Looks like Russia escaped the worst of The Great Vodka Shortage of 2006.

But, never ones to let an opportunity to needlessly worry slip by, the Russians are now spooked that they’ll run out of salt, says Two Zero:

Some people seem to believe that Ukraine wants to get back on Russia in the gas dispute. After all about 40% of Russia’s salt comes from Ukraine. The rest is supplied by Belarus, Kazakhstan and other countries. The “salt fever” seems to be triggered by bad memories of Soviet times, when shortages of products were regular and you had to cue up in long lines to get into stores. MosNews brings it to the point: “…But people watch TV, learn that their neighbors rush to shops for salt and follow their example.”

To add to the country’s manic worries, Mosnews yesterday reported its fear that Russia is running out of Uranium, too:

Russia’s uranium reserves could be depleted by 2020 if the current rate of uranium mining is sustained, said on Monday, Feb. 27, Anatoly Ledovskikh, head of the Russian Subsoil Resources Agency (Rosnedra).

Presumably this is why Putin is so keen to cut a uranium enrichment deal with Iran - he plans to siphon off the uranium Russia so desperately need to maintain their position as a nuclear power.

Categories: Russia
No Comments »

Yep, I’ve been tagged to do another of those ‘revealing’ meme things - this time by both Tim Newman and Sean Guillory. So here goes:

Four jobs I’ve had

• Mushroom sorter in a mushroom factory
• Traffic light salesman
• Post room assistant
• Medical policy officer

Plus many many others that I’m far too embarrassed to admit to.

Four movies I can watch over and over

• Star Wars (the original one)
• The Princess Bride
• Beverly Hills Cop
• Field of Dreams

Four places I’ve lived

• Ottawa, Canada
• Seattle, USA
• Irkutsk, Russia
• London, England

Four tv shows I like

• The West Wing
• Northern Exposure
• Quantum Leap
• Doctor Who

All of which I tend to watch on dvd rather than tv these days.

Four places I’ve vacationed

• Venice
• Crete
• Mongolia
• Wales

Four of my favourite dishes

• Gnocchi
• Pelmeni in mayonnaise
• Beans on toast
• My girlfriend’s Thai curries

Four sites I visit daily

• BBC News
• Bloglines
• Registan.net
• Mosnews

Four books I’ve read this year

• The Time Travellers Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger
• Kafka on the Shore, Haruki Murakami
• The Shaman’s Coat: A Native History of Siberia, by Anna Reid
• The Best of the Best: 20 Years of the Year’s Best Science Fiction, edited by Gardner Dozois

Four bloggers I’m going to tag with this

• Tim Worstall
• Nathan Hamm
• Robert Mayer
• Nosemonkey

OK, that’s it. We’re done. Back to business.

Categories: Blogging, Culture, Environment
No Comments »

Eric Idle would be so proud:

Categories: Global politics, US politics
No Comments »

JC’s girls have a novel approach to spreading their man’s word:

On Good Friday last March [2005], we organized a team of six girls at our church to go to a local strip club. Each of us was to choose a girl that we would buy a private dance from. Once we were back in the booth, we would, of course, tell them we wouldn’t want a private dance, and then just talk to them about God and see if they were receptive.

No word on whether men are allow to join the mission.  Or whether male strippers are also a target.

Categories: Culture
No Comments »

What a great idea - a march in support of free speech in Trafalgar Square:

We, a group of individuals of no particular political leaning, are calling on organisations and other individuals to support a march for freedom of expression to be held in London and if possible simultaneously in other cities of the world.

We are doing this for two reasons. Firstly, to celebrate the precious gift of free expression that was entrusted to us by all those who fought so long and hard. Secondly, to remind our politicians of their duty to fearlessly protect free expression against all who wish to undermine it.

We wish to point out that this march and rally is not an attack on Muslims or members of other religious groups. We in fact welcome all members of all religions who believe as we do in the paramount importance of free expression.

Let’s stand up, be counted and be seen.

Hopefully more in the British blogosphere will pick up this story, and turn it into a London repeat of the recent US demonstrations in support of Denmark.

Categories: UK
4 Comments »

George Galloway says the Danish cartoons that insulted Muhammed were worse than both the World Trade Center bombings, and the London Underground bombings.

…frankly what happened is an insult to Islam and Muslims. Personally, I condemn these barbaric and evil acts. Today, the objective of the Western states is to control the oil of the Muslims whatever the price. In fact, the cartoons published in Denmark did not surprise me because the Western states have been waging fierce attacks against Islam for years. These began by humiliation, insults and then occupation. Today they reached the point of ridiculing the prophet. This incident is worse than the 11 September attacks in the US and the 7/7 incidents in London. Therefore, today it is the right of Muslims to express their anger and to defend their right and faith. To be clearer, Denmark is the only European state which practices racism in the pure sense of the word. There is not a single mosque in the entire Denmark. So how do you explain this my brother? There are many other examples. Worse, Denmark’s immigration laws are the worst in the world.

Talk about pandering to your audience.

Still, it’s good to know that Gorgeous George thinks that death by suicide bombing is far less insulting than a satirical drawing of a man in a beard. Just don’t let me catch you making any satirical comments in the future, George, or it’ll be the chop for you.

Oh, and just to put one thing straight - Denmark has a number of Mosques spread around the country to look after the religious needs of its 100,000 plus Muslm citizens, although I don’t think there are any purpose built ones with snazzy domes.

Thanks to David at Harry’s Place for posting the full transcript of George’s interview with Algerian newspaper El Khabar.

Categories: Global politics, UK
No Comments »

Montenegro will hold a referendum on EU membership in May, but alarmingly the EU and Montenegran governments are still squabbling over just how the referendum should be organised.

The EU has it’s position.

In a decision that has outraged analysts, Javier Solana, the EU’s foreign policy chief, is insisting that for it to be valid, at least 55% of voters casting ballots must opt for independence. EU foreign ministers are expected to bless the Solana proposal today.

And Montenegro has a rather different position:

But the Montenegrin government has indicated it is against the guidelines. It wants the secession vote to be valid if at least 41 percent of eligible voters cast their ballots. It is not clear whether it would accept the 55 percent approval requirement or whether it would press for approval by a simple majority of those who vote

Both of which, it has to be said, are absolutely barking ways to decide a referendum. 

What on earth is wrong with the old fashioned 50% or 66% requirements?  If you really want to get technical, I suppose you could add a requirement for 50% of the electorate to turn out to make the vote valid.

But to pick numbers like 55% and 41% respectively out of the air is the most blatantly stupid politicking imaginable, and will do nothing for the credibility of the poll, the Montengran government, or the EU. 

Categories: Europe
2 Comments »

Chris Huhne, currently the leading candidate to become the next Liberal Democrat leader used to have this slightly dull campaign slogan:

Leadership, Ideas, Experience

Then some bright spark wrote into the Guardian newspaper to point out that it wasn’t actually quite as dull as people thought, because the first letters of each word made up a somewhat negative acronym.

LIE

Within 24 hours, the campaign slogan on Chris Huhne’s website had been changed to the monumentally dull:

Ideas, Leadership, Experience

Who said politicians can’t inspire the electorate with mere words?

Thanks to Recess Monkey for the tip.

Categories: UK
No Comments »

Just spent several hundred pounds taking the girl of my dreams on a romantic break.

Major bonus points were won when she discovered I’d booked the hotel’s bridal suite.

All of which were sadly lost when she found a pretty little flower growing out of the mould in the bathroom ceiling, huge stains on the canopy of the four poster bed, and a small dish of Branstone pickle was served with the afternoon tea and scones.

Thanks Swallow Hotels.

Categories: UK
3 Comments »

Today is World Chechnya Day, not because of current events in Chechnya, but to mark the mass deportation of an entire people during the Second World War.

On 23 February 1944, Stalin ordered the deportation of the entire Chechen and Ingush population to Central Asia. More than half of the 500,000 people who were to be forcibly transported died in transit or in massacres committed by Soviet troops. Those who survived the journey were left facing starvation and disease in the harsh winters of Siberia and Central Asia.

Why it’s not named World Chechen and Ingush day, I’m not entirely sure.

Today is also Russian Men’s Day, more commonly known as Army Day.

And finally, today is my birthday, so I’m off to enjoy a few days well deserved rest. See you Monday.

Update: Joined the Beltway traffic jam.

Categories: Announcements, Russia
3 Comments »

Some people choose to study the most curious things:

Olga Gurova studies the cultural history of underwear in the Soviet Union. “When I am talking about Soviet underwear,” she says, “I mean the underwear that appeared after the 1917 revolution.”

Presumably, pre-Soviet and post-Soviet underwear just wasn’t interesting enough.

Via Normblog

Categories: Culture, Russia, Uncategorized
2 Comments »

The countdown to the Belarussian Presidential election has begun, with current authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko squaring off against opposition here Alexander Milinkevich, plus a couple of other not so important candidates.

Belarusan American Blog is one of the English language blogs covering the race, and here Andrus reports on the “solemn” registration ceremony.

A few hilarious things were reported by RFE\RL. First off, nominees were seated not in the alphabetic order, but Lukashenka was separated from Milinkevich and Kazulin by Hajdukevich.

And thus he flunked from shaking hands with both oppositional candidates.  Milinkevich left the building through the main entrance where he was greeted by a group of around 200 supporters, and Lukashenka had to leave through the backdoor.

An early embarrassment for the President.  Let’s hope we see plenty more.

By the way - for an ever so slightly pro-opposition roundup of the candidates, see br23blog.  I particularly liked the rumour that one of the candidates copied his PhD thesis word for word from “some Moscow scientist”.

Categories: Former Soviet Union
3 Comments »

Profuse thanks are due to Nosemonkey, who reminds us that there are only three weeks left to register if you want to vote in the upcoming local elections in the UK.

Monday 13 March is the deadline, and you can pick up an registration form here.

I’ve just noticed that I’m in a marginal council (Lambeth), so I’ll be checking with my local council pretty smartish, just to make sure I’m registered.

Categories: UK
No Comments »

Microsoft’s China policy in action:

When Zhao Jing moved his blog to Microsoft’s popular MSN Spaces site last summer, some users worried the Chinese government would block the entire service. The censors had blacklisted the last site where the young journalist had posted his spirited political essays, and he seemed unwilling to tone down his writing at the new address.

But Zhao, better known by the pen name Anti, told fellow bloggers not to worry. If the government objected to his blog, he predicted, Microsoft would “sell me out” and delete it rather than risk being blocked from computer screens across China.

He was right. Four and a half months after he began posting essays challenging the Communist Party’s taboo against discussing politics, Zhao published an item protesting the purge of a popular newspaper’s top editors. Officials called Microsoft to complain, and Microsoft quickly erased his blog.

I have some very mixed feelings here. One part of me is, in a very real sense, actually rather glad that Microsoft took this step. The alternative would be to allow the Chinese authorities to act directly, and possibly throw Zhao Jing in jail.

I’m sure Microsoft would echo my point that their decision to block blogs can actually save bloggers from worse fates, and that they actually provide one of the most free internet forums in China.

But, on reflection, I think we should assume that bloggers like Zhao Jing know exactly what they are doing, and what risks they face in writing anti-government blogs. Microsoft, Google, et al, should treat them as the adults they are, respect their right to free speech, and allow them to decide whether they are personally prepared to take the risk that what they say may land them in big trouble.

If Microsoft doesn’t feel willing to provide people with a forum under such circumstances, then fair enough - it should not offer MSN Spaces in China at all. Instead, it should leave the market to companies that are either Chinese, government controlled and heavily censored, or companies that are based outside China and truly prepared to provide Chinese bloggers a free forum where they know that, whatever they say, they will not be censored.

At least that way, Chinese bloggers will know where they stand.

Update: I’m curious to see how it works, so I’m adding this post to the Beltway traffic jam.

Categories: Global politics, Tech
3 Comments »

Austin Bay reports on rumours that a coup is imminent in the Philippenes noting that, although the government is downplaying the rumours, it is under pressure on many fronts.  He also reports that the arrival of 3,000 US troops to help the mudslide relief effort is rather interestingly timed.

I don’t know enough - in fact, I know next to nothing - about Philippene politics.  So, go read Austin’s post, and make your own mind up.

Categories: Global politics
1 Comment »

Gateway Pundit has an interesting story about Bill Clinton allegedly telling a news conference in Pakistan that pubishers who printed the Danish cartoons should be “convicted”.

Jim Hoft contacted the Pakistan Daily News, who broke the story, and was told the following:

• There have been no complaints received from the Clinton Foundation over the article
• The Daily Times will not comment further on the article at this time.
• The Daily Times is not retracting nor making changes to their report at this time
• Part of the Daily Times report was taken from comments after the official news conference

Which raises some interesting questions in my mind.

• Please can we see a transcript of the press conference? We currently only have the word of the journalist who wrote the article. He wasn’t the only journalist at the press conference, so I’m unsure as to why none of the other journalists - professionals with an eye for a story, I’m sure - thought the comment newsworthy. Even the other story Jim quotes, from The Nation, doesn’t repeat the “convict” comment.
• Has the story actually been brought to the attention of the Clinton Foundation yet? They may well not yet be aware of the story - although I guess it’s well and truly ‘broken’ now.
• Does the Clinton Foundation have a policy about not complaining about press reports? Lots of organisations don’t complain on purely practical grounds - it can be far more hassle than it’s worth, and can drag kicking and screaming back into the spotlight a story that would otherwise die a quiet death in a lonely corner.
• Why would Bill Clinton - a reasonably clever man with a law degree - call for a conviction, rather than a prosecution? I mean, if ever there was a man who knew the power of words in a court of law, Bill Clinton is that man - as he proved during the Monica Lewinsky scandal where he was very very careful with his definitions.

Still, despite my scepticism, this is a story to watch. I’ll be interested to see how it develops.

Update:  Looking into this story slightly more, I see that, in an earlier post, Gateway Pundit links to Mark in Mexico, who also has worries about the authenticity of this report, and seems to have hit upon why the reporter mentioned above thought that Clinton had called for a conviction:

I think I see what has happened here. The ex-president is quoted in several of the news sources as saying that

“religious convictions of the people should be respected at all costs and no media should be allowed to play with the religious sentiments of people of any faith.”

The Pakistan Daily Times needs an English translator.

Categories: Global politics, US politics
No Comments »

From Balkan blogger Eric, a sneak peak at the application form questions you’ll need to answer if you want that dream job at the Croatian Foreign Ministry:

Apparently the examination for job candidates at the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs includes, among its 300 questions, items asking people what sort of sexual practices they prefer.

Plus, as an extra-special bonus - in the comments, news from someone who was asked in a job interview whether he had ever entertained thoughts of killing his mother.

Categories: Europe
No Comments »

Armenia, one of the last enclaves of musical freedom has finally fallen to the might of Eurovision:

So it looks like we’re definitely in the Eurovision song contest this year..and Andre ( who was voted best male singer of 2005 ) will be representing us with a song called “Without Your Love” sung in English, and written by Armen Martirosian - a well known composer and conductor of Jazz orchestra if I’m not mistaken.

This is a huge step for Armenia, as not only has it’s tv network fulfilled broadcasting rules implied by the EBU , it has also, along with Georgia, redefined the broadcasting area of “Europe” which used to exclude Armenia and Georgia, classing them as Asia. Now they are European, or so it seems! The EBU says it has no further plans for expansion, so , we did good!

Although, yes, I will grudgingly admit that conforming to EBU rules is a success story for Armenian broadcasting, and does show the country’s business climate in a positive light.

But still - they could have turned down the offer and gloated about preserving their freedom, couldn’t they?

Categories: Culture, Europe, Former Soviet Union
No Comments »

GoodStuff asks whether Google is censoring video in the United States, and cites a video of an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) in Iraq.

After Google’s decision to leap into bed with the Chinese censors, it has to expect that many people’s first assumption is going to be that it is censoring content - whether in China, Europe or the United States.

But in this case, perhaps another question should be asked by those whould damn Google:

Just what is the point of censoring an explosion in the middle of the desert?

Categories: Global politics, Tech, US politics
No Comments »

A scary, but ulimately uplifting animation from Scary Dolls.  Make sure you watch to the very end.

Categories: Culture
No Comments »