Happy New Year!

Here in Moscow fireworks, and car alarms, have already been going off all over town. Kids shoot off rockets from streetcorners, they explode right in front of our window on the street. BANG! and then the car alarms follow.

Strange, considering the pervasive fear of terrorism, that they sell fireworks all over Moscow--and not just cherry bombs, lots of giant rockets--almost everywhere, and they are shot off in parks, on streetcorners, almost anywhere.

Putin announced his big Novi God present for Russia--ten days of paid vacation from January 1st to 10th for all workers. Everyone is very happy about that, as Russian Orthodox Christmas is on the 7th and New Year on the 12th. All offices and government buildings will be closed, but concerts, museums, and cultural activities, such as the Russian Winter music festival at the music conservatory and Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, will continue as usual.

We can't give you ten days of paid vacation, but we wish all our readers a happy, healthy, and peaceful New Year. May your dreams come true in 2005...

The Tsunami Tragedy

Russian television news has broadcast extensive coverage of the tsunami in the Indian Ocean that has killed thousands of people so far, leaving many more homeless.

The Russian government is shipping aid to Southeast Asian nations affected by the killer wave. TV news features massive Russian cargo planes being loaded with supplies. It's not just politics. Among the victims were Russian tourists, spending the Novi God holiday in the warm climates of India, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. TV news featured Putin meeting with is minister of emergency affairs, other ministers, spokespeople for travel agencies, and the families of loved ones lost in the worst natural disaster in years. When Putin gets involved personally, on TV (they show him talking to his ministers at a little table, actually discussing the actions government will take, not simple photo opportunties like in the US), it is a high priority for the government of Russia. Russia also has a history of friendly relations with India and other nations in Southeast Asia (remember Vietnam?).

The footage of death and destruction Sri Lanka has been affecting, particularly since two years ago we stayed at the Bentota Beach Hotel, in the southern part of the Island. Our rooms was on the ground floor, right on the beach, and we can imagine the horror facing tapped tourists in their last moments. There are very few roads in Sri Lanka, and it would have been difficult to evacuate the coastal villages, even with proper warning. The tragedy is all the more horrible because Sri Lanka has faced years of civil war between the Hindu Tamil Tigers and the the Buddhist majority. That is why our hotel cost only $20 per person, while a similar room in the Maldives cost about a thousand dollars.

It was Tamil tigers who pioneered the use of suicide bombers. And they kept at it until India dropped support after the assasination of their prime minister by a Tamil extremist (the Tamils originally come from Tamil Nadu, a state in India also hit by the tsunami). Without state support, the terrorism and extremism dropped off. A lesson for our own war on terror, and a reminder that suicide bombers are not peculiar to Islam.

By the time a temporary cease-fire took effect a couple of years ago some 60,000 Sri Lankan's had been killed in Tamil Tiger violence.

Rothschild's Fiddle

Last night, saw a theatrical adaptation of Anton Chekhov's short story,Rothschild's Fiddle, at the Moscow Theatre of Young Viewers.

The show was directed by Kama Glinkas in a very un-Stanislavsky style, more like contemporary New York-- lots of mugging and prancing around on big symbolic set that looked like Samuel Beckett as furnished by Ikea. The theatre program didn't have much information, but published a rave review from the New York Times, which give you some idea...

Chekhov's story is a parable of Russian-Jewish relations, and while this production was kind of distracting (there is also an opera and a film, my google search shows) it was thought-provoking and worth seeing.

Moscow is not exactly a Jewish city, but there is still a Jewish presence, even after years of emigration. Mayor Luzhkov was on TV lighting the Hannukah menorah with Russia's Chief Rabbi, Beryl Lazar, who looks like a Lubavitch from Brooklyn (though the sect originated here). The old choral synagogue in Kitai Gorod has been restored, and a gleaming steel and glass new synagogue is under construction near fashionable Tverskoy Boulevard. A holiday television special featured Russian Army soldiers holding hands and dancing to a rendition "Hava Nagila".

And yet, somehow, "Rothschild's Fiddle" reminds one that Russian-Jewish relations are complicated, have not always been nice, and subject to sudden change...

Irony of Fate

Last night the Russia TV channel broadcast IRONY OF FATE, OR ENJOY YOUR BATH! a 1975 romantic comedy directed by Eldar Ryazanov. This films is the "It's a Wonderful Life" of Russia, shown every New Year (yesterday was only the Western Christmas, Russian Christmas is January 7th). The story is about two people who accidentally meet, against all odds, as a result of the soulless conformity of Russian architecture and urban planning, when a drunken surgeon flies to St. Petersburg after a night drinking with friends in a banya. He gets in a taxi and goes to his home address (from Moscow), puts his key in the door, opens it--and meets a lonely 34-year old Russian Literature teacher who becomes the love of his life, after some stormy confrontations with her, her boyfriend, and her mother...

It is Russia's favorite movie, and says a lot about the strength of the human spirit in an oppressive and inhuman environment, understandable even to an American with only rudimentary Russian...

Happy Holidays to Roger L. Simon: More Moscow Musings...

Roger L. Simon: Mystery Novelist and Screenwriter ran a nice plug for us on his blog, which has shaken some writer's block--no doubt caused by Culture Shock and adaptation to the Russian Winter.

So, as turnabout is fair play, take a look at his analysis of the AP's problems in covering the war in Iraq.

And since Roger says he likes reading what I have to say about Russia, here are some more thoughts:

Of course, almost everyone in Moscow is on the side of the AP, viewing the toppling of Saddam Hussein, the bombing of Yugoslavia, the support of Georgia and Ukrainian independence as American agression against Russia. Iraq was sort of Russia's Saudi Arabia, an oil partner and Middle East ally, so it sort of makes sense from their point of view. But they don't understand that American's don't see it the same way.

The problem is the same as the one De Tocqueville described in 1835:

There are, at the present time, two great nations in the world which seem to tend towards the same end, although they started from different points: I allude to the Russians and the Americans. Both of them have grown up unnoticed; and whilst the attention of mankind was directed elsewhere, they have suddenly assumed a most prominent place amongst the nations; and the world learned their existence and their greatness at almost the same time.

All other nations seem to have nearly reached their natural limits, and only to be charged with the maintenance of their power; but these are still in the act of growth; all the others are stopped, or continue to advance with extreme difficulty; these are proceeding with ease and with celerity along a path to which the human eye can assign no term. The American struggles against the natural obstacles which oppose him; the adversaries of the Russian are men; the former combats the wilderness and savage life; the latter, civilization with all its weapons and its arts: the conquests of the one are therefore gained by the ploughshare; those of the other by the sword.

The Anglo-American relies upon personal interest to accomplish his ends, and gives free scope to the unguided exertions and common-sense of the citizens; the Russian centers all the authority of society in a single arm; the principal instrument of the former is freedom; of the latter servitude. Their starting-point is different, and their courses are not the same; yet each of them seems to be marked out by the will of Heaven to sway the destinies of half the globe.

This insight was repeated 175 year later by Dmitri Simes, in "After the Collapse: Russia Seeks its Place as a Great Power," when he observed:

Russia derived little material benefit from its imperial possessions. This was a consequence of the fact that Russian empire building was primarily driven by the needs of an absolutist government to expand its reach, not an outward flow of merchants or settlers. Its dynamics were precisely opposite to the building of the American nation.

Until Americans and Russians realize they are still using different "operating systems," misunderstandings between the two nations are bound to continue.

Just yesterday, an educated Russian told me that the solution to the Ukraine crisis will be for the Crimea to secede--since it was a mistake for Kruschev to give this historically Russian territory to Ukraine in the days of the Soviet Union. This was not government propaganda, but dinner table conversation...

Merry Christmas from the Diplomad

The Diplomad reflects on the meaning of Christmas in an American Embassy:

"As an American Jewish kid I just assumed I was destined to grow up to be worshipped or be Master of the Universe. But, sigh, I took the Foreign Service exam instead, and got married, and have voted straight Republican since 1972. I know, I know, I am a disappointment to my people, all those hopes and dreams . . . shattered!

"Life's too short. Everybody enjoy and let others enjoy the great freedoms we have. And every Jewish kid in America should have on his wall the names and pictures of the greatest friends the Jewish people ever had: Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Adams, Reagan, Bush and the millions of GIs who tore the guts out of Hitler's war machine and whose grandchildren continue to keep us free."

Leon Aron on Ukraine's Election

In Moscow, it would seem that many here agree with whatLeon Aron writes about tomorrow's election in the Ukraine. The country is divided between Russian-speaking Orthodox in the East and Ukrainian-speaking Catholics in the West. (This religious division is one of the fault lines in Samuel Huntington's Clash of Civilizations):

"By the same token, those among Yushchenko's more radical supporters in Ukraine and the West who advocate the abrupt removal of Ukraine from the Russian sphere of influence must face the facts. In addition to the cultural, linguistic and ethnic bonds (there are 8.3 million ethnic Russians among Ukraine's 48 million citizens), economic imperatives are straightforward.
In what amounts to perhaps the world's largest, albeit unheralded, bilateral assistance program, Russia supplies Ukraine with oil and gas at prices that are way below the world market's. The precise size of Ukraine's overall debt for oil and gas is anyone's guess, but conservatively it cannot be less than $2 billion to $3 billion. (By contrast, the U.S. annual assistance to Ukraine is $150 million.)

"Millions of Ukrainians work in Russia (often illegally) and their remittances provide a significant although largely uncounted portion of the Ukrainian gross domestic product.

"To his credit, as an underdog Yushchenko has been very considerate of the feelings and preferences of his Russian-speaking compatriots. As a favorite going into the new election and, especially, as the victor, he must redouble the effort of projecting moderation, restraining his more radical supporters and proffering the olive branch to those who voted for his opponent. He might, for example, try to assuage fears of 'de-Russification' by saying that regions themselves ought to decide if Russian should be their second official language.

"In the end, only courage, imagination and hard work will stave an upheaval."

S'novim Godim!

Moscow is ablaze with decorations--Grandpa Frost and Snow Princess riding in troikas, giant evergreen trees sparkle with blue lights at major intersections, shops and businesses atwinkle with tinsel and flashing displays.

Also, lots of roosters, chicks, and even little bunnies, as well as babushkas selling dead branches that bloom when placed in a vase of water.

New Year, seems to be a secular Christmas and Easter combined. The Russian calendar takes from the Orient as well as the West--the coming Year of the Rooster is of Chinese origin--and one becomes aware that Eurasia is not just a figure of speech, but a real place, where East and West (contrary to Kipling) meet. For example, Moscow has so many seasonal displays because it is required by law. Shops and businesses that don't put up a holiday bush or colored lights by December 1st are subject to a fine. Which makes for some interesting sights. Such as the Tsimmis Shtetl-themed Jewish restaurant (it has a kosher kitchen) featuring two Christmas trees (Hannukah bushes?) at the entrance--one inside, and one outside...

Happy Holidays!

WiFi in Moscow

I'm blogging from the Amerikanski Bar and Grill near Mayakovsky Metro station, a five-minute walk from our house. Moscow is really a study in contrasts. This place has an 11 Mbps WiFi connection c/o Yandex (a Russian Yahoo) and IBM. But they only seem to be found in restaurants--not the many coffee shops (no Starbucks here yet) where it might be more convenient.

From our house we only have a dialup connection, via RussiaOnline, at 44 k,and only a pulse dial phone, no touch tone.

Two realities at one time--modern Western and old Soviet.

As far as the Ukraine goes, it dominates the news here.Since the Kievan Rus founded Russia, and the TV has had coverage going back to the time of Mazeppa (an opera in repertory here), so the perspective on events there differs a little from the BBC world news coverage.

Lots of talking heads about America wanting a puppet state, western agression, a replay of same script used in Yugoslavia, Georgia, etc. The geopolitical angle looms large, rather than the fraud allegations made by the BBC. It is taken for granted that the Western powers are backing the nationalists. Also not forgotten are the scars from WWII, when Ukranian nationalists sided with the Nazis against Russia.

So stay tuned, there may be some twists and turns in the days ahead...

Mission to Moscow

Am in Moscow, teaching American Studies at Russian State Humanitarian University until March, have to use an internet cafe, since the free internet concept for students and faculty hasn't yet arrived here, so blogging will probably be more hit-and-miss. It costs about $2.00/hour.

With the falling dollar, and rising ruble, Moscow is much more expensive than Washington, DC, at least so far. There are lots of shops, but there still seems to be a strong Soviet legacy. A film about Stalin was on TV the night we arrived. Karl Marx's statue is still in Revolution Square. Marx, Engels and Lenin's bas-reliefs are still on buildings. And there is a familiar Soviet quality recognizable from Tashkent. We went to Red Square. It was depressing, as was the GUM, which is now modernized and full of empty boutiques with high-fashion clothes and shoes. We walked by Lubyanka prision, still forbidding.

On the other hand, there are lots of shops, newspapers, people seem very free and open, lots of laughter, fashion, noise and about a million casinos and strip clubs. Robert Venturi's "Learning from Las Vegas" seems to have been the inspiration for many "New Russians." Many restaurants, some like theme parks,including one near our university split between an Uzbek theme and a Jewish shtetl theme (downstairs Uzbek, upstairs, Jewish). Big supermarkets,department stores, even an IKEA...

We arrived on Revolution Day (still a holiday) and yesterday was Militia Day (celebrating the police). Spectacles on TV, of course.

More later...

And The Oscar Goes To...

Team America World Police!

Saw it last night, and all we can say is that it is the best comedy Hollywood has ever made about terrorism in the aftermath of 9/11. Seeing it restores one's faith in America.

The members of Team America are high-tech, foul-mouthed, Keystone Kops, who save the day only because the bad guys are worse. Writers Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and Pam Brady stick it to action heros, dictators, terrorists and peace activist actors, along with psychics, women who value their friendships, and America's intelligence community. Those who call the picture right-wing propaganda don't know what they are talking about.

I grew up on Thunderbirds, a 60s-era British ITV serial, which looked sort of like this: marionettes flying jet airplanes to defeat evil villains. Of course, Team America is 100 time better. Maybe 1,000 times better. Maybe even 2,318 times better. What is really incredible in this picture is that the puppets show more emotion than the Holllywood stars the filmmakers parody. They are better actors, I guess.

Team America has another moral, delivered by an old coot in a bar when our hero, Gary Johnson, hits rock bottom. In case you don't get it the first time, it is repeated at the very end, after a recovered Johnson saves the day from a crazed Kim Jong Il, by out-acting Alec Baldwin. Pure genius.

Seeing Team America was particularly satisfying because, like Team America's Gary Johnson, I had to debate Alec Baldwin in the 1990s, while he was spokesman for the National Endowment for the Arts's lobbying efforts (though we never shared a stage, as the puppet Baldwin does with Team America's Johnson at the North Korean Peace Conference). I also interviewed Michael Moore early in his career. So it was very nice to see the makers of Team America got both of them exactly right.

For chutzpah, imagination and their sense of humor, the makers of Team America World Police deserve the Academy Award.

Frank Luntz on Why Bush Won

From The Washington Times:

"Some will claim that Mr. Bush won on Tuesday because he waged a campaign of fear. The exact opposite was the case. Americans turned to him precisely because they saw him as the antidote to that fear. Polling over the past few months and the results on Election Day itself illustrated an essential principle of electoral success: It is no longer enough to say no. Voters need someone who will say yes. Mr. Kerry became a symbol for voters opposed to the president's policies and procedures, but not much else. Conversely, Mr. Bush became the vehicle for those who wanted an affirmative, proactive, preventative approach to homeland security. Americans will tell you that it was Mr. Bush, not Mr. Kerry, who offered the hope that personal security could be restored. And in this election, hope won. When it came to the war on terror, Americans knew where their president stood and exactly what he believed. They simply did not share the same level of confidence in Mr. Kerry. The events and aftermath of September 11 may not have changed everything, but they certainly changed the outcome of the 2004 presidential race. In the end, principle trumped polish."

Van Gogh Murder: "Find the expert on Islamic law..."

From an interview with Professor Hans Jansen on Radio Netherlands:

"... I think they should look for the accomplices much closer to the home of the murderer. I mean, Muslim assassins that kill in the name of Islam usually consult a Muslim lawyer - a Mufti or legal specialist of Islamic law - and ask him for his advice and for his opinion. Because otherwise, it would mean that the commands of the Koran to fight the unbelievers would simply boil down to one believer killing an unbeliever, which of course would not work - it would create chaos and total idiocy."

"No, you can only wage Jihad, engage in holy war, or whatever expression you prefer, once this has been analysed and permission is given by competent Muslim legal scholars."

"The Amsterdam prosecutor said on Friday that  the charges against the seven suspects arrested on Tuesday included "participation in a criminal organization with terrorist aims" and "terrorist  conspiracy" for the murder of Van Gogh as well as plans to kill liberal politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali "and others"."So, when you look at it from the outside, it would be against the laws of Islam - and the laws of Islam are very strict – to act against this. Now, this man wants to pose as a super-Muslim, so he probably obeyed the laws of Islam. Accordingly, it's really very important to find the expert on Islamic law who gave him permission to commit this act. Because this expert is of course as guilty as the murderer himself."

US State Department on Bush's Victory

From The Diplomad:

"One of our Diplomads has burrowed deep within the bureaucracy at HQS back in Washington and sends us the following emailed report on reactions to the Bush win. We have edited out anything that might give the enemy information to identify our agent:

I was telling a friend who voted for Kerry my theory as to why so many State Dept weenies (Note: a technical term) have it in for Bush.

Most State types, deep inside, believe that the primary purpose of American
diplomacy is not to advance our country's geo-strategic interests, but to provide for them a prestigious career in which their unusual talents (e.g. foreign languages) and interests (foreign lands) are properly valued and appreciated (Note: there's precious little demand in the real world for experts on the history of Venezuelan political parties). This is a mindset that makes too many diplomats contemptuous of most ordinary Americans, who, in their view, are narrow-minded and boorish. You see the looks of bemused disbelief around the conference table - especially an AID one - whenever anyone suggests that a policy decision should be governed by the interest of the American taxpayer.

So, we were all minding our business one fine day, when one of these very boors - from Texas, no less - turned our little world upside down. It's not that Bush is a Republican, or conservative, or overly aggressive. It's that he's NOT a member of the club of Those of Us Who Understand These Things. As such, he had no right to redefine our foreign policy and security doctrine overnight. Certainly not without first commissioning many feasibility studies and blue-ribbon panels informed, of course, by Us. As a result 'all our allies' hate us, and our international relations have been set back years.

Now look at the "mess" he's made in Iraq and Afghanistan! Too many junior officers at post, not enough from PD (note: Public Diplomacy) and worst of all - the DOD (Note: Department of Defense) people aren't even under Chief of Mission authority! On the home front, Bush's misadventure has completely screwed up the assignments and promotions system, damn him! And we have "the military" speaking up at all sorts of interagency policy discussions where they simply don't belong. In essence, to the career diplomat, Bush's crime was in being an outsider who refused to stay in his place - outside. None of our esteemed colleagues who holds this view would articulate it this way. But it's there. They express it in euphemisms, when they think the audience (their peers) is receptive. It's in the snide remarks, the rolling eyes, the upturned noses. And yesterday, in the gnashing teeth...

Dutch Blog's Summary of van Gogh Murder News

Interesting news roundup at Zacht Ei - Doorbakken kan altijd nog:

Suicide squads?
The same article from De Telegraaf that mentions the hit lists also contains the following sentence: 'The Netherlands are threatened by an Islamic martyr brigade, consisting of youths who have been trained to commit suicide attacks.'
10:30 uur
Reactie(s) (0)

Islamist hit list made public
According to populist broadsheet De Telegraaf, there's a radical Islamist hit list which contains the names of other prominent Dutch that should fear for their lives.
They are:
• Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Dutch M.P., a former Muslim and a vocal critic of radical Islam
• Geert Wilders, Dutch M.P., also critical of radical Islam
• Rita Verdonk, secretary of Immigration
• Job Cohen, the Jewish mayor of Amsterdam
• Ahmed Aboutaleb, the Moroccan vice mayor of Amsterdam
I've writen about Aboutaleb here. He's a courageous guy who dares to criticize his fellow Muslims.
Hirsi Ali and Wilders spent the night in heavily guarded 'safe houses', according to De Telegraaf.

[Thanks to LittleGreenFootballs for the link]

More Details on van Gogh Murder

From Guardian:

"Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner said Thursday the note, stuck to the body with a knife, contained a ``direct warning'' to the screenwriter, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Somali-born member of parliament who has outraged fellow Muslims by criticizing Islamic customs and the failure of Muslim families to adopt Dutch ways. She had been under police protection before the slaying.

"Donner said the way the five-page letter ``was presented indicates that it is not from one person, but a movement.'' It was neatly typed and written in Dutch and Arabic. A testament found in the suspect's pocket was titled ``Drenched in blood'' and ``these are my last words.''

"The letter is titled ``Open Letter to Hirsi Ali'' and threatens a holy war against infidels, America, Europe, the Netherlands and Hirsi Ali. ``Saifu Deen alMuwahhied,'' or ``the unifying sword of religion'' is written at the bottom of the last page, apparently as a signature.

"``It is worrying because it gives the impression it is not the message of an individual, but a wider organization,'' Donner said. Security has been increased for individuals considered possible targets, including Hirsi Ali and members of her party, he said.

"The letter read that Islam would ``be victorious through the blood of martyrs.'' It contained apparent quotes from the Quran, and verses of poetry. ``Only the death will separate the truth from the lies,'' it said."

Ann Coulter on Bush's Victory

From AnnCoulter.com:

"Bush won the largest popular vote in history with a 3.5 million margin. Indeed, simply by getting a majority of the country to vote for him – the left's most hated politician since Richard Nixon – Bush did something "rock star" Bill Clinton never did. Bush maintained or increased his vote in every state but Vermont. Republicans picked up seats in the House and Senate, and continue to dominate state governorships. Also making history of a sort, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle lost his election, marking the first time in half a century a Senate leader has been defeated.

"To Michael Moore, George Soros, Terry McAuliffe, Dan Rather, Al Franken and the whole gang at Air America Radio – you were great, guys! Thanks for the help! We couldn't have done it without you!"

Mark Steyn on the Election Results

From The Australian:

"Bush hatred flopped big on Tuesday. That's not a problem for The Guardian's editors, who have to sell papers in Britain, but it is for a Democratic Party that has to sell itself in the US. Michael Mooronification damages everyone who gets it.

"Look at the recently resurrected Osama bin Laden. Three years ago he was Mr Jihad, demanding the restoration of the caliphate, the return of Andalucia, the conversion of every infidel to Islam, the imposition of sharia and an end to fornication, homosexuality and alcoholic beverages. In his latest video he sounds like some elderly Berkeley sociology student making lame jokes about Halliburton and Bush reading My Pet Goat.

"The lesson of Moore's underwear, P.Diddy's 'Vote or Die', Bruce Springsteen's 'Rock the Vote' and all the other celebrity props of the Democratic Party is very simple: having the most popular figures in popular culture on your side does nothing for your popularity. Every time Kerry was seen cavorting with Hollywood A-listers, he was alienating the Z-listers -- the American people."

Who Was Behind the Phony Exit Polls?

Michael Barone thinks it was the Democratic Party...

Is Yasser Arafat Dead?

From today's White House Press Conference:

Q Thank you, Mr. President. I know you haven't had a chance to learn this, but it appears that Yasser Arafat has passed away.

THE PRESIDENT: Really?

Q And I was just wondering if I could get your initial reaction? And also your thoughts on, perhaps, working with a new generation of Palestinian leadership?

THE PRESIDENT: I appreciate that. My first reaction is, God bless his soul. And my second reaction is, is that we will continue to work for a free Palestinian state that's at peace with Israel. "