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Author Archives: freelander
On Western ‘sanctions’
So, what is a sanction? Depending on the dictionary, this word may be defined as: –Action by one or more states toward another state calculated to force it to comply with legal obligations. Or as: –A coercive measure, especially one … Continue reading
Posted in Opinion
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A registration guide for tourists in Belarus
In this post I will explain most of what you need to know about registration when you travel to Belarus as a tourist on a visa valid for no longer than ninety days. The information comes from my personal experience, … Continue reading
Posted in Travels
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On friendship, and maybe also love
Hardly an adult man is to be found, at least in the Western culture, who has never been told, by a woman he courted and who rejected him, something like this: “…but we can be just friends!” Just friends? These … Continue reading
Posted in Essay
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On nuclear porn
Most people would agree with the idea that the world is basically governed by Big Money. There are exceptions, but I think we may assume as a fact that this is the general rule. Better informed ones would be able … Continue reading
Posted in Opinion
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Will cultural colonization ultimately defeat Russia?
The reflection I mean to set forth here stems from a casual — you may say funny observation: when I visited Georgia this summer, I realized that many women did not wear a bra. At first, and having recently been … Continue reading
Posted in Essay
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Overcoming defeatism
I confess that at the beginning of September, after the Ukrainian “Kharkov counter offensive”, and influenced by the heavy criticism for Vladimir Putin and his “way of doing things”, for a couple of days I somewhat lost my faith in … Continue reading
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Trading places
Almost four decades ago Hollywood released a comedy titled Trading places. In the plot, two filthy rich old billionaires discuss on whether people, once modeled by their upbringing, can be changed by the environment. One sustains that we basically remain … Continue reading
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Foreign toponyms
When we allude to foreign proper nouns and toponyms we bump into a couple of linguistic obstacles, translation and transliteration, which present two different sides of the same issue. Transliteration (which for us westerners is synonym with romanization) deals with … Continue reading
Posted in Essay, Opinion
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