Stories about Eastern & Central Europe from October, 2010
CEE: IKEA
Czechmatediary, 20 east, Robert Amsterdam, and The Russia Monitor – on IKEA.
Russia: Bloggers Discuss Putin's Bruise
The recent visit of Vladimir Putin to Ukraine surprised Internet community with official photographs of Putin with a bruise on his face. Russian bloggers jumped on the opportunity to talk...
“United Russia” Ideologist Calls to Forbid Official Blogs
Alexey Chadaev, a leading ideologist of “United Russia,” calls [RUS] to ban blogs and microblogs of senior Russian officials. Chadaev explains that blogging threatens the authority of the Russian political leadership...
Serbia: Netizens Discuss a U.S. Fighter Pilot's Suicide
The tragic death of American fighter pilot Lt. Col. Harold F. "Hootch" Meyers, who committed a suicide at his home in Santa Barbara on Sept. 12, echoed in the Serbian media and online communities - and there were strong reasons for it.
Russia: Blogger Navalny Tries to Prove That Fighting Regime is Fun
One of the most prominent Russian bloggers that use the Internet for fighting corruption in Russia, Alexey Navalny, gives interview to "RuNet Echo" He contemplates if the blogosphere can have a real political impact in Russia and share his further plans for using information technologies in the struggle against injustice.
Video: One Minute Jr video nominees for 2010 Awards
The nominees for each of the 3 categories in the One Minutes Jr project competition 2010 have been selected. In each of the categories of (Self)-portrait, Inside-Out and One Minute...
FSU: ‘The Road’ by Vasily Grossman
Robert & Elizabeth Chandler’s translation of The Road, a short story by Vasily Grossman, and Robert Chandler's article about Grossman's stories and his friendship with Andrey Platonov – at OpenDemocracy.net.
Ukraine, Serbia: Food, Libraries, Dwellings
A Crimean Tatar wedding feast and fall's bounty at a Kyiv farmers’ market – at The Pickle Project; an initiative to help a library in the Ukrainian town of Konotop...
Slovenia: Dr. Peter Bossman, First Black Mayor
Adventures in Wheelville is “celebrating” the election of Slovenia's “first black mayor” – Dr. Peter Bossman.
Poland: Krakow
Polandian follows the construction of Krakow's new pedestrian bridge and reports on the process in this photo post. Greetings from Kyiv visits Krakow, finds the city “gorgeous” and posts some...
Russia: Online Activism Success Stories
While Internet analysts across the Atlantic are busy arguing whether technology brings about social and political change or not, bloggers in Russia add their humble contributions to the debate, probably unaware that the debate is taking place at all. Their victories are small and not numerous; their impact can easily be attributed to statistical error - but they certainly are out there.
Ukraine: Dog does Parkour
This video is once again making its rounds internationally, adding a twist to the usual parkour video. In it, a Staffordshire Terrier can be seen running up walls, trees and...
Russia: Post-Emergency Sustainability of Crowdsourcing Projects
Gregory Asmolov analyzes the fate of the Ushahidi-based Help Map project after the wildfires have ended. What is the future of emergency projects and how can we make them more sustainable?
Serbia: Children Get Military Training in Russian Camps
In the prime of the newest public discussion on patriotism and the origin of violence in the Serbian society, newspaper Danas reported that two years ago Serbian children, aged 11 to 15 years old, had spent 16 days in scout camps in Russia, where they were being trained to assemble and dismantle weapons, to throw bombs, and to fire rifles. Sinisa Boljanovic translates some of the reactions to the case.
The Balkans: Angelina Jolie's Bosnian War Movie
Greater Surbiton writes about “Angelina Jolie's Bosnian imbroglio”; Belgraded reviews “anti-Serb” movies.
Russia: More on the Kremlin Worm
More on the Kremlin worm – at Dmitry Sidorov's The Putin State Chronicles. (Yelena Osipova's GV text on the worm scandal is here.)
Russia: Report on Geography of Russian Internet
Russian Sphinx highlights a report issues by the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM) on the geography of the Russian internet.
Russia: Photos of Kurdish Refugees and Homeless People
At PhotoPolygon, photos of ethnic Kurdish refugees from Uzbekistan living in the woods outside Novosibirsk (by user Bender13, via English Russia), and of the homeless people in Blagoveshchensk (by user...
Russia: “Scary Fairy Tales”
War and Peace comments on Ludmilla Petrushevskaya's Scary Fairy Tales story collection.
Venezuela: Nuclear Energy Deal with Russia
President Hugo Chávez met with his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, in Russia on October 14. At the meeting they signed a "plan of action" on different issues; among them, building a nuclear plant in Venezuela. Venezuela is the first Latin American country to sign an atomic energy deal with Russia.
Ukraine, USA: Kuchma and Clinton
Ukrainiana writes about the current political situation in Ukraine, the Gongadze case, and ex-president Kuchma's special relationship with ex-president Clinton – here and here.
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