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Russia: Social Benefits and Bureaucracy

Veronica Khokhlova · 23:44 · Eastern & Central Europe

The previous GV translation from Russia dealt with how a few committed St. Petersburg bloggers have partially succeeded in relieving the bureaucratic torture that the local elderly people with disabilities were subjected to by the state authorities. By way of a follow-up, here is a story of another bureaucratic ordeal (RUS), shared by LJ user smitrich (Moscow-based journalist Dmitry Sokolov-Mitrich):

My grandmother from [Elektrostal, a city near Moscow] has asked me to help her get a [state] subsidy. So that she could pay less for her apartment.

I told her: “Why do you need to put yourself through all this trouble? Let me transfer this money to your [savings account] myself - what difference does it make to you where this money is coming from?”

No, she doesn't want it. She desires a subsidy. It must feel nice when the state is taking care of you. Labor veterans, home front workers, [category II disability pensioners] - they are known for such a weakness.

We killed the whole day on this. Rode everywhere by car. Didn't manage to get everything done: I'll have to go to Elektrostal once more.

Conclusion: if an elderly person in Russia doesn't have a young relative with a car - or just a young relative - [he or she] will never succeed in getting [all the paperwork required for a subsidy done] by [himself/herself].

The person who invented this whole scheme was probably hanging cats as a child and enjoying it.

Some of the comments to this post further show how ubiquitous this bureaucratic system is and how it affects all groups of citizens, not just the elderly:

katranka:

Yes, it takes a couple of weeks and more to gather all the certificates and stand in lines in order to get any kind of benefits payment here… It is especially horrible to watch single mothers who are forced to move through all these circles of hell to get money for their newborns. Old women, they are taking it one step at a time, they are at least not tied to breastfeeding and the child's schedule, and they don't have to run up the stairs with baby carriages… […]

***

eli_prophet:

While you […] are talking about getting some benefits out of the bureaucratic apparatus, what amazes me is how much energy one has to spend on getting what seems like the simplest paperwork done. To change [propiska, “the record of place of residence”], for example. Even the young ones need to store up some energy for that.

***

b_braga:

Recall [the Stanford prison experiment]. Most normal people who find themselves in an environment where humiliating others is considered a norm, eventually give in to the influence of those who surround them and begin to behave like sadists, too. Alas.

***

alukin:

I don't agree with the original phrase, “Why do you need to put yourself through all this trouble, let me send the money to you.” No, if your country owes to you - let it pay! Because otherwise one will fail [to collect], and then another, and the third… - and then someone will built himself yet another yacht on the money saved on the pensioners.

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Morocco: Viewing the U.S. Elections

Jillian York · 22:54, November 3rd, 2008 · Middle East & North Africa

lingua → es

On the eve of the elections, the world is atwitter - and Morocco is no exception. Bloggers based in Morocco - both Moroccan natives and foreign residents - are musing over potential election outcomes. While Morocco is also no exception to the world's preference for Obama, bloggers have a lot more to say than “Yes we can!” Here's a peek into Morocco.

Fulbrighter Morocco Road is anxious about being so far from the elections. The blogger says:

And like many Americans both abroad and back in the States, this anxiety has translated into inactivity. Or a sort of constipated nervousness where I need the days to pass as quickly as possible. Larry David, the Seinfeld guy, says, “I can't take much more of this… I'm at the end of my rope. I can't work. I can eat, but mostly standing up. I'm anxious all the time and taking it out on my ex-wife, which, ironically, I'm finding enjoyable.”

It's the same for me here in Morocco, but I feel even more disconnected. And I especially miss the commentary of the media's talking heads. It has been so difficult for me to interpret the current state of world affairs without them!

Moroccan native allal-cinemagoer, whose blog discusses cinema and movies, has a message about the arts for the candidates:

However,because of the dangerous change that our world is going through especially America’s values and its famous civil rights are now at stake and most important we are going to have a new president who might again intensify war around the world, I just want to say that whoever win the battle to Washington Dc to become the president of The U S A ,Hollywood should reconsider its policy to produce movies of great talent based on dialog , love and especially altogetherness rather on discrimination,xenophobia,hate of Arabs,blacks,Hispanic,women,homosexuals etc.. .

Peace Corps volunteer Elizabeth of the blog adventures of a young twentysomething has found US politics to be meaningful to her Moroccan host family. She shares an amusing anecdote:

Yesterday, it started snowing heavily. So I did what I usually do when I don't want to be in my house along; I went to my host family's. I sat around the fire and read a book. After a couple of hours, I turned on the TV. To my surprise and pleasure, the Daily Show came on. Ali, the now 15-month old, started pointing to the TV when the guest, Barack Obama, appeared. I wish my camera had been with me.

Just this week, Ali said his first word, ‘Baba,' which is oh-so-close to ‘Obama.' For about an hour, I practiced the word ‘Obama' with Ali. But there was no luck. Maybe with more time, it will become his second word.

Author and blogger Laila Lalami shares a link to a story in the Guardian, explaining:

On the eve of Election Day, the Guardian newspaper has asked a few American writers what they think of the presidency of George W. Bush. As you might expect, none have anything good to say about him. There is outrage, there is anger, but there is also humor. Here’s Tobias Wolff:”When I see someone being rude to a waiter, or blocking the road in a Ford Expedition, or yakking loudly on a cell phone in a crowded elevator, I naturally assume they voted for George W Bush.”

But the rhetoric of “change” is never far away. Moonlight shares a simple image to highlight her feelings on the subject:

Originally posted on Voices without Votes.

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Jordan: Meet the Foreigners, Arab Music, and Business Ideas

Mohammad Azraq · 22:50 · Middle East & North Africa

lingua → ar

The number of young expatriates coming to Jordan for different purposes, commonly to learn Arabic, has become significant. Walking around Jabal Amman, you can notice them sitting in cafes and restaurants around the area. Jordandays.tv, a web television channel from Jordan came up with a programme for their website called “Meet the Foreigners”, hosted by American Emily Crawford, one of these young expats, in which she meets with her “countrymen” and asks them about the purpose of their visit to Jordan and how they perceive the country and culture.

This video is posted courtesy of Jordan Days

Carton cardboard for business, Saleem Ayoub Quna talks on 7iber about what he refers to as an ad-hoc successful small business project. He writes:

This is a picture of a cheap push-cart standing in the middle of the square in front of Al-Husseini Grand Mosque. The time is noon of the last Friday of Ramadan, the month of Fasting and piety which has left us few days ago.

It is the business of “selling or lending” a substitute for a prayer carpet that is offered to the worshippers who could not bring along their own colorful cloth prayer carpets from home. Each worshipper buys one piece of a cartoon, big enough to stand on while making the Friday prayers in the large square downtown Amman. Each piece is sold or rented, depending on the customer’s wish, for 100 Fils. I tried to count the number of those cartoons on the spot. They were in the hundreds.

So if there were at least 200 cartoons that would be good money for a time which does not exceed ten minutes. This is what I call the entrepreneurial spirit of the young generation in that bustling part of Amman.

Lina Ejeilat talks about Arabic music and a lecture she attended at the Manhattan School of Music:

I was in the midst of some google search, with at least 40 tabs open in my browser window - as usual - when I landed on the page of the Manhattan School of Music and found an announcement for a lecture on Arabic music with Simon Shaheen. I had found out recently that Shaheen lives in New York City and I was trying to find a way to get in touch with him for a project I’m working on.

Shaheen began talking about what distinguishes Arabic music - he explained the maqamat, and how they’re different from Western scales. He was demonstrating on his violin how the maqams allow for an abundance of modulations and melodic sounds, which makes Arabic music very melodically rich and different in that it does not rely on harmonic structures. Then he explained the rhythms and forms, and played his Oud and sang, all the while explaining the cultural and social context for these different forms.

Simon Shaheen has been doing an incredible job as an ambassador of Arabic music here. He organizes an annual Arabic music retreat in Massachusetts where students get an intensive session of Arabic music with ear-training, instrument and vocal lessons, and Arabic music theory. He recently composed a concerto for Oud that will premiere with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra soon and will be performed in Carnegie Hall next spring.

And Kinzi talks about a conference for Arab businesswomen she attended:

“Serve Your Way to the Top: The Secret of Great Women Leaders”. A conference designed to encourage and strengthen today’s leading business women, presented by LEAD International and sponsored by Eskadenia Software, the Business and Professional Women-Amman, and FrontRow Publishing magazines Living Well and Inti.

The main speaker is Trudy Cathy White, daughter of Jeanette and and Truett Cathy, the founder and CEO of Chik-fil-A, Inc. She is now telling us her father’s story of his first job as a newspaper boy at nine years old: too scared to speak to his customers, he left a card, but made sure he left the papers in a place most important for each of his customer’s needs. Later, not a brilliant student, not an athlete, without a college education, Truett Cathy began a restaurant chain that is now a family-run, 2.64 billion dollar business.

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Nagorno Karabakh: Armenian Bloggers on Moscow Declaration

Onnik Krikorian · 21:57, November 3rd, 2008 · Eastern & Central Europe , Central Asia & Caucasus

Following Sunday's meeting between Russian President Dimitry Medvedev and his Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts, Serge Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev, the upbeat tone of the mainstream international media in reporting a declaration on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict signed by the three has not been echoed by Armenian bloggers. Indeed, if anything, most appear to consider the declaration, which reiterates existing verbal agreements between Armenia and Azerbaijan since the 1994 ceasefire, to be simply for show.

Despite some initially cautious optimism regarding an agreement based on principles apparently discussed but not disclosed last year in Madrid, Unzipped simply described the declaration read out on Russian TV to be nothing more than empty words.

I am afraid I do not share excitement of number of news agencies which specifically mention that for the first time in 14-15 years, Armenian and Azeri presidents signed under the “Declaration”. So what? There were always meetings and discussions on various levels, including presidents, over the past decade but nothing came out of the negotiations, for real. The only reason that today Armenian and Azeri presidents signed under the “Declaration” is because this was a meeting initiated by Russia, and (taking into account current geopolitical situation in the region) Russia had to show that it achieved some kind of ‘breakthrough’ even if there is none.

The Armenian Observer also noted that expectations were high leading up to the meeting at the Mayendorf castle just outside of Moscow, but while saying that speculation over an imminent peace deal might still remain, it looks more like an attempt by Russia to prove something to the West.

It is also noteworthy, that this initiative of Russia’s Medvedev comes on the wake of presidential elections in the USA. Is Russia trying to prove somehing by this or just trying to use the opportunity to improve it’s image making use of inaction from the side of US?

The Armenia Blog also appears to agree.

Sounds like a waste of time to me, unless one side gives up. We all know it won't be Azerbaijan and we all know that Serzh has indicated that he would trade or willingly give up some lands altogether.

Probably a non-event, but we'll see.

Nevertheless, the Yerevan Journal relays the general reaction from different sections of the population in Armenia to the news.

[…] Talk here ranges from the Dashnaks saying they’re ready to take even more territories in Azerbaijan if fighting resumes, to freedom fighters and die-hards saying they’re not about to give up even a handful of soil in the liberated territories, to the Armenian president stating that he won’t sign anything unless peace keepers are placed in the territories (once Armenians pull out), that Armenia retains a land corridor with Karabagh (Lachin), and that the citizens of Karabagh have the right to vote for their future. […]

Meanwhile, Real Armenia provides an unofficial translation into English of the declaration signed by the three presidents and read out by Medvedev. The World Politics Review blog seems to largely agree with the response from the Armenian blogosphere and considers the declaration as a publicity stunt.

Medvedev seems to be taking a page out of Nicolas Sarkozy's playbook here, where the important thing is to have one's picture taken at the center of a summit meeting many thought could not be arranged. No one really expects anyone to get results in this sort of slow motion standoff, so the image of wielding influence (getting the parties to the table) becomes worth more than the ability to actually influence the standoff itself.

That's all Russia has right now, but it's about all Russia needs right now, too.

Meanwhile, most other prominent Armenian bloggers seem to have ignored the event entirely. However, West of Igdir examines recent geopolitical moves in the region as well as past hopes for peace. The blogger says that a breakthrough is needed, but asks at what price?

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Guyana: Remembering David de Caires

Nicholas Laughlin · 19:34 · Americas

lingua → zht · zhs

David de Caires (1937-2008), Guyanese editor and publisher. Image courtesy the Stabroek News.

David de Caires, the founder and editor-in-chief of the independent Guyanese newspaper the Stabroek News, and one of the Caribbean's strongest advocates for press freedom, died on Saturday 1 November. As the news spread across the Caribbean and the Guyanese diaspora, there was an outpouring of tributes to the man who led the way to the re-establishment of the independent press in 1980s Guyana and thereby contributed to the return of democracy in the following decade. As the Stabroek News reminded its readers in an editorial yesterday, "the newspaper entered into a world where freedom of the press had been denied for ten years, and it played a major part in opening up the society."

Mr de Caires was clear from the beginning about the objectives of the newspaper, and while experience modified his style, he never deviated from its founding principles. From the very first issue the new editor committed the paper to espousing the cause of a free and open society in which the rule of law prevailed, and independent institutions were allowed to flourish. In 1986 that also included free and fair elections, and Stabroek News did not waste time in adding its considerable voice to the campaign for these.

Other tributes came from fellow journalists, politicians, and ordinary citizens — including, of course, bloggers. Many first heard the news of de Caires's death via the Living Guyana blog. One commentor there called de Caires "a true Son of the Soil". Another remarked: "The fact that [Stabroek News ] under De Caires's stewardship was roundly condemned as ‘biased' by both sides of the political divide, while in power, speaks volumes about his, and the paper's, objectivity."

The New York-based Guyanese journalist Ryan Naraine made a poignant comment at Twitter: "the man who had the single biggest impact in my life as a writer passed away today in guyana." And the Media Blast blog posted a statement by the Guyana Press Association:

David's greatest contribution to Guyana's era of glasnost and perestroika … was the opening up of the media landscape after a period of considerable state-control and authoritarianism under various guises by the then administration.

At the Caribbean Beat blog, writer Jeremy Taylor reminded his readers of the risks de Caires faced when he launched the Stabroek News in 1986:

It's hard for many, especially in the younger generation, to grasp just how difficult things were in Guyana for an independent newspaper or a non-partisan journalist in those days. We take for granted freedom of speech and expression, the right of the press to publish and report. But in the Guyana of 25 years ago, that was a freedom that had to be struggled for, and that struggle was a very risky business.

Readers of one online Stabroek News article left a variety of comments. "I may not have always agreed with his newspaper’s editorials and thrust but admired his indomitable spirit and courage," wrote Aubrey W. Bonnett. "David deCaires was fearless, gracious and one of the few surviving gentleman," said Cautious. Shamir added: "Guyana, Caricom , and the World, has lost a true Patriot."

Antilles , the Caribbean Review of Books blog, posted a roundup of other tributes and reminiscences. And the young Guyanese writer Ruel Johnson made this simple statement: "David DeCaires is dead. Long live David DeCaires."

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Caribbean: Region Scores Big in Stanford 20/20 Cricket

Janine Mendes-Franco · 19:15 · Americas

A section of the crowd at the “Stanford 20/20 for 20 Super Series” - Photo courtesy Stanford 20/20 for use by media. Photography credit: Mediaimran - visit his flickr photostream.

U.S. billionaire Allen Stanford is trying to remake the face of cricket in hopes of turning it into the number one spectator sport in the world, perhaps one day even surpassing the popularity of football and baseball in his home country.

To this end, he has opened a cricket-themed restaurant (The Sticky Wicket) in Antigua, made a point of honouring West Indian cricket greats via The Sticky Wicket Hall of Fame and built the Stanford Cricket Ground - the location for his latest “big idea” - a 20/20 contest in which the winning team walks away with US$20 million (that's US$1 million per man) and the loser gets…well, nothing.

The “Stanford Superstars” celebrate the taking of another English wicket - Photo courtesy Stanford 20/20 for use by media. Photography credit: Mediaimran - visit his flickr photostream.

It all happened this past weekend. The Stanford Superstars roundly embarrassed the England team, winning the match by an astounding ten wickets and becoming overnight millionaires in the process. West Indian bloggers put in their two cents' worth…

From Trinidad and Tobago, This Beach Called Life says:

Whether people agree or not, 20/20 is the future of Cricket. I say this because in the real world of sports money talks louder than the traditionalist. 20/20 Cricket promoted by billionaire Sir Allen Stanford, has taken the gentleman’s game of cricket to a new commercial level very few sports enjoy. 20/20 may hardly resemble traditional test cricket and the limited 50 over game but it is intensely entertaining and may just be what the Americans will order if it is on the menu.

The 20 million dollar men - Photo courtesy Stanford 20/20 for use by media. Photography credit: Mediaimran - visit his flickr photostream.

Caribbean Beat Blog was thrilled at the victory and thought it went a long way to firing up regional cricket fans who have had more than their fair share of disappointment over the last few years:

A few minutes ago, the West Indies' Stanford Superstars seized a US$20 million victory in the Stanford 20/20 Super Series from tournament favourites England – without losing a wicket!

And it was a thrashing.

The future of the nascent Stanford 20/20 form of cricket, often maligned for being an American abbreviation of the game and for several peculiarities and controversies over the last week, seems to be secure. According to its creator, Sir Allen Stanford, ‘Caribbean cricket is back! This programme is working!'

And whether playing for regional pride or the US$1 million-a-player purse, the team gave often-disappointed West Indies fans plenty to celebrate, and much to feel hopeful about.

Abeni, who was “not actively following the game” from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, was “still very happy the team won”:

Given their performances as the West Indies team, I didn't really give them much of a chance but they sure rose to the occasion. My only wish is that the young men use it wisely. Too often we hear of persons who have made millions becoming destitute all because of poor financial decisions. So fellas, enjoy your windfall but live smart.

Champagne Celebration - Photo courtesy Stanford 20/20 for use by media. Photography credit: Mediaimran - visit his flickr photostream.

In the words of Caribbean Beat: