P.S

While Russia-Spain football match was on i was at the screening of a very good documentary film about Anna Politkovskaya at the Lincoln Center. A wonderful piece about Anna and her work by a dutch director Eric Bergkraut. Great interviews and footage i have not seen before.

We win 3:0

Hats off to the Spanish team for ending Russia's hysteria. Previous statement has nothing to do with my lack of patriotism but is a result of the presence of the latter.

Was i the only Russian who cried not from joy when Russians won over the Dutch team and went into semifinal of the Euro cup? I am sure the team played well and the boys deserve it and it is by no means them that i have a problem with. It's the reaction of the Russian society, who are always a step away from insanely inflated ego and all the unhealthy things this leads to.
This manifested iteself straight away on the night of this victory. Not only did they celebrate all night as if they won the world cup, the animals screams captured by reporters were of the following nature: 'Russia is the greatest!', 'This is what Russia is and this this how Russia does!' 'We are the best' etc. The headlines on news websites read 'We have put Europe on its knees!' This is in the country where no one went to the streets during the Nord Ost or Beslan, while the relatives begged people to. And no one gives a damn about what all the intelligent people are well aware of- we will never know the truth behind the murder of Anna Politkovskaya and other assassinations. That the government treats those very fans as slaves and they prove that's what they are over and over again. Many were sacrificed and many will be in the future. This will happen amongst the dead silence of the people, who never feel they can object to those in power and only screem when their team scores a goal.

If Obama does become the next American president, it will signify such a fundamental change in American politics and society that this will have impact on political scene globally. This time, we hope, in a good way.

What made me sad is when i read in some places, not in the official articles but some forums, that i took on the subject of terrorism and Nord Ost specifically as a PR move. But i felt sad not for myself but for people who wrote it. They must have such lack of human compassion that for them the only reason someone would take something like that on, would be for selfish and purely pragmatic reasons. Those words, soaked in envy and hatred, belittle only their author.

I get messages from the supporters of the Chechen mujahadeen and Islamic fight against foreign occupation in general. I am not sure if i should engage in some kind of dialogue with those people, ignore them or report them. The messages praise 'brothers and sisters' like Movsar Barayev, who took over the Moscow theatre.

RUSSIAN Version on the Internet

Russian Version of "In Your Hands", "В Твоих Руках" is now available on:

http://nord-ost.org/poslednie-novosti/v-tvoih-rukah_ru.html

Medvedev in his role as the president of Russia looks like a real bufoon. Surprisingly enough, considering he comes from a family of university professors, he speaks pretty terrible Russian, looks painfully shy, generally looking more like a young university student on dance floor, too timid to ask a girl for a dance than a leader of a country. It does appear more and more obvious that he is merely a facade and some other conglomerate is in control. It is sad and also dangerous in such a huge country. The notion itself is horrifying.

Another note on the play...

The really sad thing is that those government officials who were watching my play in Dagestan were not moved, and in all likelihood irratated, by the tribut to all those who died in terror attacks, when all our actors stood, with their heads bowed, in front of column of candles going all the way into the sky. And how on the metal shield which made for the backdrop, at the end of the play the last notes of the dying people appeared that said "remember us", "mama, i love you" and others. And when the actors came out to take a bow they picked up from the floor and put on the chairs empty bottles of water and juice cartons as a tribute to Beslan children, who were deprived of water for 3 days, as well as Nord Ost victims.

The fact that they ignored those things is tragic. For them. The robots.

Please Help.

I came across this site about children with cancer in Ukraine and the terrible struggle that they go through in the country where medical system is appalling and people are poor. A lot of those kids suffer very much and die because their families having sold everything simply don't have money to continue with treatment. Loans are not available for families like these.

Please forward this site to as many people as possible.

www.deti.zp.ua

Thank you!

Well done Hillary! A gracious speech of a strong, amazing woman who would have made a great president.

The Kleptocrats

There was a short piece in New York Post today about Bolat Nazarbayev, the brother of the president of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, bought a pad in NYC for 20 million US dollars. The headline was 'Kleptocrat pad'. Couldn't put it any better if you tried.

In a society where people don't care about what they allow their government to do, how they allow their government to deal with situations such as Nord Ost and Beslan, is doomed. As long as it is someone else's family who lose their child because the government messes up the rescue efforts, and then puts a price tag on that child's life- $3000 in Nord Ost, a little more in Beslan-people go about their business in numb silence. This denial mixed with fear is the most dangerous symptom of Russian society.

What was that, Mr Aliev?

As i decide on what steps to take with regards to the situation surrounding my play in Russia, as the officials are not allowing it to go up again, this is an overview of the statements made by the president of Dagestan Mr. Aliev between 11am and 5pm Monday the 7th of April 2008.

1. He disliked the play but did not ban it. He sees objective look at the North Caucusus war as inclination towards wahhabism.

2. 'Those behind the play suggest that all of us are to blame for what happened in Nord ost and Beslan. We are all to blame? I am to blame? what am i to be blamed for may i ask?'

3. 'They should try to stage this play in Beslan. I will ant to see what will happen to them there.' (Beslan mothers reacted immediately and said that they very much welcomed the play)

4. 'The play is the provocation by the enemies of Russia. Did you notice that it was first staged in London? And shall i remind you where Mr. Berezovsky is hiding? This play is aimed at the destabilisation of our region.'