Tag: war

Russian Lies #4

I wish this documentary was separated into at least two films because it touches on several different topics. Otherwise, I have little to comment on. Being intimately familiar with the selection process and the teaching methods at the Vaganova Academy through a friend, I never had illusions about Russian ballet. I remember an evening at my Palatine neighbor’s home when her older daughter rushed in after her first ballet class with a Russian teacher: “She was hitting us on our legs! “

As for looting art, it is, unfortunately, a universal problem. Some governments choose to correct their mistakes, and some don’t…

Russian Lies #3

The third documentary of the series is about Soviet and Russian movies. I am leaving only minimal comments here because Russian cinematography is almost unknown in the US, to the best of my knowledge. Even my most frequent movie-going friends had seen very little if any, of the Soviet movies and even less of the Russian ones. And the fact that movies are the most efficient propaganda tool is well-known, so I have nothing essential to add.

War Thoughts

We can survive pretty much anything Tram would try to do with our country. I am pretty sure about that, partially because of the usual percentage of pre-election promises being and not being realized and partially because I remember what Anna taught me about how the Congress works (and why it works that way).

There is only one thing that might be irreversible, and I am afraid of it – the betrayal of Ukraine. I believe that it may happen because I know that the business wants to end the war. Nobody from the business side of things wants the war, and the business does not care about what the end of the war will entail. No matter how much analysis is done, they still do not care about what will happen in two weeks, yet along, in several months.

I know that the call is to end the war, and if Trump would end the war the way he wants, it will mean that Ukraine as a state will cease to exist. I imagine that there are a lot of people who don’t care, but even if they don’t care about Ukraine they should understand that the next war will be inevitable. I probably shouldn’t mention that Biden’s decision regading the missiles usage is too late, and as much as I hope for the best, I don’t believe that any major wins are possible.

Everything else will be fine.

Traveling With Russian Passport

That was the first time in a while that I traveled together with Boris and had a connection in London. Actually, since I had a connection in London on my way to Helsinki, I had three London connections in a week!

The first one was just me, and there was a very long wait, and no priority line was opened.

The second one was with Boris, and we had it all:

  • Interrogation at the passport control in Helsinki
  • Interrogation at the boarding gate (the gate attendant started checking the regulations for transfers – as if Boris was the only one transferring person without a UK visa)
  • Interrogation in Heathrow
  • Long lines at security without a priority lane
  • Barely made it to the gate

The third one, again with Boris, on our way back from Athens

  • The online check-in didn’t issue a boarding pass for him
  • In the Athens airport, a BA counter attendant went to check the regulations (as if Boris was the only person connecting without a UK visa).
  • Then he called another associate, and this whole process took twenty minutes, and for some reason, they asked for my passport as well. They finally issued boarding passes for both of us, adding that Boris “can’t step out from the airport” in London (as if it was ever different). Then they tried to convince us to check in our carry-on (we refused because we didn’t want to wait for our luggage at 11 PM)
  • We finally made it to the lounge, which was not very impressive (fun fact: you had to go to another lounge for a toilet)
  • Interrogation at the border control, however – no lines!
  • Surprise: no lines at the security check!
  • We were absolutely sure we wouldn’t have time to go to the lounge, but because of zero wait time in the security line, we had it!

Completely unexpected:

  • When we arrived in Helsinki and had to go through passport control again, they figured out that “we were together,” and despite my protests, they sent me to the same officer who talked to Boris. I should have said that “we are not traveling together,” not “we have different passports,” but I didn’t realize it right away, and then I was a subject of interrogation. They assumed that I wanted to stay longer and asked whether I had a residential permit, and then when I said I didn’t they asked to show my returning ticket.

Summary: it was so good to finally be home, and before midnight!

P.S. Just to be clear: I understand that the suspicions against Russian passport holders are completely justified, and that post is not a protest.

TIME Magazine: The World Is Still Hooked On Russian Energy

A recent Time Magazin article talks about the anti-Russian sanctions and how they didn’t work. Unfortunately, nothing in this article is new to me: for several reasons, I have been well aware of a “shadow fleet” and other ways to get around the embargo. The horrifying numbers from this article basically say that about half of the Russian war is funded by EU countries. Again and again, the economy rules and there is not enough political will to change the course … although as I just said, I have hope!

The full text of the article is below.

Continue reading “TIME Magazine: The World Is Still Hooked On Russian Energy” →

Women At War Exhibit

A speaker whom I invited to present at Chicago PUG on October 15 came to Chicago for the first time in his life. That meant that I had to show him the city, at least for a little bit.

I booked the Chicago Architectural Cruise, and we agreed to walk around after that. Fortunately, the weather was not bad, although not as gorgeous as last weekend. Also, the docent on the tour was really good. You never know; it’s always hit or miss, but this was really good!

As usual, when I have very little time, I try to show some non-obvious places, so when we disembarked, I walked my guest directly to the Chicago Cultural Center. There, on the first floor, i saw an exhibit that I had no idea about:

Continue reading “Women At War Exhibit” →

Petition: One Month Later

Alicja’s Petition: One Month Later

The Atomic Cafe 1982

I finally watched The Atomic Cafe, which was on my watchlist for the past two months recommended by Michael Roman. As usual, when the movie is the one I want to pay close attention to, I watch it one small piece at a time.

To summarize my reaction in one sentence: what a horror story! I had no idea that that’s how the US propaganda worked, and I am not even sure I should use a past tense here. The scariest part for me was not even the actual propaganda films with “no worries, the hair will grow back” and “it’s safe to get out after an explosion,” but the background country songs jokingly mentioning an atomic bomb, punishing Japan and all things related. Gives you a new perspective on the “Oppenheimer” movie and life in general. It’s worth noting that there is no narration and no commentary, just interviews, tv shows, and propaganda movies clips.

Must-see. Open access at the link above. Enjoy….

Petition Update

The petition I mentioned a couple weeks ago didn’t succeed. However, ironically, the talk didn’t make it to the conference after all because the speaker didn’t get a visa to the UK. This was a mixed result: all of us felt like it was not the result that would satisfy us, but on the other hand, it was a relief not to see the name “PostgresPro” in the conference schedule. I felt physically uncomfortable while it was there.

However, we didn’t want to leave it like this, and we (all of the petition signers who were in London) got together after the conference and agreed to continue our fight.

We are going to send a letter to the Code of Conduct and to the Core Team, and we want to make sure we do not allow people to misinterpret our demands. During these two weeks, it was so many times that people would tell us that we were “discriminating on the basis of nationality” and that “not everybody can emigrate,” and all other nonsense. I coopted a couple more supporters, and I really hope things will move along. I also spoke to one of the Core members who said “he was not looking forward to that,” but also “was surprised it didn’t happen earlier.”

I will provide updates as long as there are any. As I already said multiple times, I regret I didn’t stir things up earlier.

Why I Stand With Alicja

Why I Stand with Alicja