Russian blogs

Poking around online this evening (OK, this morning by now) I found several interesting Russian blogs - if you read Russian, check out the links in the list over on the right-hand side of the screen (I haven't broken them out as a separate category, although I may do that at some point). Enjoy!

Sunshine

There was lovely sunny weather on Friday, so I took a lunchtime excursion to the antiques store at Malaya Nikitskaya 16, which also has a books section that specializes in dictionaries and foreign-language (i.e., non-Russian) used and rare books. Not the most interesting bookstore in the city for me by a long shot, but it's close to the office and I hadn't been there in a long time. When I arrived, I found the store's power out and numerous employees sitting in the dark discussing (1) how this might have happened -- the consensus was that some construction workers in a neighboring building were to blame -- and (2) how they might be able to boil water for a cup of tea without the use of their electric teakettle.

The sun shining into the darkened, dusty air of the store, coupled with some well-placed antique busts, created an interesting effect:





The store's exterior has a classic "книги" ("books") sign, which I will try to snap the next time I am in the area. Somehow I didn't think of that today, but I did get this rather spontaneous photo of an elderly lady shoveling snow in front of a neighboring building:

On a lighter note...

...is it really time for Eurovision 2005 already?! My, how time flies.

MT Murmurs

Earlier in the week I mentioned two excellent recent articles by the LA Times' Russian correspondent, Kim Murphy, but failed to name the second one. The second of Murphy's two interesting articles was in Wednesday's Moscow Times and is one of several articles in that day's paper that, taken together, have to make one wonder where exactly this country is headed.

It's true that Murphy's article appears to constuct a youth opposition "trend" from relatively weak evidence -- a protest held by "dozens of students and other young activists" and two websites -- but in addition to some of the comments by these new dissidents I found the statement about Putin's name going "unuttered in public expressions of opposition" to be quite revealing. This phenomenon should not be news to any observer of Russia in the past couple of years, but instead of taking it for granted that many Russians are now either reticent or afraid to publicly criticize the president we should be noticing what a throwback this is to Soviet norms. By the way, the full text of the article is definitely worth a read -- I've edited it rather heavily here where shown ([...]).

In Russia, Dissent Has the Power of Youth
By Kim Murphy, Times Staff Writer

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — Mikhail Obozov was in grade school when thousands of people took to the streets of Moscow and helped bring down the Soviet Union. The repressions of the Communist era are like old family stories, droll and sad, told over the kitchen table. "Of course I don't remember it, but I imagine it like the book by George Orwell, '1984,' " the 21-year-old engineering student said. "The repression of personality. People being brainwashed, turned into state ideologues. Actually, you can draw a lot of parallels between this novel and the situation in Russia right now."

Alarmed at what was happening under the government of President Vladimir V. Putin, Obozov this month launched a student group called Marching Without Putin. One night last week, Obozov and dozens of students and other young activists joined the pensioners who have been swarming Lenin Square here for weeks to protest cutbacks in their social benefits. Many of the youths said they were angered by bus fare increases, a possible end to military draft deferments and the erosion of democratic freedoms in Russia. Across the snowy square, they bellowed anti-Putin slogans and calls for the government to resign.

"There is no real democracy in Russia, and people who try to resist the power of the authorities are thrown into prison. That's why young people want to have real political rights. People are learning to resist, and that's good," said Alexander Iskrinsev, 20, a law student. [...]

The young protesters also did not shy from directing their venom directly at the president. Out of fear, decorum or both, Putin's name usually goes unuttered in public expressions of political opposition in Russia."We shouldn't look for scapegoats. The main person who deserves all the blame is Mr. Putin, and every new day of Putin as president pushes citizens farther from a normal life," Maxim Reznik, the 30-year-old head of the pro-democracy Yabloko party in St. Petersburg, said during Tuesday night's protest here. [...]

[...story-balancing quotes from Moving Together SPB spokesperson...]

The Putin government touched a raw nerve with students when it reduced their public transportation subsidies along with those of pensioners. Other students opposed the government crackdown on the Yukos oil company, which they saw as suffocating their future job prospects along with the Russian economy. Still more anger was raised by announcements that college students no longer get automatic draft deferments, a crucial issue for young men hoping to avoid service in Russia's war against separatists in the republic of Chechnya."First of all, we students don't want to fight in Chechnya, and secondly, we don't want to serve in the army in order to build vacation homes for generals," Obozov said.

He found wide agreement with his views in chat rooms on the Internet, and Marching Without Putin was born. So far, it has done most of its work via its website, http://www.noputin.com/, gathering several hundred supporters in cyberspace. But Obozov hopes the initial two rallies in St. Petersburg will spark others across the country. This month, the dean of his faculty at a local technical institute and an official with the municipal youth department approached Obozov and his colleagues. The official also phoned the students' parents and warned that their political activities could bring problems at school, Obozov said."He asked us not to touch on the war in Chechnya, and not to touch on Putin personally," he said. "He asked us to be more moderate, not to create problems for ourselves and others."

"It's not that we live in a police state," said Sergei Shedov, 21, a computer programming student and a co-founder of Marching Without Putin, "but we think that everything is going in that direction. "In Moscow, http://www.skaji.net/, or "Say No," was launched by a group of students as another Web-based opposition force that challenges young Russians to reject the benefits reduction law and the "unprofessional government." The site has a map pinpointing more than 80 Russian cities in which there have been protests against the new benefits law.

"We show that Russia is burning. Really, there is a big, big problem in this country. But if you tune in to the first [government-run television] channel or second channel, you will never know about it," said Skaji.net creator Alexander Korsunov, 22, a graduate student in political science. [...]

Amen. It is very hard to get a sense of what is actually going on in Russia from the news programs on either of the state-run channels, and even NTV has been more reserved in its criticism of late. The few newspapers in Moscow & St. Petersburg that remain openly critical of the government can shout until they are blue in the face, but the fact remains that their arguments will be heard only by a fraction the people reached by the national TV channels. It's interesting to look at the following article in that context:

Ivanov Warns of Distrust
Wednesday, February 2, 2005. Issue 3097. Page 3. Reuters

Growing public distrust in the authorities is becoming a threat to the country's stability and national security, Security Council Secretary Igor Ivanov said Tuesday.

Ivanov, a former foreign minister who is known for his caution in political statements and his loyalty to President Vladimir Putin, urged the Kremlin to map out a clear vision of where it was leading the country.

"There is an obvious decline in public trust in all power structures and state institutions," Ivanov said in a speech, the text of which was published on the Security Council's web site, http://www.scrf.gov.ru/.

Ivanov, addressing a meeting of experts, made his comment in a list of perceived threats to political and social stability and security. The Kremlin has been alarmed by a wave of public protests by mostly elderly people against a law scrapping state social benefits for meager cash payments. The anger has dented Putin's popularity ratings for the first time in his nearly five years of rule.

Ivanov said there was lack of public confidence over threats from terrorism, and concern over environmental and demographic problems.

Ivanov said the Kremlin had to lay out a clear strategic vision. "Generally speaking, there is a growing need to work out an integral and comprehensive vision of strategic targets in managing the state," he said.

I think what he really means is, "We need to do a better job of fooling the people into thinking we have their best interests at heart. Popular distrust of Channel 1 threatens stability and security."

The following MT opinion piece, actually reprinted from Izvestiya, shows that at least some observers here recognize the growing gap between the news and reality, which would seem to confirm Ivanov's concern about the "decline in public trust in all power structures and state institutions" -- although it's not what Ivanov had in mind, ORT and RTR (a.k.a. Channels 1 & 2, respectively) are nothing if not power structures and state institutions.

The Real Practical Joke Is on State TV Viewers
By Irina Petrovskaya
Wednesday, February 2, 2005. Issue 3097. Page 11

NTV news had the story of the week last week: the groundbreaking ceremony for a new $6.5 million to $7.5 million water park in the Chechen city of Gudermes. The ceremony was attended by Chechen Prime Minister Sergei Abramov and his first deputy, Ramzan Kadyrov. A number of high-profile guests from Moscow were also in attendance, including socialite and talk show host Ksenia Sobchak, who got a ride to the site in Kadyrov's Hummer. Later, she kicked off a concert and was full of optimism about the construction of the water park, as if to say that one day we will all be able to visit Chechnya in safety. She was followed on stage by the rock groups Myortviye Delfiny, or Dead Dolphins, and Zveri, or Beasts -- rather strange names in this context.

I don't know how you felt, dear reader, but I got the feeling that I was being played for a fool. Surely this couldn't be happening? But it was all for real: the water park -- the last thing war-torn Chechnya needs -- and the fair-haired Moscow socialite in the role of honored guest, and the Hummers (NTV reported that Kadyrov has eight of them in his garage) and the rock groups with symbolic names.

A few days before the ceremony in Gudermes, Channel One featured the return of "Rozygrysh," or "Practical Joke," a show that places celebrities in ridiculous situations and then invites everyone, viewers and celebs alike, to laugh at them. The first victim of the new season was none other than the omnipresent Sobchak, which to me also seemed rather symbolic. The stature of celebrities is shrinking. Some, like Sobchak, come quite literally out of nowhere -- not counting her famous surname and the many friends she must certainly have in high places -- to become the darlings of the society columns, the "faces" of glossy magazines and guests on daytime talk shows. Before you know it, they're famous, and while their fame may be dubious or closer to infamy, it's better than no fame at all. A grande dame like Sobchak isn't cut out for the 9-to-5 grind, after all.

The producers of "Rozygrysh" played on Sobchak's extreme self-confidence and her love of all that glitters. At one in the morning, she turned up at a restaurant with a girlfriend (who was apparently in on the joke) to meet with a journalist about an interview for yet another glossy magazine. The conversation itself was telling. In a businesslike manner, our heroine asked the fake journalist if she would have to undress during the photo shoot. The journalist was embarrassed, but the progressive socialite laid it on the line: "I'll show everything but my breasts," she said.

What people won't do for a little publicity.

Before long, our gal turned her attention to a couple of obviously foreign gentlemen dining at the next table. "Who's that?" Sobchak asked the restaurant staff. "That's Abdul, a prince from Africa or some Arab country. He opened a jewelry store here; he deals in diamonds."

The "prince" sent the ladies an expensive bottle of wine. They sampled it and thanked him. At this point, the two Arabs joined the ladies and produced a small box, which they presented to Sobchak's friend. Inside she discovered an enormous diamond ring. With a knowing air, Sobchak estimated the number of karats, but you got the feeling that she was hurt because the ring hadn't been offered to her.

The Eastern gentlemen were prepared to rectify this situation by giving Sobchak an identical ring, but in order to do so they would have to drive to the embassy where, by the way, a closed party was underway with Iglesias father and son in attendance. After resisting a bit to keep up appearances, the ladies agreed. They were driven in a long, white limousine not to the embassy but to an airfield, where a plane was waiting on the tarmac guarded by tough-looking guys with machine guns. The frightened ladies were told that they were all flying to a wonderful country with a stopover in Morocco.

Sobchak the socialite lost her composure at this point and turned into a raging fury with the manners and mouth of a juvenile delinquent. "What's going on?" she demanded. "Do you have any idea what'll happen to you? Don't you know who I am? You're in deep trouble. They'll take you and your buddy Abu Qadabra here and tear you to shreads!" (The socialite's tirade was largely bleeped out.) But the Arabs didn't back down. Finally, Sobchak played her trump card: "Listen carefully. My name is Ksenia Sobchak. If you don't stop this nonsense at once, you'll be in a world of trouble."

On hearing her name, the Arab fell to his knees and kissed Sobchak's feet. The practical joke was over. Everyone laughed and hugged, and even the frightening guys with machine guns gave their victim a friendly peck on the cheek.

To be honest, I expected Little Miss Priss to threaten her abductors with a different name: Putin. (If she did, the scene was prudently edited out.) What remained was more than enough to allow viewers to make an informed evaluation of this society girl's character. I'm no fan of mean-spirited practical jokes as a rule, but in this case it was warranted. All the more so because in the studio, Sobchak continued to behave like a heroine who had gotten out of a tough scrape by besting a clever foe.

This is why when I saw the same woman in the company of bearded men at the groundbreaking ceremony for a water park in Gudermes, at first I assumed it was a continuation of the same gag -- that any minute now Ramzan and Ksenia would admit they'd been putting one over on all the viewers who had long suspected that the enormous sums allocated for the rebuilding of Chechnya were being misappropriated, and that the $6.5 million to $7.5 million was actually being spent to repair water mains and restore power. Alas, this was not to be.

Our life has come to resemble a practical joke lately. But we -- and not the celebrities -- are the real victims. Take state television coverage of the Ukrainian election, for example. For months, their staff propagandists frightened us with stories about Viktor Yushchenko, whose victory, we were told, would directly threaten not just the territorial integrity of Ukraine but of Russia as well. Without a thought for their own gastric well-being, reporters in the field told us in detail what the glutton Yushchenko had eaten to make himself so sick.

How foolish must the gullible viewer now feel as he watches the news on those same stations and sees President Vladimir Putin meeting with the very same Yushchenko whom state television had portrayed as the devil incarnate. I would note that no one from those stations has ever thought of apologizing to the people of Ukraine, not to mention the viewers they misled for so long. Or to the pensioners whom they duped with reports asserting that everyone would live better following the replacement of social benefits with cash payments.

Compared to practical jokes like this, "Rozygrysh" seems like innocent fun. Then again, they say that many celebrities are on the lookout now and no longer trust the television stations. That's good advice for the average viewer, too. Be on alert. Don't believe everything you hear on television. Think. Don't be played for a fool.

I've highlighted another comment suggesting the prudence of not mentioning Putin -- shades of the cult of personality. Otherwise I think this article speaks for itself and does an excellent job of illustrating the sometimes surreal world of Russian TV and the often surreal political landscape here.

Apologies for the longer-than-usual post -- as sometimes happens, now that it's written I wonder whether I've actually been able to convey here the concept I intended at the outset -- namely, the way in which these three articles tie together to show the growth of some Soviet tendencies -- mistrust (to the point of rejection) of the information provided in the state-run mass media and a reluctance to voice direct criticism of the leader. I hope the connections are more or less clear, and if you've read this post to the end then you must have found some sequence of logic to follow or at least found these articles to be interesting reading. Comments, as always, are welcome and encouraged.

A perfect Saturday morning

This is a little photo essay about one of my favorite places in Moscow - the old-school bukinist (antiquarian bookshop) at Ostozhenka St. 53. Although I usually go there on Saturday mornings (the shop's only open 10am-2pm on Saturdays), I think all of these photos were actually taken on other days of the week when I was able to steal a bit of time from the day and make my way over to Ostozhenka.


Platform of the Park Kul'tury metro station on the red line
(known as the "radial" Park Kul'tury station - there's also an
adjacent "ring" Park Kul'tury station on the brown "ring" line)
on the way to the Bukinist store. Often I just hail a car to get
there, because the metro ride requires transferring trains for
a ride that is not really long enough to make that worthwhile.


The exterior of the store during one of the recent days of
blizzard-like conditions.*


View of the store looking to one's right upon entering.
It's not a very big place, but if I haven't been there for
awhile and there are lots of new arrivals, I can easily
spend an hour or more browsing.


View of the store looking to one's left upon entering. The
office where the cashier sits when she has nothing to do
(not an infrequent situation) is visible at far left.


The area I look at first - shelves containing
books published by the famous (among people
who care about these things) Academia
publishing house in the 1920's and 1930's.


Having made some purchases and descended partway into
the Park Kul'tury station, a look back at the entrance/exit
stairwell.

*This photo taken January 27, 2005, shortly after 2pm.
All other photos in this series taken December 25, 2004,
between 10:30 and 11:30am.

"Street Hypnosis"?

Kim Murphy of the LA Times has in the past few days had two of the best articles in the Moscow Times (which frequently runs stories on Russia from major US papers) that I've seen in some time.

One of them, "Giving Until It Hurts," deals with the phenomenon, previously unknown to me, of "street hypnosis" or "gypsy hypnosis":

Across Moscow, a chestnut as old as crystal balls and gypsy curses makes regular appearances on the crime logs — hundreds of victims a year who say they were seduced out of their money in seemingly chance encounters with strangers. Many claim they were hypnotized by intense stares, mesmerizing babble and warnings of curses on their loved ones.

To some of Moscow's cynical detectives, their desks heaped with Mafia assassination and billion-dollar business fraud cases, the idea of street hypnosis has the whiff of mumbo jumbo. Not so to many Russians who were reared on folk tales of vampires, witches and, in the modern era, the hidden powers of the mind. [...]

Police say the main perpetrators of such street fraud are Gypsies, long the victims of police profiling and widespread public discrimination."These are people who have honed their skills to perfection; they have been pulling these kinds of confidence tricks on people for centuries, for generations," [Azerbaijani psychic Tofik] Dadashev said. "They are able to turn off their [victims'] inhibitory mechanisms and ram through their psychological defenses."

Many Gypsies scoff at the notion of street hypnosis and accuse the police of unfairly maligning the entire community. "Gypsies have their own unique culture and traditions, which, like the ones in all other nations, are based on good, not evil," said Nadezhda Demetr, a Gypsy who has a doctorate in Gypsy studies. "Gypsy culture has nothing to do with cheating, thievery and confidence tricks."

Philadelphia police officer Louis Sgro, a specialist in gypsy crime in the United States, said he frequently saw cases of victims claiming hypnosis but did not give them much credence. "What it is, in short, is: 'I'm embarrassed.' People don't want people to know they were stupid," he said.

But here in Moscow, many investigators say they are certain that some suspension of logical thought is involved. "Could a person operating with all of his faculties agree with a plan under which all of the money he saved during his entire life should be given to these people in the street?" said fraud detective Valery Shkarupa, who has handled hundreds of "gypsy hypnosis" cases.

In Moscow, detectives process an estimated 300 to 400 reports a year of what they call gypsy hypnosis. Police say victims may exaggerate claims about hypnosis to disguise their embarrassment over being duped. But Shkarupa, the Moscow detective, says he has no doubt that many fall victim to skillful psychological techniques.

Some fraud experts refer to neuro-linguistic programming, a concept that holds that language patterns can put people into semi-hypnotic states, even in everyday situations. Victims occasionally come to their senses with no recollection of how they lost their money. "In these cases, the victim would not be able to remember anything at all — a totally blank mind," said Alexei Skrypnikov, a retired police colonel and former psychology researcher at the Scientific Research Institute of the federal police. [...]

In the Gypsy quarter of Savyolovo, northwest of Moscow, the local Gypsy baron's house stands taller than the rest on a nearly deserted street. The baron has not made an appearance at home lately, police say, possibly because he is on the federal wanted list for alleged drug trafficking.

Indeed, hardly anyone seems to be at home: The streets are deserted, and knocks on doors go unanswered, except for some furtive peeking from behind drawn curtains. Late-model cars without license plates stand in several driveways. Playing cards lie scattered along the street, half covered by snow.

Almost all the Gypsy residents who could be found said they had heard of gypsy hypnosis, and an equal number said they would never consider engaging in the practice. "We have a power that comes from God. I learned it from my mother, and my mother learned it from her mother. It has been handed down from one generation to another," palm-reader Maria Rylyovskaya said.

"We don't commit bad things," she said. "We only do good things. We help people remove their spells. But the police, when they can't solve crimes committed in the big city, it's easy for them to blame us. They know where to find us. We are simple people who can't defend ourselves."

Her neighbor Ludmila Goyova added: "Of course, it is possible to hypnotize people. It is quite doable, technically. But this is the work of Satan." [...]

Somewhat alarming news from the Motherland

This story seems to be showing up in many places - I saw it on Johnson's Russia List, and it's rare for that to contain something not related to Russia. This is about American high school students):

"First Amendment no big deal, students say"

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The way many high school students see it, government censorship of newspapers may not be a bad thing, and flag burning is hardly protected free speech.

It turns out the First Amendment is a second-rate issue to many of those nearing their own adult independence, according to a study of high school attitudes released Monday.

The original amendment to the Constitution is the cornerstone of the way of life in the United States, promising citizens the freedoms of religion, speech, press and assembly.

Yet, when told of the exact text of the First Amendment, more than one in three high school students said it goes "too far" in the rights it guarantees. Only half of the students said newspapers should be allowed to publish freely without government approval of stories.

"These results are not only disturbing; they are dangerous," said Hodding Carter III, president of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, which sponsored the $1 million study. "Ignorance about the basics of this free society is a danger to our nation's future."

The students are even more restrictive in their views than their elders, the study says. When asked whether people should be allowed to express unpopular views, 97 percent of teachers and 99 percent of school principals said yes. Only 83 percent of students did.

The results reflected indifference, with almost three in four students saying they took the First Amendment for granted or didn't know how they felt about it. It was also clear that many students do not understand what is protected by the bedrock of the Bill of Rights.

Three in four students said flag burning is illegal. It's not. About half the students said the government can restrict any indecent material on the Internet. It can't.

"Schools don't do enough to teach the First Amendment. Students often don't know the rights it protects," Linda Puntney, executive director of the Journalism Education Association, said in the report. "This all comes at a time when there is decreasing passion for much of anything. And, you have to be passionate about the First Amendment." [....]

The hype and panic should perhaps be discounted to allow for the fact that we're talking about high school students here - it's not likely they take surveys like this one seriously at all, so perhaps their responses should not be taken this seriously. However, there is definitely cause for concern here.

MSM outlet demonstrates relevance...sort of

No doubt in response to my post on Saturday about blogging not being sustainable as a full-time profession and therefore not being likely to overtake the mainstream media any time soon, last Sunday's Washington Post ran a piece, under the heading of "How to," instructing readers on how to reap extra income from their blogs.

Item: MSM reveals to bloggers how to blog themselves rich, opening up new resources for the blog revolution! Without further ado:

Make Money off Your Blog
Sunday, January 30, 2005; Page M03
You pound on the keyboard each day, broadcasting your unalloyed truths to the world (or at least to friends and family) via your blog. Unfortunately, earning such singular authority demands serious time and energy, and what begins as a hobby can quickly start seeming like Job No. 2 -- sans paycheck. But haven't you heard? You can turn your Web log into a digital cash cow. Simply choose among these techniques (but keep in mind that it's not all free money -- come tax season, Uncle Sam gets his fair share). [....]

The author (Mike Peed) goes on to list several methods which will be immediately familiar to anyone who has given even passing consideration to commercializing their blog or website.

Unfortunately, as far as I know, none of them is really effective at generating material amounts of money unless you have a much higher volume of traffic than the average amateur blogger. Unless you are constantly updating your blog with new links to photos of Anna Kournikova, it's just not that easy to drive up the amount of visitors to your site with the proliferation of blogs and the market for high-quality ones already pretty saturated. Or maybe it is, and I'm just doing something wrong. Not that I am fixated on traffic. Or money.

Mr. Peed is correct, though, about blogging starting to seem like "Job No. 2" at times - on that note, I need to pack it in for the night so that I can be well-rested for Job No. 1 (the one with that paycheck) tomorrow.

Sunshine

There was so much more of it back on this sunny fall morning:


Archway on the Garden Ring, October 16, 2004.

At the time, I was just looking to get a good photo of the beautiful design on the inside of this archway and the gateway strangely denuded of bars. Little did I know that in a few months I would be looking back in an attempt to recapture the sun.

From back home*

Falling-down house by the side of the road.


Abandoned baseball field.


Water tower and field.

All photos taken in Sumter County, South Carolina,
January 4, 2005, between noon and 1pm.

*I just realized that may be a bit misleading - these are from "back home" only in the sense that they are from the United States. I am from Washington, DC (Northwest in the house), not South Carolina, and I am pretty sure I feel more at home in Moscow (where we've been living for 3+ years now) than I would in Sumter County.