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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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 Posted: Mon May 18, 2009 12:35 pm Post subject: Let's Talk About Russia |
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I encourage all to post their Russia and Russian-satellite links here.
Here's a short blurb on its political leadership:
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After a year of Mr Medvedev�s presidency, a third of Russians feel that Mr Putin is still in charge; only 12% believe that Mr Medvedev has supreme power. In an interview with the Japanese media ahead of his visit there, Mr Putin did not duck the question of who might be Russia�s next president. �President Medvedev and I will decide what we will do, depending on the results of our work,� he said, adding that Mr Medvedev was a �very honourable man who would consider his political future according to the country�s interests.� This suggests that Mr Putin expects his prot�g� to honour whatever agreement they have reached. A popular vote does not seem to feature in the process.
Mr Putin�s comments have reinforced expectations that he will return as president (for two six-year terms) when Mr Medvedev�s term expires in 2012. As for Mr Medvedev, the Moscow rumour mill says he may fancy becoming boss of the constitutional court, a job that also falls vacant in 2012. Mr Medvedev recently suggested that the next head of the court should be chosen by the president. As a top lawyer, he would be in a position to ensure that none of Russia�s recent history was falsified. |
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Big_Bird
Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Location: Sometimes here sometimes there...
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| Posted: Mon May 18, 2009 3:01 pm Post subject: |
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To get you in a 'Russian' mood, here's Russia's entry to the Eurovision Song Contest (which was just held in Moscow a couple of days ago). Your thread inspired me to check out their song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4VoLG-5v_4
Bloody awful if you ask me. Even for a Eurovision song.
They came 10th.
Here's the winning song from Norway.
And that's my contribution. 
Edit: this is interesting, I didn't know this:
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| The contest was held in Russia following its victory in the 2008 contest in Belgrade, Serbia with Dima Bilan's "Believe".[4] Despite the unwillingness of the Mayor of Moscow to hold the contest in the city,[5] Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister of Russia, eventually stated that the contest will be held in Moscow.[6] |
Haha, fancy not wanting to host the Eurovision.  |
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Big_Bird
Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Location: Sometimes here sometimes there...
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| Posted: Mon May 18, 2009 4:06 pm Post subject: |
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Probably only interesting to other Euros, but I was just reading about the hoo-ha surrounding this year's (Moscow hosted) Eurovision on wikipedia.
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"We Don't Wanna Put In"
After being placed to compete in the first semi-final on 12 May, a national final was held in Georgia to select its entry. The selected entry, Stefane & 3G with "We Don't Wanna Put In" gained coverage and controversy due to perceived political connotations within its lyrics relating to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.[59] The EBU rejected the song due to these political connotations, calling it a clear breach of the contest's rules. The EBU then asked the Georgian broadcaster Georgian Public Broadcasting (GPB) on 10 March to change either the lyrics of the song, or to select a new song to compete for the country.[60][61] GPB refused to change the lyrics or the song, claiming that the song contained no political references, and that the rejection by the EBU was due to political pressure from Russia. As such, GPB withdrew Georgia from the contest on 11 March.[62][17] The EBU has yet to make a comment on the country's withdrawal, and it is unknown how Georgia's withdrawal may affect its future participation. On 11 May the band admitted the political content of the song and their intention was just to embarrass Putin in Moscow. They also claim that the EBU banned their message from the competition.[63]
[edit] LGBT protests
Russian gay rights activist Nikolai Alekseev used the Contest's presence in Russia as a platform for promoting the country's position on the rights of LGBT people, countering Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov's view that homosexuality is "satanic".[64] Alekseev announced that the 2009 edition of Moscow Pride, the city's annual gay pride parade, would coincide with the finals on May 16, the day before the International Day Against Homophobia. The parade was also renamed "Slavic Gay Pride", to promote gay rights and culture across the entire Slavic region of Europe.[65] The parade was denied authorisation by Moscow officials on the basis that it would "destroy morals in society"[66] and statements were issued stating that protesters would be treated "toughly",[67] and that "tough measures" would be faced by anyone joining the march.[68] In the event, 20 protesters were arrested by Moscow police on the day of the finals including Nikolai Alexeyev[66]and human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, who exclaimed that "this shows the Russian people are not free" as he was taken away by police.[69] Sweden's representative Malena Ernman supported the cause saying that she is not homosexual herself, would be proud to call herself gay to support her fans. She stated that she was sad that the Moscow government would not allow a tribute to "love".[70] Norway's Alexander Rybak also supported the cause when he jokingly called the Eurovision Song Contest itself the biggest gay parade.[71]
Broadcast delay in Spain
Wikinews has related articles:
After uncertain day of Eurovision rehearsals, EBU will place sanctions on Spain and RTVE
Spain in danger of Eurovision disqualification after scheduling snafu at RTVE
Due to its commitments to broadcast the Madrid Open tennis tournament, Spain's public broadcaster Televisi�n Espa�ola (TVE) broadcast the second semi-final on a tape delay on its second channel TVE2 approximately 66 minutes after the show began in Moscow[72], and used a backup jury rather than televoting to decide its votes. Due to this rule violation, it was announced that Spain would eventually face sanctions, although these sanctions would not affect its participation in Moscow.[73][74] Due to another conflict of interest, Spain had already switched to broadcast the second semi-final rather than the first, which also led to criticisms from the delegations of Andorra and Portugal, which stated that they would have experienced an advantage from a Spanish vote due to their similar cultures.[74]
The day after the semifinal, El Mundo speculated that this delay may have been done on purpose in order to prevent Spain from winning and hosting the contest, speculating that RTVE may not actually want to host the contest if Spain were to win.[75] A statement in ABC had cited technical difficulties for the delay.[72]
[edit] Armenia�Azerbaijan
A series of controversies between Armenia and Azerbaijan unfolded throughout the semi-finals and final. The introductory 'postcard' for Armenia (the short video clip played before the Armenian performance) depicted, amongst other monuments, We Are Our Mountains, a statue located in Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh. The statue was built in Soviet times to represent the area's Armenian heritage, but its location in Karabakh is claimed by both countries.[76] Azerbaijan complained to the EBU that the video clip was unacceptable due to the fact that the statue was on Azerbaijani land. The monument was edited out during the finals presentation.[77] In retaliation, the presenter of the Armenian votes, Sirusho, held up a clipboard with the monument's picture on it multiple times as she read off the votes, and in the background a screen in the capital's main square could also be seen to display the disputed monument.[77]
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Hoho - I never realised it was so political! |
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soviet_man
Joined: 23 Apr 2005
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 1:22 am Post subject: |
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It is no coincidence that the winning boy was born in the USSR.
A factional replacement for Dima Bilan ... |
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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 1:59 pm Post subject: |
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C'mon, Soviet Man, let's see some links!
Cold War Leftovers and Jackson-Vanik
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[T]he Jackson-Vanik amendment. First enacted in 1974, it made normal trade relations with the Soviet Union contingent on free emigration. Russia has now allowed such freedom for years, and a law that once embodied the importance of human rights in East-West relations remains in force merely to provide Congress with leverage in trade negotiations.
Despite its negligible impact on trade, Russians still consider the law a bone in their throat. As Boris Yeltsin once joked, �Every single kid in Russia knows who these people are, Jackson and this guy Vanik,� referring to Senator Henry Jackson and Representative Charles Vanik, the amendment�s co-sponsors. Repealing this law would re-affirm (as presidents never tire of doing) that the cold war really is over. Doing so might also shift attention to Russian foreign-policy attitudes, which remain more obsessively focused on the past than do ours.
Yet the best reason for scrapping Jackson-Vanik is to fashion a more up-to-date way of addressing the concerns that gave rise to it in the first place. In the years since George W. Bush�s efforts to deal with the amendment, American confidence that Russia is moving in a democratic direction has dropped sharply. Our confidence that we have any leverage over the process, or that we know how to use it, has also declined. Leaving this symbol of long-gone issues on the books keeps us from thinking clearly about today�s concerns. |
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soviet_man
Joined: 23 Apr 2005
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 1:20 pm Post subject: |
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| C'mon, Soviet Man, let's see some links! |
You want political links about Russia yes?
KPRF.RU (you can translate page to Englishee through google search results) - this is the main opposition party in the duma - the Communist Party (of which I support).
EXILE.RU / EXILEDONLINE.COM two formerly fantastic blogs before they were shut down.
ENGLISHRUSSIA.COM - great photo blog crap fest |
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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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| Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 1:33 pm Post subject: |
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| soviet_man wrote: |
EXILE.RU / EXILEDONLINE.COM two formerly fantastic blogs before they were shut down.
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Rolling Stone's Matt Tiabbi edited The Exile for many years. He published a book about it.
http://www.amazon.com/Exile-Sex-Drugs-Libel-Russia/dp/0802136524
Very funny book. |
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beercanman
Joined: 16 May 2009
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Robot_Teacher
Joined: 18 Feb 2009
Location: Robotting Around the World
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| Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 8:05 pm Post subject: |
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Wow, Beercanman, those are cool pictures. About 10 years ago, I met the sweetest Russian woman on a train. She spoke excellent English and I learnt Russians really aren't America's enemy. I really recognized this when a military commander of mine told me about his vacation to Moscow. I was thinking, "These sure are different times showing positive changes when you see American military commanders taking vacation in Russia." Amazingly, the people themselves look so white American minus the hats and different style of material objects. Looks to be synonomous with America, but even more patriotic, except I noticed they have tall buildings being constructed so I guess they are redeveloping their economic power and infrastructure. Did their soldiers fight for freedom? What ideals are behind the patriotism? I'd love to go check it out.
Do Russians commonly speak English is it only a few educated in Moscow? |
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Big_Bird
Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Location: Sometimes here sometimes there...
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| Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 8:33 pm Post subject: |
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Great photos. |
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