Cultological Culture

2005-03-27T02:44:00.001-08:00

Smugglers from eastern Europe almost sold the FBI all of Russia's uranium.
Armenian special services detained several people in a case involving an attempt to import arms into the USA, reported RIA "Novosti." This was announced on Thursday by deputy chief Grachya Arutyunyan of the Armenian National Security Service. He did say, in any case, that there was no evidence the weapons under discussion could have been exported to the USA from Armenia.
This is in reference to the arrest of Armenian citizen Artur Solomonyan and the South African Christian Devett Spies on Monday evening in a New York hotel. Another 16 were charged in the sale of eight infantry weapons. This arrest follows a year-long investigation by the FBI. It began after several Americans of South African descent (according to the Associated Press version, demolition experts) told the special services that they had been contacted by some immigrants from eastern Europe who were looking for buyers of arms manufactured in Russia.
During the investigation, according to the FBI representative, the "smugglers" were told that members of Al Qaida wanted to buy Russian weapons.
Over the course of several months negotiations were conducted with members of the group, who showed pictures of arms: automatic weapons, machine guns, anti-tank weapons and grenade-throwers that were alleged to have been manufactured in one of the former USSR republics. They said the best they could do was provide a one-time shipment of weapons-grade uranium to the USA.
According to American media, the weaspons could be obtained from Russia, Chechnia or CIS countries.
As Arutyunyan said, among the Armenian citizens arrested in the USA was Solomonyan's brother, Levon. According to the deputy chief of the National Security Service, both have been sought since 2001 by Armenian police for dodging military service. According to the Armenian special services, the brothers were students at the Selskokhozyaistvennaya Academy and left Armenia in 1998 and 2000 as part of a student exchange program, said Arutyunyan. Meanwhile, as was reported earilier by the New York Times, Artur Solomonyan represented himself as an adept of the Scientology sect in a cultural exchange to get into the USA.
Those arrested also included citizens of Georgia. As US Ambassador to Georgia Richard Miles communicated on Wednesday at a press conference, together with citizens of Armenia and a number of other eastern European countries, people charged with exporting Russian weaspon to the USA included Nikoloz Nadirashvili, Vato Machitadze, Iosif Kharabadze and Levan Shvelidze."
The country's minister of foreign affairs Salome Zurabishvili had stated that the weaspons under discussion could have reached the USA from Russia through the Rokskiy tunnel, and then across Georgian and Armenian territory. "Georgia has stated repeatedly that the central powers of Georgia needed to exert more control over the Rokskiy tunnel and other border areas. This is yet another case that shows the necessity of that. Control is necessary not only for the security of Georgia, but also for the many other countries these weapons can reach," underscored the internal intelligence chief. The minister did not present any evidence for this version of the story.
Lenta.Ru, 18.3.05

2005-03-27T02:44:00.000-08:00

Khakass gives cultural property to municipality.
A memorial to the soldiers of the Khakass who died in local armed conflict in Abakan and the Ankhakovsky "Ulug Khurtuyakh Tas" museum will be given to municipal formations. Such was the March 23rd resolution passed at a presidium session of the Supreme Council of the Republic of the Khakass.
While several memorials made their appearance in the republic in 2004 on the avenue of the Heroes of Socialist Labor in the Victory Park, the memorial to those fallen in local armed conflict is situated on the Provokzalnaya Square of Abakan, and the municipal museum of one exhibit "Khurtuyakh Tas" in the Askizsky district. In 2004 a special commission recognized srtuctures completed as memorials and in accordance with active legislation now needed to determine their ownership. According to a proposal by the government of the Republic of the Khakass they will go to municipal authorities.
As the Regnum Information Agency was told in the press offices of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Khakass, in the scope of preparations to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Victory, city and Republic authorities are implementing reconstruction of the memorial area in Victory Park. A new wall has been produced with the names of the Heroes of the Soviet Union, recipients of Medals of Honor and Heroes of Socialist Labor. Now as elements of a single memorial complex they are included in the register of city property, and so their care and maintenance are to be entrusted to city agencies. The residual value of the properties is nearly four million rubles. Part of the property of the Abakansky municipality will include the memorial to those fallen in local armed conflicts, which is located on the city's Provokzalnaya Square.
In 2003,the administration of the Republic of Khakass agreed with a proposal from the council on the Khakass people about moving the cult wall Ulug Khurturyakh Tas (Great stone old woman) from the hall of the Regional Studies Museum to a site of historical location not far from the Ulus (ulus [of Mongolian origin]: a stopping point for ancient nomads) of the Ankhak Askizsky district. One of the conditions for the return of the monument to the historical site was the construction of a museum for the wall. In September 2004 the festive opening of the "Ulug Khurtuyakh Tas" Ankahkovsky Municipal Museum occurred in a solemn setting and in the presence of honored guests. A building was specially erected for the exhibit in the style of a yurt. This was covered in broadcasts and press reports throughout the territory. The value of the museum's infrastructure has been estimated at one million rubles.
It was resolved to convey ownership of this to the Askizsky district. Continued apprehension about the further fate of the Khurtuyakh Tas wall itself was dispelled by Vladislav Torosov, representative of the council. At the presidum of the Khakass Republic's Supreme Council he said that the Khurtuyakh Tas belonged to the state, besides which it was on the federal register of protected historical memorials.
In recollection, the cost of the "Ulug Khurturyakh Tas" wall was assessed by a number of experts in the amount of five million dollars, and its age was said to be comparable with that of the Egyptian pyramids. In the traditional beliefs of the Khakassi and other peoples in in ancient times populated the territory of the Minusinsky Basin, Khurtuyakh Tas played a fundamental role in treating barren women. Discovered in the 1950s while tilling and ploughing soil, it was moved to the regional museum at Abakan, where it was maintained until 2003.
Regnum.Ru, 23.3.05

2005-03-27T02:43:00.000-08:00

On this day, March 18.
in 1797 a decree was issued in Russia on freedom of cults.
For-Ua.Com, 18.3.05

2005-03-19T04:16:00.000-08:00

Wireless Internet in Krasnaya Polyana ski resort.
In the very center of the mountain ski resort of Krasnaya Polyana, in the "Muenchhausen" cult bar, a new service for Internet users has appeared - "WiFi"! This is a type of access developed by modern computer geniuses to enable anyone who wants, from the common user to the professional, log on to the Internet without dialing in and without delay. This needs a hook-up with a "WiFi" option or a specially attached device that supports this service.
The service is offered absolutely free. The most stable signal and steady reception is supported in the Muenchhausen bar. In the near future, all the lower areas of the mountain resort will be covered by wireless Internet. Due to the modern outlook of the Krasnaya Polyana resort management on these things, you will easily be able to send your friends the latest photographs of yourself on the snow, to relate the joy of a sunny day to acquaintances, to find out the latest news, stock reports, weather forecasts and be on top of things while relaxing!
Source: Alpika-Servis.
Rostov.Ru, 11.3.05

2005-03-19T04:15:00.002-08:00

Leading Rabbi of Russia calls upon government to stop signs of religious intolerance.
On March 9, 2005, the leading rabbi of Russia, Adolf Shaevich, came forward with a statement in connection with the March 8 defacing of a synagogue in Samara. A. Shaevich backed the initiative of the leading rabbi of the Federation of Jewish Organizations of Russia (FJOR) Berl Lazar to turn to the central government with an appeal "to principally resolve the issue of crime against cult objects."
The statement says, in part, "The increase of dynamic acts of vandalism in connection with synagogues, mosques and cemeteries is approaching a dangerous limit. One of the reasons is that disruptive groups do this with impunity."
Besides that, A. Shaevich urgently appealed to include in the schedule of educational establishments a "program that combines the teaching of tolerance and toleration" and expressed a willingness "to directly participate in working out the necessary materials."
Xeno.Sova-Center.Ru, 10.3.05

2005-03-19T04:15:00.001-08:00

"Restorer-M" work on exhibit in Moscow architectural museum.
Today an exhibit of the work done by the "Restorer-M" scientific restoration center over the last 10 years opened in the A.V. Shchusev Architectural Museum. As a Regions.Ru correspondent was told in the museum, "Restorer-M" is a well-known scientific design organization whose staff accomplished a significant number of jobs for the research and restoration of architectural monuments. For instance, a great amount of design documentation on the restoration of the Alexandrovsky hall of the Great Kremlin palace was accomplished from 1996 to 1999. Over the course of 10 years, "Restorer-M" specialists have conducted work for the restoration of other parts of Moscow's Kremlin - the bell tower of Ivan the Great, the Kremlin Armory, the Annunciation and Mother of God memorial church.
The center's staff has complete design restoration on many cult and public buildings in Moscow: the Nikolai Church in Golutvin, the Church of the Ascension on Gorokhvoe field, the Christmas Church at Our Lady's Christmas monastery, the villa of Prince Gagarina on Armaynsky Lane, the villa of Prince Dolgoruk on Pokrovk, the Opekunsky Council building on Solyank, the facade of the Malo Manezh on Georgievsky Lane, the facade of state warehouse small building and many others.
The design center created the cupola for the Moscow choral synagogue, carrying out the restoration of the facade and the interior of the building. The center has provided restoration designs for many historical theatrical buildings of Moscow, in particular the Theater Operetta, the Young People's Theater on Teatralnaya Square, Pushkin Theater. At the present time center specialists are conducting restoration-research and design work in the framework of a program of restoration and reconstruction of the Bolshoi Theater of Russia.
The center uses new technologies for restoration it created in conjunction with the Russian Academy of Science. Using methods and algorithms developed for restoration of architectural structures, in 2002 center specialists reproduced in color a historical collection of color photographs from the 20th center, which were produced by the famous Russian photographer S.M. Prokudiny-Gorsky.
The exhibit will present aspects of restoration and design documentation, including drawings, models and photographs which give onlookers the chance to see the "internal" process of restorative research and resolution of restorative problems.
Regions.Ru, 09.3.05

2005-03-19T04:15:00.000-08:00

Grabovoi's totalitarian sect.
A Regnum Information Agency interview with Alexander Dvorkin.
In view of the fact of the great concern that the activities of Grabovoi's sect has aroused among the Russian public, IA Regnum called for commentary upon Professor Alexander Dvorkin, Ph.D.. M.Div, chair of the sectology department at the Orthodox St. Tikhon University of the humanities.
IA Regnum: Alexander Leonidovich, after the scandal relating to the "resurrection" of the children killed in Beslan, many questions arise. What kind of person is Grigoriy Grabovoi?
- I don't know him personally, but when he is put in context with the leaders of other sects, Grigoriy Grabovoi does not have any special secrets. Grigoriy Grabovoi creates his totalitarian sect and does this actively enough. The leader of any sect needs to come out with some basic offering: something that sets him off from all the others. According to the definition of totalitarian sect adopted in France, a totalitarian sect is an organization, the basic meaning of whose existence is power and money for management and for their immediate environment, during which time this goal is concealed under guise of religion, culture, politics, health or pseudopsychology, and which is characterized by a number of features: a deified leader or organization, deceit during recruitment, regulation of all aspects of the sect members' lives, and exploitation of adepts. All these indicators we can see in Grabovoi's sect.
We see that this person is undoubtedly striving for power and money and very aggressive about this. We see that in pursuit of unrestricted power he uses various guises. There are also religious elements in Grabovoi's system. He proclaims himself to be a new manifestation of Jesus Christ. He uses pseudo-medical elements, which include rejuvenation, improvement of health and resurrection of the dead. He also uses pseudo-psychological elements. He promises living success as a result of taking his courses and also the corresponding political elements, relating to his announcing his candidacy for president. We also see the basic signs: a deified leader of an organization, deceit during recruitment, regulation of all aspects of adepts' lives and exploitation of adepts. According to all the parameters, this is a totalitarian sect, and Grabovoi is the leader of a totalitarian sect.
Grabovoi promises improved health, rejuvenation and finally, resurrection from the dead. This is his distinguishing product that he puts on the market of religious (and pseudo-religious) services. Although there are other sects that have promised resurrection from the dead in the history of sectology, those came to an end, because proof that their promises had been fulfilled was required. Grabovoi really did this in such a cunning way. He said that those living illegally in Moscow are the same ones he resurrected, and he says it is not acknowledged that they have been revivified, so they are sent to psychiatric hospitals. And so the more some poor illegal is convinced that he has not been resurrected, the stronger the Grabovoists believe their sect leader's assertions.
Grabovoi's presidential campaign is calculated to recruit new sect supporters. I think that Grigoriy Grabovoi understands perfectly well that his chances of becoming president are practically null, but he is conducting the campaign to attract new supporters. I don't know whether or not Grabovoi has been psychiatrically evaluated, since that information is closed to us. It is obvious that many leaders of totalitarian sects have serious mental problems.
[...]
Regnum.Ru, 11.3.05

2005-03-19T04:13:00.000-08:00

Mark Knopfler to sing about 1960s Malibu in the Kremlin.
Mark Knopfler's only concert in Russia is being held 27 April in the Kremlin. Moscow is one of a number of cities on a world tour backing his new "Shangril-La" album.
The fourth disk of the former leader of the cult group is named after his famous studio in Malibu, where in their day Bob Dillan, Neal Young, the Band and others performed. "Shangri-La" has fourteen songs that were written and arranged by the musician in the spirit of the 1960s, noted Intermedia. These are basically ballads mixed with blues, country and rock. Mark Knopfler is scheduled to sing all 14 songs from his new album at the capital city concert with, of course, the musician's best known hits.
MusicKM.Ru, 15.3.05

2005-03-12T13:05:00.002-08:00

Moscow Duma to examine banning religion-motivated badgering of pedestrians.
In the near future, the Moscow City Duma plans to examine a legislature proposal about the Administrative codes of the city of Moscow, reported a "Portal-Credo.Ru" correspondent.
The document provides for a fine of from 100 to 300 rubles for attempting to badger people on the street for religious purposes or for fortune-telling. Besides that, people are going to be prohibiting from walking their dogs in cemeteries.
The law provides punitive sanctions for insistent conduct with religious motivation toward pedestrians, which to day is in force in the Belgorodsky region. However, nothing has been reported about the possibility of levying a fine for this sort of activity in Belgorodsky region.
Portal-Credo.Ru, 01.3.05

2005-03-12T13:05:00.001-08:00

Korn guitarist baptized in the River Jordan.
The guitarist of the cult rock group "Korn," Brian "Head" Welch was baptized on Saturday in the "Kineret" kibbutz. Head made a special trip to Israel to undergo the ritual of Baptism in the waters of the River Jordan, which is conducted annually for several thousand Christian pilgrims.
After having spent many years creating for himself the image of a "free rocker," which included a pointed use of drugs, several weeks ago Head told his fans that he was leaving "Korn" in order to enter the bosom of the Baptist Church.
Brian Welch, one of the founders of the legendary group that sold several platinum albums, has now found himself at the head of a group of 20 pilgrims who were baptized the day before yesterday by Pastor Ron Vietti.
After the ritual of Baptism, Head said that the waters of the Jordan washed away his anger. "You know, when you get angry and it builds up? I felt like hurting someone before. Now I feel like hugging people."
Pastor Vietti also said that there was already a group of young people who had been inspired by Head's story who came to his church in Bakersfield, California with a request to help them devote their lives to Christianity.
Currently the famous rocker is planning to start writing thanksgiving hymns.
cursorinfo.co.il, 07.3.05

2005-03-12T13:05:00.000-08:00

Unknown people burst into the offices of the National Bolshevist Party in Moscow today.
As NBP press secretary Alexander Averin reported to ECHO, the incident took place about two o'clock, when persons unknown used gas to occupy part of the office spaces. The National Bosheviks barricaded themselves into one room and called the police. Since then one of the participants in the takeover of the offices, named Roman, gave his version of events to "Echo" in an interview.
"Our friend Sergei Goncharov landed in this sect some time ago," he said. "We decided to clear up his fate, especially since the authorities did not react to the incident."
And now, as NBP press secretary Alexander Averin stated to ECHO, their headquarters had been freed, and the assailants detained.
Echo.Msk.Ru, 05.3.05

2005-03-12T13:04:00.000-08:00

Sect chief running for President.
Passing himself off as Jesus Christ, "academy graduate" Grigoriy Grabovoi, the sect chief who promised residents of Beslan who had lost their children in the terrorist act to "resurrect" them for 39,000 rubles apiece (!), has decided to become president of Russia in 2004. In a special February edition of the "Prognoz" newspaper he publishes G. Grabovoi specifically wrote that one of the items on his "presidential program" would be "passing a law that in any case would be enacted. This is the law on prohibiting death."
According the sect, the "Prognoz" newspaper was distributed in the State Duma, the Council of the Federation and to the administration of the President of Russia. This was met with protest.
From: Regnum.Ru, 05.3.05

2005-03-12T13:03:00.000-08:00

Hitler had an atom bomb, though quite a poor one.
The Soviet spy Maxim Maximovich Isaev, more widely known as Standardtenfuehrer Stierlitz, did not save the world from the Nazi atomic bomb. The cult Soviet serial "Seventeen Minutes of Spring" refutes Rainer Karlsch's book, which the German DVA publishing company is supposed to release on March 14. The author asserts that at the very end of the Second World War, Germany had the opportunity to produce a nuclear weapon. The book unpretentiously announces: "Sensational results. In 1944-45, under SS supervision, German scientists conducted tests of atomic bombs on the island of Ruegen. During this time hundreds of convicts and prisoners of war perished."
The announcement also said that "from the documentation that verifies the execution of nuclear tests, Karlsch also discovered a 1941 project for plutonium bombs, along with the first industrial German atomic reactor in the outskirts of Berlin."
In the meantime, the Germany mass media expressed serious doubts as to the authenticity of the upcoming "sensation." The German newspaper, "Suddeutsche Zeitung," was upset with the words of Mark Walker, who consented to lift the veil of secrecy from the yet-to-be-released book. It asserted that in the last months of the war, scientists of the Third Reich supposedly made desperate attempts to finalize the work on the atomic bomb. "Physicists took pre-enriched uranium (a small part of the material that was used to produce the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima), enclosed it with ordinary explosive material and detonated it. That's not how you make an atomic bomb. So the explosive material exploded and scattered particles of uranium," the newspaper wrote.
American scientists assert that after the war Kurt Dibner and Walter Gerlach preferred to keep silent about the experiments they performed at the time. In the opinion of the German publication, if the tests were done exactly as Walker described, then it was plain why the physicians were not ready to provide the details of their past. The story there did not lie in the unwillingness to talk about the fact of collaboration with the Nazis, as much as it did in similar stories, told with permission, that said experts would ridicule the "nuclear tests."
A feeling was created that the "sensational" book would be very similar to the Soviet blockbuster about Stierlitz. It's unlikely to have as artistic merit as it does authenticity.
Utro.Ru, 05.3.05, Dmitriy Kartsev

2005-03-05T10:37:00.001-08:00

Belorusian Eurovision participant already in Kiev.
The Belorusians have already selected their candidate for Eurovision 2005. She is Angelika Agurbash. She is visiting Kiev today. The mother of three children, former singer for the "Verasy" group, holder of the Miss Russia title and the first winner in the history of Belorusian beauty competition, Angelika Agurbash plans to sing "Boys and Girls" for the competition jury. She says the main thing in her appearance in not the show, but serious social support for song. However, Kievians can expect a surprise from the Belorusian woman.
Novy.tv/ru, 27.2.05

2005-03-05T10:37:00.000-08:00

Russia to save the world from Matrix and postmodernism.
On February 24, the Institute of National Strategy, led by renowned political scientist Stanislav Belkovsky, offered a lecture "The New Middle Ages. Doctrine of Russia in the 21st century." The lecture defined the basic strategy of RF development in the new millennium. Interestingly, earlier theoretical computations of S. Belkovsky and his colleagues have repeatedly found a direct course into the altogether practical actions of the Russian authorities.
The new strategy is based on the main threat to the existence of civilization at the present time being postmodernism. A large part of the 69-page INS work describes how the virus of this "cynical philosophy," which denies not only the presence of God, but of truth, ethics and even the most objective reality, over the period of the last half of the 20th century, penetrated the minds of people in western countries, was blended with esoteric teachings and Buddhism exported from the East, and how this mixture infected everything, from art to politics.
In the opinion of the lecture's authors, in sum, people infected with postmodernism and eastern philosophy, whose ancestors at some point believed in one God and the possibility of salvation, began to deny the existence of universal values and acquiesced to "everything's the same as everything else."
Such a view of the world is the best possible approach to justify total pragmatism and a faith in the supremacy of technology, which is typical for contemporary western consciousness. "Now the empty movement need only surmount the last barrier and become a legitimate ideology, supported by a political power," the INS noted in its work.
The main outpost of this cynical interpretation of the world in the new Russian strategy is the USA, which endeavors to spread the virus of postmodernism far and wide. "Neopragmatism and the American version of postmodernism gradually begin to blend quite well with the unwritten state ideology of the USA, the theoretical refinement of cult economic effectiveness and success (for which "anything goes"), and an uncomprehending indifference to the question about truth," says the speech.
The quintessence of American ideology is like the postmodernist superstate in the religion in "Matrix." The "Matrix Religion" is the doctrine, aggravated by the crude products of the American culture industry, about man's dissolving in an all-embracing technosphere, creating a new (virtual) illusory world controlled by a new god, an anthropomorphous creature, reminiscent of the average US citizen (plural agent Smiths from the movie), but with unlimited intellectual development, capable of influencing any field of world events," says the speech.
The INS considers the second pole of the world's postmodernist conspiracy to be China. "Imitating a new era of crusade, the USA is endeavoring to split the triple unit of abrahamistic tradition (Christianity, Judaism and Islam), while traditional China attempts, in so far as this is possible, to maximally consolidate, preserve and broaden the region of non-monotheistic religiosity (Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism and Hinduism). Thus "finding themselves in symmetrical points of the process of Babylonian confusion they also represent superstates," suggest institute analysts.
As a result, the authors deem, in the near future the world is bound to run into with American or Chinese expansion. In the opinion of Belkovsky and his colleagues, 21st century world civilization may expect a battle between postmodernism and the return to one God and universal values for civilization in the New Middle Ages. Russia should become a leader in the world religious Renaissance. The basic idea includes the concept that the development of the Russian state can be reasonable only if a sense of the basic mission of our country emerges for people and state. For this all government activity should get a religious assessment, assert the INS analysts, who emphasize that the topic is not about any particular denomination, but monotheism on the whole, as well as about a medium of universal values.
The authors further suggest that Russia begin the 21st century with the conception of "Moscow - the Third Rome." According to that conception our country has the same legacy as Rome and Byzantium and therefore we have the mission of "maintaining" political order and control, with which the armed forces hold the advance of anarchy of the world in check.
Besides that, the authors recall that the government can appeal to Orthodoxy to spur on economics, because the Orthodox faith presumes the construction of an apparatus of collective salvation; there is the liberation of the people from the struggle for survival and providing them access to churches and holy sites. In this way, economics does not develop so easily in an Orthodox civilization, as it turns into a service of spirituality.
Source: Lenta.Ru
Yuga.Ru, 27.2.05

2005-03-05T10:36:00.000-08:00

Pandas fell victim to ancient Chinese cult.
An ancient Chinese cult offered pandas in sacrifice, reports the Sinhua agency. The story about the tragic fate of the ancient bamboo bear was told by the bone of the animal discovered in 2001 during excavation of a cemetery lot of the Neolithic era in central China.
Then archeologists mistakenly thought the bone was part of a pig skeleton. In 2003, doubts emerged among scholars about how accurate that interpretation of the find was. Further research yielded that the bone belonged to a great panda. As Chinese archeologists assert, the bamboo bears were offered in sacrifice nearly 4,000 years ago, during the late Neolthic era.
The burial ritual, in which the sacrificial animals were buried along with the dead, originated about 8,000 years ago. According to the information from the archeologists, pigs and dogs were originally offered in sacrifice. The discovery proves the hypothesis that the great panda was an object of the hunt for the ancient Chinese.
At present in China there are nearly a thousand great pandas in the wild. Their basic natural dwelling habitat is the southwest province of Sychuan, where several reserves had been created. In the Khubai province, where the panda bones were found, the bamboo bear can no longer be found.
RIA "Novosti"
MigNews.Com.Ua, 25.2.05

2005-03-05T10:35:00.000-08:00

Cube: popular cult game on Pocket PC platform.
If you have a Dell Axim X50v, then you can quickly load the newly offered version, which comes with start-up text.
As the pocketgamer.org page reported for Guizmox, the Intel company completed the porting of the well-known, one might say, cult game of Cube to the Pocket PC platform. In particular, it can successfully be used on the Dell Axim X50v machine due to its having the proper 3D acceleration.
The game's throughput runs at 10FPS on the X50v, although this simply carries the code without any kind of optimization. So if you have an X50v, then you quickly load the ported version, even with the start-up text, from its official page. You can play the game everyday!
Pocketgames.Ru, 02.3.05

2005-03-05T10:34:00.000-08:00

Earth, Wind & Fire press conference.
At noon, March 3, club Jazz Town club is hosting a press conference - music of our city, to celebrate the launch of the Storm International BV program at the club. The 1970s cult jazz rock group Earth, Wind & Fire will participate in the press conference. They are opening the concert series, at which world performers will play various types of jazz, for Storm International BV and club Jazz Town. Attending the conference will be: Storm International BV president Michael Bottcher, and Ralph Johnson, Verdin White and Phillip Bailey of Earth, Wind and Fire. Club Jazz Town is on Taganskaya Square.
MosInform.Ru, 02.3.05

2005-02-27T11:04:00.001-08:00

Cultu.Ru project launched in Russia
The best performances of Russian theater will now be able to be viewed on the Internet. As planned, each recording of a theatrical performance broadcast on land and satellite channels will be broadcast on the Internet.
The project is a continuation of the "Theatrical Web" festival successfully held in fall 2004. Seven theaters took part in the festival, including the Masters of Peter Fomenko, the Ten theater, the Theater of Music and Poetry led by Elena Kamburova and the Helikon Opera. Back then the theatrical productions could be seen by nearly 2,000 people in 52 countries of the world.
The primary mission of the new project is to provide all interested viewers the possibility to use the current technology of the Internet to familiarize themselves with the history of the domestic Russian arts. Cultu.Ru! was planned as an informational channel for all domestic cultural life, but it opens with broadcasts and coverage of theatrical events. The first performance will be in March. This will be "Meshchane," a performance by Georgiy Tovstonogov in St. Petersburg's Large Theater of Drama.
The "Golden Fund" series by domestic producers of the second half of the 20th century continues with performances of Oleg Efremov, Anatoliy Efros, Mark Zakharov and Peter Fomenko. The shows will deal with children's theater on the project's web site, ITAR-TASS reported. Some of the performances will have English sub-texts. Kultu.Ru! is supported by the Federal Agency for Culture and Cinematography and the RF Theatrical Actors Union. (See http://www.cultu.ru/)
(E1.Ru)
DvinaInform.Ru, 24.2.05

2005-02-27T11:04:00.000-08:00

Goblin will be in Orenburg.
This week Orenburg's charitable "Evraziya" foundation and the Orenburg section of the Translators Union of Russia will have an unusual meeting. The name of the person, who goes by the pseudonym of Goblin, is known only to a close circle of the initiated. Practically no one knows him in person. At the same time, the mark "V perevode Goblina" ("In translation of Goblin") on the cassettes or disks of American movies is a brand known to all foreign movie fans.
Dmitriy Luchkov - and that is the name of the translator who makes the sound tracks for American movies under the pseudonym of Goblin - will be in Orenburg all day Friday, February 25. According to the invitations from the "Kosmos" movie theater, he made the sound track "live" to the movie premiering there that day. The Russian audience is familiar with the "in one voice" translations of Goblin in "Thirteenth warrior," "Matrix," and a number of other pictures.
The "Evraziya" foundation managed to arrange one public meeting for the cult figure of the Russian movie industry. Students and teachers who study the English language and translation, members of the Translators Union of Russia and journalists have been invited to the encounter with the translator, which is taking place at 3 p.m. on February 25 in the big reading room at the Krupskaya regional library. There they will be able to get first-hand information about Goblin's "correct" and "funny" translation, about why there is constant criticism for his use of a non-standard vocabulary, and about what prompted him to create the sensational "Antiboomer" and the parody of "Lord of the Rings." The "Orenburg Avialinin" state aircraft company supported the "Evraziya" foundation and the Orenburg section of the Translators Union of Russia in this non-commercial project.
Oren.Ru, 22.2.05

2005-02-27T11:03:00.000-08:00

40 years ago Malcolm X, the leader of the "Nation of Islam," was killed.
On February 21, 1965, Malcolm X, the leader of the "Nation of Islam," an influential organization of Afro-Americans, was killed in Harlem. He was 39 years old at the time.
In 1946, Malcolm Little, (his family name) found himself in prison - he had been sentenced to six years for robbery. After being released he assumed a different name and began propagating his ideology.
In 1952 the ranks of the "Nation of Islam" contained a total of 500 members. After 11 years, the small sect had turned into a religious and political organization of 30,000. Malcolm X called upon blacks to trust each other and asserted that the community could exist of and through itself. This view quickly gained popularity among Afro-Americans, as well as among the leaders of African states.
He quit the "Nation of Islam" in 1964. Having made a pilgrimage to Mecca, Malcolm X changed his views of the racial problem. Upon returning to the USA, X began to change the tone of his lectures, so that they found resonance among Americans against blacks. Presumably, it was Malcolm X's change of position that led to his death.
40 years later the Malcolm X and Doctor Betty Shabaz educational and memorial center, dedicated to the legacy of the founder of the Nation of Islam, opened in New York.
Nrs.Com, 21.2.05

2005-02-27T11:02:00.000-08:00

"Agatha Christie" celebrates birthday on StarChat.Ru.
On February 17, the Starchat.ru project and the Cafemax Internet centers network will play host to the legendary Russian group, "Agatha Christie."
The Internet conference will be devoted to the group's birthday (17 years old), which by tradition "Agatha Christie" will celebrate in the the capital city SDK MAI on 20 February 2005.
The group has performed in Sverdlovsk for the 17 years it has been in operation. During this period it attained cult status, and several generations of fans have grown up on its songs.
Nestor.Minsk.By, 14.2.05, Elena Yachmennikova

2005-02-19T14:00:00.000-08:00

Arkhangel Region’s Kenizero Park added to UNESCO list.
Kenozero National Park, which is located in Arkhangel Region, is being granted a certificate for inclusion on UNESCO's World Foundation of biospheric reserves list. The world organization will send the corresponding document to park director Elena Shatkovskaya, reported the Arkhangel region's administration. According to Shatkovskaya, this award to Kenozero Park was conferred in the realm of its work in the "People & Biosphere" program, the goal of which is preservation of diversity in the natural world and the harmonious relationship between people and nature. Presently the world network of biospheric reserves encompasses over 420 protected sites in 94 countries. Its goal is the conservation of a variety of plant life, animals and microorganisms. With regard to the Sevilskiy strategy, which was accepted in 1995, biospheric land needs to fulfill the conservation function, the function of diversity and the function of scientific-technical protection. In Russia, 31 sites are included in the network of biospheric reserves with the Kenozero National Park - 3 national parks and 28 preserves. The Kenozero National Park was formed on December 28, 1991. On a small site within the confines of the park are more than 100 unique architectural monuments of world significance. Among them are 64 cult buildings of the traditional ancient architecture of the 17th and 18th centuries, architectural ensembles, churches and chapels. Their artistic value is increased by the well-preserved paintings in the interiors: icons, church implements, along with a painting of 'heaven," a monumental mural of a biblical theme in the dome of the church. Kenozero is of tectonic origin, the lake has an area of 100 sq. km., a depth of 90 meters, but the length of the shore line is 350 km.
source: IA "Interfax"
Rsia.Ru, 17.2.05

2005-02-19T13:59:00.000-08:00

Release of the global on-line role game "The Matrix" begins March 22 in the States.
The Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment company officially announced the exact date of the release of "The Matrix Online" game, which had been postponed from the middle of January to spring. According to the new report, the first mass multi-user test of Monolith Productions will occur March 22 - that is the day for release in the USA. Users from Europe can connect to "Matrix" in April. That and other amusements are found in the world famous movie trilogy by the Vachovsky brothers for those who see fit to pay the 15 bucks a month traditional for the genre, not counting the 50 bucks for the game box.
Dtf.Ru, 14.2.05

2005-02-13T03:45:00.001-08:00

Poets of Russian Rock festival held in St. Petersburg.
A music festival is being held February 18 in the Yubileyniy center in St. Petersburg, with the groups "DDT," "Kalinov Bridge," "Civil Defense," and "Kukryniksy." The occasion is the release of the 10-volume anthology "Poets of Russian Rock." The idea of making this sort of "anthology of works" was hatched long ago by a group of Petersburg producers in active support of the rock poets themselves. The latter readily provided their lyrics and copyrights. One of the initiators of the project was Yuriy Shevchuk. Now the publication of the anthology is led by Anton Soya along with his partner in many projects, Igor Gudkov, reported "MK in Petersburg."
The anthology of domestic rock poetry in ten volumes is the first large-scale attempt to publish the texts of all the significant authors of Russian rock. Each of them is accompanied by a short biography of the rock heroes. The publication permits review of the evolution of domestic rock texts and will undoubtedly be of interest to admirers of rock music as well as to fans of contemporary poetry. Different schools of contemporary rock poetry will be represented at the festival.
In 2005 the cult Russian rock group "DDT" celebrates a quarter century of existence.
NewsRu.Com, 07.2.05

2005-02-13T03:45:00.000-08:00

"Psikheya" performs in Moscow with "LTIP" on February 5 in the capital's "Tochka" club. This well-known group from St. Petersburg plays highly energetic cyber-punk and is generally considered one of the most powerful concert groups in Russia. Two years ago, the group was privileged to perform as a warm-up act for "Soulfly" in the Gorbunov cultural center. "Psikheya" is now busy releasing its own concert DVD.
The Vyborg cult punk group "Last Tango in Paris" will be supporting the group from St. Petersburg in the "Tochka" club. It has seldom been seen in Moscow, but its last concert there was in November, for the release of its new album "2084."
KM.Ru, 06.2.05

2005-02-13T03:44:00.000-08:00

Jewish architecture exhibit opens in Berlin.
Jewish national self-realization is reflected in the mirror of an architecture exhibit that opens in the Berlin Jewish Museum. On display will be models, sketches and photographs of 17 forms of modern Jewish architecture throughout the world. Those attending the exhibit can also view photographs of tradition cult and educational structures of Jewish architects. The Jewish museum itself was built as a project of the famous architect, Daniel Liebeskind.
Jewish.Ru, 06.2.05

2005-02-13T03:43:00.000-08:00

Scottish cult punk rockers perform in Krasnodar.
The exact date the Scottish punk group "The Exploited" was to appear in Krasnodar was well known. The legendary punkers were to perform in the Kubansky capital after Moscow and Saint Petersburg, February 21. The first time these Scots played in Russia was in a punk festival in both capitals back in 1998; then in 2001 they paid a second visit. In 2005 "The Exploited" are on tour to celebrate 25 years of existence in 2005. In connection the occasion, the group produced "Twenty Five Years of Anarchy Chaos" (their last studio release "Fuck The System" came out in 2003). The exact location "The Exploited" will be playing in Krasnodar is not yet available, but tickets are already going for from 400 to 600 rubles. The organizers have given notice that the security at the concert will be abundant to ward of gate-crashers. Security will also be strict in that concert-goers may be escorted out and have their money refunded for no reason.
Source: "Muz-zone Yuga"
Yuga.Ru, 05.2.05

2005-02-05T02:23:00.000-08:00

Novgorod musicians note 40th anniversary of "Satisfaction."
Local rock musicians arranged to hold a concert in the Novgorod Youth Center to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the song "Satisfaction" by the cult group The Rolling Stones.
A half hour before the concert began, journalists plied the leader of the group with questions while the rest of the musicians tuned their instruments and mentally prepared themselves for the upcoming concert.
The musical amateur stage of the Youth Center often arranges this sort of gathering. The 40th anniversary of "Satisfaction was just the formal reason to get together and listen to good old rock and roll. Shambala, Universam and Okhrana Sloya are three groups that play this sort of music - the familiar rhythm and blues tunes, but with a modern beat.
The musicians compare notes, and the audience gets nostalgic listening to rock music, but of course they dance, too. Simply put, each of the party-goers who came to the concert absolutely got satisfaction, complete moral satisfaction, and that is exactly what the organizers strove for.
Yuriy Levikov
Novgorod.Rfn.Ru, 30.1.05

2005-02-05T02:21:00.000-08:00

1 February National Day of Freedom in the USA.
February (Lat. Februarius) is the second month of the year, and lasts 28 or 29 days. It is named after an ancient Greek god of the subterranean kingdom of Februus or Febra. According to other versions, the name comes from an ancient Greek cult purification ritual, from an ancient Roman repentance ritual (Lat. februarius: cleaning). In those times, February was the last month of the year, so people would try to cleanse themselves of the bad they had accumulated over the year.
This month is called different names in various countries. In France it's "febris," in Italy "febrano," in Spain "ferera," in Lithuania "vasaris," etc. In the modern Muslim calendar the second month of the year bears the name "safoar" (yellow).
February - "the great expiatory sacrifice of the year" - originally consisted of 28 days. It was the only one of the months that had an even number of days because, according to ancient beliefs, only an odd number brought good luck. ...
1 February is the day for a wide variety of national holidays. In Algeria it's the Day of Evacuation (this day 1968 was when the last foreign soldiers were evacuated from Algerian soil); in Malaysia its the Day of Federal Territory; in Nicaragua the Day of Aviation; in Senegal, the Day of Confederation; in the USA, the National Day of Freedom. It was February 1, 1865 when US President Lincoln signed the Congressional resolution on the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the USA about the abolition of slavery. The resolution went into effect 18 December 1865.
In world history the day marks the abolition of slavery in the USA (1865), the opening in the USA of the first movie theater (1893) and the cessation of the "Cold War" (1992). ...
For-Ua.Com, 01.2.05

2005-01-28T05:01:00.000-08:00

Computer game, "Heresy Kingdom Cult," on web site.
The «1S» company "Logrus" announced the opening of a web site for the official Russian version of the Cult game (in Russian it's called "Kult: Korolevstva Eresi"). The background, gallery of sketches and screens, monsters, objects and spells are all laid out at http://games.logrus.ru/kult/
(press center material)
(c) Virtualnye Radosti
Nestor.Minsk.By, 18.1.05

2005-01-28T05:00:00.000-08:00

Statue of Stalin being cast in St. Petersburg.
Another monumental creation by Zurab Tseteli will soon be appearing in Crimea. This time the sculptor decided to immortalize in bronze the figures of Stalin Roosevelt and Churchill at the famous Yalta conference of 1945.
The monument is being made at the "Monumentskuptura" factory in St. Petersburg. As "Channel Five" reported, the first statue of Stalin to be cast in the northern capital in fifty years is the 3-ton figure, which is the same weights as Roosevelt and Churchill.
It was arranged to have the statue on the grounds of the Livadiysky Palace in February, for the 60-year anniversary of the signing of the celebrated Yalta agreement by Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill. This is the first memorial to Stalin since his personality cult was debunked.
Many people in the Ukraine were outraged at the idea of a memorial to the people's father. Crimean Tatars who remember the 1944 deportation for Stalin said they would not permit the monument to be erected.
Fontanka.Ru, 18.1.05

2005-01-28T04:59:00.000-08:00

Vault and epitaph stone of Danil Efremov, army ataman and first Don Cossack general, found.
A sensational find was made on December 18, 2004, while clearing some land on the south side of the Preobrazhensky Church in the Cossack village of Starocherkassky. Under a thin layer of earth, a group of construction-renovators led by Evgeniy Kosobokov uncovered a huge white marble stone. When the renovators carefully brushed off the soil and dust, images of the sun and moon appeared in the upper corners and in the middle was the inscription "Here lies the noble and honorable Don gentleman, military ataman Danil Efremov, who was respected by all the virtuous of Christian law and performed the title of his rank well, purely, courageously and with honorable dignity. And as fate would have it the creator moved from this life to eternal bliss in 1760." It was thought that the epitaph and tombstone of Danil Efremov disappeared without a trace after the 1917 revolution, but there it was!
The shock became even greater when the renovators found some brickwork. One can surmise that this is the burial vault in which Danil Efremovich Efremov was buried in late May, 1760. Whether it is or not will be determined in the near future by an archeological investigation in this part of the Preobrazhensky cemetery.
The name of Danil Efremov was undeservedly forgotten among the Don, overshadowed by the cult names of military ataman Matthew Platov and field ataman Yakov Baklanov. By the way, he was the first Cossack to obtain the rank of general in the Russian army, and the first secret advisor from the Russian Cossacks.
The uncovering of ataman Danil Efremov’s tombstone should be motivation for further scientific and archeological research at the unique Preobrazhensky (Ratny) cemetery in the Cossack village of Starocherkassky, where there are dozens of military and field atamans of Don Cossack, generals, social figures, writers and other worthy people of the Don. The end result will be the creation here of a memorial complex to honor the Don Cossacks.
Evgeniy Astatsenko, Candidate Historical Science,
senior scientific staff of the Starocherkassky Museum
Argumeny i Facty on the Don
Source: Rostov.Ru, 14.1.05

2005-01-22T17:27:00.002-08:00

Novosibirsk: Memorial to "The Beatles" can be admired until the end of January.
The work of art, over three meters high, can be gazed upon in Novosobirsk's Pervomaisky Square. It was created by Irkustsk ice sculpture masters who participated in Siberia Snow Sculpture Festival V. The sculpted composition is crowned with a submarine and includes three-dimensional portraits of the four Liverpool musicians and heroes of the cult cartoon "Yellow Submarine." Completion of the monument took nearly five days.
To be sure, the artists did not receive a prize for the "Beatles," reports Novosibirsk.Ru," with links to the student newspaper "Energiya." Members of the jury awarded first play to a team from Perm for the sculpture "Prometheus." And a special prize from Novosibirsk mayor Vladimir Gordetsky went to the Baikal team for its composition "Renaissance." The Yellow Submarine and other ice sculptures are scheduled to be on display until the end of January.
Source: Regions.Ru, 13.1.05

2005-01-22T17:27:00.001-08:00

Work on most complete translation of Talmud into English done,
reported the EAL agency. Taking part in the realization of this project were Hebrew scholars and Jewish cult ministers from various countries. More than 50 scholars works on 15,000 pages of the Talmud over 15 years. The cost of the project was over 20 million dollars.
The Talmud itself represents a collection of 39 treatises, written in the form of theological discussion among learned Rabbis, and also commentary on the position of Jewish civil law. The present form of the Talmud took shape the first half of the 3rd century to the year 499. In scholarly opinion, this publication will assist a great deal of Jewish people who are striving for knowledge, but do not known Hebrew or Aramaic, in studying one of the most important sources of the practice of Judaism.
Source: Jewish.Ru, 13.1.05

2005-01-22T17:27:00.000-08:00

Most dear to the Japanese, sacred Mount Fuji, is now the property of the Sinton cult.
The senior priest of the temple said that until it was done, nobody believed that the Finance Ministry would sign the papers to transfer Fuji to the small temple complex. "This is such a pleasure, after all, until the middle of the 19th century Mount Fuji was considered the property of the temple, and this soil has always been held sacred," said the senior minister of the "Fujisan, Hongu Sengentaisya" temple, Sin Vatanabe. "But then, during the Meiji restoration, the government took this land away from us. Now justice has been reinstated."
It needs to be said for the sake of that same justice that the entire mountain was not taken from the temple, just the summit - from 3,350 meters on up, including the crater 500 meters higher - where there is nothing but rock and wind. The most beautiful and profitable, as far as tourism goes, part [of the mountain] stayed with the state itself. But the minister especially emphasized that they never thought of the mountain in terms of money. "Of course, we will make no changes, and we will make no money on the ascent to the summit," Sin Vatanabe promised. "Greeting daybreak on Mount Fuji is a sacred ritual for us Japanese. And this ritual will be free." Now it's the off season at Fuji. The car lot is empty; the souvenir shops and restaurants are closed. The Sinton clergymen solemnly assure us that they will be tolerant of the noisy tourists from all over the country and from overseas, said Travel.RUWS.ru.
When the snow on Fuji finally melts in June and the road opens to the high symbol of Japan, tens of thousands of Japanese pilgrims and foreign tourists will spare no pains to clamber up to the crater at dawn. Among the first to ascend will be the "Fujisan Hongu Sengentaisya" temple ministers, who will be greeting daybreak as fully legitimate owners of the sacred site.
Source: dn.kiev.ua, 13.1.05

2005-01-22T17:26:00.001-08:00

Buddhist sect wants to dedicate pagoda to Yuschenko's victory.
The Ukrainian Buddhist order of Nippodzan Mekhodzi has proposed the construction in Kiev of a kurgan and pagoda, dedicated to Viktor Yuschenko's victory in the presidential election, the so-called "Orange Revolution."
"Dedicated to the 'new spiritual awakening' of the Ukrainian people, the stupa is a Sacred kurgan of peace, on whose summit will be a pagoda, able to keep reviving the human spirit for the sake of truth, peace, unity and freedom in the Ukraine, " said a representative of the order on Sunday at a "peace ceremony" held in honor of the day the order's founder, Nitidzatsu Fujii, died. The order's teacher in the Ukraine for Russia and countries of Central Asia, Dzunai Terasava, took part in the ceremony.
D. Terasava welcomed the non-violent and peaceful way events have developed in the Ukraine. The order's members believe that the "Orange Revolution" in the Ukraine "was the miraculous and decisive beginning of global transformation of consciousness from violence to non-violence."
The Order of Nippodzan Mekhodzi is a Buddhist sect of Japanese origin. It is distinguished by anti-war activity that often takes radical forms. The leader of this organization was among those who raised a row at the "Sheremetevo-2" airport, during which he broke a window. Traditional Buddhist organizations in Russia do not support contact with this order.
"Interfax"
Source: Religare.Ru, 10.1.05

2005-01-22T17:26:00.000-08:00

"Beetle" cult holds memorial parade.
Members of a "Volkswagen Beetle" fan club in Serbia and Montenegro are arranging a kind of parade to the memory of the legendary automobile. There are just 50 specimens of the cult car left in the whole country. Some of them no longer serve as a means of transport, and are assessed as antiques. For instance, an early 60s "beetle" costs more than ˆ50,000. Approximately as many are willing to sell and favor the automobile from the last series, which disappeared from the assembly line in 2003.
Vesti.
Source: MIG News.Com, 11.1.05

2005-01-22T17:22:00.000-08:00

Russian "Gitarkin Shnur" album being produced.
"Leningrad" vocalist Sergei Shnurov and Oleg Gitarkin, who is well-known for his "Messer Chups" project and "Night for Frau Mueller," plan on jointly producing an album, logically entitled "Gitarkin Shnur." Sergei Shnurov is performing all the vocal parts on the album, and Oleg Gitarkin will be busy composing the work, reports InterMedia.
Several tracks have already been cut, including [freely translated names] "Grave from Armani" written by Oleg Gitarkin, "Three didn't show up accidentally" from the film "They call him Robert," and also a version of the 70s song "Cowboy" ("the moon shines brightly, the cowboy behind the foliage stands night watch") and "We are amazed."
In connection with the programs of both artists, other projects are not going as quickly as they would have liked, but release of the album is expected in under a year. Quite recently Shnur completed work on a album jointly with the cult English group "Tiger Lillies," called "Huinija."
Source: Guruken.Ru, 11.1.05

2005-01-15T02:15:00.001-08:00

Holocaust Museum opens in Mussolini's villa.
The former residence of Italian Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini in Rome will soon be converted into a Holocaust Museum, report the Austrian ORF television channel on Friday, citing sources in the Italian capital. This museum, on which restoration work has already begun, is located in the well-known "Torlonia" villa, not far from the Jewish catacombs.
Renowned American producer Steven Spielberg is taking part in creating the museum, which is located in a two-thousand square meter area. Through a fund under his own name to the museum he has given instructions about audio-video materials and testimony about the Holocaust.
This museum will be dedicated not only to the Holocaust, but also to other catastrophes during the Second World War, for instance, part of the exhibit will be dedicated to the massacre in the Adriatic caves of Rome in 1944 in which 335 people died, hostages who were killed when Italian partisans killed 33 German soldiers.
The museum includes in its collection a display on the persecution and extermination of the Romany people during the Fascist dictatorship of the Mussolini regime. According to Mayor of Rome Walter Vertroni, the Holocaust Museum will be admitting its first visitors in two years.
RIA Novosti.
Source: Isra.com, 7.1.05

2005-01-15T02:15:00.000-08:00

Russian community in Brazil celebrates Christmas.
Rio de Janeiro. The Orthodox Church in Rio de Janeiro celebrated the birth of Christ. On Friday in the Church of the Holy Martyr Zinaida a celebratory service was held which was conducted by the senior priest in the Rio de Janeiro Orthodox Church, Father Paul (Feoktistov).
Renovative work is currently being done in the church. It has been going on for over a year, Father Paul lamented. So the parishioners have halved, there is no way all can fit into the small room, which also serves the holy father as an office.
As always there is not enough money to finish the work, and the local workers a not very prompt, so he welcomes any donation toward the completion of renovation on the church that the Russian community built in 1935.
"Restoration of the icons is already done and the are finishing the altar and walls," says Father Paul. Everything else is all done. October of this year we celebrate the 70th anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone of the church of the holy martyr Zinaida, which basically was the first Orthodox Church in Brazil. Metropolitan Kirill is visiting us. On the best of days, during Easter and Christmas celebrations, up to a hundred people assemble in church. We hope that repairs will be done in time to celebrate Easter. Then we will be able to thank our Lord in a renovated church."
The church cornerstone was laid in 1935, when finally the Russian Orthodox community got official registration as a legal person and was allowed to buy a lot in the center of Rio de Janeiro, on the picturesque hill of Saint Teresa. The project and construction plan was done by Russian immigrant Konstantin Trofimov, who, like most true Russian intellectuals, completed his technical construction engineering training with the rank of academic-archeologist and specialized in church architecture.
The gilded cupola of the Church of the martyr Zinaida, with the typical Orthodox cross at its summit distinguishes it among the other structures on the hill of Saint Teresa. The church had its heyday back in the 50s & 60s of the last century, when many immigrants were flooding into Brazil after the Second World War from Europe and China. Today they no longer have the choir that once numbered up to 25 people.
From 1937 to 1976, the church was legally part of the Russian Orthodox church. In 1976 the parish converted to the American Autocephalous Orthodox Church. In early 199 the Russian community expressed a desire to be under the holy Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, Aleksei II. Father Paul is the first clergyman to come from Moscow and work in Rio de Janeiro. Until he arrived, church services were held by Father Anatoliy Topal, who has a large parish in Porto Alegre and had worked in Brazil since the early 1990s.
"Orthodoxy has progressed in Brazil and this is comforting. Even more so because new parishioners are coming to us. These are not just Russian emigrants, so this means that the Orthodox congregation is growing," Father Paul believes. After all, a church is not only a place for cult betterment, but also a community of Russian-speaking people, who find and support new acquaintances and friends, and so have connections to the historical homeland.
Source: RIA Novosti, 8.1.05, Andrei Kurguzov

2005-01-15T02:14:00.000-08:00

Irkutsk notes Leonid Gaidai's birthday.
Irkutsk is making preparations to celebrate producer/comedy-writer Leonid Gaidai's birthday and anniversary of the appearance on the screen of his famous films. On January 30 the producer would have been 82. Forty years ago there was his comedy "Operation 'Y' and other Shurik adventures," and 30 years ago the comedy "Not really!"
In January a film festival will open for the Russian cult producer in the "Khudozhestvenniy" movie theater, which six years ago started being called the Leonid Gaidai Russian Movie Center.
Gaidai spent his childhood and youth in Irkutsk. From there he went to war, where he served in reconnaissance. He returned to Irkutsk after being seriously wounded and he studied at the regional dramatic theater school and played his first role on stage.
Leonid Gaidai said the plan of the well-known trinity - Trus, Balbes and Byvaliy - came to him in Irkutsk. A feuilleton he read in the "Krokodil" magazine inspired him to create the film "Pyos Barbos and the unusual race" (went on screen in 1961). Then this amusing hero showed up in another of the producer's movies and became a cult personage of Russian movie theater.
Babr.Ru
Source: Irk.Ru Novosti, 4.1.05

2005-01-15T02:12:00.000-08:00

"Battleship Potemkin" to be shown with censored scenes restored.
The premiere of a recently restored version of a famous movie from the Soviet era "Battleship Potemkin" (1925) will play at the Berlin film festival. In it Sergei Eisenstein depicted the story of a mutiny on a Russian ship, inspired by the unsuccessful 1905 rebellion against the Tsarist regime.
In the current version of the movie, many segments have been cut out, including an appearance by revolutionary Leo Trostsky, who was banned by censors in 1920. The organizers of the festival, where the film will be shown in 2005, say that the original version of the movie no longer exists. They plan to show it February 12-13 to the accompaniment of the Badelsberg German cinematography orchestra.
One of the most well-known scenes of this movie takes place in Odessa, where a carriage with children rolled down the endless steps of a Potemkin staircase and people ran around in a panic. In this movie, which was filmed in the 1920s about the 1905 rebellion, was sacrificed to "one of the most glaring acts of censorship in the 1920s," said the festival's organizers. Trotsky's speech, which had been taken out by censors, has been restored, along with the scene cut from the Potemkin staircase.
MIGnews.com
Source: Utro.Ru, 31,12.04

2005-01-08T11:46:00.001-08:00

Smoking prohibited for monks.
The government of Thailand has decided upon an unusal way of fighting for the moral character of Buddhist monks. According to a decision by the country's ministers' office, tobacco companies are directed to put a label on cigarette packages that says "Smoking prohibited for monks." The government believes this label is necessary to remind the country's citizens that giving tobacco products to monks is not an option. According to Buddhist law, cult adherents do not conduct financial transactions. People leave them groceries and goods for day-to-day life without taking anything in return.
Source: IA "Ros Biznes Konsalting"
Source: Yuga.Ru, 4,1.05

2005-01-08T11:46:00.000-08:00

Rio to greet New Year with fireworks and cult ceremonies.
On Friday tens of thousands of people plan to be on the Copa Cabana beach in Rio de Janeiro to greet the upcoming New Year. It's expected that right at midnight the sky above will be illuminated with a great quantity of fireworks, which will be launched from a special platform 300 meters offshore.
The final moments of the outgoing year, adherents of the Candomble cult, which was brought to Brazil by slaves from Africa, will conduct a ceremony dedicated to one of the supreme gods of this cult, Yemanje. Candomble adherents believe that during the observance of certain rituals she is capable of fulfilling any wish.
Source: Interfax.Ru, 31.12.04

2005-01-08T11:44:00.000-08:00

Representatives of Russia's traditional religions sum up the past year.
Interreligious Council of Russia holds press conference in Interfax information agency.
On 29 December 2004 the Moscow Patriarchy's deputy chairman of the Department of external affairs archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, the department's secretary for church and social relations Father Mikhail Dudko, agency manager for the Council of Muftis of Russia Kharis Saubyanov, leading Rabbi of Russia (Federal of Jewish Communities of Russia) Berl Lazar, chairman of the Congress of Jewish religious organizations and associations of Russia Zinoviy Kogan, chairman of the Buddhist traditional Sanghi of Russia Sanzhei-lama answered journalists' questions.
The press conference participants expressed satisfaction with the existing situation in the country in the area of interrelations between religious organizations and the government in the perspective of their development.
In replying to questions from correspondents of both Russian and foreign mass media, archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin noted that the Russian people are beginning to return to their spiritual roots, to time-honored moral values without which the harmonious and successful development of society would be impossible. "The Church is back to serving the world, nation and people to which it has historically appealed, and in which it was so limited for nearly all of the 20th century," said deputy chairman Chaplin.
As the main event for the Orthodox citizens of Russia in the past year he referred to the return to the homeland from the USA of the Tikhvinsky Mother of God icon and the transfer to Russia from Jerusalem of the holy relics of the holy martyrs, the grand duchess Elisabeth Theodorovna and (a nun) sister Barbara.
A significant milestone in the life of the Russian Orthodx Church was the Bishop's Council whose participants gave special attention to two problems important to state and society: counteracting terrorism and the demographic situation in the country. "Today an obstacle was surmounted that had divided people of the churches, on the one hand, and representatives of government and society on the other, which ran parallel with the solution of an urgent demographic problem, noted Father Vsevolod. The troubled voice of the Church was listened to, and our position on this issue was understood and supported."
In his turn, agency manager for the Council of Muftis of Russia Kharis Saubyanov noted that the Muslim leadership of Russia had made every kind of effort "to resist the attempt to contrast Muslims and Christians and to use Islamic slogans as religious-ideological based excuse for horrific terrorist acts."
"With the aid of the Almighty," there will never be interreligious opposition in Russia," Kharis Saubyanov fervently hoped.
"No other country has made such a comeback to religious life in so short a period of democratic development," said leading Rabbi of Russia (FJCR) Berl Lazar. "The establishment in stability in Russia has also been manifested in the internal conditions of the country's Jewish communities. The difficulties of years past has driven out so many Jews, but today people are confident and look to the future with optimism," he emphasized.
In response to a question about the Orthodox view of the perspective introduction in Russia of computer chips in passports, archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin underscored that the state needed to be very attentive in making a decision about the introduction of a novelty such as an electronically readable passports so that they would not pose a threat to civil liberties.
"Bar codes naturally raise some concern among Christians," said Father Vsevolod, explaining that quite a few believers make out various combinations of numbers to be a "mark of the Beast." Besides that, "any person would rather be a name than a number, the more so because practices like that unavoidably have dire connotations in historical context."
The Orthodox deputy chairman also noted that the Church would include the problem of electronic passports in its dialogue with the state. "Documentary information in electronic format is not only possibile, but permissible, however people also ought to know exactly what about them is being kept in data bases, and to be sure that information about their private lives is secure from unauthorized access and will not be used to their detriment," said archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin." "So, if this electronic information includes school, medical and library data, this might make a person feel not so free."
In replying to a question about the problems of sect operations in Russia, he said, "The threat of total control by sects in Russia, which was so real in the early 1990s, has somewhat slackened. Nonetheless, it's still at about the same level as the majority of the countries in Europe."
Not an official translation.
Source: Communication Services, Moscow Patriarchy's external church affairs department, 29,12.04

2004-12-31T05:29:00.001-08:00

Hockey is our national cult.
It's planned for 2005 to build four ice rinks in Tatarstan. Tatarstan Prime Minister Rustam Minnikhanov announced this Sunday at the opening ceremonies of the ice art and sports complex in the republic's Sabinsk district.
The 300-seat athletic complex was built in less than a year in the community of Leskhoz. It was intended to provide a place for ice hockey and figure skating for young people from the northern district of Tatarstan.
"Next year a 10,000-seat ice rink will become available in Kazan. Ice rinks will also be built in the towns of Neberezhny Chelny, Elabuga and Mamadysh," Minnikhanov told RIA "Novosti."
"Hockey is our national cult," he pointed out.
The premier of Tatarstan emphasized that the republic's interests were not limited to hockey. The following year a golf course would appear in Kazan and the city's central stadium would be renovated. We bought artificial turf for four of the republic's city stadiums, for Kazan, Almetevsk, Nizhiekamsk and Naberezhny Chelny, Minnikhanov reported.
As he said, these projects would receive financial support not only from their budget, but also from commercial companies in the republic.
According to information from the Ministry for Youth & Athletic Affairs, there are 7,685 athletic structures in Tatarstan, of which a thousand were built in the past four years. At the present, construction is underway at 75 stadiums.
Source: Stadium.Ru, 27,12.04

2004-12-31T05:29:00.000-08:00

China has closed 1,129 pornographic and 114 religious Internet sites. In all 1,287 web pages were distributing harmful information, in the opinion of the authorities.
As a reminder, back in June Chinese police began a widespread operation. Residents were paid money for information about pornographic pages and cult pages that propagate religion. Informants received from 60 - 240 dollars.
Source: Vinta.Info, 27,12.04

2004-12-31T05:28:00.001-08:00

Foreign sects expend vast amounts of money to get a foothold in Russia, said Fyodor Kondratyev, director of the expert department in the State Serbsky Center for Social and Forensic Medicine.
"There are documents that demonstrate what vast amounts of money are being expended to insert various foreign sects into Russia. The monies are also distributed to promote homegrown sects that undermine the spiritual foundation of Russian society: Orthodoxy," Kondratyev stated on Thursday at a Moscow press conference that was devoted to the rehabilitation of the victims of non-traditional religions.
In his opinion, one of the main reasons for sects expanding their realm is of a geo-political nature. "It is quite apparent that the intrusion of sects is part of the geo-politics of our so-called friends,"
said Kondratyev.
According to his statements there are more than a thousand sects in Russia. Some of them pose a special risk. Those use harsh psychological methods that could lead to psychic damage.
"A personality is processed with crude methods to produce certain psychic harm, so that the person comes into total dependency upon the sect and feels completely helpless outside the sect," Kondratyev reported.
The director of the Center for the Rehabilitation of Victims of non-traditional Religions, a clergyman of the John the Baptist Church, Oleg Stenyayev, said he has found that the West supports more than just the
traditional religious movements that originated in America and which belong to the Council of Church, such as the Baptists. "Yet the West does not support the Jehovahs Witnesses and the disciples of Hara Krishna," Stenyayev underscored.
According to him, eastern syncretic cults have the greatest impact on personality. Stenyayev believes that state, religion and science must combine their efforts in the rehabilitation of victims of non-traditional religions, of occultism, magic and mass hypnosis.
He stressed that the rehabilitation of sectarians should not be carried out only on the religious and religious-social levels, but also on the medical and the legal. Besides that it was necessary to publish everything having to do with sects in the country.
"For the time being one can see a decline of interest in sects. Therefore the prevention of sects is already a moot point. Now the victims of sects have to have rehabilitation," said Stenyayev. According to him that presently included not only Christians, but
also Muslims and Jews.
The founder of the psycho-criminal department to combat organized and violent crime at the All-Russian Research institute of the Interior Ministry, Alexei Skrypnykov, emphasized the "harmful methods of
totalitarian sects that alter the psyche." He underscored the necessity of consolidating various social forces with the goal of the rehabilitation of the victims of non-traditional religions (RIA).
Source: Russland.Ru, 26,11.04

2004-12-31T05:28:00.000-08:00

Total danger from sects gone.
The danger of the "total sectification" of Russian is past, believes the deputy chairman of the Moscow Patriarchy's department for external church relations archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin. That's what he replied to journalists' questions in Moscow on Tuesday.
The "danger of the 'total sectification' of Russian that appeared in the late '80s is now past. Lately sect influence has become considerably less. Sectarians are no longer hounding people at every metro station, and there's practically nothing about these organizations in the mainstream media," said Chaplin.
As he stated, the main reason for the improvement in the situation is that "people understand that where there is a sincere wish to help and inform, there are also sordid attempts at influence."
"Nonetheless, the danger of sectarianism remains in Russia at the same level it exists in the majority of countries in Europe today," noted the Moscow Patriarchy chairman.
As he stated, in society there will always be a certain number of people who are prone to suggestion, who are inclined to convert from one confession to another. "But the main thing is that there is a large enough amount of power and means invested in sect activity on Russian land, basically from abroad," said Chaplin.
RIA Novosti
Source: Religare.Ru, 29,12.04

2004-12-31T05:26:00.000-08:00

Former "Leningrad" singer produces new Zemfir album.
Zemfir's fourth album will be released the second half of February of the coming year. The CD has been prepared, and it has become known that the date of its release depends on marketing interests (the album wasn't finished by New Year's, and it doesn't make sense to put it on the market halfway through the holiday season.)
The name of the album and its releaser are being kept secret for the time being, according to the artists' manager, while negotiations are in process, reported Top Show Production. Only the producer's name is known. He, as has been stated repeatedly, is the author of last year's favorite CD, Igor Vdovin.
Working with Zemfir seems quite normal after the release of the soundtrack for the movie, "Boginiya: kak ya polyubila" by Renata Litvinova for Igor Vdovin (for those not in the know, he is the lead singer for the cult group "Leningrad, and it is his voice that is heard on the "Publya" album).
Source: KM.Ru, 29,12.04

2004-12-31T05:25:00.000-08:00

Dog learns how to give Fascist salute.
A resident of Germany had to appear in court on charges of having taught his dog to raise his paw on the command "Heil Hitler."
The mongrel sheepdog's name is Adolf, and it was with pride that his 54-year-old owner, Ronald T. from Berlin, had the dog give the salute for the police. This came about as a result of a call to officers to pacify Ronald, who was disturbing the public order, using bad language and shouting at pedestrians.
Ronald was charged with using the symbols of an anti-Constitutional organization. If he acknowledged guilt, he would be faced with up to three years imprisonment.
As concerns Adolf, it's most likely that he will be given to an animal shelter. In the opinion of the local animal protection organization, Karola Ruff, it's impossible to judge the dog based on what he had been taught. "This is awful, when a dog turns into the victim of it's owner's sick mind," she said
from material at Ananova.
Source: RBC.Ru, 14,10.03.

2004-12-23T05:50:00.000-08:00

Ryazan. "Night of the Living Advertisement".
On Monday, 20 December, in the Ryazan "Ivan Vasilevich" restaurant, organizers held a press conference for the "Night of the Living Advertisement," which is being held in the S. Yesenina Concert hall the nights of 25-26 December. The director of the project in Russia, Daniil Kostinskiy, and producer of the project in Ryazan, Tatyana Pavlova, spoke at length about the upcoming event.
During the event, the audience will be presented with advertising clips from the French collection of Jean-Marie Boursicot. An average of nearly 25,000 new clips are put into this vast collection each year. Project staff have arranged no less than 80 showings all over the world this year. According to D. Kostinskiy, the same program that was put on in 150 other cities of the world will be presented in Ryazan. This year's theme is "Movies and Advertisement." So one of the symbols of the event was cult hero James Bond, whose movies usually show plenty of different brands. Three one-and-a-half hour showings start at midnight, and each clip lasts from 30 seconds to five minutes. Events staged in tandem with the showing depend on local organizers, and they, as D. Kostinskiy stated, are often a surprise, even for him. Ryazanites can expect to enjoy a bar show, at which world flairing champion Seyran Gevorkyan will perform, and there will be a free photo session from "Hennesy" at which participants will receive not only a magnificent photograph, but will be able to take part in a drawing for valuable prizes. A laser show is planned, live jazz will be performed by the "La Fille" group, a dance program, and there will be many presentations at the "Hennesy" bar, with big-name sponsors, reports "7 Novostei" information agency.
The whole arrangement, according to D. Kostinskiy, is to "get the audience acquainted with aesthetic advertising, much of which has not been seen anywhere before, and to improve the creative level of advertising in Russia. After all, during the viewings the best aspects of world shows, personally collected by Jean-Marie Boursicot, will be presented."
Source: Regions.Ru, 22.12.04.

2004-12-22T13:28:00.000-08:00

China took an important step on the path of guaranteeing religious freedom,
reported Interfax. As the "Xinhua" news agency reported on Tuesday, the "Position on religious affairs" was published in the country. It is the first comprehensive integrated law on legal relations in the sphere of religion.
This document, consisting of 48 articles, will have the force of law and will go into effect 1 March 2005. The "positions" are broken down into seven chapters: "General positions," "Religious organizations," "Location of religious activity," "Cult services," "Church property," "Legal responsibilities" and "Addendum."
At the time it goes into effect, the 1994 "Position" on control of sites for religious activity is rescinded.
According to this document, believers and non-believers have equal protection under law, but the government is held responsible for violations of religious rights.
Meanwhile the "Positions" emphasize mutual respect of religions, their coexistence in concord, impermissibility of coerced faith, as well as the impermissibility of mutual discrimination.
Source: Pravoslavie.Ru, 21.12.04, Peking.

2004-12-22T13:27:00.001-08:00

Saddam warns world of American plot.
Having visited his client on Thursday, Saddam Hussein's lawyer talked about what the former dictator said. Saddam appealed to his fellow countrymen and all the Arab people of the world to oppose American occupation, reported attorney Halil al Duleimi.
"He explained that the USA intends to bring disunity to the Iraqi people by dividing it into sects and religious groups and weakening Iraqis in other ways, too," added Lebanese attorney Bushra Halil. "He said that the Kurds, Arabs, Shiites, Sunnis and Christians who live in Iraq should resist the American plot."
When Saddam heard the roar of the jets above the base on which he is being held, he said, "They are probably flying to Falluja. I live with their pain."
As a reminder, Saddam was detained a year ago, on 13 December 2003, however the location of his detainment, the Camp Cropper military base, has only been recently known.
Hussein and 11 of his associates are charged with numerous crimes against their people.
Source: Nrs.Com, 19.12.04

2004-12-22T13:27:00.000-08:00

Russia's leading Rabbi Berl Lazar proposed banning religious sect activity.
"There should be a clear definition of what is considered a sect and what is a "traditional" religion -- separate the wheat from the chaff, then simply ban sect operation so that they cannot conduct missionary work in Russia," Berl Lazar stated today in an interview with the Interfax agency.
He expressed perplexity with the accusations that he was limiting religious freedoms based on his not encouraging activity of religious organizations new to Russia.
"I don't understand how one can stand with the sectarians and talk about freedom of religion. The concept of "freedom of religion" is appropriate when the topic is religion or practice of a belief that is of benefit to people. Unfortunately, there are many organizations today that call themselves religious, but only do harm," commented the leading Rabbi.
"Unhappily," he complained, rights advocates sometimes forget that there are values necessary for our society, and if one of them is forsaken, possibly the others will be."
Source: NewsRu.Com, 20.12.04

2004-12-22T13:25:00.000-08:00

Serbsky Institute Director criticizes Scientologists' operations in Russia.
The head of the largest psychiatric center in Russia expressed displeasure with the influence the Scientologists' church has had upon the mental health of the country's residents.
"Now we are having a special problem with the Scientologists who are interfering in all spheres of life," emphasized director Tatyana Dmitrieva of the V.P. Serbsky Science Center of social and forensic psychiatry today at a meeting with Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Alexei II.
Specifically, as she said, the Scientologists carried out recruitment attempts among the victims of the Beslan terrorist act, but "city residents offered great resistance to the sect."
T. Dmitrieva said that the sect, whose victims with which a Center specialist continued to work, not infrequently bordered on the criminal. "Sometimes the courts turn to us for expert material on sects, as they influence the mental health of the Russian people," she added.
In speaking on the rehabilitation of Beslan's former hostages, T. Dmitrieva told the Patriarch that many children from there, along with their parents, had received treatment in the Science Center. Some of them were baptized in the home church near the V.P. Serbsky psychiatric institute.
Source: NewsRu.Com, 16.12.04

2004-12-11T14:37:00.000-08:00

Professor Alexander Dvorkin is considered the "leading sectologist" in Russia, his name is known both among the Orthodox believers and by those whose activities he studies, the sectarians. Professor Dvorkin president of the St. Irenaeus Lyon Center for Religious Research, Ph.D., M.Div., chair of the sectology department at the St. Tikhon Orthodox Humanities University, gave a lecture in Arkhangelsk. His speech on the problems of sectology was heard by both residents of Arkhangelsk and the surrounding province. The information he imparted and the video presentation made a big impact on the audience.
- Alexander Leonidovich, we have gotten used to thinking of you only as a sectologist, but probably your field of interests goes beyond that?
- On the basis of education I am a historian, occupied with the history of the Church. They try to follow that up with publications, for instance, in connection with Byzantine history. Besides that, I have an education in philosophy. But, unfortunately, reading artistic literature simply for enjoyment happens infrequently, only when I'm sick and lying in bed. Mostly I'm involved with work connected with sects, it's very tiring, especially the diversions and distractions. It turns out that the literature I read for pleasure is connected with my work. It's necessary to look at all the new things that claim cult status. I'm often asked to assess one book or another. In trying to recruit people, sects often get their books on contemporary "bestseller" lists. Besides that, I consider my activity to be of a missionary nature, so I need to know the cultural sphere, what young people think, for example. To understand today's occult, I recommend Umberto Eco, especially "Mayatnik Fuko," to my students. This author's cold-hearted view of the occult has a sobering effect on many people.
I like Tolkien, but read the original English; the translations are inaccurate. And my favorite Russian author is Dostoevsky. He played a big role in me becoming an Orthodox believer.
- Will you tell us how you became a believer?
- Religious faith came to me when I was in emigration status. Fifteen years I lived outside of Russia. A large part of that was in America, and I did doctoral work in Germany and Italy. But faith came to me in America. I converted in the Orthodox Church in New York, in a small church of Christ the Savior. They have those kind of churches there, built by the same Russian emigrants who rebuilt the church of Church of Christ the Savior in Moscow, after it was destroyed [under Communist rule]. This was their answer in reply to the destruction of the Moscow church. I also studied in the Orthodox spiritual academy in America. America gave me a lot, but now my place is in Russia.
- Quite a few people have dreamed of going to America, but you came back ...
- I returned because I considered myself a political emigrant, not an economic transplant. When I lived there, I joked that the Babylonian captivity wouldn't last more than seventy years. Then suddenly everything turned around here, and I felt I had to go back. Along those same lines, not to get too excited about it, just that my life makes more sense here. This is my native land, and what I do in Russia has more meaning than it would if I had stayed there. At the same time I'm not sorry I was there for 15 years, they were not wasted.
- By education, you're a historian. What made you into a sectologist?
- After returning from emigration in 1992, I started to work in the Department of religious education and catechization at the Moscow patriarchy. A priest in the same section I was, Father Gleb Kaleda, once said that Russia was starting to have a problem with sects, but nobody knew about them. "Since you're the only one that lived in the West, where they came from, certainly you would be more familiar with the problem than we are. Besides that, you know the western languages and would be able to cope with this correspondingly." I flatly refused, saying this had never interested me, and I was a very retiring person. Father Gleb did not insist.
Almost right after that, though, I saw a mother come to the church, whose child had become a victim of sectarians. This woman was very distraught, and I didn't know what to do or how to help. I tried to do a little consulting and went to other departments. Then I decided to hold a seminar on the Mother-of-God center, which was the most aggressive, dangerous cult back then. Interestingly, it was that seminar at which the phrase "totalitarian sect" was heard for the first time. I made use of it, not knowing at the time no one else in Russia ever had. The phrase took root, everyone started using it. The seminar went very well; journalists called me up afterwards, and my world was transformed into the study of sectarianism.
- Few decide to delve into this problem; it's too difficult, a thankless task. It's very complicated for you, too, isn't it?
- It's difficult, but somebody needs to do it! I think of what I do as "cleaning out spiritual septic tanks." I'm a septic tank cleaner. Of course, splashing about in filth all the time is hard, but, on the other hand, if it doesn't get done we get flooded with it. I do this as a work of penance. This is my churchly penance. Everybody in the Church has their own pursuit. The Church is a single organism, and every member of this organism performs his function. It's important that each do something in their spot and pray for each other. So I go to church all the time, too.
- Do you think praying helps?
- Certainly, especially in hard times. I remember my first big court process, when a whole bunch of sects sued me. That was a very difficult time for me. The process and all its trapping lasted nearly a year with all the pre-trial and post-trial stages. The most active phase lasted 6 weeks. For the whole six weeks I went to the court room every day - from 10 to 6 I say there under constant pressure, and at night I had to prepare for the next hearing. But all the same I think back on that time as one of the happiest of my life, because I felt the prayers of support like never before, even physically. People sent us letters of support and money to pay expenses. But I felt the prayers of support so much that there is no doubt in my mind that we did it - correctly.
- What's most important for you in personal life?
- My family. It's not big, just a wife and a long-awaited little daughter. Unfortunately I can't be with my family as much as I'd like, because I'm on the road so much.
- Do you have a lot of friends?
- There's plenty, but they live in different towns and in different countries. My favorite people are in various places. I still have some good friends in America, as well as Paris, Germany, Novosibirsk, and several people from Moscow. Earlier, as a boy, I knew a lot of people, but now, unfortunately, there is physically not enough time to see and meet with others that often. Still we keep in touch; we have friendship and harmony, that's still there.
- What in fact does your religious studies center do? What does it do with itself?
- We have a room full of a library with sectarian and anti-sectarian literature (we call it "gurutech"), and a big archive, both paper and electronic. Besides that there's a constant flow of traffic on the Internet. We maintain contact with other counter-sectarian organizations both in our country and abroad; we take calls from people with questions and requests. We go to lectures everywhere; we publish articles and books, and work with the mass media.
Counter-sectarian work, roughly speaking, happens in three phases. The first is PREVENTION (what we are mainly involved in: the best way to leave a sect is not to go in). This is gathering information, compiling and distributing it. Many of the people in sects would not be there if they had known more about them. The second phase is CONSULTATION: this is work with individual sectarians to help them leave the sect. When I work with them, my primary task is not to haul the person out, but to get him to think, so he can think himself. We are involved in exit counseling simply because there are few who do this. We arrange to meet with sectarians, and a merciful God provides some assistance. On the average, every other one that comes to us manages to get out of the sect. The third phase, which hardly anyone in the country is involved in is REHABILITATION: helping a person who's already out of the sect. People leave with very many problems: declining health, nowhere to go socially, with mental and spiritual problems. This requires serious qualified help from a great number of specialists: psychologists, psychiatrists, lawyers, social workers and the clergy.
- Tell some kind of story with a good ending...
- We are in a time we call the "seasonal frenzy." This happens several months a year, when one thing or another causes the calls to our office to increase. September, for example. Parents call from various cities with the standard story: the child has finishes school, goes to the capital to go to college, calls home, says he couldn't get enrolled, but found some good people, and is hanging out with them. A good many sects stand watch near the bulletin board that have the results of the college entrance examinations posted on them. They're on the look-out for children who didn't pass, and they recruit them. The children are experiencing stress from not being admitted, and it's not hard to recruit them. One day we got a call from Samarsk region, from a small city. A boy went to the St. Petersburg and disappeared. The parents felt a sect was to blame, so they looked up our phone number. I assumed that their son had joined the Munists. I gave them the number of the parents' committee in St. Petersburg and they went there, got a list of all the Munist quarters, and visited them to find their son. Fortunately, the boy was not yet 18, so the parents could make him leave, and the Munists did not have the right to keep him. The new sect recruit was in our offices first thing the next morning. I started working with him. He sat with glazed eyes and said, "You are a liar. I don't want to listen to anything you say." It was very difficult and we spoke for a long time. All in vain. But at some moment the young sectarian said "Mun is my true father," and the father, who was sitting nearby, who was obviously a strong and resolute person, stood up, turned to the wall and started crying. These tears worked a miracle - they broke through the wall. Something in the spirit of the young person began to stir; this was reflected in his eyes. This is the most moving moment, when you see the first thought shine through the glazed eyes. God's word, after this everything went find. In the evening the youngster went home with his parents. After a year he went to Moscow, where he was accepted, and he stopped by to say hello to us.
- We are used to talking about the "fight with sects." Is that legitimate? Do we need this fight? Perhaps, there is a better way?
- People are afraid of the word "fight." And it's very important to underscore what kind of fight with sects. The fight with sects ought not to transform into a fight against sectarians. We are not fighting people. We are fighting inhumane organizations that suppress and exploit people, and deceive them. Sectarians are the unhappy people who have become victims of totalitarian organizations. Therefore our fight against sects is a fight for sectarians, for every one of them so as to win them back. I think that in this context the use of the word "fight" is entirely normal.
- What would you advise people who have decided to get involved with action against totalitarian organizations?
- There is plenty of practical advice. But the main thing is that one of the basic aspects of work with sectology is war. War is an exchange of blows. It's very important not to get discouraged and to understand that we are not fighting against people. It's important to remember the central principle of a priest of "hate the sin, not the sinner." There is the risk of being lured into attacking people. It's important to catch and restrain oneself in time. After all, we are working to help people, not to destroy them.
Valentina Musykina, special for "Russkiy Sever" information agency.
Source: RSIA.Ru, 06.12.04

2004-12-11T14:36:00.000-08:00

Religious Jewish family takes US tax administration to court.
The legal advocate for the religious couple said on Monday that the US tax administration wrongly refused to exempt their child's religious instruction from taxes.
The Los Angeles couple Michael and Marla Sklar maintain that in so far as members of the Church of Scientology have the right to deduct the cost of spiritual seminars, they also are allowed to deduct fees for their child's training in Jewish school for tax purposes.
The non-jury legal proceedings opened on Monday in US tax court. The Sklars brought this to court after the tax administration decided that their claim to tax exemption was unfounded.
Source: Jewish.Ru, 09.11.04

2004-12-11T14:35:00.000-08:00

Witches and quacks get the evil eye from Russians.
Mr. Kashpirovsky receives an urgent change to his instructions. And Alan Chumak quickly rouses himself, choking, to drink his charged water... The "folk healers" in Russia are in danger. But those who have the right to treat people, those who are willing to get a license and pay taxes, have nothing to fear. It is the evil spirits, the magicians, witches and charlatans, that the legislators have decided to do away with.
Today the deputies of the Moscow City Duma reviewed a special request to City Duma chairman Gryslov, with a petition to pass a law about folk healings.
An attempt to curb the quacks was made some years ago. Back then the law fell through. Now deputies from the city of Vladimir have come forward with the initiative, and the Moscow colleagues support them. They are also disturbed that naive "chumps" are increasingly victimized by magicians/witches. In the best case they are simply conned, in the worst they suffer direct harm. How can the people who do this go practically unpunished?
At present the law does not at all demand that healers possess the knowledge or skill to cure people. Those who have experienced trouble with black magic even include Moscow City Duma deputy Valentina Presyazhnyuk. Several years ago at a healers forum in Turkey they asked her to remove a spider's web from the auditorium, and when she got back to her hotel room she fell ill right away, not even able to move.
A healer-compatriot was done away with in a similar manner in "Night Watch": there the deputy was brought back to life with a simple movement of the hand. This strange tale, however, did not weaken the resolve of the deputy to fight the magicians/charlatans. Mrs. Prisyazhnyuk believes that the zombification of people by those who use spells, the evil eye and love potions needs to be prohibited by law. Same with any advertisement by quacks and witches who operate without a license to get rich from sick people.
The times when quacks and healers worked in Russia for free are long gone. Now behind those pretty eyes there is not even a sign of the country grandmother, much less a Moscow miracle worker. But soon the wise grandmothers and magicians and witches will have to get licenses with the full list of ailments they are able to treat people for. And diplomas, too.
The Moscow deputies think that before attaining a diploma each healer needs to show that he is capable. How? There are methods for doing this. For example, measuring bio-energy is something they're already doing in the official center of folk medicine with the Health Ministry.
However, what's the sense of this energy for a sick person, even if it's there, that's a question the authorities have yet to decide. But passing a law is worth it if only because of the absurd advertisements that the mass media are overrun with. This is something that is much more harmful than beer.
Today on Moscow, according to expert estimates, nearly 300,000 witches, sorcerers and other charlatans are working in Moscow.
Yekaterina Pichugina, "Moscovskiy Komsomolets," 20 October 2004
Source: St. Irenaeus Lyon Center for Religious Research, 21.10.04

2004-12-11T14:34:00.000-08:00

Children from Beslan will be protected from sectarians.
North Ossetia has become the first Russian Region in which the activities of missionaries of non-traditional religions have been taken under strict state control. As Stanislav Kesayev, deputy parliament chief of North Ossetia told Vremya Novosti on Thursday, "every missionary who intends to pursue his activities on the territory of our republic from now on must possess all necessary documents and permits to substantiate his authority and competence." Besides that, "the locations where permissible missionary activity is allowed are legally determined."
Alina Levtskaya, North Ossetia Education Minister, based the necessity of such documents on the increase in activity of various totalitarian sects after the hostage-taking in Beslan. Literally within days of the tragic chain of events, law enforcement agencies started receiving complaints from psychologists, from staff of the republic's health and education ministries, as well as from Beslan residents about sectarian activity, but primarily about Scientologists.
"The missionaries availed themselves of the extremely difficult situation the people were in to run a recruitment campaign, which they held forth as psychological aid work," according to Levtskaya. "This is absolutely impermissible for the victims, the children in particular, to be exposed to further psychological damage. We have taken all possible measures to protect the friends and relatives of the deceased from such contact. The first thing we had to do was ask the Scientologists to leave."
The North Ossetia Interior Ministry's press service communicated that after the new law was passed, it would be easier for law enforcement agencies to also neutralize the activities of other religious sects, which operate on republic territory, Jehovahs Witnesses and Krishnas among others.
Source: Russlandonline.Ru, 5.11.04

2004-11-07T11:48:00.000-08:00

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

2004-11-07T11:47:00.000-08:00

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

2004-11-07T11:45:00.000-08:00

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

2004-11-07T11:44:00.000-08:00

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

2004-11-07T11:42:00.000-08:00

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

2004-11-07T11:41:00.001-08:00

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

2004-11-07T11:41:00.000-08:00

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

2004-11-07T11:39:00.000-08:00

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

2004-11-02T03:57:00.000-08:00

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

2004-11-02T03:56:00.000-08:00

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

2004-11-02T03:55:00.001-08:00

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

2004-11-02T03:55:00.000-08:00

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

2004-11-02T03:54:00.001-08:00

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

2004-11-02T03:54:00.000-08:00

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

2004-11-02T03:53:00.000-08:00

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

2004-11-02T03:52:00.000-08:00

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

2004-10-23T03:07:00.000-07:00

Love and sex in Islam - commentary.
From my viewpoint, the name of the book was very well chosen, that is, it touches upon two relationships that men and women have with each other - love and sex. Islam, in contrast to, shall we say, Christianity, does not generally have any sort of prohibitions within it. There are impermissible acts that lead to destruction, but areas that are off-limits for discussion are not provided for. However, certain situations undoubtedly require awareness and a choice of proper conduct.
Thus, discussing the topic of sex is perfectly normal in Islam, and I also consider the name of the book entirely justified. Unfortunately, however, certain of the so-called "ethical Muslims" appeal to representatives of other religions, Orthodoxy in particular, where traditionally the attitude toward flesh and toward sex is actually semi-negative.
In the Middle Ages in Russia, for example, a couple draped the icons during times of intimate closeness. From my point of view, that was a hypocritical attitude: if it was to be that sex was bad, then why do it, and if it is not bad, then why does it need to be embarrassing?
In the negative reaction of certain Muslims to the name and theme of the book, I see the influence of Christians on "ethical Muslims", mainly, on Tatars who have partially adapted to a worldview not peculiar to monotheism. Back in its day, Christianity borrowed this from gnosticism.
As a reminder, the starting position of Christianity includes the world originally being spiritual, the spirit of Adam was in all people, i.e., the human being lay exclusively in the spirit. When the first people sinned, then in punishment from God they found flesh. From that time, man's goal has been to constantly strive for liberation from matter, like it was aggravating him, fighting with it on a spiritual basis.
This ancient concept has something in common with various central Asian concepts, even Hindu and Buddhist ideology. Somewhere in them one can find assertions, according to which flesh is evil in and of itself and, consequently, people need to be saved from it. This also crossed over into Manichaeism, the Bogomil sect, and others.
In the inadequate reaction to the book, "Love and Sex in Islam," there is also an element of Soviet era consciousness, which from my viewpoint is nonetheless a product of Christianity. At first the Soviet power in the revolutionary rejection of the past world fought with domestic tyranny, with prejudice, and they conducted mass demonstrations under the slogan "Down with shame!". But already under Stalin, who in essence revived a Byzantine model of power, on one hand, life became decent and the wave of anarchy stopped, but on the other hand, a sanctimonious attitude toward sex returned.
From the viewpoint of Islam, "sex" is not quite a normal word. Undoubtedly something needs to be written in this sphere of human relations that conveys an explanation of authoritative theologians on this account.
But of course the topic of sex is not childish. It's clear that the book published by "Ansar," as has been said, is for adults. In it are given fatwas, theological conclusions, which will be useful for couples. And if a young man or woman does not get this information from Islamic teachings, from approved people, then they will get information about sex through other means - on the streets or driveways, which could push them into depravity. In this way, those who try to disrupt the topic of intimate relations, even though they are concerned for public moral health, attain exactly the opposite result.
For my part I hope that Muslims nonetheless in the near future surmount this worldview which is not characteristic for Islam. There's no need to fight at all, just a certain measure of delicacy in speaking about the intimate sphere and be spiritually disposed to the body. I.e., not setting spirit and matter in opposition, but spiritualizing the flesh itself.
In marriage, love ought to be built into the ideal coexistence. Therefore, when the relationship of a man and woman are spiritualized for love, then they cause great joy for people. The wisdom of the Almighty lies in this: please, enjoy, but don't do the forbidden - don't take what belongs to others, don't lead a depraved life, don't murder. And being ashamed of the given area of relations signifies opposing the will of Allah.
Source: Islam.Ru, Ali-Vyacheslav Polosin

2004-10-23T03:06:00.001-07:00

Students to see world of Old Russia
A lesson in creation for students and their parents. A window into the world of ancient icon-painting is being held 17 October in the Arkhangelsky Museum of Fine Arts.
Senior scientific museum staff member Tamara Strazhinskaya reported to the "Dvina-Inform" agency that this excursion would begin a sort of introduction into the art and culture of Old Russia. "On the basis of our regular exposition, we want to reveal the beauty of the ancient icons for visitors," said the museum employee. They included the "Veil of the Holy Mother of God," the "Icon of Our Savior," and ancient 14th century cult statues." And the Russian Art hall doors will be open on the next day off for children: pupils will learn the story behind the creation of the portrait of Princess Dolgoruka.
Source: DVAInform.Ru, 16.10.04, Larisa Oparina

2004-10-23T03:06:00.000-07:00

Mystic Vibrations of the Roots playing reggae and ska in Moscow.
Near the end of October the Kaliningrad group "Mystic Vibrations of the Roots" will be conducting a four-day guest tour in the capital. Although with such a name it could also be a rastamansky group, or a group with a psychodelic bent, in practice their style is defined with a blend of Afro-beat, funk, ska, reggae, jazz, blues, fusion and ethno-music.
However the group started in 1998 with what they called the roots of reggae. After a couple of years some of its members came to Moscow and started to play with Oldi, Jah Division and Zhanna Aguzarova. The new members adapted and very quickly developed today's style.
Despite the six-year history of recording, the debut "Sarava" album is only now approaching. Along with their own material, the album contains cult songs of native peoples of Africa in the languages Yoruba, Mandinka, Suso-Muso and Creole.
In the recording, "Mystic Vibrations of Roots" was helped out by the Jah Division and the "Body Guard Committee," and on one song from the Moscow concerts, assistance came from a ska master from Cabernet Deneuve.
On 21 October they'll be at "Projekt OGI" club, 22 October at the "Bilingua" club, 23 October (with Cabernet Deneuve) at the "Klub Na Brestskoy", and 24 October at the "China Flyer Jao-Da" club.
Source: Lenta.Ru, 16.10.04

2004-10-23T03:05:00.001-07:00

One month after the bloody hostage drama in Beslan, the activity of the Scientology-Organization has greatly increased in the small North Ossetian city. For instance, a Scientology television advertisement was broadcast over a local Ossetian television station, reported the religio.ru Internet portal. In it terrorist victims and their families were urged to go to the organization's "Center for Psychological Aid."
Parallel to this was a report, according to which the "Jehovahs Witnesses" were also carrying out a missionary campaign in the city. Representatives of the Orthodox Church and the Islamic Commnity of Ossetia condemned the attempt [of the organizations] to use the misfortune of the people of Ossetia for their own purposes. The Orthodox Church regards the "Jehovahs Witnesses" and Scientology as "totalitarian sects."
Beslan's city administration intends to keep theincreasingly active missionary workers away from residents, who are still in shock. Also the Ossetian authorities are planning to propose a law that would not make it impossible for "traditional religious communities" to work in the area of the Caucasian partial republic.
During a hostage-taking in a Beslan school, more than 300 people were killed the beginning of September. There is hardly a family in the city that has not lost a friend or family member in the tragedy.
(epd/kp)
Source: Russland today, 20.10.04, Moscow.

2004-10-23T03:05:00.000-07:00

Grateful Dead Movie released on DVD.
The cult film, "The Grateful Dead Movie," which first came out back in 1977, is being released on DVD November 9. Besides the original issue, to which will be added a bonus disk with one and a half hours recording of the group in concert.
As a reminder, "The Grateful Dead Movie includes an October 1974 Grateful Dead concert in San Francisco. Then the group, led by Jerry Garcia,was preparing to take an extended leave of absence. Many assert that the film manages to keep the spirit and effect of the Grateful Dead show "live" on tape.
On a second disk are previously unpublished segemnts of appearance by the group. The tracks include "Uncle John's Band," "Sugaree," Dark Star," "China Cat Sunflower" and "I Know You Rider." Besides that, it include a documentary film that tells about the creation of "The Grateful Dead Mvoie" and a collection of photographs.
Source: Music.Ua, 15.10.04

2004-10-23T03:04:00.000-07:00

Shaman cult objects and scenes from the life of Alaskan natives on exhibit in the History of Religion Museum.
The words of Azat Minnekayev, who lives in Alaska for some time, and shaman cult objects from the reserves of the History of Religion Museum have been put on display in the "Tambourine Metamorphosis" exihibit.
"Linen stretched on a frame, this is my tambourine, but a tambourine, for the shamans, was a means of universal transportation through the world," A Minnekayev told Interfax.
The northern environment and the life of the northern peoples, in the artist's opinion, is inseparable. And so the vivid pictures by A. Minnekayev, portray the general coplexity of three years of living in Alaska - people, sea, boats, scenes from seal and whale hunts. Residents of the north, busy with everyday life - hunting - caught by the artist like heroes from a myth or fairy tale.
"I worked on an island that has 600 people and 400,000 seals, more than a thousand per mile of coast. You forget there's people there, even a rock has an aura of creation and its existence, and there the spirit of the present exists," the artist is sure.
On display at the exhibit are objects, with whose aid the Chukchi, Aleuts and Altai peoples had communication with spirits at the beginning of the 20th century. Among them are ritual figurines, stautes, amulets, a sacred board for making fire and wooden whales, in which were kept the most sacred things, and also shaman tambourines.
"The tambourine unites different peoples, this is a sort of world model for them, spirits are outlined on them, they depict the middle and upper worlds," comented State History of Religion Museum deputy director Tatyana Dmitrieva.
Source: Interfax.Ru, 15.10.04, St. Petersburg.

2004-10-23T03:03:00.001-07:00

McDonald’s choking on hamburgers.
An important part of a brand, which provides much of its value, is the name. The value this time is measured in billions of dollars. Therefore the reason that can force the corporate standard of McDonald's to reject a name has to be revolutionary indeed.
One of the three most familiar symbols in the world, the symbol for the McDonald's company almost certainly will be replaced by a question mark. In Great Britain an advertising campaign began for the fast food giant. On posters along with the well-known "golden arches" will be a golden question mark.
The advertising agency that developed this concept asserts that the new logo has to be a symbol of a changed company, which is now oriented toward healthy food, as well as the unhealthy, with which McDonald’s is normally associated. On the advertising billboards are photographs of fresh salads and fruit accompanied by a question mark and the approximate slogan, "McDonald’s - but not like you know it."
There has already been a change in the image of the fast-food giant, directed toward changing the look of its public area. McDonald’s made an agreement with the Vegetarian society about mutual support, and using this action to introduce its salad menu. However, compared with today's new presentation, that is simply not getting attention.
Still, would it help one of the main symbols of globalization if it did not return a huge profit, but just stayed afloat? After all, McDonald's is not faced only with the fight for a healthy way of life, but with political powers, too, the anti-globalists and anti-americanists. Company managers have not managed to spot the crisis in a timely fashion: the movement toward healthy food and the fight with obesity has been gathering steam for a long time. Manifestations of this have been developing remarkably actively in the USA, where a big demand for production with "low fat" began back in the early 1990s. However, company managers realized this only at the last moment, when its income in Great Britain plummeted by nearly three-quarters, from 83.8 million pounds to 23.6 million, which was the lowest rate in ten years! The fight against unhealthy food became the fight against the business it was engaged in. But sometimes there was even more profit. Among the opponents of McDonald’s are not only doctors who were alarmed at universal obesity, and anti-globalists, but also marketing experts.
Using any sort of "black" aspects of PR technology against McDonald’s is unnecessary today. On a wave of success, one can fully drown this brand by "clean" methods. What's more, the responding measure from McDonald's, despite the revolutionary character of the challenge, is that for now they can only cause success - You will agree to associate McDonald's with healthy food - for today that's nonsense. The main symbol of the company is not a question mark and not even the well-known letter "M", but the ordinary hamburger, which has nothing healthy about it. Nevertheless it's possible for those responsible for McDonald's marketing policies to start finding an even more radical way than changing its logo and, as VV Zhirinovsky puts it, publicly trample their first-born.
So if they heed of McDonald's sorry efforts, it's probable today's other cult brands, Coca-Cola and Pepsi, will be considering their own futures. For the time being they feel relatively safe, since their products, to put it mildly, have nothing to do with health.
Source: PROnline.Ru, 14.10.04

2004-10-23T03:03:00.000-07:00

Mark Knopfler remembers the 60s.
Renowned musician Mark Knopfler released his fourth solo album, "Shangri-La." That is what the former leader of the cult group "Dire Straits" called his new disk in honor of the legendary studio in Malibu, where in their day Bob Dylan, Neil Young and other performers recorded.
Fourteen songs were written and arranged by Knopfler in the spirit of the 1960s. In essence these are relaxing, melodic ballads in which are blended blues, country and rock motifs. In his press release the musician noted that Old California was much influenced by things which he did, and part of this was reflected on the recording. Also he felt as if he were in the 60s, but there was also a much earlier influence from childhood, such as Lonnie Donegan, whom one of the songs is dedicated to, and "Shadows."
Taking part in the recording were a team of musicians who have steadily worked with Knopfler, including former Dire Straits keyboardist Guy Fletscher.
Mark Freuder Knopfler was born 12 August 1949 in Glasgow, Scotland. In 1977 he and his friends organized the group "Dire Straits." For some years the group attained colossal popularity all over the world. Its albums sold millions of copies. In 1995 Knopfler started a solo career. His manner of playing on the guitar is considered one of the most interesting in the rock world - he's left-handed, but uses his right hand for strumming, like most righty guitarists, but gives it lots of precedence: his more powerful hand sets on the struts and enables him to make a very good vibrato. A distinct trait of his style lies in not using a pick.
See: http://www.mark-knopfler.com
Source: Lenta.Ru, 15.10.04

2004-10-23T03:02:00.000-07:00

Eparchal courts to judge Sverdlovsk clergy.
In the near future the Yekaterinburg eparchy will create an eparchal court, Archbishop of Yekaterinburg and Verkhotursk Vikentiy announced 12 October at a press conference. As he said, they will judge clergy and laymen who work for the church. Grounds for court proceedings would be breaches by cult followers of chuch canon or of Yekaterinburg eparchy regulations. If those accused were found guilty, they would be faced with loss of rank, exclusion from the church or from communion, etc., reported "UralPolit.Ru."
In the opinion of the senior church official, the creation of an eparchal court is necessary. Churches were originally involved in court issues in Russia. "That practice should be revived," he said. Besides that, the new department fences the church off from interference secular judicial organs. "We have our charter, registered with the RF Justice Ministry. And if we live according to it, then no one can get mixed up in our affairs," said the archbishop.
Source: Regnum.Ru, 12.10.04

2004-10-23T03:01:00.000-07:00

30 years of "children's surprise."
A product which has revolutionized the landscape of toys for children, infatuated adults and turned into a cult object for collectors around the word is celebrating its 30th birthday. By the way, the prices for the figures - for example, "Puffo on Olympia" or "Puffo on stilts" - were given by Alessandra Vitali in a Russian translation of "la Repubblica" at up to 900 euro.
In several ways, these are works of art. "The chocolate egg would have been a great place for life," like "experiencing it from the inside, a little at a time." This was the fantastic dream of Vinchentso Mollik, journalist, who enthusiastically spoke about his passion with the chocolate eggs at the presentation at the exhibition, which was dedicated to the surprise in the chocolate egg. The exposition, held in the Complesso del Vittoriano in Rome, is open until October 24.
The surprises from the chocolate eggs are actually displayed at the exhibit as works of art, dollies, as they're affectionately called. The exhibition began with a demonstration of the creative process: design, plan, films. That was followed by a history of collecting, with a display of the most well-known "children's surprises."
There was a collection of the most interesting samples at the exhibit. According to Mollik, it was like going to Walt Disney world. Collectors attributed the Ferroro confectionary company with creating a "parallel universe, which still remains to be revealed."
Happly hippopotamuses, merry turtles, sharks, vampires and crocodiles, Disney characters, Bugs Bunny and Iron hand, Leoventuras and the latest from the Paleoboys era. A vast company of large and small heroes, figures, the products of the mass culture industry with a profound "sense of form." That was how the surprises were described in a catalog of the exhibit.
In other words, the "children's" marketing gimmick somehow became bigger than the product alone. This product is sold in 60 countries on five continents, with 30 billion chocolate eggs sold over 30 years. And from a previous wish: "To paint, to animate and cheer up the house, but first of all to bring joy into the hearts of children," as William Saliche from the Ferrero group said.
InoPress
Source: JNews.Co.Il, 9.10.04

2004-10-17T05:23:00.000-07:00

Ben Laden hiding in China.
Ben Laden and az-Zavakhiri, number 2 in "Al Qaida," have been discovered by an American intelligence satellite in the mountains of Zaskar in Xinjiang (northwest China, not far from the borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan), in the Xinjiang Uighur autonomous district, where the majority of the population is Muslim. But this is not all: Washington is supposedly negotiating with Peking to allow a special American unit, which is already stationed in Pakistan, to conduct surprise military operations to capture the two most sought after terrorists in the world. It is conceivable that the capture of ben Laden and as-Zavakhiri could be a trump card, George Bush's "October surprise" on the eve of the November 2nd elections.
This sensational news was published yesterday on the pages of the liberal El Mundo newspaper. The article was entitled, "Ben Laden found in China." The author, Gordon Thomas, a well-known Irish journalist who specializes in issues of espionage and terrorism, cited a "high-level official from the Pentagon." The report contained amazing news in its very first paragraph.
"Last year ben Laden come to an agreement with the Peking regime, according with which he was promised refuge. In return the "Al Qaida" leader guaranteed a stop to subversive activity from the local Muslims (Wiguri, a people of Turkish origin, number up to 5 million, a third of the population of Xinjiang, used to live in Russia before emigrating to China)," reported Thomas. "Last year the Chinese army sent 10,000 soldiers into this district whose mission was to suppress the rebels. After the arrival of Saudi Usama ben Laden to the district, relative calm was established, but local Mohammedans all still have the opportunity to be involved in illegal trafficking of people and narcotics."
"But now the head of 'Al Qaida' and Egyptian Aian as-Zavakhiri risk being caught in their sanctuary, which is located in a Zaskar mountain range district, not far from the Chinese-Pakistan border, in a lake area. If an emergency agreement is finally reached on this between Peking and Washington, then China will hand over to the United States the most wanted terrorist in the world."
This top secret operation would have huge importance for both sides. "The arrest of ben Laden would guarantee Bush's reelection; millions of indecisive votes would get confirmation that the war on terrorism after the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington was fully justified," explained Thomas.
At this stage some officials have emerged from the Pentagon, which explained that it won in this operation with Peking, which always has accused the Wigursky Islamic terrorists of financing and training 'Al Qaida.'
"Bush's new administration introduces China as its new important ally in the war on terrorism. The Asian giant gets the 'most favored nation' status, and that will be followed by contracts for billions of dollars and the accusations of human rights violations will stop," said a high-level official from the American military department. He also added, "Only a few people know about this plan. One may say with almost complete confidence that their number includes Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
The informant also reported that this was not the first time the American government resorted to this sort of maneuver shortly before the presidential elections. For instance, there was the secret agreement with Iran that freed the 42 American diplomats that had been held for 444 days before Ronald Reagan took office.
Ben Laden supposedly arrived in China from Kashmir with 50 "Jihadists." But until now it was impossible to talk openly about his delivery. Thomas was more specific: "Reaching an agreement depends on confidence, and Bush appealed to the Chinese to keep their promise."
Juan Antoni Origi
"La Stampa," 11 October 2004
from "InoPress" web pages
Source: Portal-Credo.Ru, 11.10.04

2004-10-17T05:21:00.000-07:00

Religious organization capitulates.
Today in a regular session of Zavodsky district court the local religious organization "Slovo Zhisnni" ("Word of Life") withdrew its complaint against the "Zemskoe obozrenie" newspaper. Church pastor Pavel Taranov explained this decision by unexpected litigation from the Russian Orthodox Church. The subject of the court's investigation was an article "Word of Life: unsuccessful ad campaign," published under the name N. E. Nikolotov, which is a pseudonym for a group of authors, staff of the department for religious education and catechization.
Specifically, the "Word of Life" disputed an opinion of the article's author about this organization basically being pseudo-Protestant and neo-Pentecostal, the "Word" said that no one had the right to use the word "sect" in reference to it or to criticize its activity.
Appearing for the eparchy in court was professor and chair of the sectology department of the Orthodox St. Tikhon humanities university, Alexander Dvorkin. He stated that the "Word of Life was a sect because it recognized itself as such, and today it capitulated without reservation."
Source: Sarbc.Ru, 7.10.04

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Word of Life begins to tell the court it is not a sect.
Today a regular court hearing was held in the Zavodsky court to hear a legal complaint by the "Word of Life" religious organization against the "Zemskoe obozrenie" newspaper.
[... gives information from Saratov Eparchy web pages]
Source: Sarbc.Ru, 5.10.04

The Saratov eparchial administration participates in a court investigation of "sects against freedom of speech." On October 5 in Zavodsky district court of Saratov the complaint of a local religious organization, "Word of Life" is being heard against the "Zemskoe obozrenie" newspaper. The Saratov eparchial administration applied to participate in these proceedings in the capacity of third party. Appearing for the eparchy in court is Alexander Leonidovich Dvorkin, professor and chair of the sectology department at the Orthodox St. Tikhon humanities university and author of eight books, including three editions of the book, "Sectology. Totalitarian sects: a test of systematic research."
The position of the eparchial administration will be announced on October 5 in a press conference, which is being held at 11:30 a.m. at 36 Bolzhskaya Str.
The story of the conflict thus far is this: on 27 January 2004 an article "Word of Life: unsuccessful ad operation" was published in the "Zemskoe obozrenie" newspaper under the pseudonym of N. E. Nikolotiv. An expanded version of this text is found on the official web page of the Saratov diocese. A number of positions stated in this article evoked displeasure among the management of the religious organization "Word of Life" and became occasion for court proceedings against the newspaper.
In particular, the "Word of Life" disputed the opinion of the article's author on this organization being, in essence, pseudo-Protestant and neo-Pentecostal, and said that no one had the right to use the word "sect" in reference to it or to criticize its actions. Also evoking the displeasure of the plaintiffs were a number of facts introduced into the article about aggressive and unscrupulous informational policies of the sect in those districts where its offices operated (for example, about the use of an interview with the Metropolitan of Minsk and Slutsky Philaret with the goal of distributing sectarian doctrine).
An individual item of complaint was the introduction into the journalistic text of statistical information on the results of the organization's actions in Sweden, according to which every fourth "Word of Life" adept either made an attempt to commit suicide or was extremely close to this. This example is from A.L. Dvorkin's book, "Sectology: Totalitarian sects -N. Novgorod, 2003."
Taking into consideration that the "Word of Life's" informational policies are directed in large part directly against the Russian Orthodox Church, the Saratov eparchial administration applied to the court to participate in these proceedings. Distribution of the article "Word of Life: unsuccessful ad operation" on the eparchial web pages became part of its work to inform people about the threat from different types of totalitarian sects and destructive cults. The position of the Russian Orthodox Church is such, that in order to prevent an increase in the number of sect victims, it is necessary to inform people about what they can expect from a sect beforehand, rather than find out afterward.
Professor A.L. Dvorkin has also expressed his readiness to participate in the court hearing in capacity of responding advocate's consultant. A similar court hearing (neo-Pentecostal sect against an Orthodox clergyman who personally called that organization a sect) was recently concluded in Novokuznetsk. After weighing the complaint, it was dismissed by the court.
The next hearing of the Zavodsky district court on the "Word of Life" case is October 5th at 2:30 p.m.
Source: Saratov Eparchy.Ru, 4.10.04

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Saratov eparchy sectology section: "Word of Life"
"Word of Life": unsuccessful ad operation
On November 25 2003 in the regional edition of "Komsomolskaya Pravda - Saratov," in the "Specifics" column there appeared an open letter from pseudo-Protestants, members of the "Word of Life" neo-Pentecostal organization, to the head of the Saratov eparchy of the Russian Orthodox Church, to the bishop of Saratov and Volsky Longin.
The appeal contained a statement of joy on the occasion of the arrival of Archbishop Longin to Saratov, and assurances of readiness to cooperate with the eparchial administration on good terms. But was this really the case? We turn to the facts.
According to the assessments of well-known religious scholar and journalist Alexander Leonidovich Dvorkin, with the unprecedented expansion of neo-Pentecostal sects, the number of their adherents in Russia has already exceeded 200,000. As with many other religious organizations, the "Word of Life" prefers to recruit young people: minors are more suggestible. A great number of young people arrive from the provinces and literally drown in the whirlpool of the big city; sectarians fish them out and bring them into the sect without particular difficulty.
Neo-Pentecostals have brought a lawsuit against Orthodox clergymen who are trying to withstand this frightful misfortune. Neo-Pentecostals assert that no one has the right to use the word "sect" in reference to them or to criticize their activity because they are recognized as a "traditional Protestant confession." Why are they nonetheless called a "sect"? A.L. Dvorkin gives the following definition of the word "sect": "A classic sect is a relatively small culturally closed religious group (not a religion!), which places itself in opposition to the religions of the country that make up part of the culture." It is considered that neo-Pentecostal organizations have qualified under this definition on more than one occasion.
On the other hand, realizing the shakiness of this position in claims to belong to Bible-Christian, traditional confessions, leaders of the neo-Pentecostals are striving to get recognition from the Russian Orthodox Church so as to further exploit that for advertising, growth and expansion. Here is part of the text of the open letter from "Word of Life" leaders to Archbishop Longin: "As you know, three equivalent branches of Christianity exist: Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Protestantism. We, as Protestants, are aware that there are certain differences between us and the Orthodox Church...." How can one compare the Orthodox Church with the subject religious organization? I note that even if representatives of the neo-charismatic current, which "Word of Life" is regarded as, do consistently call themselves Protestants, or simply "Christians," they do this in spite of the fact that traditional Protestant representatives have repeatedly stated that the "Word of Life" church not only has no relationship to Protestantism, but to Christianity on the whole. Why is there such a vast difference between the views of traditional Protestant and of this religious association as to what is right?
In this day and age, the central neo-Pentecostal organization in Russia is headed by Sergei Ryakhovsky of the Russian Amalgamated Union of Christian Evangelical Faith, which the local Saratov religious organization of Christian evangelical faith, the "Word of Life" church, is a part of. Ryakhovsky chose for himself the role of "chief Protestant" of Russia and the role of advocate for the interests of all domestic Protestants and advertises himself in this capacity in the mass media. Persevering attempts were made to show the Russian traditionality of this organization, which recently came into existence. One example can be cited: on the year 2000 anniversary of the eparchy, the cathedral of the Russian Orthodox Church delivered a "Framework of the social concept of the Russian Orthodox Church" - after this Sergei Ryakhovskiy issued his document with the same corresponding name and with practically identical content, the difference was only that his concept had added the neo-Pentecostals. Most interesting was that Sergei Ryakhovsky introduced a "consultative council of heads of Protestant churches", which did not contain one traditional Protestant confession, but only two pseudo-Christian groups: Baptists and Adventists. Meanwhile, in the opinion of representatives of traditional Protestant confessions, organizations united around the newly appeared "pseudo-Protestant bishop" are representatives of the so-called charismatic "third wave" and do not have any relationship to Protestantism at all. In other words, neo-Pentecostals calling themselves Protestants, both Sergei Ryakhovsky and the leaders of the Saratov offices of the "Word of Life," are deliberately faking it and are trying to create a reputation for themselves as a legitimate, respectable, traditional religious organization, as was said above.
Alexander Dvorkin has cited the given Swedish statistics, according to which every fourth adept of the "Word of Life" either attempted to commit suicide or was on the verge of doing so. We are not able to work with this sort of organization, the renowned sectologist stressed. Besides that, the fact is well-known that unscrupulous religious groups use fortuitous meetings with Orthodox clergy to advertise themselves. Take, for example, the notorious "Aum Shinrikyo" religious organization's widely distributed photograph of Metropolitan of Volokolamsky and Yurevsky Pitiram standing in a line with Seko Asahari, who holds this up as recognition of "Aum Shinrikyo" by the Russian Orthodox Church, and approval of its actions. Along the same lines there is also a little known Japanese guru who went to the Orthodox hierarch at some kind of social reception and asked permission to be photographed with him.
I'll give another example of similar self-advertisement, used directly by "Word of Life." In October 2003, under the grandiloquent, colorful slogan, "National Russian philanthropic 'There is Hope' project" was launched a whole series of tele-broadcasts on the NST-Ren TV channel under a single name. Well-known Russian political figures, athletes, actors, writers were invited to this program, in which a discussion about the Bible and about God was conducted. All this was put across as a most ordinary service with the pastor's sermon, which many saw repeatedly on different channels. And suddenly the Metropolitan of Minsk and Slutsky Philaret, Patriarchal Exarch of all Belorussia, also spoke about faith and about service to God... To me it seems strange, the presence and appearance in a broadcast like this, all by himself, of a hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church; what needs to be understood is this: was the archbishop filmed for this broadcast or not? After repeated viewings of the recording, everything became intelligible: the segment with the appearance of the Metropolitan Philaret was taken from a different interview and plugged into this broadcast. To definitively dispel any doubt I called the Minsk eparchy. I had a telephone conversation with Metropolitan Philaret secretary Father Nikolai Korzhich, who explained to me that the archbishop had never taken part in a broadcast like that, it was none other than an advertising trick. From this it was obvious that it was extremely essential for the neo-Pentecostals that they create the appearance of friendly relations with the Russian Orthodox Church and to obtain recognition for their structure to appear as partners, on an equal level, in dialogue.
Besides that, "Word of Life" often resorts to confessional anonymity, which means not stating the religious affiliation of their preachers on advertising posters, which is a blatant violation of the law "On freedom of conscience and religious associations." Enticing people to their gatherings, they promise the new arrivals mass cures and all possible miracles, speculating in such a way on people's problems and misfortunes. Naturally, nobody has responsibility for unfulfilled promises and for the obviously negligent advertising.
Christian motives are stretched and profoundly distorted by the neo-Pentecostals to the point of unrecognizability. Again we return to the open letter, addressed to Bishop Longin: "In the main things, we are unanimous, but in particular we, same as you, love the Lord Jesus Christ with our whole heart and soul. We believe that the Bible is the living Word of God. We and you both use the Nikeo-Tsaregradsky Symbol of Faith. And finally, both you and we are convinced that every person is in need of Salvation, reconciliation from God and deliverance from sin, which is possible only through the deed of Jesus Christ on the cross." I am not able to find anything of unanimity: "Word of Life" doctrines, like the teachings about the Holy Spirit and His fruits or the teachings of "Jesus died spiritually," JDS for short, are downright blasphemous and offend the religious sensibilities of any Christian.
The preachers of neo-Pentecostalism teach that the presence of God can be felt through anomalous physical manifestation and sensorial shock. For them, all these so-called "contacts with God" come down to physical sensations that lead to emotional agitation and a psychic ecstatic state, where people are not in control of themselves and do not recall what happened to them. Neo-Pentecostal practices as widespread and as often inevitably experienced, like "speaking in tongues," the "Toronto blessing," "Steeped in the spirit," "prayer in the throes of birth" and others, are various means of exerting a destructive effect upon the mind. In which of these things is there a similarity between the "Word of Life" and the Orthodox Church, as is presented in the letter?
We take another excerpt from the letter to Archbishop Longin: "Our confessions combine similar views on many problems of society, and it's essential for us to work together to change the situation for the better. Both you and we are in agreement in praying for Saratov province to be rid of alcoholism, drug addiction..." In this connection, particular attention needs to be directed to the danger that in the near future, centers will sprout up in Saratov to rehabilitate people suffering from drug and alcohol dependency, but which in the same case also serve as points from which the sect recruits new members.
In conclusion, I would like to cite a text from the findings of the International Conference on "Totalitarian sects - threat of the 21st century," which was held in Nizhny Novogord in 2001: "Neo-Pentecostalism can in no event be called either Christianity or a Bible system. This false doctrine, which makes possible the personal enrichment of its "ministers" and the spread of sectarian theory and practices, is rooted in mystic-heathen cults. An organization professing neo-Pentecostalism inherently carries with it a store of serious social and public dangers, and all sound people in our society need to realize this."
Nikolotov, N.E.
Source: Saratov Eparchy.Ru

2004-10-17T05:20:00.000-07:00

On the evening of September 28, a scientific-practical conference on "Totalitarian sects, path to destabilization of the North Caucuses region" was held in Stavropol. Participating in the work were Stavropol Krai governor A. Chernogory, representatives of the leading religious confessions of the southern federal district, the Cossacks and the public. Representatives of more than a hundred nationalities reside in Stavropol Krai, with nearly 500 religious communities, they represent almost twenty religious confessions. More than 85% of Krai residents are Slavic people who traditionally practice Orthodoxy; residing in the Krai are also nearly 180,000 Muslims, and there are Buddhists and Jews.
It was recorded at the conference that there existed in the country a harmonious national ideology, as society required, which resulted in the fast-growing influence and significance of religious ideology. The basic opponents of the Orthodox church and of traditional Islam, as named at the conference, were Jehovahs Witnesses and Vakkabites. Conference participants decided to be more active in the social opinion of Krai residents with the goal of information about the religious traditional to the region, Orthodoxy and Islam.
Source: Kavkaz.memo.Ru, 29.9.04

2004-10-17T05:19:00.000-07:00

In Tatarstan the discussion continues about the need to convert the Tatar language to the Roman alphabet. The day before, figures of Tatar culture and representatives of society signed an appeal that spoke out against reforming the national language.
In their opinion, conversion of the Tatar language into Roman letters could slam the door on national culture for Tatars. In addition to that was the unavoidable question connected with the financial provisions of reform. This was a republication of academic textbooks, technical re-equipping for editing and typography, but mainly, who would be involved with the teaching of Tatars who lived outside the republic.
Figures of Tatar culture and representatives of society called for special attention to practical matters, which if not resolved would inevitably pose a threat to the unity and integrity of the Tatar people.
Talgat Tajuddin, president of the central clerical administration of Muslims said: Only one third of Tatars reside in Tatarstan. Over two-thirds reside in other republic and in other regions of the RF. Conversion to the Roman is a very lamentable way to tell about the entire cultural life of the people.
Even now study of the native tongue is not so easy. And with the proposed conversion, teaching the native tongue will be even more complicated. Besides that, in the history of our nation the Roman alphabet will always be associated with the cult of Stalin's personality.
All across the Russian Federation the Cyrillic alphabet is used; it has already been accepted by the people. And it works for the cultural dealings for other nations of the Russian Federation. Therefore conversion into Roman script is not at all desirable, absolutely not.
Source: 1TV.Ru, 4.10.04

2004-10-17T05:18:00.000-07:00

Moscow Muslim youth help children's home.
Muslim youth from Moscow carried out a charitable operation to help a children's home in the village of Salgana, Krasnooktyabrsky district in Nizhegorod province. As Islam.Ru reported, representatives of the Nizhegorod Muslim youth movement "Yashlyar" collected more than 20,000 rubles, along with personal belongings, toys, medicine, literature and souvenirs, and delivered them to the social orphanage in the scope of the "Do something good" project.
Taking active roles in the project were the association of Tatar youth "Yash Yoreklyar," under the Regional Tatar National-Cultural Autonomy of the city of Moscow, the Nizhegorod Muslim youth movement "Yashlyar," representatives of the Tatar Diaspora from various regions of both Russia and abroad, including the USA, Germany and Holland.
As a reminder, at the end of August a delegation of Tatar youth from Moscow, along with the Nizhegorod "Yashlyar" called on the children's home in Salgana for an orientation visit. In their return, the young people also told about the operation to help the children's home and appeared in the mass media with an appeal to all for help.
Source: Islam.Ru, 1.10.04

2004-10-17T05:17:00.000-07:00

China tightens control of online games.
Recently the country's authorities created a commission for this, whose mission is to rate the "safety" of Internet games for minors and to make the appropriate recommendations as to their use, reported Itar-Tass.
The group of specialists has already suggested creating a single national club for game fans on the Net and proposed a plan that would use the names of participants on the games Internet server.
The reason for taking measures in this area was the circumstance that many computer games, in the opinion of the Chinese authorities, spread cults of violence, cruelty and amoral conduct in the immature minds of minors.
Source: Webplanet.Ru, 30.9.04

2004-10-09T02:55:00.001-07:00

Boy gave museum elephant bells
SPb. The Russian Ethnography Museum received a gift, several dozen exhibits, bough in ancient Cambodia by a participant of the "Children travelers" expedition.
Of the items given to the museum, many were unique, for example, bronze elephant bells (it turns out that domestic elephants, like cows, tend to get lost), as well as a snake trap, a small stick which they use to plant rice, a small chest in the shape of a three-headed horse, an abacus, carved ornamentation for a boat, a bamboo cradle, and even a vessel for keeping tooth paste. It's also interesting that all these items were usual for Cambodian life in the last century (and in many regions they are no longer in use), but unprecedented in Europe were those bought for the money 7-year-old Sergei Davitie received for shooting a documentary movie about Cambodia and about the expedition which was led by famous Russian traveler Vitaliy Sundakov.
It was no accident that the boy Sergei chose the Ethnological Museum for his gift, after all, he is a pupil at the Children's Ethnographic Center for the museum who knows first-hand how to assemble a collection and how objects are studied. And when he got the chance, he showed his appreciation to his alma mater for the knowledge he obtained.
Nothing to spare.
Everything would have been good with accepting the gifts of appreciation, except for the name of the museum was the Russian Ethnological, which specializes in the peoples and population of our country. The Khmer, the main population of Cambodia, never lived in Russia.
Therefore there is no special corner for the exposition where one can display the articles, they are not in the museum. However, museum director Vladimir Grusman made a Solomon-like decision: at first the gifts will be kept in the reserves, but when they prepare an exhibit dedicated to the traditions of Eurasian cultures, these items will be added to it, as the director elaborated. Then they will again go into the reserves. But there are no items to spare in the ethnological museum. Everything connected with the lives and existence of people is of interests to ethnographers. No Khmer were with us? No sweat. One can compare the articles of their way of life with articles of other cultures and draw some interesting conclusions. So the items boy ethnographer Sergei Davitie brought in will be studied. And it's possible the time will even come when their donor will become a student ethnographer himself.
By the way ...
Old elephants who are doing heavy work in the jungle are very cunning. In the morning, if they don't see their drivers, they gather mud with their trunk and carefully shove it into their neck bells, so they don't jingle. Once that's done, in order to find the elephants, who are hiding in the jungle shadows, the drivers have to waste a lot of time. The elephants start out the day with a half-hour break.
Pavel Miroshnichenko "Delovoi Peterburg" No. 184 of 1.10.2004
Primary source: "Delovoi Peterburg"
Source: Samaratoday.Ru, 3.10.04

2004-10-09T02:55:00.000-07:00

Rural musical schools in Kuban get new instruments.
For Teachers Day, village musical schools and schools of art in Krasnodar Krai received a fine gift from the RF ministry of culture and mass communication.
By request of the Culture Department of Krasnodar Krai they were selected to receive new musical instruments: a grand piano, an upright piano and violins. The value of the gift is two million rubles. Incidentally, Kuban rates third in Russia for number of this type of school.
Primary source: "Volnaya Kuban" newspaper
Source: Yuga.Ru, 3.10.04

2004-10-09T02:54:00.001-07:00

Sect leader arrested in Novosibirsk.
Konstantin Rudnev, founder of the "Ashram-Shambala" sect had $10 million for the short term. He was arrested the end of last week in Novosibirsk region. This is not the first year Rudnev was the target of a federal investigation, he's wanted all over the country, but it seems that he's been living comfortably in a village, surrounded by his current harem of nine followers, the youngest of which is not yet 18 years old. Very soon, Rudnev, author of a book with the promising name "Put Duraka" ("Fool's path"), will have his day in court, reported the NTV telecommunications company.
The Siberian guru has been detained by the police twice before. The great shaman, "Shri Avatara Muni" himself, whose passport just says Konstantin Rudnev, is the founder of the "Ashram-Shambala" sect. Back in 1999 a court sent him to a psychiatric hospital, but he ran away a month after that.
Konstantin Rudnev organized his sect in the early 1990s, after he was drummed out of the Army, diagnosed as a psychopath. First he headed the Siberian association of Yoga, the Academy of occult science, and only then did he become the founder of the "Ashram Shambala" sect.
For 10 years the Great Shaman drew up his association according to strict hierarchical principles. He himself was at the top. He could be accessed only by close assistants, the middle level consisted of instructors who taught the doctrines at seminars. According to the state prosecutor's information, he had succeeded in recruiting nearly 10,000 fierce supporters of the sect, or, as they called themselves, "sadkhaki."
Before they joined, many sadkhaki had to sacrifice their apartments to the teachers, and they lived in communal dwelling. There they slept for 3-4 hours a day, went to the bathroom only when authorized by the instructor, and learned to drink pure energy. All this was supposed to help them change into people of the sixth race. A report appeared on the sect's web page that people in the Ukraine, in Kazakstan and in Belorussia were interested in the doctrine.
Police found Great Shaman Konstantin Rudnev in a village near Novosibirsk. Now the state prosecutor is accusing the guru of violating personality and civil rights, and is also getting him ready for a new psychiatric check-up.
Source: NTV.Ru, 27.9.04

Over a fool, you need not rant:
Just talk 19 to a dozen with him
and do with him what you want.
Bulat Okujaba

It's been over 10 years since an article appeared in one of the Novosibirsk newspapers about a 22-year-old who "reached integral Yoga, a trend that also includes ... a profound, philosophical study of the meaning of life," and in "searching for the path to salvation," along with two of his instructors, arranged to give lessons in the "Karavan" health company. This young person was called Konstantin Rudnev. The young company manager lamented that people in the majority "were steeped in commercialism and lusted for material goods," and asserted that "Yoga was supposed to help people rid themselves of filth and get closer to the Absolute. In a sequel to the article-advertisement, the newspaper invited all those who were interested to get acquainted with the world "of high endeavors and spiritual freedom." As event subsequently showed, those interested were to get acquainted with more than that.
For a short time the innovative youth and several people from his company organized a series of seminars, for which a charge was made, on the study of "Yoga," the "teachings of Shambala," "healing with Reiki" and "astral karate," which were held in the cultural center, in movie theaters, and even in children's summer camps. Sometimes a massive seminar was given in a theatrical performance using many methods of active influence on the psyche of those present. Among those were K. Rudnev's widely advertised and distributed motivational book "Fool's Path," how to use secret superspiritual instructions, which were accessible only through initiation. To the eye of ignoramuses, the idiotic wisdom hidden behind bluntly pornographic stories about the lecherous escapades of the protagonist (with uncensored vocabulary and pictures to match). The "bestseller" was at first the principle, but not the sole source of the group's income. With the growth of the number of adepts, a number of various "magical" objects appeared: an "unchangeable five-kopeck coin" that guaranteed financial success; a "little bell" that "charged" its possessor with "positive energy"; a "pencil of beauty"; a "pendulum" and much more. It's amazing, but those interested in acquiring all these attributes of a fairy tale hero could do it for a very affordable prince (from 250 to 1,200 rubles.) To replenish finances, gullible adepts could receive a letter of "encouragement": "Brother! You have an open mind and heart which are correctly turning to the true knowledge of Shambala. Send a contribution for a receipt. May the glorious force of light be with you!" And they would send it.
With an increase of those "getting closer to the Absolute," the number of K. Rudnev's adepts grew as well. He declared himself the guru Shri Jnan Avatar Muni, the guru Sotitanandan, in which connection he was the only one who was truly initiated. The number of different signs under which the rascal operated also grew: the "Siberian association of Yoga" (the officially registered name), "Ashram Shambala," society "Olirna," "Sotitanandana-Yoga center and the Academy of Occult Science" were branches in the various cities of Russia and the CIS, not counting the "Esoteric basics of business," the "School and Avitsen" and even its own periodical, the "Tselitel" newspaper, which was published in Kiev. For the nearly ten years the "academies" of this sect were in operation, the number of adepts reached 10,000 people, over which rule a group of about 10 instructors and the "guru." The sect's popularity grew, and for many it came as a total surprise that the Novosibirsk regional prosecutor had initiated a criminal case against K. Rudnev and other sect managers. The case was filed under article 2 39 of the RF criminal code, "Organization of an association that infringes on the personality and rights of citizens." The basis for initiating a criminal case were statements by grieving parents whose children became easy prey for the scoundrel's "initiations." "I ask you to take action in the search for my son, T.D., born 1977," "I request a search for my daughter, A.T., born 1971 and to take measure with regard to the sect's "Shambala School" or the "Ashram" spiritual center. So it was started by only two of them.
The results of the inquiry stunned even the investigators. No one today would be surprised to learn that hiding behind the "Academy of Occult Science" was a fanatical sect that operated a publishing house which employed minors, used sexual coercion and perversion, and engaged in extortion. It's been explained that the director, K. Rudnev, while publicly declaring aversion to material good, had a fabulous income from the "voluntary contributions" of the people he bamboozled (the donations were prudently transferred to the name of Rudnev, Konstantin Shudnev, whose sect name was Shiva Achari). Besides that, the sect leader owned dozens of apartments in prestigious districts of the city which used to belong to sect members who had transferred their real estate to the guru. By what manner did this happen: voluntarily or under the influence of physical and psychological pressure is to be determined, but it's already become clear through testimony from relatives of the "donors" that it was not clear to the people who filled out gift statements (as a rule, after completing course in various schools of the type "Sotitanandana Yoga Center") what they were doing. There were instructors and their harem of adepts, who they mocked relentlessly. They were exhausted from hunger, beaten severely and had cigarette burns on their bodies. They called the sadistic orgy that only the specially initiated went to "tantric" rituals.
Many of the sect's practices were reminiscent of shamanism, but they borrowed individual rituals, like the "black mass." Their participants dress in "eastern" style clothing (sari, etc.) as well as in "shaman" and "Indian" garb. People also wear jewelry the way Indians do.
At the start of the investigation, the sect decreased activity in Novosibirsk and relocated the primary centers to Moscow and Saratov, but their directors disappeared. K. Rudnev, who declared himself, spent some time in a psychiatric hospital, after which he left the city. Whether he's insane or not will be clarified by an appropriate commission. But from the viewpoint of Orthodoxy, not only is he insane, but so are those people who saw the undisguised absurdity, lies, and frequent violence, but could still convince themselves of the "high spirituality" of his leadership, crave fabulous sums to purchase an "unchangeable five-kopeck coin" or a "wizard bell," who sent the gurus letters with photographs of their loved ones to be "charged" for a happy life, and even pled him to take their young daughters for training in the "Altai Ashram" (all actual events). Insanity is the illness of our century, an illness at the foundation of which lies the godlessness, superstition and dense ignorance of the "initiated" contemporary person.
Protopriest Alexander Novopashin, Novosibirsk
Source: Religious Research Center

2004-10-09T02:54:00.000-07:00

Saratovans against construction of Mormon center.
A sociological survey of the residents of Saratov about the construction of a Mormon complex in the middle of the city was conducted by the independent marketing company "Komkon-Saratov." More than a half of those surveyed voiced an unfavorable attitude to putting up an administrative-cultural center of the religious association of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints of Russia (Mormons). While 37% of the respondents categorically expressed themselves against implementing the plan, another 24% answered in the negative while the positive came to 10%. Two percent looked on the plan very favorably, while more than a quarter (26%) were indifferent.
The administrative-cultural center of the religious association was to take up more than 1,500 square meters on the square at Gorky St. The deal was made 3 years ago when the lot was leased for 20 years. At the end of July the Saratov diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Volga area came out with statements against construction of the Mormon center. Bishop Longin (Korchagin) and Mufti Mukaddas Bibarsov send regional governor Dmitriy Ayatskov and city administration chief Yuri Akseneno a letter with a request to hold up the project so as not to aggravate the religious situation in the city.
Source: Obozrevatel, 27.9.04

2004-10-09T02:53:00.002-07:00

High level of interreligious relations in Russia getting protection from incessant attempts to set Christians, Muslims, Jews and Buddhists against each other.
The interreligious council of Russia came forward with an appeal which called for unity among the people of Russia. The appeal said that after the tragedy in Beslan, "our grief does not subside, and at the same time, today we can, with a certain distance, look at what is going on in North Ossetia and on the consequences of this tragedy for all of Russia."
"The terrorist action in Beslan dealt a severe blow to our society, which, for the time being, is still able, for the time being, to adequately meet the ordeal. However the hearts of the people continue to harden. It is with this in particular in mind that the leaders of international terrorism are trying to use a religious factor and play on the political opposition in the countries of the world. It is certain that a high level of international relations in Russia will protect from the incessant attempts to set Christians, Muslims, Jews and Buddhists against each other," said the appeal.
"Today we need more than ever before to be as one. One can remember how in the Middle Ages Christians and Muslims, Europeans, Arabs, Mongol-Tatars and Persians united against a common enemy - the terrorist sect of Ismailitov-assassins. Those criminals, like contemporary terrorists, were admonished with words in vain, in so far as in their dead souls remained only hatred and fear of personal life. The only thing comprehensible in their language was the language of force," noted the religious leaders of Russia.
"No need to fear the justice of terrorists and their accomplices, but if it is needed, then destroy them no matter who or where they are and under which slogan they are hidden. We add that they are outside religion and serve Satan, who dreams of putting humanity into the throes of despair and of seizing world power."
It is incumbent upon the state to destroy terrorist schemes long before they come into existence. However, not only the authorities and law enforcement organs are called upon to fight the evil of terrorism. People in every city and village, especially in regions with a complex political and economical situation, need to join hands in opposing the threat. Religious communities can become one of the centers and organizers of such groups. We continue to consolidate the forces of the faithful so they can support order, care about each other's security, be vigilant in the face of a common threat, and assist the work of law enforcement. Our community has rendered aid to victims and we appeal to all to continue these efforts. For society it's impossible to forget that which has happened. Russia must become different, come to its senses and really be aware of the threat standing before it and unite in the name of the future."
"We will furthermore preach peace and dialogue, and oppose those who try use the feelings of the faithful to serve evil. We hope that and end will be set for the menacing vacuum, devoid of positive awareness of religion, which is so easily filled by extremist ideas. We repeatedly offer government and society a steady hand for mutual beneficial action for the good of the people of Russia, which unites people of many nationalities and faiths," said the appeal.
Source: ABN.Ru, 27.9.04, St. Petersburg

2004-10-09T02:53:00.001-07:00

On September 16th, the "Zerkalo Zaporozhya" published an article that told the Zaporozhians about administrative apathy during agitation work being conducted by the "Jehovahs Witnesses" in the Zaporozhsky State Medical University.
Results were not long in coming after publication. The ill-fated booth was immediately removed from the SMU. In the religious media rooms of the Ukraine a report appeared without delay about the conclusion of a contract between the university administration and the Ukraine Orthodox Church on giving instruction in the SMU about "orthodox deontology," which explains what obligations society places on doctors. According to the newspaper's information, the removal of the sect's agitation work was accompanied by an internal scandal in the SMU administration. On September 30, the "Zerkalo Zaporozhya," in an article "Print Autodafe," expressed concern that, as a result of that scandal, the SMU administration could fault innocent people, for example, a worker at the university library, where an agitation sign was displayed about doctors refusing to perform blood transfusions in the future.
Source: Pravoslavie.Ru, 1.10.04

2004-10-09T02:53:00.000-07:00

Concert held in Veliki Novgorod on Senior Citizens Day.
A holiday concert was held October 1 in Veliki Novgorod. The "Second youth happens for those who saved first" concert was dedicated to the international senior citizens day. The Municipal Veterans Chorus, a brass band and dance groups participated in the holiday concert. As an IA Regnum correspondent reported with links to the city administration's press office, more than 56,000 retirees live in Veliki Novgorod, according to information from city social services.
Source: Regnum.Ru, 3.10.04