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Cultological Culture

English mirror of Russian-European cultural media, including cults in Art, Entertainment, People, Cultology and more ...

Sunday, November 07, 2004

Stavropol Krai appeals court refuses return of mosque to Muslims.
The topic was a historical building in the center of Stavropol, in which the picture gallery of a famous Stavropol artist is now located. The Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Karchaevo-Circassia Krai were trying to get the mosque building converted for religious purposes. The mosque has not been used as a cult building for more than 70 years.
The people of the city, in essence the residents of the small district adjacent to the mosque came out against the building in the center of the city being used for a mosque. They thought that a new mosque could be built someplace else.
The Spiritual Administration of Muslims already lost the first instance of the case. They named eight city and krai structures in their lawsuit. With the new dismissal, the complainants will prepare a new protest.
Source:
Kavkaz.Memo, 29.10.04, Svetlana Biryukova
archive url: http://cultology.blogspot.com/2004/11/#109985690326478245

Tom Petty: Conversation with himself.
Well-known American musician and band leader Tom Petty is releasing a book about his life and works. The publication, which has the name "Conversations with Tom Petty," will become the first official biography of the musician.
Working on the book is Paul Zollo, author of the famous anthology, "Songwriters on Songwriting," which has interviews with cult personalities like Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Frank Zappa and Neil Young.
The Russian-language version of "Conversations with Tom Petty" is supposed to go on sale there at the end of 2005, the year before the 30-year anniversary of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, which occurs early 2006.
Source:
Music.Com.Ua, 28.10.04
archive url: http://cultology.blogspot.com/2004/11/#109985686942318299

Propaganda operations by coercive religious sects, which could result in detriment to Azerbaijan state security, is supposed to be prohibited. As people's deputy Alimamad Guliev told "Olaylar" information agency, in Azerbaijan there are representatives of various religious sects, whose activity is forbidden in this country. "Taking advantage of the country's economic situation, these sects have drawn diverse people into their number by putting material reward at their disposal.
Basically propagating a reclusive way of life, these sects inspire hostile attitudes to people who are disposed to other religions. This activity has been forbidden by the country's legislature.
As the people's deputy stated, the religious literature these sects brought into Azerbaijan was also affected. Therefore, that sort of literature was to be confiscated and measures against their distribution undertaken.
Source:
Day.Az, 29.10.04
archive url: http://cultology.blogspot.com/2004/11/#109985675290498533

Journalist investigating activities of religious sects killed.
Police investigators have not ruled out the possibility that the murder of journalist Veronika Cherkasova may have been connected with her professional work, reported RBK. Among a number of other things, Veronika Cherkasova was working on material about sect activity on the territory of Belarus, reported the "UralPolit.Ru" news agency.
A journalist for the non-state newspaper, "Solidarity," Veronika was brutally murdered in Minsk the day of 20 October. The day prior she had returned from a trip to Myadelskiy district and was supposed to have shown up at work in the morning. After she did not arrive, her colleagues got in contact with her relatives. Cherkasova's body, with nearly 20 stab wounds, was discovered in her apartment by her relatives and colleagues. The woman had been killed with a knife. The metal door to the apartment showed no sign of forced entry, and nothing was stolen from the apartment. Investigators assume that Veronika Cherkasova opened the door herself.
Veronika Cherkasova used to work in television, then at the "Belarussian Business newspaper," then at the "Belarussian newspaper." As the city office of Internal Affairs reported, Minister of Internal Affairs Vladimir Naumov wanted to have the facts about the journalist's murder.
Source:
Center for Religious Research, 25.10.04
archive url: http://cultology.blogspot.com/2004/11/#109985668216992503

Mosque opens in Tel Aviv University.
Today at 6 p.m. a ceremony is being held to open a mosque in one of the residences of Tel Aviv University. One thousand Muslim students now have the opportunity to pray without having to leave the dorm. A month ago the university's management answered in the affirmative to their request and allocated space in one of the air-raid shelters for the mosque. This decision was kept secret from the public. When it became known, a scandal broke loose in the university. One of the campus staff (he asked his name not be mentioned) appealed to minister Uzi Landau with a request to stop the mosque from opening. The argument in his request went this way: the mosque could become a site of political assembly and a breeding-ground for extremism.
In the office of the minister (now he's already the former minister, since after the voting in the Knesset, Prime Minister Sharon spared Landau through a unilateral section plan) they said that the campus employee's letter had been received, but in Israel they always observed freedom of religious and cult practices, so that the existence of the mosque was not prohibited for students. They would have to see to it, though, that it would not be turned into a center for political activity.
The creation of the mosque was upheld by the Association of Students of Tel Aviv University. By the way, this university is not the first in Israel whose campus houses a Muslim building. A mosque is already in operation on Khaifsky University.
Source:
Israland Novosti, 27.10.04
archive url: http://cultology.blogspot.com/2004/11/#109985664685834975

Belarus deports two American Mormons.
Two US citizens were deported from Belarus on Monday for illegal missionary activity. As the Belarussian KGB for Mogilevsky province told "Rosbalt," the American were involved in illegal distributing the doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (Mormons).
They succeeded in determining that the foreigners were profiting in Belarus as representatives of one of the international charitable organizations which is officially registered in the Republic. However, according to the information from the Belarussian KGB, along with charitable operations they became involved in missionary activity. In Mogilevsky province an assembly was held in which the American Mormons participated, even though this religious association is not registered on that province's territory. This, as it is regarded in the Belarussian KGB, violates the Belarussian low "On freedom of practice of religion and religious organizations," and also the resolution of the Belarussian government "On the manner of invitation and activity of foreign clergy on the territory of the Republic of Belarus."
"This is the second case in which foreign citizens were deported from the territory of Mogilevsky province. In 2001, three US citizens were also deported for illegal missionary activity under the aegis of charitable work," reported KGB press director for Mogilevsky province Tatyana Shevtsova.
The Church of Mormons was created in 1830 by Joseph Smith, USA. Today this church (considered a sect by others) represents a strong organization with its headquarters in Salt Lake City.
Source:
Rosbalt.Ru, 26.10.04, Minsk
archive url: http://cultology.blogspot.com/2004/11/#109985651554487266

Halloween an exercise in Satanism.
Coordinating with the city's mass media for the upcoming 31 October - 1 November mass gatherings on the occasion of the American Halloween festival, the Arkhangel diocese's education department has prepared a written address, which, as department staff told the "Russkiy Sever" news agency, will be distributed in the city's educational establishments. Citing a part of this text, "Halloween was selected as the main holiday by those who in our day consciously submitted to serve evil, so-called witches, sorcerers, Satanists along with the newly formed revivals of ancient heathen cults. So, witches make this day one of the main Sabbaths of the year, and Satanists perform "black mass." The Halloween festival, as it happens in America, is a blasphemous mockery of saints." We add that in 2003 the Moscow city education department published a directive about no form of unacceptable conduct would occur in educational establishments for Halloween (25 Feb 2003 N 2-33-20)
Source:
Russkiy Sever, 26.10.04
archive url: http://cultology.blogspot.com/2004/11/#109985647985027441

Renowned poetess Mirra Lokhvitskaya rightly considered one of the most striking examples of decadence of the late 19th century.
Her real name was Maria. She was born 19 November 1869 in St. Petersburg into the Dvoryansky family. Her mother was a Russified Frenchwoman who loved poetry and was very well acquainted with European and Russian literature, so in the Lokhvitsky family, a cult of books always reigned. Maria's father, Alexander Lokhvitskiy, was a professor of law, a lawyer, and editor of "Sudebny Vestnik" ("Court Bulletin"). His forefather, Kondratiy Lokhvitskiy, a mason and senator in the Alexander I era, also wrote verse, law and mystic writings.
Maria had a younger sister, Nadia, and both sisters eventually enriched Russian literature with their work. Maria took the name Mirra and became well known for "Russkaya Safo." Nadezhda assumed the pseudonym Taffy and became a writer-satirist.
Mirra started writing verse "from the time she could hold a pen in her hand," and could offer serious work when she was 15. Vsevolod Solovev, son of historian Sergei Solovev, helped her get into the literary world. And from 1889 Lokhvitskaya started collaborating in the "Sever" ("North") magazine, afterwards her verse appeared in magazines such as "Khudozhnik," "Nablyudatel," "Nashe Vremya" and others.
To get a better education, Mirra Lokhvitskaya went into the Aleksandrovskiy Institute in Moscow. After graduating from the educational establishment, she married Zhiber, an architect, and the first year of marriage was spent in the city of Tikhvin in Yaroslav Province. First the family, then the province, then all attention went to raising children, five of them. When the tots grew up a little, the poetess returned to Moscow, then moved to Petersburg and became a steady contributor to and helper of Konstantin Sluchevskiy.
Plunged into the salon environment. she literally "ached" with the idea of opening her own, the more so because there was no obstacle to doing this: her husband was rich. Finally her dream came true, and Mirra opened her own salon, from which her popularity grew even more. During salon evenings she listened attentively to others, but during this never forgot to introduce her new works to the attending court.
Not only did a passionate, vehement nature manifest itself in Maria Lokhvitskaya verse, but also in her life in which she was less "aphroditist" and more earthy; although she also dressed pretentiously for the time, she apparently also paid tribute to the Petersburg mode and decadent style of the time.
The work and life of Mirra Lokhvitskaya was a balance between the lofty and the low, between prosaic being and romantic feeling. Children, husband - all this was, of course, good, unflinching and fundamental, but her subtle spirit needed something more. At first the poetess sought out "endless blue," then the "overflowing water," then the "sighing gale." "She is outspokenly a poet of love," her contemporaries raved about her. Yes, in poetry this is a usual matter, but in life?
Mirra Lokhvitskaya's tempestuous love affair with Konstantin Balmont received scandalous publicity in its day, in so far as they did not even try to conceal their feelings and openly dedicated their love messages in verse to each other. She, like many other women, dreamt, agonized, loved and suffered. And all her accumulated efforts she was able to convey in skewed paragraphs in the poetic work "Ymei Stradat" ("With a Mind To suffer") (1895):
When into you they brand a woman and mother -
For only one second, enriched with happiness,
Silence, calm impassivity,
With a mind to keep quiet!
And if a brief thread of joy occurs
And your idol quickly condemns you
To a bout of depression, burning and disgrace -
With a mind to love!
And if on you they print election,
but put you in the yoke of slave,
Bear your cross with the grandeur of a goddess -
With a mind to suffer!
But when the powerful feelings slipped by, Mirra Lokhvitskaya suddenly found another, not in poetry, but in the real world, by which she was at first appalled. The evil left the world, not the real one, but the imaginary literary one. The poetess passionately wrote tales, dramatic poems and developed Biblical topics. The poetess' contemporaries commented that she suddenly "plunged into medieval fanaticism, in a world of witches, a cult of Satan." Perhaps this choice was contributed to by her physical state: at that time, Mirra was already seriously ill with tuberculosis. "I want to die young, not loving, not sad about something, go down with a precious star, fly with an undying flower...", she wrote, as if she had foreboding of her impending demise.
Mirra Lokhvitskaya died at age 35 in Petersburg, the "angel of death" arrived for her 27 August (9 September) 1905. One more living spirit departed this world.
Reflecting on the works of this gifted woman and renowned poetess always brings to mind her simple verse:
If whims are accidental
And a dream no stops to it,
A pale rose, a tea rose
Give me life, poet!

This eloquent appeal of the "Russian Safo" was heard by Igor Severyanin, who literally worshipped Mirra Lokhvitskaya. He made her into a cult with his religiously lyrical worship and dedicated many poems to her.
As concerns the creations of Mirra Lokhvitskaya, the poetess herself, her anthology of "Poetry creations" (1896) was awarded half a Pushkin prize of the Academy of Science. And the poetess received another Pushkin prize posthumously. Many works of Mirra Lokhviskaya were put to music by composers Gleier, Vasilenko, Lyapunovy and others.
Source:
www.rusedina.Ru, 25.10.04, Lorena Pototskaya
archive url: http://cultology.blogspot.com/2004/11/#109985643499681513

Tuesday, November 02, 2004

In atomic hell.
50 years ago on the Totsky experimental artillery proving ground of the South Ural military district, a nuclear bomb was used in a military exercise.
On 14 September 1954 at 9:34 a.m. a TU-4 aircraft at a height of 8,000 meters dropped a 40 kiloton atomic bomb. Denotation occurred at a height of 350 meters. The artillery training began and then bomber strikes. Taking part in the exercise were nearly 45,000 people, 600 tanks and self-propelled artillery vehicles, 500 ordinance pieces and grenade-launchers, 600 APCs, 320 jets, 6,000 trucks and vehicles.
War in a new way.
Irkutskian Alexander Grigorevich Sakharovskiy was called into the Army in 1953. The military specialist got into tank school in Chelyabinsk. In spring 1954 he was sent to the site of the future exercise.
Before that time, the residents of all population points were evacuated from the trial zone. Military preparations began. Infantrymen dressed in protective gear and gas masks were pushed to the limit. Tankers marched for miles. They perfected their skills non-stop. Long distance aircraft worked in the basic plan: the pilots did not have room for mistakes and had to be right on target in any and all conditions. Throwing the formidable "product" was up to them.
To train people psychologically, imitation atomic explosions were set off with the aid of a special charge. A blinding magnesium flare was lit, and this was followed by a fiery mushroom cloud going up to the sky. It was as similar to an atomic explosion as a toy tank was to the real thing.
Alexander Sakharovskiy narrates:
"At first, when the training exercise had only just begun, we didn't know anything. Everything was secret. Our battalion went out on various routes for a whole month, it got so we could do it with our eyes shut.
We were already so used to any imitation gear that most of the conversations went: "Here you would see the real explosion." We were young boys..., but they told us frankly, "Everyone, get ready, there's going to be a real atomic bomb. There's no reason to be afraid. If everybody does things right, there'll be no danger. We were located far from the epicenter. The only thing we had to worry about seriously was protection from the flash of light, so as not to go blind."
"We started preparing the equipment. All the cracks in the tank were caulked, so light wouldn't penetrate. We were told a thousand times that even at a great distance (and we were about 30 kilometers away), and even in a tank, the light would be bright. And to not get punctured eardrums, we were to put our hands over our ears. They would transmit the statements over the radio when this supposed to be done."
Morning, 14 September 1954.
Can an atomic explosion be described? Those who have seen nuclear tests with their own eyes cannot find the words. One of the American observers wrote about apocalyptic paint that colored the region and about a living terror from which the blunting of reason begins. That person was about 50 kilometers from the epicenter. What happens in the zone through which the shock wave passes, one can judge only by special film shots. What happens in this epicenter just after the explosion ...
But back to Alexander Grigorevich's narrative:
"The transmission came over the radio for us - 'Get ready!' We shut our eyes and tensed. In the tank there was light only from the batteries, no holes to the outside. And suddenly through clenched eyes came a sensation, like everything inside was lit. Apparently there was still a little tiny crack somewhere, but it was enough. Then the light dimmed, our T-34 was tossed up like an earthquake had begun. The thunderous noise was indescribable... and then everything fell quiet. We were allowed out of the vehicle and went to the top of a rise to look at the mushroom cloud. It was very interesting, of course, we were gaping at it. For five minutes we admired it. The officer said that if the cloud started to go in our direction, we were to evacuate immediately.
I think the infantry saw it better. Those kids weren't in tanks, they were sitting in trenches, quite close, compared to us. But probably there are few of them still alive.
"After the signal to attack we did not manage to go very far," relates Alexander Grigorevich. "Combat operations told us over the radio that according to the terms of the exercise, our tank had been hit and was in flames. We came to a stop, and with the aid of smoke bombs and flares, simulated a tank on fire. We put on our gas masks, went into the vehicle and waited until the smoke dissipated. But the gas masks quickly became clogged and the clean air stopped. We jumped out of the tank to get some air. At some point we looked in the direction of the mock battle. They were hammering it with Katyusha missiles, aircraft were dropping bombs. Somewhere far ahead a tank burned. Thunder, lightning, smoke and fire... a powerful performance. But we were "casualties" and stayed put. The battalion went ahead. After two or three hours they returned.
When the exercise was over, we all went to the victory celebration. Each person received a letter of appreciation from Defense Minister Bulganin, which went into our service records.
A TASS report: "In connection with a plan of scientific research and experimental work recently in the Soviet Union, a test of one kind of atomic weapon was conducted, the goal of which was to study the effects of an atomic detonation. During the test results were obtained which will help Soviet researchers and engineers to successfully accomplish the mission of protection against atomic attack ("Pravda" newspaper, 17 September 1954).
After the hellfire.
Alexander Sakharovsky reminisced upon an individual episode, which still stands out in his memory as a former tanker.
"Through the exercise the village and countryside were vacant. Through the streets and square ran piglets, chickens and geese. They bought large cattle at the collective farm and transported them to the proving ground, close to the epicenter. They were checking for stability... After the detonation, the animals became frightened. They were blinded. Their eyes had been burned.
When everything was done, a special team was busy with cleaning up the territory. The animals, on which they studied the effects of impact factors on live organisms, were destroyed and brought back and put into special pits. The equipment was buried, then covered with concrete. They filled in the trenches and cleaned the fields. The land had to be returned to collective farms. After about a year (!) the local residents who had been evacuated could come back to live on site permanently.
"In 1955 a group gathered to remove the results of the experiment. I volunteered," recalled Alexander Grigorevich. "It was at the epicenter of the blast. Tours from the military school and academy arrived there quite frequently, but we weren't there as sightseers. We found and removed lines that had been blown down by the blast. As far as I recall, nobody checked us for radioactivity, but the nearby village had already settled back in. I remember that well, because we went AWOL there. The closest village of them all to the epicenter was Elshanka. There many buildings were destroyed and much was burned. The people rebuilt or renovated everything. The line we were salvaging could also be used there locally. The woods were knocked down and scorched, so there was nothing to use for building, but there was plenty of firewood.
One important observation should be made here. The 1954 blast was aerial. Compared to a ground-level detonation the site was not so strongly contaminated with radiation. In this connection the Chernobyl breakdown, isn't this funny, had much more serious after-effects, because Chernobyl had a thermal meltdown, not an atomic.
However, in the early '50s few could conceive of the long-term effects of radioactive fallout and contamination of a region. The Army dosimeters were gauged for a horse's dose of radiation, which if a human received he was guaranteed to die of radiation poisoning. This turned out to be a bad joke: if a sniper missed, one could shoot back. But if you believed the meter, the sniper wouldn't miss.
Keeping one's word.
The democratic and benevolent USA also conducted atomic research with live enlisted troops. The Americans are the ones who are very sensitive about their overwhelming responsibility to Congress, the Senate the taxpayers and public opinion! Well, back in the 1950s the Americans didn't know any more about the effects of radiation than we did. The only difference in the USA conducting experiments on live soldiers was that the state showed more concern, which although it was delayed, still it recognized its responsibility to them.
Until recent years, ours kept its past a secret, people wanted to keep their word after having signed non-disclosure agreements. They died from obscure diseases that didn't respond to treatment. Even a half century later, when the confidentiality has been lifted, little has changed. Same with all soldiers, the Totsky proving ground waits its turn for free medical service. An attempt was made to take advantage of the few privileges offered. Their retirement pay by no means corresponds to their service for the state.
And the few nuclear soldiers remaining alive in Russia today ask themselves: but why did we do this? Who for? Why are we and our children suffering today? Understanding this requires a trip into the climate of the post-war world.
This is a quotation of the anti Russian strategy which can be found in the US National Security Service Directive number 20/1 of August 18, 1948: "We must ensure that even an non-communist and nominally friendly regime in Russia: a) does not have in the future sizable military force; b) that its economy is strongly dependent on the rest of the world; c) does not have strong control over the minorities; d) cannot establish anything similar to the 'iron curtain'. If that regime exhibits unfavorable attitude towards communists and favorable attitude towards the USA we still must ensure that these conditions are imposed although not in an offensive and humiliating manner. Still, we must win them over, if not peacefully then by force, to protect our own interests." [...]
Source:
Babr.Ru, 25.10.04, Andrei Davydov
archive url: http://cultology.blogspot.com/2004/11/#109939665125674429

The Ural Dumpling comedy team makes its fifth appearance in Vladivostock.
The distinguished ICC'ers love the capital of Primorya not only for the pretty students, and not just for the opportunity to sample a wide range of delicacies from the sea. The warm reception, friends from all over Vladivostock and the chance to buy a new Japanese car - these are the main arguments for the choice of itinerary of the group's tour. The cult team of the Improvisational Comedy Club "Ural Dumplings," whose participants regularly scintillate in various humor broadcasts, is coming to the Vladivostock area for the fifth time. They are presenting their new program, called "SmEX in the Big City" (Russian "smex": English "laughter"), of improvisation and comedy in three cities. What's more, in Vladivostock the "dumplings" plan not only to make an appearance before local admirers, but also take a stroll through the automobile market on "Green Street" during regular hours. The main stars of the team, by the way, make no secret for their love of foreign brands, but actively propagate it. For instance, "Ural Dumplings" director Sergei Netievskiy, using the nickname of Basya (from his old hometown of Basyanovka), answers all questionnaires: "Hobby - automobiles with right-hand steering wheels." Incidentally, besides his tour visits, Sergei has come to Vladivostock on his own two other times. Mister Netievskiy prefers to buy his Nissans in the area. On one of his first visits to Vladivostock, team captain Andrei Rozhkov bought his wife, Elvira, a 1989 Toyota Corona. Really the car was not of use to the Rozhkov family for long, as it was soon in an accident. Fortunately, Andrei soon came back on tour and bought a new car. But here Dmitriy Sokolov, well-known for his tragicomic verse, once worked in a tire shop, so he has regularly bought wheels for Japanese cars in the Primoryan regional center.
Source: vlad.kp.ru
Source:
Kolesa.Ru, 22.10.04
archive url: http://cultology.blogspot.com/2004/11/#109939660990604766

New improved Prince of Darkness.
The "Akella" company officially announced it has made an agreement with the Ascaron company about the publication and release in Russia of an improved version of the cult role game "Prince of Darkness." At the end of October the necessary upgrade to "Prince of Darkness Plus" will be accessible on the publisher's pages.
Source:
IgroMania.Ru, 21.10.04
archive url: http://cultology.blogspot.com/2004/11/#109939657503604578

Mania - New Russian Snowboarding Movie.
The Revision Films studio, with the help of KOSS, introduced a new domestic snowboarding movie, "Mania!"
Freestyle from the best Russian riders (Maksim Khalin, Teimurovey, Konstantin Kokorev, Dmitriy Titushkin, Kirill Malygin and many others) in all the famous parks, aggressive jibbing from secret locations in different cities, in the country on slopes bathed in sunshine and episodes from the real life of every old cult pro and rising star of domestic snowboarding - this is only a small part of the new movie!
Source:
Ski.Ru, 22.10.04
archive url: http://cultology.blogspot.com/2004/11/#109939654563317147

North Ossetia Internal Affairs Ministry excludes Scientologists.
Today 22 representatives of the Church of Scientology left North Ossetia. IAM press service director Ismel Shaov told this to the Interfax agency.
In early October the Health Ministry of North Ossetia sent a letter to state government and law enforcement agencies with a request for assistance in stopping Scientology operations in the republic and especially on the territory of Beslan and the Suburban district.
In the Health Ministry's view, this sort of sect primarily puts at risk children and teens suffering the results of terrorist acts.
"This sect uses various methods of psycho-technology and hypnosis, which greatly facilitates an irreversible detrimental process for the mental health of the adults as well as the children who have survived a major nervous shock," said the Health Ministry in the letter.
After many appeals from the public of Beslan and the appeal from North Ossetia Health Ministry, a decision was made in the law enforcement agencies of the republic to take elementary measures.
Besides that, according to an investigation carried out with the North Ossetia office of the RF Justice Ministry, it turns out that Scientology is not registered in Russia, and its representatives do not have the proper certificates or licenses for this sort of operation, the press service director noted.
According to what he said, the day before 22 representatives of the Church of Scientology were summoned to the Right-bank district internal affairs office, where in the presence of local Beslan government administration officials they were told about their actions being unacceptable and it was suggested to them that they leave the republic in 24 hours.
"Otherwise measures of an administrative impact would be applied," reported the agency spokesman.
According to the information obtained in the law enforcement agencies of the republic, at the present moment a review of the legality of activities by other religious sects in North Ossetia is also being reviewed.
Source:
NewsRu.Ru, 22.10.04
archive url: http://cultology.blogspot.com/2004/11/#109939651721881600

Today in the "DOM" Cultural Center a retrospective called "Crazy Trash!" from the "Trash at a higher meaning: leaders and clowns, vice and virtue" cycle is being held. In the framework of the retrospective, two movies will be shown, "Geopolipy" and "The Meaning of Life according to Monty Python."
A. Kopeikin's and A. Kagadeyev's "Geopolipy" movie is political correctness from Petersburg post-punk humanity, of humanized leaders: Lenin and his teacher, Shinklegrueber morally traumatized by Hasids, friend of the forest Kim Il Sung and typical Dobbirman, defenders of science and planetary visitors.
Satire and a fresh view of that world, the latest of Monty's joint movie projects, "The Meaning of Life according to Monty Python," - this is exactly what you always wanted to know about life and death, and what the legendary comic group thinks about all the years of forced labor in the totalitarian sect of the BBC.
Source:
RIA "Oreanda", 19.10.04, Moscow
archive url: http://cultology.blogspot.com/2004/11/#109939648465853197

Teen killed parents after father beat him for bad grades.
The bodies of a couple were discovered on Saturday morning in their own house in the district center of Talmenk in the Altai territory. According to information from law enforcement agencies, the underage murderer used a hunting rifle registered to his father, after taking it from an unlocked metal guncase.
As the Altai territory domestic authorities reported, the day before the incident the father returned home from a parents meeting where the teachers told him about his son's poor progress in 8th grade chemistry. At home the father decided to punish his son, and beat him severely. "My father never hurt me for bad grades, this time he went too far," the boy gave his justification.
Some details of the family's life were clarified during the investigation. 47-year-old Galina Petrovna and 50-year-old Alexander were considered in the village to be a happy and successful family. The wife worked as a bookkeeper in secondary school No. 51, the father as a driver for a local road-building office. They had a daughter, who was a little older than the boy. A year ago she became a mother. It was her that sounded the alarm when she didn't find her parents at home or at work. When she found blood, she hurried to the neighbors, who had a telephone, from where she called the police. Arriving on the scene, the police discovered the bodies in the shed. They had been there since Thursday evening - that was the day of the ill-fated parents meeting. The boy said he had planned on bringing his parents' bodies to a nearby river, but had not been able to find the keys to his father's car. He had asked an 18-year-old friend for help, who had refused.
Nobody in the village can explain what pushed the child to such violence. "You see, he shot his father first, but didn't collect himself and became frightened, then he killed his mother," said a local police officer, "and all this time the parents worshipped the boy." Nothing is known in the district center about any sort of sect activity. No one is at fault for having a destructive influence on the child's psyche. It's possible the reason for the mental breakdown could be the computer games that the boy was constantly playing at home. The family was one of the few in the district who owned a personal computer.
The Altai prosecutor has initiated a criminal case in accordance with article 105 of the RF criminal code ("murder").
Source:
Utro.Ru, 20.10.04, Andrei Sergeyev
archive url: http://cultology.blogspot.com/2004/11/#109939644967858667

Opinion: Muslim regions suffering more from terrorism in Russia.
Radik Amirov, press service director of the Council of Muftis of Russia, Executive Secretary of the Union of Muslim Journalists.
Terrorism cannot have a confessional affiliation. But it's turned out that when the topic is terrorism, it's subconsciously underscored with Islam. As the press service director of the Council of Muftis in Russia, I expect, after another terrorist act, calls from my colleagues, who ask, "And perhaps a comment from Mufti Ravil Gainudtin?" I ask, "But have you called anywhere besides a Muslim organization?" They tell me, "No, but, but your people did it." "Why 'our' people?" "They're Muslims!"
But according to Islamic canonical law, killing those who aren't attacking you is prohibited.
As concerns terrorism in general, for example, when skinheads beat my Tajik friend, and forced him to kiss a cross, he kissed it, otherwise he would have been killed. In that case could one talk about Orthodox terrorism? Of course not. Those are hard-hearted, unscrupulous people who are not responsible, much less for Christianity.
As concerns the latest events in Iraq, we speak rather softly about American aggression. And each time the mass media stresses: here's what Islamic militants, Islamic terrorists and Iraqi combatants have done. And at the same time, there's practically nothing about how coalition aircraft are bombing the Shiites or the capital of Bagdhad.
In this way artificial pressure and the artificial spread of Islamophobia is started. Especially now, especially after Beslan, after the aircraft terrorist acts. To put it mildly, this is improper.
We take the "Russian View" broadcast from Ivan Demidov, who in his day actively glorified Boris Moiseyev. Now he talks about a Russian View, that in Crimea there are "new Crimean Tatars" and "bearded Vakkhabites," and shows pictures without a single bearded man in them!
In October an article, the "Web of Jihad," appeared, which said that if the muftis of Russia lied, that was Muslim values: they cheated infidels. That's exactly what was written. The whole article not a single reference to an individual Muslim was made.
Here in July Kim wrote about Islam: I think that if there is this accusation (of the Muslim religion) and it is brought out into he public, then people who tell it, Kim in this case, should be responsible for their words.
Concerning the word "Wahabism" or "Vakkhabism," the states has not defined this word for us. Let's say two muftis are opposing each other. One says to the other, "You are a Vakkhabite," but the other says, "You are a Vakkhabite." What is the point, the root, the essence of Vakkhibism? Nobody knows.
Therefore let Vakkhibism be defined from the state's viewpoint. Either it's a criminal sect or a current in Islam. Either we forbid it or don't. Here's an example. At the Savelovsky station the policeman said, "Since there are emirs in your family, you're a Vakkhabite." Does that mean I'm automatically on the Vakkhabite list?
When society does not have the terminology, it does not know the gist of the question. I would like to direct the attention of the intellectuals to that. We've lived side by side for a thousand years. When an event occurred and a state was formed, there was opposition, there was Kalka and Kulikovo. But when a state was formed, when Bashkir, Tatarstan and other regions came into Russia with their land, then we resisted the enemy together.
One can recall the war in 1812, when Tatar and Bashkir regiments of the Russian army were the first to go into Paris, the Russian-Japanese War, the Great Patriotic War, by the way, one can recall the Crimean War. After that campaign, my grandfather ransomed a Turkish wife and wrote the Czar, "May I marry a Turk?" And the Russian Czar wrote the simple soldier, a Tatar serving in the Russian Army, that he could.
Muslim regions are suffering more from terrorism in Russia - Dagestan, Ingushetia and Chechnia. Nobody wants to die. One can rebuild houses, one can rebuild schools, one can do anything, but the lives of children who have been bombed will not return.
Let's think more about what unites us, not what divides us.
Source:
Novopol.Ru, 20.10.04
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