Central & Eastern Europe: Swine Flu (aka “California 0409”)

Global Voices Online
Friday, May 8, 2009

Below are some of the Central and Eastern Europe bloggers' reactions to news reports on swine flu and measures taken by some of the governments to keep the disease from spreading to their countries.

Blogging Balkanistan and other Eccentricities turns to history and posts an excerpt from an eyewitness account of the Thessaloniki plague epidemic of 1724, written by Pylyp Orlyk, a Cossack hetman, and highlighted in Mark Mazover's non-fiction book, Salonica, City of Ghosts. The blogger ends the post with this note:

[...] As for the current pandemic several Balkan countries have imposed a ban on pork imports from the US or Mexico, while reviewing their emergency response.

And here's one exchange from the comments section:

Daniel:

Guys, cancel your Mexico vacations, and insted of ordering pork – try eating a roasted goat. It’s awesome.

bloggingbalkanistan:

What does goat taste like?

Croatian Crescent writes this about the coverage of Croatia's one suspected swine flu case:

A 22 year old girl who returned from Chicago to Osijek, in the far East of Croatia, was suspected of having swine flu. In a special press conference, Health minister Darko Milinović told the girl was being kept in isolation and monitored. Večernji list put a picture of the girl online, with a bar over her eyes as if she is some kind of criminal.

A day later we know that the girl is not infected with swine flu. Actually, she doesn't even have "normal" flu. She recovered from swine flu in a day, but I wonder how much time she needs to recover from the stigma. [...]

Sleeping With Pengovsky writes this about the fear of swine flu - and xenophobia:

[...] However, the rise of Fascism today is connected to one other phenomenon. The Culture of Fear.

Did you notice that all of the sudden economic crisis is no longer top issue? Turn to any news channel and you’ll see a 24/7 live reporting on swine flu. The fact that so far it killed less people than your average flu does every year is not important. What is important is what it could do. The fact that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction was not important. What was important was that it could have had them. It is also very important that certain corporations make a lot of money in such cases. [...]

Ari Rusilla of BalkanPerspective/Blogactiv.eu writes about the possible effect of the swine flu media hype on the June 2009 European Parliament election:

[...] Swine flu has been in headlines nearly two weeks. The media hype is not in any scale to the real thread, it can be good entertainment like circus in ancient Rome and a tool to put the common people’s focus on trivialities. For example if European Parliament elections have attracted quite a few people so far there is now good change that the whole election will be passed unnoticed due the swine flu panic. [...]

Ukraine Today writes that the Ukrainian president should stay away from focusing on the domestic politics aspect of the swine flu emergency:

[...] The epidemic crisis was not helped by a President seeking to place all blame and responsibility on his political enemies whilst hand balling any responsibility, which is what Viktor Yuschenko had done. Maybe Yushchenko would be better off placing his energy in getting Ukrainian authorities to start cleaning up the Country as a visit to Ukraine is at times like visiting a garbage dump (literally). [...]

The Czech Daily Word writes about travel to the Czech Republic and "a sad paradox" that the swine flu emergency has created:

[...] During the times of unilateral USA-Czech visa regime many politicians, tourists and journalists (including myself) used to mention the fact that the system had been humiliating (”we have to, they don’t“).

And now every American who arrives in the Czech Republic is screened. “Luckily” we do not have regular Mexico-Prague flights, so passengers traveling from Mexico have to change flights in Madrid where some precautions have been in place as well… [...]

Both The Czech Daily Word and Czechmatediary write about the warning issued by the Czech health minister; here's a quote from a Czechmatediary's post:

[...] For now the Czechs have enough of the anti-viral medicine for about 2.2 million people which is sufficient for about 20% of the Czech population. The Minister of Health, Daniela Filipova, warned citizens not to buy out all of the protective masks as well as the Tamiflu medicine which, if overused, can cause a resistance of the virus to the other otherwise helpful antiviral agents. [...]

Lituanica writes about something of a swine flu-related pharmaceutical emergency in Lithuania:

As the Lietuvos Rytas daily writes stocks of anti-viral drugs costing more than 100 litas (EUR 29) have been swept out of Vilnius pharmacies, although the medication is only sold on prescription. Pharmaceutical companies believe this is due to the threat of swine influenza pandemic. [...]

Streetwise Professor writes about the Russian authorities' decision to send "all passengers arriving in Russia from the United States or Mexico" through "contact-free heat sensor" to test their temperatures:

[...] Whew. Glad there’s a “contact free” test. When I read the first paragraph, I had a vision of a Russian Nurse Ratched standing at the end of the jetway in Sheremetyevo with a thermometer, and NOT one of those nice little electronic oral ones, if you know what I mean.

Uhm, I mean a temperature may be a necessary condition for swine flu, but it’s hardly a sufficient condition. My 15 year old had a fever last week. Pretty sure it wasn’t the swine flu. Talk about a test tailor-made for false positives. In other words, a complete waste of resources with virtually no prospect of any benefit. Unless the whole idea is to discourage foreign tourists, and to deter Russians from traveling abroad. [...]

Streetwise Professor also writes about import restrictions on "uncooked pork from Mexico, California, Texas and Kansas" imposed by the Russian authorities:

[...] Russia has routinely used health justifications to ban imports of agricultural products that compete with domestic producers. This just seems another transparently opportunistic attempt to exploit health fears to engage in protectionism. [...]

In the comments section to this post, some of the readers compare Russia's response to the measures taken in other countries.

Leopolis writes that "Russia's WTO accession my be first casualty" of swine flu:

[...] Over the past year, Russia has failed to 'relist' 34 US pork processing, production and storage facilities - effectively rendering around half of all US pork production ineligible for export to Russia. On April 8, the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) called on the Obama administration to decelerate Russia’s WTO accession until it began to “play by the rules and stop its blatant actions to restrict US pork.”

Until this week, Russia has not been able to identify any health or sanitary reasons for blocking US meat imports - the requirement for justifying the block as per its 2006 bilateral WTO obligations. The ineptly named swine flu now presents a reason for Russia to approve US meat facilities on a plant-by-plant basis - actions inconsistent with the WTO’s Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement requiring WTO signatories to recognize equally standards in other countries. [...]

Sean's Russia Blog reports on the alleged discovery of the first two swine flu cases in Russia - both in passengers who arrived from New York City - and writes about other geopolitical dimensions of the emergency:

[...] Interestingly, in Russia doctors call the virus, which has damned the good name of the pig the world over, “California 0409.” That should make pigs feel better, but what of the sensitivities of us Californians?

[...]

Mexico as epicenter has of course inspired our American xenophobes into a fury of anti-immigrant hate. Fox News has predictably led the anti-immigrant charge with accusations that illness is part of some kind of viral conspiracy against America. It is only a matter of time they follow the Israelis in adopting “Mexican flu.” [...]

Europe: Obama's Upcoming Visit and Quotes

Global Voices Online
Saturday, March 7, 2009

U.S. president Barack Obama is planning to visit Great Britain, France, Germany and the Czech Republic next month, during his first trip to Europe since taking office.

In a post titled "They all want to meet him," P O Neill of A Fistful of Euros writes this about the upcoming visit:

An interesting wrinkle for those who care about summitry: Barack Obama’s visit to Europe in April will include Prague for what is being billed as the annual EU-USA summit.

[...]

Thus it’s going to be a big show, but presumably at the expense of getting much done with 28 heads of state/government and the Commission in attendance. It will get in a lot of “grip and grin” handshake photos for Barack Obama. Is this the format that the Obama team wanted to make worthwhile a visit to a “small” state?

Obama's words about Poland and the Czech Republic have caught attention of Taras of Ukrainiana:

[...] I also remember Obama referring to the Poles and the Czechs as “fledgling democracies.”

But this quote knocked me off my feet:

Russia needs to understand our unflagging commitment to the independence and security of countries like a Poland or a Czech Republic. On the other hand, we have areas of common concern.

[...]

Because I’m a smalltime Ukrainian who lives in a smalltime country that gave up the world's third-largest nuclear arsenal for chicken feed, I view Obama's remarks as a Bittergate. [...]

Obama's mention of Hungary has also ruffled some feathers.

Pestiside.hu wrote:

OMG! OMG! Barack Obama mentioned Hungary - by name. If you don't believe the front page of Index.hu, just go to this transcript of the O-mighty's news conference yesterday and keyword search for, well, duh. Yes, his first public reference to Hungary while in office didn't go exactly the way we might have planned (he basically said we're a bunch of psycho losers who need serious help before we hurt someone). Still, he's knows who we are!

And here's a more serious - as well as economy-focused - take on it by Eva Balogh of Hungarian Spectrum:

[...] Others also blame Barack Obama who after meeting with Gordon Brown, prime minister of the Great Britain, said the following: "One of the things that Prime Minister Brown and I talked about is how can we coordinate so that all the G20 countries, all the major countries around the world, in a coordinated fashion, are stimulating their economies; how can we make sure that there are a common set of principles, in terms of how we're approaching banking, so that problems that exist in emerging markets like Hungary or the Ukraine don't have these enormous ripple effects that wash back onto our shores, and we're providing them with some help in a coordinated international fashion, as well."

Well, that did it in Hungary. How does Obama dare to compare Hungary to Ukraine! No wonder that the forint started to fall even more rapidly after that speech. Moreover, it takes gall, these people say, to talk about problems that "will wash back to our shores." After all, where did this whole mess start? Not in Hungary. Hungary is the victim of irresponsibility in the American banking system. [...]

Central & Eastern Europe: A Travel Roundup

Global Voices Online
Thursday, November 13, 2008

Olive harvesting in Albania, John Paul II monuments in Poland, a Soviet military hardware "cemetery" in Moscow, and more: Central and Eastern Europe-based bloggers share their recent travel observations and photos.

Albania

- Stepping Stones has posted photos of two elderly Albanian village women: the first one is harvesting olives in "the old-fashioned way"; the second one has her black apron filled with "tiny daisies," which she is picking for a local company and gets paid less than $1 per kilo.

Also, Stepping Stones has spent some time at the ancient city of Apollonia and visited the Ardenice Orthodox Christian monastery:

[...] Ardenice is an old Orthodox monastery which was saved from destruction during the times of totalitarianism. 4 monks still live and work there but they were away at the seminary today so we didn't get to see them. The site has been 'reclaimed' in recent years and is being well maintained and lovingly restored after being used for everything from a restaurant to a small hotel. [...]

- Kolin of Living in Shkodër has been jogging around the city lately - "seeing 'normal' Albanian life," getting "LOTS of really strange looks" and taking pictures of the old doors to private houses:

[...] There are many of these and one street could have about 20 different kinds of doors. It is the old wooden doors that I really like.

I think to myself, what kind of story could these doors tell us if only they could speak. [...]

Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia

Balkanology Blog has posted some photos of Croatia and, following a tip from a fellow blogger (Stuart Pinfold), wrote about "the eccentricities of Google Maps in giving driving directions between certain points in Southeast Europe."

First, there is Google's Dubrovnik-Mostar route:

[...] Instead of the conventional 150-kilometre drive that less creative mapping software might recommend, Google suggests a more adventurous approach: a ferry to Italy, some driving, another ferry to Greece, and more driving through Greece, the entire length of Albania, Montenegro, and finally Bosnia. At 1541 kilometres it's a mere 10 times longer than the usual route - and so much more interesting. [...]

Then, there is the Split-Dubrovnik route:

[...] Sure enough, Google's answer does involve a drive along the Adriatic Coast - unfortunately it is on the other side of the Adriatic, between Bari and Pescara [in Italy]. [...]

And there is also the Split-Zagreb route:

[...] The result was even more surprising: "We could not calculate directions between split, croatia and zagreb, croatia." [...]

And the Belgrade-Podgorica route:

[...] Closer inspection of the driving directions reveals the problem: Google wants us to head southeast for 150km, turn around, and drive back to the outskirts of Belgrade on the same road before finally taking the correct road towards Montenegro. [...]

The author of Balkanology Blog gave up at this point, but Stuart Pinfold - the blogger who first discovered the confusion - shared some more results of Google Maps destination searches in the comment section to this post.

The Czech Republic

The Journeys of Captain Oddsocks writes about the town of Svitavy - which, among other things, is the birthplace of Oscar Schindler, the man "credited with saving the lives of over 1000 Jewish people towards the end of World War II":

[...] The Schindler home is at Poličská Ul. 24 but is still a family residence and therefore inaccessible to the public. It’s marked only by a small stone memorial in the park across the street.

[...]

One block south of the main square, the Svitavy city museum dedicates an entire wing to the story of Schindler and his Jews. Most of the displays take the form of documents and photographs and are neatly displayed in white on black panels. There are also several items exhibited in glass cases - prisoners’ uniforms, identity cards, food stamps and so on [...].

In another post, Captain Oddsocks writes about his "love/hate relationship" with "tourist information offices in the Czech Republic" and offers some tips on how "to make sure their visitors, however few or many, have such a wonderful stay that they want to go away and spread the word without being asked":

[...] I say that because I think, even though foreign tourists have been coming here freely for almost 20 years, the Czech Republic remains drastically underrated and underappreciated. Most people only go to Prague. [...]

Latvia

Latvian photographer Arnis Balcus posts photos of Latvia's oldest movie theater, Rīga, founded in 1923:

[...] It is probably also the only cinema in the country that still hires an artist to paint film ads.

Poland

- Polandian writes about the fast-growing population of Pope John Paul II statues in Poland:

[...] There are now 228 known public statues of Jan Pawel in Poland (this guy keeps a record). The Pope only died three years ago. According to a calculation I just pretended to do, if the production of Pope statues continues at this rate there will be more marble John Pauls than actual Polish people by about 2025. [...]

[...]

Kitsch is the word that springs, unfortunately, to mind. You have to wonder what John Paul would have thought of all this idolatry, and you have to conclude that it wouldn’t have been positive. [...]

- 20 east explores Warsaw landmarks connected to Heinrich, count von Brühl - the palace at Saski Square and the palace in Młociny:

[...] We’ve walked past it many times but not ventured over the fence. The other weekend, I went out for a walk alone into the wilder parts of the neighbouring land and after working my way around a small lake and then up a steep slope I found myself standing face to face with the palace without having to deliberately break any boundaries. I imagined the place would be deserted but I think there’s a caretaker living in the north wing because I saw a tricycle parked there (visible in the next picture) and curtains in the windows. There’s a weird looking guy, about 45 years old, rides around the neighbourhood on a tricycle made for a 6 year old. I thought he was just the local mutant but it seems he might be the palace caretaker. [...]

Russia

- Eagle and the Bear writes about "a strange assemblage of Soviet military hardware" at Khodynka Field in Moscow - here and here:

[...] Listen up, kids — this kind of thing doesn’t happen in America or Europe: A completely unsupervised collection of Soviet air power, Hinds and MIGs, relics that once hunted down Afghani goat-herders now at your disposal for war games and stupid pictures. [...]

LJ user akry has also devoted several posts (RUS) to Khodynka military hardware "cemetery" and has posted over a hundred photos taken there:

[...] We were shocked by what we saw there. The once mighty, beautiful machines have been left to rot under the rain, their blister windows broken, their insides sticking out... And these are the helicopters and aircrafts that used to protect us... [...]

Serbia

- A Yankee-in-Belgrade writes about the "long and tumultuous history" of Serbia's capital:

[...] When the Scordisci (a Celtic tribe) set uptheir stronghold Singidunum at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers in the third century, the city at the "crossroads of the worlds" had been already been conquered by the Byzantines, the Gepidae, the Sarmatians, the Eastern Goths, the Slavs, the Avars, the Francs, the Bulgarians, the Hungarians, the Ottomans, the Austrians, the Germans... each of whom gave the city their respective names: Singedon, Nandor, Fehervar, Nandor Alba, Alba Graeca, Grieschisch Weisenburg, Alba Bulgarica, Taurunum... However, its Slavic name Belgrade, meaning White City, has lasted the longest. [...]

- At the Balkan Crew, GV author Danica Radovanovic writes about places she loves best in Belgrade:

[...] 2. Markets, open lively markets with food and other goods. Someone said that you have to go first to the open market when you visit some city in order to know better the soul of the city and its habitants, people who live there. [...]

- Viktor Markovic of Belgraded.com writes that the travel tips he shared in The Guardian last week "are a good sneak preview of what's coming soon at Belgraded - a series of articles entitled 'Hundred things to do in Belgrade'." Viktor invites readers to contribute their own "top secret Belgrade tips."

Czech Republic: A Message to Condoleezza Rice

Global Voices Online
Saturday, February 3, 2007



On one wall in Brno, the second-largest Czech city, there's a collective letter to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. When Swobodin v Brne discovered it, he asked a friend to do an English translation of the text that appears next to Ms. Rice's portrait and a reproduction of a painting of African slaves:

Dear Madam the minister,

Please do not forget your slave origins.
They got their freedom.
Let freedom and peace to other people.

Sincerely,
Brno people.

Czech Republic: Election Ends in Stalemate

Global Voices Online
Monday, June 5, 2006

On June 2 and 3, the fourth election to the Chamber of Deputies since the 1993 split of Czechoslovakia took place in the Czech Republic - and ended in stalemate. Below are some bloggers' reports and reactions.

On the day the voting began, Bob Granico of Publius Pundit posted a comprehensive roundup of parties and their platforms, as well as various forecasts:

The likely outcome of the election seems to be a centre-right coalition government of the Civic Democratic Party and the Christian Democrats, but a key factor in the elections will be how well the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia does.

When the voting ended, My Czech Republic Blog noted that a coalition government looked unlikely:

When converting the percentages into the number of seats in the Chamber of Deputies, it looks unlikely that a majority government will be formed. The Civic Democrats/Christian Democrats/Green Party coalition would only get 100 seats, which is the same number the Social Democrats/Communist Party coalition would have.

Lemuel, a Slovak blogger of Deleted By Tomorrow, has been following the election in the neighboring country very closely and with more passion than he felt was necessary:

I have to remind myself, "I am not a Czech, I am not a Czech, this does not concern me", but it is really hard.

Here is Lemuel's take on the current prime minister Paroubek (and head of the Social Democratic Party):

The truly Faustian thing about this man is that he is willing to break the 16-year-old taboo of not cooperating with the unreformed Czech Communist party. He famously declared "If need be, we will pass the laws that are necessary for the prosperity of this country, for the people of this country, with the help of the Communists. And if Martians were to fall here, then I would pass the laws with their help."

Douglas Arellanes commented on the press conference given by Paroubek after the polls had closed:

Paroubek’s press conference had the tone of a temper tantrum. He basically confirmed one of the things most Czechs either openly or quietly feared: that he would let the Communists into the government.

Another non-Czech-based blogger, Gospodin_I of Bulgaria, looks at the election results from a perspective of someone whose country may soon follow the Czech Republic on its path into the EU:

[...] if the Party of the Civic Democrats is to adopt such a hard line on European integration, it obviously is cashing on a trend in public opinion. To say it more simple - EU resentment must exist in the Czech society if it is to be manifested in the positions of one of the leading parties. [...] Soon after the accession (whenever it happens), we will realise that the initial costs of EU memberships are much larger than the initial benefits. And I am pretty sure that some of the leading parties that are now riding the wave of ‘returning Bulgaria to Europe, where it belongs’ and claiming the responsibility for this fateful choice of path will then change their positions in order to find new identities and of course voters. Just like the Civic Democrats do…

Finally, Jesse of Bored in Brno wrote about two of his favorite parties in this election and their ways to promote themselves:

Probably the most interesting party that has caught my attention is number 23, the "Folklore and Society" party. Certainly not one I expect to hear great things of in the election results, but perhaps a nice sentiment.

I'm not sure what advice folklore would offer the government.

[...]

My favorite advertisement, however, was for the Green Party. Among the parties that actually have some chances in the elections, the Greens are probably my favorite. Unlike in the U.S., they actually have some significant support here—well, they have parliamentary representation even though nothing like a majority. They were giving out free bags of "Green" Tea; this appealed to my taste for tea and bad puns. Not to mention that I like the idea of the Green Party.

Central & Eastern Europe: International Women's Day

Global Voices Online
Wednesday, March 8, 2006

March 8 has been an official day off in Russia and Ukraine, and here are some bloggers' reactions to the holiday - in Russia and Ukraine, as well as elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe.

Scott W. Clark of Foreign Notes, a Kyiv-based blog, is not happy about the universality of the day off:

[...] everyone, or most everyone, has it off including the elevator repairman for our building. Hiking up 13 floors with the littlest Clark in hand is not my idea of the perfect holiday.

Oleksandr, a Ukrainian living in Montreal and writing Messages From Canada, wonders why March 8 is considered an international holiday when it's more of a Soviet holiday and should be treated as such:

Like my sister's friend said: I am not Soviet Union woman ("sovetskaya zhenshyna"), so that I don't celebrate this holiday at all. Me too, I am not Soviet Union man, so that if I met any of my female friends this day in Ukraine, I would say just "have a nice day" ;)

Konstantin Dlutskiy of Russian Marketing Blog and Konstantin of Russian Blog both reproduce Soviet-time March 8 posters: "Down with kitchen slavery" from the former and "[Soviet-Chinese] friendship is unbreakable" from the latter.

Sergey Belyakov of the Novgorod-based RUBLog sends his warmest wishes to the women of the world and reminds the rest of the humankind that it's not too late to buy flowers online, thus revealing yet another aspect of March 8 - as any other holiday, it's very good for commerce:

For mens:

In Russia, it is usual to present flowers on 8th March. You still have time to make it, with Send Flowers or Flowers 2 Russia.

Norvezhskiy Lesnoy (LJ user nl) has created a generic March 8 greeting (RUS) for Moscow's Bolshoi Gorod bloglike website: every year, press services of "presidents, governors, heads of oil corporations, etc." across Russia have to revise their last year's greetings - and often they repeat themselves or each other; by taking it a step further and combining quotes from various official addresses, NL helps those busy men save time and avoid embarrassment.

Olga Sagareva criticizes (RUS) a recent order issued by Chechnya's new prime minister Ramzan Kadyrov: from now on, women in Chechnya are required to wear headscarves in government institutions and on TV.

[...] no one has probably told Kadyrov that March 8 is the day of fighting for women's rights, and this is the reason it was so dear to the Soviet people, and not to them alone.

(A year ago, Kadyrov's March 8 present to the Chechen women was - very inappropriately - the dead body of his main opponent, Aslan Maskhadov.)

Jane Keeler, an American teaching English in Vladimir, notes this in her From Russia With Blog:

I find it fascinating to read about the history of IWD, and it's kind of disappointing to see how it has evolved. On one hand, I got chocolate, cards and potpourri from various people all because I am in possession of a vagina. Easiest chocolate I've ever received.

Becca at the Polish blog Boo mentions the holiday's popularity in Poland and its growing "recognition everywhere," but isn't sure Iowa United Methodist Women's suggested activity for the day has much value:

Right, you'd like women 'wherever' they live, to go into churches and ring the bells 'all day'.

Annabengan of annasblog marks how the meaning of March 8 seems to differ in her native Sweden and in Albania, where she now works:

In Sweden it's not really a "happy event" it's kind of a heavy day full of shame and guilt as we read and hear about inequality concerning salaries of men and women, the ratio women - men in Boards of private enterprises that still exist, gender based violence, women's rights etc etc. I understand zero Albanian so I don't know what's up in the Albanian news papers and media today - maybe it's the same...?

Finally, Pestiside.hu, a Hungarian blog, has forgotten about the holiday: "Honestly, Dear, the Dog Ate Our Flowers" is the title of the relevant post. Last year's entries are offered as compensation, though.

UPDATE:

Konstantin Dlutskiy of Russian Marketing Blog cites some interesting holiday-related statistics:

1. Prices on flowers rose on average 170%.
2. L'Oreal Paris made 40% of its planned sales of perfume on one day only.
3. Tables at Moscow restaurants were all booked 2 weeks before the day.

Stephan Clark of Everybody I Love You reports on how he combined his Russian lesson with a little celebration with his teacher, and also notes that the mobile network in Kharkiv, Ukraine, was overloaded on March 8:

[...] My tutor had received roses and tulips before getting my flowers, and her daughter was all dressed up and entertaining guests when I came over for my thrice-weekly lesson. Others I know measure the day in text messages -- and if one woman got sixteen, I'm sure every other woman in the country got four, or seven, or twelve or twenty-two. Just trying to send a text-message today was hard. [...]

Lyndon of Scraps of Moscow recounts what he did on March 8 as a kid in the Soviet Union in the mid-80s and links to his last year's March 8 post, which dealt almost exclusively with the TV coverage of Aslan Maskhadov's death:

[...] I am sure that appetites at more than one 8th of March feast were spoiled by the extensive footage of Maskhadov's body (turns out that "destroyed" is a polite way of saying "killed" - his body was very much intact, although pretty beaten up), in a pool of blood, from every conceivable angle. [...]

Katerina, a Russian co-blogger at The Accidental Russophile, writes about the reasons people still celebrate this Soviet holiday and describes what an ideal March 8 should be like and how it normally goes.

LJ user yellow-reporter posts an AFP picture of Moscow feminists protesting next to a huge panties-shaped poster with this message (RUS) on it:

"Flowers - today, shackles - everyday?"

One commenter calls this "fanatism," the other describes the protesters as "losers" (RUS).

Rachel of Pustolovina: adventure in Serbian describes a very eventful day in Belgrade, filled with protest, activism as well as some "very stereotypically feminine" activities. She concludes:

I enjoyed all of those tasks & I suppose that's what International Women's Day, feminism, etc. is all about: doing tasks because you want to do them, not because they're expected of you.

UPDATE 2:

Having forgotten to celebrate the International Women's Day, Gazing into the Abyss writes about how the holiday is perceived in the Czech Republic now:

[...] If I brought flowers home yesterday - well, I could; there is no such thing as too many flowers. But if I brought flowers with congratulations on International Women's Day, oh my! - it would mean that either I am completely crazy after all, or I make tasteless jokes. That's what remains of a once high-minded idea: a tasteless joke.

Most of us here in the West's East would like to forget about the past, just as I have forgotten about the Woman's Day. But the past won't forget about us.