AndyYou know, when I sat down to write this week’s roundup, I thought to myself – “it’s been a quiet week, there won’t be all that much to cover.”
I was wrong.
- A Khodorkovsy Retrospective, by Robert Amsterdam. Long but rewarding reading.
- Bloggers memories of Soviet Maternity hospitals – a roundup from Global Voices.
- «?? ???» Possibly the most infuriating expression in Russian, finally explained by Josefina.
- The Kremlin School of Bloggers, by Evgeny Morozov. “Liberty.ru was meant to become something like Russia’s DailyKos or Talking Points Memo.”
- Remember that school textbook that everyone got wound up about a while back? The one that said Stalin’s murders were entirely rational? Anatoly Karlin sets the record straight, and provides the first English translation of the offending chapter.
- Last week, Streetwise Professor bemoaned Russia’s 19th century diplomacy. This week, he writes about how ‘realists’ are ruining America’s foreign policy towards Russia. (By the way, background on the realist theory of international politics is here).
- Russia Blog weighs in on the Eurovision / Gays in Russia debate, arguing that Eurovision is the World’s Biggest Gay Parade, and speaks to a gay couple who are strongly critical of those who decided to hold a pro-gay protest in Moscow on the same day: Each time Europeans try to stir up the trouble, skinheads, angry babushkas, and dozens of police take over our hang-out places, and we have nowhere to go for days and, sometimes, weeks. Europeans, delighted with their silly achievement, go back to their cities, and we get stuck cleaning up after them.”
- Some slices of life, from Neeka.
- Sport Tourism, the Russian sport you’ve never heard of before. Apparently Sport Tourism “includes not only a sports component, but also a spiritual component, and is a way of life for lovers of wandering.”
- Kremlin Deams Sometimes Come True – Sublime Oblivion’s riposte to a Moscow Times article that “questioned Russias stated intention of becoming an advanced industrial nation by 2020.”
- Kyle gets his tooth fixed by a Russian dentist. To the surprise of no-one, they do a good job.
- An open letter to the esteemed Barack Husseinovich.
- The editors of Putin’s wikipedia page are paralyzed with indecision. Which photo makes Putin look the least demonic? Eternal Remont has the scoop.
- Once more, Russia says “no” to Western Perversion. I’ve read this a couple of times now, and still can’t tell if the author of Mat Rodina is serious, or if this is a piss-take. Answers on a postcard, please.
- China stealing Russian military designs? Lawyers, Guns and Money observes: “I’m sure that the Chinese just arrived independently at the idea of having a folding-wing version of the Su-27.”
- What if Chuck Norris were replaced by Putin? “There is no theory of evolution, just a list of animals Putin allows to live.”
- Happy 25th Birthday to Tetris, Russia’s most famous computer game.
And, finally, a video for your enjoyment. And, if you happen to not like Britain, you’ll love Ya zhivu v Rossii! (I live in Russia!) even more…
Head over to News from the Eastern for an English translation.
ANDY:
It would be nice if you gave your lay readers a bit of context. Since you haven’t, I will.
The visit to the dentist you linked to cost $90. The average Russian earns $3/hour, so that visit cost 30 hours’ worth of wages. Even at the minimum wage in the U.S. of $7/hour, which is far below average, that would put the visit at $210 in American cost, a frightening expense for a minimum-wage worker just to have a cavity filled. But the average wage in the USA is $20/hour, meaning that this is the same as an American paying $600 to have a cavity filled. It’s not something, to say the least, that most Americans are likely to do.
And if you visit a dentist who charges prices Russians can actually afford, you have a slightly different experience. You may not ever have done so, which would explain why you might have trouble picking up on this issue. Not that it’s all the dentists’ fault, of course. Given the puny wages they work for and the shoddy quality of their education, it isn’t surprising
La Russophobe´s last blog post..June 5, 2009 Contents
ANDY:
“Once more, Russia says no to Western Perversion. Ive read this a couple of times now, and still cant tell if the author of Mat Rodina is serious, or if this is a piss-take. Answers on a postcard, please.”
I’ve read your comment about this appalling, barbaric blog post a couple of times now and still can’t tell if it (your comment, not the blog post) is serious or if it is a piss-take. Anyone glancing at the horrific stream of fascist comments in support of crushing homosexual rights in Russia that appear with the post can tell that it is absolutely serious, and your failure to issue a clear condemnation is reprehensible. It’s nothing to joke about, even if it were a joke! A person of good conscience can’t simply link to unspeakable filth of this kind and say “make of it what you will.” You’re doing a great service by highlighting the obscene garbage being churned out by the crazed Russian nationalists (this is a guy whose work has appeared in the Russian mainstream “press”), but you cannot simply stand on the sidelines.
Can’t help but wonder whether any of your Russophile readers will forward to condemn this apelike assault on civilization. They didn’t the last time you pointed out a similarly outrageous assault. Seems they’re all of one mind, and why shouldn’t they be if the Kremlin is too.
La Russophobe´s last blog post..June 5, 2009 Contents
Oh, don’t worry. If it’s a serious post, I have absolutely no problem condemning it.
Russia’s record on gay rights is – to alliteratively understate – nothing to write home about. The bigoted reactions of people like Mayor Luzhkov appall me, personally.
It was only 10 years ago that homosexuality was officially classified a mental illness, so in one respect, it’s not all that surprising that prejudice remains ingrained in many Russian people. It takes stupid people a long time to die.
Attitudes towards homosexuality are changing in Russia, but at a glacial pace. We should welcome those changes, even though it’s not much consolation to people who fear the consequences of being outed, or of being openly gay.
“A person of good conscience cant simply link to unspeakable filth of this kind and say make of it what you will. Youre doing a great service by highlighting the obscene garbage being churned out by the crazed Russian nationalists (this is a guy whose work has appeared in the Russian mainstream press), but you cannot simply stand on the sidelines.”
By the way – I (as a person of good conscience) definitely can point readers at things that I consider to be filth and say “make of it what you will.” I believe that people who read this blog are smart enough to make up their own minds as to the quality, or otherwise, of an article.
Take your good self, for example – you came to your conclusions about the Mat Rodina article entirely without prompting from me…
It has been communicated that the piece in question was positively and uncritically read on Rush Limbaugh’s and Michael Savage’s talk radio shows. For those unfamiliar with those two, they’re two prominent right of center hosts in the US. Not so along ago, an elected American politician referred to Congressman Barney Frank as Barney Fruit. In the US, much of the population at large has moved away from ethno-religious intolerance, while arguably not seeming to show the same advancement on the topic of gays.
Hence, the matter of insensitivity on that subject is by no means restricted to the “backwards” and “evil” Russians.
Andy, your comments on this matter are respectable given your all around take. The same can’t be said of some others, who’ve a bigoted agenda (as in selectively and hypocritically targetting Russians in general).
The author of the discussed blog post has some rather old school ways of looking at things, which aren’t exclusively Russian. This explains how he’s positively and uncritically cited by a number of non-Russians. If I correctly read him, he doesn’t believe in the collective hate of others, while expressing non-sympathy for certain acts.
Regarding his article, it’s IMO off to exclusively blame the West for “perversions” (whether real, imagined, or a matter of opinion) elsewhere – a point relating to how the collective stereotyping of societies has limits.
Michael Averko´s last blog post..TRANSITIONAL FEDERAL INSTITUTIONS CAN ONLY PREVAIL IN SOMALIA
Andy
I know you link that blog at your page to the right.
Here it is as well:
http://www.mat-rodina.blogspot.com/
On the matter of intolerance, it’s wrong to single that site out unlike….
At the above linked site, one can find some decently principled views as well.
Unlike some others, the individual involved with that site seems willing to carry on a civil enough discussion (I’m still in the process of acquainting myself with his views).
Progress is often made thru such an exchange.
Michael Averko´s last blog post..TRANSITIONAL FEDERAL INSTITUTIONS CAN ONLY PREVAIL IN SOMALIA
Another site with a pickup:
http://www.takimag.com/article/americas_descent_in_marxism
How that venue describes itself:
http://www.takimag.com/info/about/
A different kind of hyperbole from the one caricaturing Russia as Soviet like.
Strange how the truth about Russia brings out the naysayers of Russia!
Thanks for the link…
Kyle
Kyle´s last blog post..In Moscow, Russia Tornadoes are Rare! (Lets Keep Them That Way.)