tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50277772011-12-04T03:33:08.321-08:00A dispute over taste and tastingAlex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.comBlogger8991100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-49175576787489971112011-12-04T03:20:00.000-08:002011-12-04T03:33:08.327-08:00

Election day, huh?It's a complete disgrace, this so-called Duma election today. No one to vote for, anyway. The day began with massive DDOS attacks on LiveJournal.com, newtimes.ru, bg.ru and a few other sites, including one documenting electoral irregularities. Back when I started this blog, I didn't think I'd like to see this.

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-79182804129953743052011-07-22T11:39:00.000-07:002011-07-22T11:43:08.942-07:00

Back?It's time for a comeback. It's been eight years since I started the blog, with no new entries in the past four. I could blame LiveJournal, but I've lately abandoned it -- almost -- so back to good old Blogger.

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-30678707139965357592007-12-01T13:14:00.000-08:002007-12-01T13:32:40.343-08:00

It's all predictable, yet not quiteNo doubt, tomorrow's parliamentary election is not going to be fair or free. But the interesting thing about it that United Russia, the "party of power," is seriously afraid it may not get the majority it wants. (I'm not sure if it is 50% or 75% or some other number between 50% and 100%.) They're sure to fix it anyway, but it may not be the neat job they were

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-47026312792391071792007-07-04T12:12:00.000-07:002007-07-04T12:14:01.444-07:00

Happy July 4th to all my American readers!

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-20887650414409173642007-06-04T07:10:00.000-07:002007-06-04T08:04:06.309-07:00

Als alle Vögel sangen, or, The spring is over (though not astronomically so)In the second half of May, birds seemed to be singing all over Moscow. Even in the garden between the Leninsky Prospekt and one of those columnar "Research Institute" buildings, over the traffic noise, I heard... perhaps a nightingale. I am still unsure if I can make out birds' voices but I'd like to think it was

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-66818445504740937902007-05-23T05:52:00.000-07:002007-05-23T06:01:33.667-07:00

Victor Davis Hanson on WWI ...discussed (that is, ripped to shreds) on Daniel Larison's Eunomia.

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-76040791917244324872007-04-30T03:00:00.000-07:002007-04-30T03:50:31.545-07:00

Recommended: Neeka on the "riots" in TallinnThe Estonian government has every right to do what it sees fit with any monument and any grave on Estonian land. There is little doubt that the Soviet regime, back in 1940-1941 and 1944-1953, did its best to virtually decapitate the Estonian nation -- namely, to exterminate or exile the educated, the enterprising, the socially active, the rich, the

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-69782469502941631332007-04-24T00:29:00.000-07:002007-04-24T00:31:00.056-07:00

Boris Nikolaevich Yeltsin, 1931--2007Requiem aeternam dona ei, Domine, et lux pepetua luceat ei.Requiescat in pace.Amen.

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-76664876627761540832007-04-08T23:47:00.000-07:002007-04-08T23:49:14.199-07:00

Weather updateWinter is back in Moscow. "Christmas is approaching," as intracorporate spam goes.

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-6796129413263281622007-03-15T00:33:00.000-07:002007-03-18T14:58:55.170-07:00

André Glucksmann againIt turns out that he would like to teach Italian PM Romano Prodi a few things about Russian history and culture, such as this:Il primo grande russo, Puskin, è morto in un duello organizzato dalCremlino in modo che egli rimanesse ucciso.I first saw this in a Russian translation; I don't trust Russian translations so I checked the original, and though I don't know Italian, the

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-43178563735490771722007-03-07T03:29:00.000-08:002007-03-07T05:01:21.633-08:00

Nothing muchDaniel Coyle in a NYT article on Russian tennis players, speaking of a female non-tennis-player:[She] possessed a fast-alternating combination of film noir toughness andchildlike giddiness that I took as the quintessence of modern Russia.Qualify this "Russia" with "urban," and that'll sound just right, as long as the subject is female.(Hap tip to Neeka for the link.)

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-31783790081014038002007-03-03T12:57:00.000-08:002007-03-03T13:45:37.753-08:00

My two cents on Putin's Munich speech Now that the discussion is over, as usual. In two words, the problem is not the message but the messenger. The problem with Putin's speech is Putin. On the substance of the speech, I'll limit myself to one comment. Bush's policies -- imperialist abroad and detrimental to civil liberties at home -- have made it near-impossible for Americophiles like me

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1170930317889058502007-02-08T01:17:00.000-08:002007-02-08T02:25:17.920-08:00

Peter Hitchens writes in The Mail on Sunday on the evolution of his ideas of how Britain should handle the Russian question, concluding that, in view of the Labor government's near-totalitarian curbing of civil liberties, Britain is in no position to lecture Russia on freedom and such. While I won't applaud this conclusion -- the last thing the West should do is let Putin do what he wishes --

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1170148283062375902007-01-30T00:43:00.000-08:002007-01-30T01:11:23.096-08:00

Commenting on LipmanIt seems I've lost the drive that made my blogging possible; but I was asked to comment on this column by Masha Lipman, and as my comment has disappeared from the WaPo blog (or never got there), I am reposting it here, with minor changes.As far as pure politics goes, I mostly agree with Lipman. When it comes to the economy, I feel she misidentifies Russia’s weaknesses. There

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1167951353708946742007-01-04T14:55:00.000-08:002007-01-04T14:55:53.740-08:00

Off to the Austrian Alps for a fortnight.

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1167816914010966372007-01-03T01:16:00.000-08:002007-01-03T01:35:14.046-08:00

Another year has begun. Turkmenbashi is dead, and so is Saddam Hussein, while Putin is alive and well, even threatening to push some gas buttons again to force the UK to extradite Russian dissidents.

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1167071782023472262006-12-25T10:32:00.000-08:002006-12-25T10:36:28.363-08:00

A Merry Christmas to all my Gregorian-style readers!At last, there's snow and frost in Moscow.

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1165938936004772052006-12-12T07:54:00.001-08:002006-12-15T07:36:33.160-08:00

For serious thoughts on Litvinenko, visit Sean GuilloryA lot of the little we know of the Litvinenko murder, comes from British tabloids, and what seeps through clearer channels, tastes tabloid, so the whole affair feels morosely grotesque to darkly absurd.A certain Prof. Scaramella, an expert on poisons from Milan, is involved, lending the tale a Medician flavor. "Polonium" sounds exactly the

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1163971512396244732006-11-19T13:23:00.000-08:002006-11-19T13:25:12.426-08:00

Some more bad news (just for the fun of it)Gazprom has sacked Alexander Ryazanov, a VP and CEO of Gazprom's oil-producing arm, Gazpromneft (made up of Sibneft and whatnot), and is reportedly about to replace him with a former KGB colleague of Putin. Ryazanov was a holdover of a pre-Putin management team, and as such made more sense as a top Gazprom manager than a general-purpose KGB stooge. By

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1163341170425445362006-11-12T06:06:00.000-08:002006-11-12T06:19:30.463-08:00

A Voice from the ChoirAnd the last age -- the most terrible of all --both you and I will see.Foul sin will conceal all the sky;on every mouth, laughter will freeze --the grief of non-existence.From a poem (1910--1914) by Alexander Blok (1880-1921).

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1162558955259743382006-11-03T03:58:00.000-08:002006-11-06T01:49:55.096-08:00

November 4 is almost here -- moreI was referring to this in the previous entry. Now, an aside. The BBC reports that The new holiday [Nov. 4] marks the end of Polish occupation in 1612. I suppose some Russians think so along with the BBC. Yet "the end of Polish occupation" is too vague and inclusive to be acceptable.What ended on or about that day in 1612 was the occupation of Moscow (though not

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1162544228358864422006-11-03T00:49:00.000-08:002006-11-03T00:57:08.393-08:00

November 4 is almost hereLet us pray that no blood be spilt tomorrow in and under the streets of Moscow.

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1161852000063539802006-10-26T00:45:00.000-07:002006-10-26T01:40:00.100-07:00

A sad anniversaryIt was three years ago yesterday that Mikhail Khodorkovsky was arrested in Novosibirsk. The Kremlin's attack on YUKOS was then at full speed, having begun in summer 2003. At that time, some bought the version that Khodorkovsky was seeking political power through the Duma, buying up votes and donating to opposition parties, and sought to sell his oil assets to a US oil major. It's

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1161156930040786672006-10-18T00:02:00.001-07:002006-10-18T00:35:30.080-07:00

This article in Newsweek seems to give a helpful if exaggerated picture of what the authors term a "new feudalism" in Russia. This term gives a bad name to European feudalism but I can'tcome up with a better one yet.For one, this sentence:From the mightiest oligarch to the lowliest common citizen, every aspect of every Russian's life—their right to a home, their car or work—increasingly

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1160242964460047992006-10-07T10:38:00.000-07:002006-10-07T10:43:25.956-07:00

Moscow: the madness escalatesAnna Politkovskaya -- the very well-known independent/opposition Russian journalist -- was shot in Moscow at about 4pm today.Is it a present for Putin on his 54th birthday, which is today, October 7?Happy birthday, Klein Zaches!

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1160167924087011592006-10-06T12:54:00.000-07:002006-10-06T13:52:04.123-07:00

The Kremlin has gone madThis hunt for people with Georgian last names the Kremlin is leading is beyond belief. (Clearly it is ethnic Georgians who are targeted regardless of nationality -- not just "illegal immigrants.") I have a feeling this country is ruled by lunatics. Not just cynics but asylum types. I haven't had this feeling of trouble descending since August 1991 -- when it all ended well

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1159625933102984972006-09-30T07:11:00.000-07:002006-09-30T07:18:53.133-07:00

Three posts on LanguageHat's blog-- The islands of White Water, the kingdom of Opon', and other happy neverlands in the Russian folk tradition.-- Lithuanian spelling rebelling against Russian and Polish domination.-- Love is a four-letter word but surely not in Russian? Check it out.

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1159178935249799682006-09-25T01:15:00.000-07:002006-09-25T03:08:55.290-07:00

Benedict and his criticsUntil recently, I took John Dolan's attacks on Christopher Hitchens (and his patron unsaint, George Orwell) with a huge pitch of salt: Dolan is no doubt a good writer but exaggeration is part of his method. When it comes to excoriating various "Tories" and their crimes against the Irish and the Roman Catholics, Dolan works wonders, of a negative sort though, yet I'm still

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1158937018917114882006-09-22T07:54:00.000-07:002006-09-22T07:56:58.920-07:00

Another amusing CIS blog, with picturesEnglish Russia "is a daily entertainment blog devoted to the events happening in Russian speaking countries, such as Russia (Russian Federation), Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Kazakhstan, etc. Everyday something interesting happens in the countries occupying 1/6 of the populated world. We are here to inform you about it."It's entertaining indeed.

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1158936829639874672006-09-22T07:18:00.000-07:002006-09-22T08:23:59.196-07:00

Back to racism and human natureI have said it before and I'll say it again: Western, and especially American liberals such as New York Times correspondents, have an utterly distorted idea of what humans in general are and why they act the way they do. Most of the time, the see fellow humans through glued-on pink specs but once they spot an object of their ingrained bias, the pink turns into

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1158821048958522212006-09-20T22:59:00.000-07:002006-09-22T06:58:09.906-07:00

A non-updateI've been a bit sick of late, hence zero activity here though non-zero, on my Russian journal, which is mostly devoted to near-literary exploits. I've come to rely on two relatively new blogs for about one half, or more, of my blog reading. For Russia-related posting, it's Sean Guillory's Russia blog; for pretty much everything else, Daniel Larison's Eunomia.

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1157987204719280752006-09-11T07:37:00.000-07:002006-09-11T08:06:45.026-07:00

Five years onI remember that day well: for personal reasons, I took it quite personally. Today, silence seems to me the most appropriate way to remember the dead and console the living.

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1157926826839267332006-09-10T15:19:00.000-07:002006-09-11T04:28:20.706-07:00

Summer's talesThe dacha season is over. On Saturday, we took our last bicycle ride "in the country" -- my five-year-old daughter, my wife, and I. My daughter was telling a long, complicated story of her own invention. "I've composed a new fairy tale. It's called 'The Magic Computer'. It's a Russian folk tale (you know)." As it turned out, part of the action in the new fairy tale took place on a

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1157726101739680742006-09-08T06:32:00.000-07:002006-09-10T05:57:05.880-07:00

Have a good weekendTomorrow On Monday, it will have been five years since 9/11/01. It is sad how much the world has changed since that dreadful day, and not for the better. Freedom, political and otherwise, has suffered, and in this sense, one can say the 9/11 terrorists succeeded.

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1157616661379355712006-09-07T00:24:00.000-07:002006-09-07T01:23:18.926-07:00

A not very important but necessary announcementAs my readers may have noticed, the comments section of this blog has been frequented by the person or persons who runs the notorious blog, La Russophobe. Those comments are as a rule aggressive, sometimes inflammatory, bordering on offensive and insulting, apparently intended to provoke an emotional, and therefore poorly thought-out or personal

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1157535846355899922006-09-06T01:52:00.000-07:002006-09-06T02:44:06.513-07:00

More on KondopogaVeronica Khokhlova has translated a few bits from discussions on Russian live journals. Many thanks to Neeka for making peepholes into the Russian LJ-sphere. There are probably thousands of posts and tens of thousands of comments in the Russian sphere related to the riots in Karelia, but they are all in Russian, and translating LiveJournalese Russian is difficult and

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1157402203149121722006-09-04T12:10:00.000-07:002006-09-04T13:36:46.123-07:00

Those absurd RussiansOne of my favorite theses is that in some areas Russians are so ignorant that they need an urgent crash course -- or they just can't put two and two together. Politics and religion are two of these areas. Judge for yourselves:According to polls conducted by the Levada Center, already in 2002 57% of Russians considered themselves Orthodox Christians. (I believe the percentage

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1157363407554530482006-09-04T00:30:00.000-07:002006-09-04T07:44:28.086-07:00

Kondopoga, Karelia, RussiaThose who follow Russian affairs have probably heard of the "riots" that broke out after August 30, in Kondopoga -- a small town in the Republic of Karelia with a population of about 35,000. The sparse indigenous population of Karelia was probably Finno-Ugric. Slavs began settling in the area at least as early as in the 14th century; in the 15th century, those lands were

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1157318170030319382006-09-03T14:09:00.000-07:002006-09-03T14:16:10.113-07:00

Beslan dayIt's been two years since the tragedy at School No. 1 in Beslan, North Ossetia, Russia. I recommend Veronica's post on the day. If you can read Russian, check out her links.

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1157316850082074922006-09-03T13:02:00.000-07:002006-09-03T13:54:15.626-07:00

Ducks and ducklings

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1157313602792203642006-09-03T12:50:00.000-07:002006-09-03T13:00:02.806-07:00

2006 Toadie UpdateThe 2005 Moscow Toad is here.

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1156338319406527372006-08-23T05:48:00.000-07:002006-08-23T06:06:54.916-07:00

More on the 1991 coupFor those who can read Russian, I recommend these great posts by LiveJournal user sapojnik:"V-Day: the Communist Party vanquished,""Wilted self-esteem,""Less often that Halley's comet," and"Memoirs of an eyewitness,"all about the coup and its aftermath.

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1156139413734443372006-08-20T22:45:00.000-07:002006-08-21T05:28:11.060-07:00

Memories of 1991Fifteen years ago, a group of senior Soviet officials deposed Secretary-General Mikhail Gorbachev, seized power, and declared their intention to revert to pre-Perestroika Communism. Thanks to -- among other things -- Muscovites taking to the streets and the military's reluctance to interfere, the coup failed after only three days. Those three days of fear and resistance were some

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1155240112058142342006-08-10T12:56:00.000-07:002006-08-10T13:01:52.076-07:00

Memories of CreteTaken in September, 2005. Large size here.

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1154677236913984392006-08-04T00:38:00.000-07:002006-08-04T00:40:36.926-07:00

Memories of winter. That is, MarchClicking on the thumbnail picture will take you to my Flickr page (as per terms of service). The largest available size is here. A medium-sized version is here.

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1154096479386590902006-07-28T07:16:00.000-07:002006-07-28T07:22:29.006-07:00

Sean on (the) NashiSean Guillory's post on the Kremlinjugend is highly recommended.

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1152865276739625272006-07-13T23:59:00.000-07:002006-07-14T01:21:16.840-07:00

Belarus: things getting really uglyThe BBC reports:Alexander Kozulin, one of two opposition candidates to run against Mr Lukashenko, was jailed for five and a half years at a court in Minsk. He was convicted of hooliganism [BTW, Kozulin is a former university rector] and incitement to mass disorder.Oddly, Belarus seems the best fit for a European-style democracy in the CIS: it is a 10-million

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1152807373216852312006-07-13T08:42:00.000-07:002006-07-13T09:16:13.310-07:00

Oddly, a good piece on the G8 meeting in NewsweekInteresting though poorly entitled. Stuff like this sounds very, very plausible:Since Putin came to power, authorities have quietly but firmly turned the screws on the free thinkers for which the city [St. Petersburg] was once famous. In recent weeks, police have been going around with lists of known political activists, like 24-year-old Kirill

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1152803361954693272006-07-13T07:42:00.000-07:002006-07-13T08:09:22.053-07:00

Rosneft closes the IPO booksAccording to Vedomosti and other sources, Rosneft closed the books yesterday recording a total of $18 bn in bids. Let's look at some of the reported bidders:Gasprombank: $2.5 bnSinopec: $3.0 bnBP: $2.0 bnPetronas: $1.0 bnVneshtorgbank: up to $0.5 bnRussian individuals: $0.5 to $1.0 bnThis covers up to $10 bn of the total $18 bn leaving out a huge chunk (I wouldn't be

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1152801376910470272006-07-13T07:24:00.000-07:002006-07-13T07:36:16.946-07:00

The Other RussiaFrom an article in The Moscow Times:State Duma Deputy Sergei Glazyev was knocked unconscious Wednesday as he headed to the closing day of an opposition conference, the latest in a series of attacks that the opposition blamed on the authorities. Glazyev, a Rodina member who was to deliver a speech at "The Other Russia" conference, was getting into his car when an assailant struck

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1152044539506230912006-07-04T13:20:00.000-07:002006-07-04T13:22:19.523-07:00

Happy 4th of July to all my American readers.

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1151589068878504702006-06-29T06:13:00.000-07:002006-06-29T06:55:08.716-07:00

How absurdThis WaPo article by Steven Pearlstein sends the right message by absurd means: it is a sensible story told by an idiot (it would seem), or, rather, a poorly informed person, or a propagandist. Quoting Garry Kasparov, who believes in Anatoly Fomenko's theories, on politics, is nearly as convincing as quoting Bobby Fischer. Garry argues that "the only way to deal with a bully like Putin

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1151482387250193662006-06-28T00:08:00.000-07:002006-06-28T01:13:07.356-07:00

What's new in RussiaRecent developments worth covering:1. Russian diplomats kidnapped and murdered in Iraq2. Mittal outbids Severstal for Arcelor3. The stand-off in South Butovo

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1150445129663854832006-06-20T02:15:00.000-07:002006-06-20T01:45:03.213-07:00

NevogradQuite a thread at LanguageHat's. Can't stop blabbing though. No one in his right mind -- a traditionalist would argue -- would found a capital city where Peter the Great did. If that marshy spot were such a great place for a town, how come that nobody -- neither the Vikings, nor Novgorod or Pskov, nor the Swedes -- had tried it before Peter? Nyenskans was just a fortress and wasn't quite

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1150183383567382912006-06-15T03:05:00.000-07:002006-06-15T01:47:10.473-07:00

Tyutchev at 25Fyodor Tyutchev is customarily ranked half a notch below Pushkin and Lermontov in the Russian literary tradition -- along with Afanasy Fet (Foeth), the last of the Golden Age of Russian poetry. Ask the wise, and you may hear that Tyutchev was a great mind preoccupied with Pascal's questions, which I do not doubt. I have tried to come up with a rhythmicized translation of a Tyutchev

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1150189660639745152006-06-13T01:44:00.000-07:002006-06-13T04:37:34.723-07:00

The reasoning behind a great famineSteve Sailer has notes on the Golodomor in (the) Ukraine (let's add Kazakhstan, the West and South Siberia, the South Urals, the Upper and Lower Volga, the North Caucasus). I'm not interested in whether it was genocide, democide or some other sort of mass murder; rather, I'm trying to understand the logic that may have led Moscow to act again the peasants of

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1087902218810205662006-06-07T03:56:00.000-07:002006-06-09T05:49:16.163-07:00

Evolution's blind alleyTwo years ago or earlier I made a point to translate into English what I consider one of the most meaningful Russian poems of the 20th century, Osip E. Mandelstam's Lamarck. It's still work in progress but it's time to share it with the world. The poem must have to do with evolutionary theodicy -- its impossibility -- with the pain of Evolution, or Nature herself leading

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1149088952687615852006-05-31T08:17:00.000-07:002006-05-31T08:25:43.643-07:00

Grant Wood revisitedBill Kauffman writes about Wood and the Regionalists in The New Pantagruel. I love Grant Wood -- for many things, such as The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere. A painfully sweet, lost and forlorn fairy tale, and a hobby-horse for a model.

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1149088585142182762006-05-31T08:09:00.000-07:002006-05-31T08:16:25.156-07:00

SubbotniksLanguageHat on the Subbotniki: the sect and the Communist tradition. Lots of curious bits in the thread.

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1148917042900833962006-05-29T08:21:00.000-07:002006-05-29T08:37:22.953-07:00

Im wunderschönen Monat MaiI heard a nightingale sing very early in the morning -- from our modest apartment, not that far from the city center. The trills were distant but distinct: the night was quiet. What a wonder.

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1148539647255854432006-05-24T23:21:00.000-07:002006-05-24T23:47:27.270-07:00

Kotkin on PutinStephen Kotkin has published a long article entitled Gasputin in The New Republic. One can read the first page by Googling "stephen kotkin gasputin." The remaining four pages are only available to subscribers. Could somebody sum up Kotkin's main points? Page one sounds convincing.

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1146912270535688892006-05-06T03:43:00.000-07:002006-05-06T03:44:48.966-07:00

Gone to the Sinai peninsula.

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1146586445144008112006-05-02T09:01:00.000-07:002006-05-02T09:14:05.166-07:00

Over there, not much hope either?I'm no fan of Mark Steyn, not even remotely, but this is something to quote:Herbert Asquith is not the most famous British Prime Minister to American ears, but he’s the one who took his country into the Great War, which is the one that ended the Caliphate and delivered the Arab world into British hands. His great-granddaughter, Emma Clark, is now a Muslim. She’s a

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1146584481770328622006-05-02T08:11:00.000-07:002006-05-02T08:41:21.866-07:00

A dilemmaSuppose Putin has just done something controversial and a pack of well-meaning pundits are at his unreachable throat. Suppose I believe that any rational Russian leader should have acted as Putin did, although for a different reason. Also suppose I am in opposition to Putin's government and believe the sooner it goes, the better for Russia; whenever Putin does the right thing, I am

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1146560086798388512006-05-02T00:44:00.000-07:002006-05-02T01:54:47.743-07:00

Plans for May and laterI have translated extracts from George Fedotov's articles (Birth of Liberty and Russia and Freedom), promising to do more. Since Fedotov, the author of Saints of Old Russia, The Russian Religious Mind and numerous articles, was one of the most interesting, educated and balanced Russian thinkers of the last century, I would like to complete the translation of both pieced I

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1146035349322113952006-04-25T22:34:00.000-07:002006-04-26T00:09:09.430-07:00

Important qualificationMy calling Putin's clique "vampires" is a metaphor, not a substantial judgement. I do not mean to say that any of those people are essentially unhuman; no, they are as human as you and I, and I am not in the least a better human than they are. It is not their essence or nature that are vampirical but their actions and worldview. Whenever I call someone a bad name, it should

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1145716117613181952006-04-25T01:15:00.000-07:002006-04-24T23:34:52.006-07:00

More on BakhminaIf any of the wrongs that Russia's government has recently committed merits international interference or protests, it has to be the conviction of Svetlana Bakhmina, a former corporate lawyer with YUKOS, for "embezzlement" and "tax evasion." The convicted mother of two, who has been in detention since 2005, is not only legally innocent -- her standing within YUKOS clearly

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1145519648802313042006-04-20T00:44:00.000-07:002006-04-20T00:54:08.813-07:00

The Last Drop"Yukos Lawyer Sentenced to 7 Years," reports The Moscow Times. Said lawyer, Svetlana Bakhmina, is a married mother of two and a self-made woman: the first in her family to get a higher education, she rose through the corporate ranks by hard work and merit.It is now painfully clear that Putin's junta has no problem imprisoning obviously innocent, essentially common people (as opposed

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1145202625012148142006-04-16T08:42:00.000-07:002006-04-16T08:54:09.353-07:00

The best from the past fortnightTwo threads on LanguageHat both starting with poems by Canadian poet Margaret Avison: the longer one and the shorter one.

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1144334819698452182006-04-06T07:04:00.000-07:002006-04-16T08:54:35.483-07:00

TriviaI have quite a few things to write about but spring apathy caused, no doubt, by vitamin deficiency, is keeping my concentration ability at a level where I can barely pen a coherent line. In lieu of those incomprehensible insights, I recommend J.Cassian's entry on the death of Stanislaw Lem, the great Polish sci-fi author who has been so impressively popular in Russia for four decades.

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1144072693359811372006-04-03T06:54:00.000-07:002006-04-03T06:58:13.373-07:00

The spam I getSender: piazza pulpitSubject: Re: Your futureSender: greet lousySubject: Your lifeSender: eighty screwySubject: Re: Your moneySender: stevend abrahamianSubject: Your family

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1144068050751213482006-04-03T05:16:00.000-07:002006-04-03T05:42:11.710-07:00

From the Tsar to Martini...Actually, to Bohuslav Martinu: Russian Tsars in Czech and Slovak operas and other curiosities discussed on LanguageHat's blog.

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1143790143743492982006-03-30T22:16:00.000-08:002006-03-31T00:37:45.260-08:00

Xenophobia: a reaction to what?I'm trying to put things into the right perspective in response to Sean Guillory's post at Publius Pundit.

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1143728257318475432006-03-30T06:00:00.000-08:002006-03-30T06:17:37.333-08:00

Freiheit, schöner Götterfunken?President Bush has said this:I believe liberty is a universal thought. It's not an American thought, it is a universal thought. And if you believe that, then you ought to take great comfort and joy in helping others realize the benefits of liberty. The way I put it is, there is an Almighty God. One of the greatest gifts of that Almighty God is the desire for people

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1143463795069317642006-03-27T04:34:00.000-08:002006-03-27T04:50:36.060-08:00

Back to dissecting the Russian SoulThis time at Sean's Russki Blog, while commenting on the unnatural affection for the Georgian monster common not only among the underclass but among the people who, by virtue of their education, have a duty to know better:Russians are extremely individualistic -- more so than Americans can imagine -- but they feel their individualistic impulses can be socially

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1143287650975553212006-03-25T03:38:00.000-08:002006-03-25T03:54:11.060-08:00

Owen and Pound on WWIEzra Pound's breaking the pentameter, and Wilfred Owen's keeping it, discussed at LanguageHat's. Only 22 comments so far.

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1143129892603112962006-03-23T07:26:00.000-08:002006-03-23T08:04:52.643-08:00

Just don't argue anymoreI don't know much about psychoanalysis. One thing I do know now is that, practised outside of the doctor's office, it turns into quackery -- as a rule. Psychoanalytical studies of fiction often read like ravings of a mental patient. (I'm leaving aside similar attempts at Christianity for now.) As the disturbed go, the practitioner can be an expert -- in this case, at the

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1143122750170778052006-03-23T05:56:00.000-08:002006-03-23T06:05:50.183-08:00

Who's second to none in all the world in his devotion to Liberty?Edgar Lee Masters wrote in John Hancock Otis:As to democracy, fellow citizens, Are you not prepared to admit That I, who inherited riches and was to the manner born, Was second to none in Spoon River In my devotion to the cause of Liberty?This one's familiar. But who's the adversary with a Gaelic name?While my contemporary,

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1143022246435744762006-03-22T00:22:00.000-08:002006-03-23T06:33:36.606-08:00

Charlemagne's last daughterA Russian LJ user whose nick I don't remember has drawn the public's eye to the anthem of Andorra. Its text is a short poem in Catalan coming as it were from the mouth of Andorra herself, an ever-young princess of Carolingian stock: El gran Carlemany, mon Pare dels alarbs em deslliurà,I del cel vida em donà de Meritxell, la gran Mare,Princesa nasquí i Pubilla entre dues

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1142932657516183032006-03-21T00:47:00.000-08:002006-03-21T01:17:37.530-08:00

Peripheral and other artistsI have enjoyed Donald Pittenger's "Peripheral Artists" series as 2Blowhards.com more than any other visual arts text for I don't remember how long. Here are the installments:1. Edelfelt2. Gallén3. Serov4. Levitan5. Vrubel6. Peripheral ExplanationIn a similar vein, a post on Bastien-Lepage.

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1142609496691448002006-03-17T07:22:00.000-08:002006-03-17T07:31:36.710-08:00

What makes me pinch myselfThere is something surreal about the second photograph of these three. This is clearly Moscow -- in fact, as the comments make clear, the building on the right is "Vysotsky's House" -- and the neo- (or pseudo-?) Gothic shape over there looms like a mirage, an atmosperic capriccio.

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1142502804636717892006-03-15T22:58:00.000-08:002006-03-16T01:53:24.726-08:00

Timing is everything, againMilosevic couldn't have died at a better time for his prosecutors: just as their case had developed a terminal condition, and just as the logic of the trial dictated that Clinton et al. be questioned, with various unpleasant truths threatening to hop out of the sack -- the case left for good the court's jurisdiction. It amuses me no end that Carla del Ponte deserves

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1142238032146317102006-03-13T00:17:00.000-08:002006-03-13T00:20:32.166-08:00

To live, don't let liveRussians who have lived in the Anglophone West often report an unpleasant finding: the prevalence of "report your neighbor" as a type of citizen activism.You think some people in your neighborhood have ugly front yards? You suspect the family next door is dumping hazardous waste in their back yard? That guy has bought a house too good for a modest government employee? The

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1142151867489707732006-03-12T00:19:00.000-08:002006-03-12T00:24:27.503-08:00

Springtime in MoscowAbove: Bitsa Park, March 8.This morning: -4C and snowing.

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1141991079121867202006-03-10T03:29:00.000-08:002006-03-10T03:44:39.490-08:00

The Russian Federation as a failed stateThe European Court of Human Rights has awarded 35,000 euros to a young Russian woman who suffered abuse at the hands of the Russian police back in 1999. Though the incident dates back to the last year of Yeltsin's presidency, what evidence is available to the general public suggests that the police and the courts continue to break the law on a large scale

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1141910903471352832006-03-09T01:28:00.000-08:002006-03-09T05:28:23.563-08:00

An apologyI have an ugly habit of not answering e-mail. I apologize to all of my readers whose messages I have not answered. I am going to clear up the backlog and answer them all.

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1141636679337418362006-03-06T00:21:00.000-08:002006-03-06T01:18:01.566-08:00

Theories of NonsenseReading this translation thread at LanguageHat's, I asked myself: Why is that theories of translations have multiplied in the past, say, four decades, but good translations (of Russian authors into English and vice versa) have not?Also found via comments at LH, Gary Saul Morton's Absolute Nonsense -- an excellent explanation of what is missing from most Gogol translations.

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1141396899006504182006-03-03T06:09:00.000-08:002006-03-03T06:41:39.230-08:00

More on Tocqueville, Pushkin and images of AmericaAlexandr Dolinin on perceptions of early America in old Russia, in his review -- mostly scathing -- of Alexandr Etkind's Interpretation of Travels:In Chapter VII of Part 2 ("De l'omnipotence de la majorité aux Etats-Unis et de ses effets") Tocqueville writes perspicaciously on a democratic "tyranny of the majority" enslaving not the body but the

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1141214377180983192006-03-01T03:21:00.000-08:002006-03-01T03:59:37.193-08:00

Here comes the sun, yeah rightIt was -16C in Moscow on the so-called first morning of spring. The Julian calendar is at least closer to nature -- its March would begin on March 14. The sun has become brighter and warmer, though -- beware of falling icicles!

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1141130066909615312006-02-28T04:16:00.000-08:002006-02-28T04:34:26.923-08:00

Anti-crusade (or crescentade) of the childrenRBC, a leading Russian business news agency, reports, citing the AP:Pakistan: Children demand execution of Mohammed cartoon authorsChildren aged 8 to 12 took part in a 5,000-strong demonstration in Pakistan today. The young participants demanded that the authors of the cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed be executed. "Hang those who insulted the

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1141046943030078382006-02-27T04:22:00.000-08:002006-02-27T09:22:14.086-08:00

Spengler in the land of dawnThe genleman or lady who writes in The Asia Times under the pen name of Spengler must be one of the most intriguing Anglophone columnists. Some of his theological views, if I may call them so, remind me of Lev Shestov, although the Russian philosopher would not have resorted to the columnist's simplifications and generalizations, nor is Shestov a probable source of

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1140944645901943912006-02-26T00:45:00.000-08:002006-02-26T01:04:05.913-08:00

Adopting the ways of the Shining CityAccording to RIA Novosti,The lower house of the Russian parliament, the State Duma, passed a counter-terrorism bill in the final third reading Sunday.The bill [...] empowers Russian secret services to tap telephone conversations and control electronic communications in areas where counter-terrorism operations are carried out.In other words, to keep doing

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1140807862741968692006-02-24T10:51:00.000-08:002006-02-24T11:04:22.756-08:00

Neeka's Backlog has been voted Best CIS Weblog at AFOE...... and is eligible for a pair of Satin Pajamas. Congratulations, and thanks to the voters who made the right choice.

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1140600577605820332006-02-22T00:53:00.000-08:002006-02-22T01:29:38.446-08:00

Before History's tribunalAs one Russian LiveJournal blogger remarked, if David Irving deserves three years in jail, Anatoly T. Fomenko deserves the firing squad.Fomenko, a member of the Russian Academy of Science, is a distinguished mathematician with an all too avid interest in history. Starting with legitimate concerns about radiocarbon dating methods and discrepancies in old chronicles and

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1140597784409737692006-02-22T00:13:00.000-08:002006-02-22T00:43:04.423-08:00

The Hesperides' rotten applesJohn Derbyshire writes on Hesperophobia, or hatred of the West, again -- and, as usual, it's a mix of insight, conceit and moral idiocy. JD loves to repeat, "our cultural superiority." I suggest that he ask an average college graduate from his home country, the UK, what she knows of Aristotle, Plato, Augustine, Shakespear or Milton. An interview like that would bring

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1140507845660904192006-02-20T22:59:00.000-08:002006-02-20T23:44:05.700-08:00

Der UntergangDavid Irving's having been jailed for three years by an Austrian court for making a speech in 1989 denying the Holocaust as commonly understood, is beyond belief. Not only does it make Vladimir Putin appear a great proponent of free speech, but it also hints at the totalitarian potential of the New European Order. Our good man in the Kremlin has an invaluable precedent on his hands

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1140385872072348042006-02-19T13:13:00.000-08:002006-02-27T09:30:44.316-08:00

Re: SteppenwolvesThe Kipchaks, nomads who used to wander in the steppes north of the Black Sea and disappeared completely by the 17th century, are famous in a peculiar way: who hasn't heard the first tune from The Polovtsian Dances, which crown the second act of Borodin's only opera, Prince Igor? Polovtsy is the old Russian word for "Kipchaks" (I use "Russian" to mean "of old Rus'" in this entry)

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1140018258207944712006-02-17T07:35:00.000-08:002006-02-17T07:32:46.936-08:00

I'm taking liberties with a 1908 poem by Alexander Blok.Nailed to the bar,dead drunk. What do I care?Ah look -- my bliss there, on a sleighgone into silvery smoke.Flying on the sleigh, drowned in the snowof times, the faraway of centuries.It's overswept my soul,the silvery haze from 'neath the hooves.Into the dead of dark, sparks sputter.The sparks -- all night, all night it's light.The

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1140075913354416472006-02-15T22:40:00.000-08:002006-02-15T23:45:13.370-08:00

War scribblesWilliam Grimes of the NYT discovers what we've known all along about the Russo-German war of 1941--1945: The American experience of tight-knit platoons bound by loyalty and friendship did not exist in the Soviet armed forces. [During the first stage of the war, I must add.] The extremely high casualty rates ensured a constant turnover in personnel. Most soldiers either died or were

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027777.post-1140006518079270062006-02-15T03:43:00.000-08:002006-02-15T04:28:38.093-08:00

And you thought golf was elitist... Paul Fahri writes in the WaPo (hat tip to iSteve): But the Winter Games are about a few other things as well: elitism, exclusion and the triumph of the world's sporting haves over its have nots.What the Winter Games are not is a truly international sporting competition that brings the best of the world together to compete, as the promotional blather would have

Alex(ei)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05922917428608106970noreply@blogger.com0