revolutions – like Estonia's Singing Revolution – are bloodless.
Russia: J. Arch Getty and Claudia Verhoeven Author Interviews
For New Books in Russia and Eurasia, Sean Guillory of Sean's Russia Blog interviews J. Arch Getty, the author of “Yezhov: The Rise of Stalin’s Iron Fist,” and Claudia Verhoeven, the author of “The Odd Man Karakozov: Imperial Russia, Modernity, and the Birth of Terrorism.”
Romania: Education System
Csíkszereda Musings writes about some of the problems with the Romanian education system – here and here.
Russia: Torture and Lawlessness in Dagestan
At OpenDemocracy.net, Tanya Lokshina writes about torture, humiliation and lawlessness taking place in Russia's North Caucasus region of Dagestan.
Russia: The Washington Post's Coverage Review
The Ivanov Report posts a quick review of the Washington Post's February coverage of Russia.
Russia: Maslenitsa Vocabulary
Some Russian vocabulary and other relevant info for the welcoming-of-spring holiday of Maslenitsa – at Russian Blog.
Russia: “Tutor/Nanny/Friend/Plaything”
English Man In Moscow, who seeks to be hired as a tutor by an affluent Russian family with kids, writes about a recent 3-hour “‘trial’ lesson” that he gave to a 9-year-old for $43/26 GBP/1,250 rubles per hour. (“Not a fortune, but at the low end of pay for private...
Ukraine: Cases Against Tymoshenko and Lutsenko
Foreign Notes writes about the cases against Ukraine's ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko (“180 volumes of evidence of between 250 and 300 pages each”) and ex-Interior Minister Yuri Lutsenko.
Russia: Mikhail Gorbachev's Legacy
At OpenDemocracy.net, Archie Brown and Lilia Shevtsova write about the legacy of Mikhail Gorbachev, who turned 80 on March 2. Veni Markovski thanks Gorbachev on behalf of Bulgarians and other citizens of Central and Eastern Europe “for tearing down that wall.”
Russia: Khodorkovsky Case Roundup
Belatedly, a roundup of Mikhail Khodorkovsky-related posts: more coverage of “the saga of courtroom whistleblower Natalya Vasilyeva” – at The Power Vertical, Sean's Russia Blog, and OpenDemocracy.net (the latter also has Mumin Shakirov's text on Russian celebrities’ changed attitudes towards the YuKOS case verdicts); A Good Treaty writes about the...