russia – Page 6 – Citizen Reporter

Fear of Losing Estonian-ness

As part of being in Berlin this week I attended a lovely hacker conference-party by the name of PH-Neutral. Perhaps the best part of this get together was that I met two very fun new friends, K and F. (maybe they dont want their names used, who knows)

K recognized me from the talk I gave at the congress back in December, she gave me a big smile and told me how much she enjoyed my talk. Turns out K is Estonian but has moved her life to Berlin. She and her boyfriend took me out on the town last night, exposing me to some of the nightspots where other revolutionaries gather. And throughout the evening we discussed education, culture, the internets, and much more.

One very interesting thing I learned from K about what is going on in Estonia, was about how fearful Estonians are that their culture will disappear. With only around 1 million citizens, she explained that the very common political and social discussion is about how things like culture, language, and especially music, must be preserved and passed on. This is, of course, while Estonia also has a very significant Russian minority that has lived in the country for several decades. The conflict she pointed out was that Russia being so huge and right next door, is seen as a force that could erode Estonian culture… and as an extension of that.. there becomes a struggle between the Estonians and the Russians in Estonia regarding language, culture, and from what Ive read – rights.

So then comes the very typical discussion that you here in various countries… the classic question of how minority groups should interact with the so-called national majority.

K and I agreed that neither of us supports the forcing of anyone to be anything. But I understood that the average citizen in Estonia doesn’t share our opinion. Instead it sounds like typical rhetoric about how minority groups must do this and that in order to be good citizens and get “intigrated”. Still it is hard to compare what happens in Estonia to say.. the US or even Germany. Small place. Few people. Unique situation.

Nuclear Juntas

Can’t quite finish the vlog I’m working on tonight so instead I wanted to bring up Burma. Or Myanmar, same difference.

What strikes me as odd and worthy of attention about Burma is that over the past 6 years they’ve managed to come in completely below the diplomatic and global media radar. Besides the international sanctions applied years ago, rarely does any politician in any country make a concerned speech about a country ruled by a bunch of military thugs. They periodically arrest political dissidents and are conducting their own insane slave labor project of building a new capital, mostly funded with the help of Dick Cheney associates of the oil industry. I guess that detail helps to explain some of the silence from the diplomatic side.

Today I read about Russia’s deal to supply them with a nuclear reactor. Naturally the Russian government, having long shown it doesn’t care much for human rights, see’s no problem in doing such big business with a cabal that the world likes to not think about. And irritatingly enough, compared to all the noise about Iran, or the scary stories spread about North Korea, one would have to work very hard to find criticism of this deal from any powerful government out there.

For the time being, I’ll look to the Burma correspondents of global voices online, who normally provide a good snapshot of happenings in the isolated country.

Tomorrow I’m coming out of academic retirement and participating in blogwalk Amsterdam. I think I’ll take the boat, hopefully parking won’t be bad.

F Yeltsin

Seriously I never liked him and I don’t buy into the whole whitewash the US media gives the story of Russia’s “democratic revolution.” Plus I doubly hated how it was taught in US high school… those pages on Yeltsin, beyond the usual oder of US HS history books, stunk to high heaven. But nevermind my opinion based on facts….

You should read Matt Taibbi’s Rolling Stone piece. It is excellent and one day if I teach high school, I’m pasting in this article as required reading. On the test there will be questions about how much money Yeltsin stole from Russia, and a bonus question looking for a rough estimate as to how many people died thanks to his “democratic reforms”. Anyway I’ve said enough… read Matt.

Oh and if you still need good writing, in this case having nothing to do with fat glorified oligarchs, read Jamie’s latest… love his stories.

More on Russian Oligarchy

As I periodically do on this blog, today I’m writing about how more and more obvious it becomes that the Russian Federation is run by an oligarchy.

Not that its so unique, lots of nations are run by oligarchies, but let’s stay on Russia today. Last weeks news that yet another person who was going to testify that the Russian secret police were responsible for the poisoning of that guy in the UK, once again threw an even brighter blinking red warning sign that not only is Russia run by an oligarchy, the oligarchs are willing to do whatever it takes to stay in power, and that includes the occasional murder.

Oligarchy: (according to webster) 1 : government by the few
2 : a government in which a small group exercises control especially for corrupt and selfish purposes; also : a group exercising such control

Radio Open Source had one of their must-listen-to programs the other day regarding Russia and just what has happenned to the country since their so-called adoption of the market system. Among the things that the interesting guests pointed out:

Anyway there’s plenty more where that came from, but the concern remains the same. Huge inequality continues to grow in Russia while a small group of people plunder its natural wealth. The population is decreasing while the rest of the world pretends Putin is a nice guy and nothing is wrong because they are so addicted to the fuel Russia will provide for the forseeable future.

Holiday Recommendations

Being that most of you are home with some days off, some with lots of time to kill, others with no time (like me!) as you’re forced to drive from place to place on some unspoken quest to see every one of your favorite family and friends within a 150 kilometer radius. I think tonight I’ll recommend some excellent content that has stood out for me lately:

One is a show I constantly recommend, Radio Open Source. The particular show that I really enjoyed was focusing on Gorbachev, Russia, and looking back, asking the question.. what happened and why are things in Russia the way they are. It is a really good discussion and actually attacks alot of opinions Ive long held about Russia and Putin.. Ive actually had to rethink things.. which is always good.

My next recommendation is a very different one from my usual focus. Madge Weinstein recently interviewed Rebecca also known as the Trannywreck from Trannywreck radio. She just had her gender re-assignment surgery to change her penis into a vagina. This interview is great, Rebecca really comes through (in my opinion) as a very calm, thoughtful, and interesting person.. with such a unique experience as a trans-person!

And finally today I want to point out my friends over at the Lounge Chicken. The blog rolls on and i got an email from Jesse recently about some noteworthy citizen journalism projects that are in the works. Hopefully I can get involved, but nevermind all that, first I recommend people read the blog.

I almost forgot, here’s a typically Portuguese gift on xmas, nevermind if you celebrate the holiday or not.. you need COD.

Eye on The Head Russian

Packing.. packing.. and watching.

Vladimir Putin.

Democracy shmerocracy, as time goes on, he reminds me of all the former Russian presidents/dictators going all the way back to Stalin and maybe that Tsar guy who had poor health.

I say this as I watch each report come in about his government’s latest move, public or secretive, to consolidate power, own lots of resources, and get rid of opposition.

Latest one is this 20bn dollar seizure of Shell and their gas projects in places like Siberia. Not that I love shell or gas for that matter, but it continues to seem suspicious that the state gas company buys up more and more and then seems to use this power to influence other countries that need this gas… for example.. the EU.

After the radiation poisoning of this agent guy and the murder of that wonderful journalist, both of which I obviously can’t confirm that government was involved in or at least had some knowledge about… these also seem to be odd occurances.

What did Bush say some 6 years ago about Putin during a state visit… he looked into his soul. We probably should have known then… if Bush looks in your soul and see’s good… well.. that IS probably a sign.

Whatever the case, my concern is with people… Russians, Europeans… Humans. Unfortunately we need these things like gas and oil, and the question is how will all of us be manipulated based on the whims of a leader that has proven, over his very long reign, that he will use all manner of force and persuation.. to get what he wants. Whatever that is.

Thankfully some bloggers are keeping watch…. here’s one I was flipping through today… Im going to keep reading and see if I can’t learn some things and understand better what is happening.