Belarusian PGA

This morning we were greeted with a post-game analysis of last night’s show on Belarus , courtesy of two of our guests.

Dr. Marples was great. Really. The only comment I have (a point of minor disagreement) is that, in my opinion, David Marples overestimated the extent of Russian influence in Belarus. For example, he mentioned the so called “Russia-Belarus union,” but in reality this “union” is not really functioning at all. IMHO, it’s a ghost geopolitical entity, which Belarus uses for economic gain. Also Dr. Marples noted Russian TV presence, but he didn’t mention that Belarusian editors overwrite it with their own programming, whenever they need to. For example, recently there was a film about Stalin and Stalinism on a Russian channel, and local Belarusian authorities put some dirty pro-Lukashenka “documentary” instead. When there’s some “bad” Belarus-related story on a Russian TV channel, they just block it and show something else. That’s done on both Russian TV channels: ORT and RTR. After Israeli-Russian TV channel RTVi started a special Belarus show, they started blocking it too.

Vlad of br23, in an email to Open Source, 3/22/06

Point taken, Vlad. I recall how much that practice annoyed me when watching television in Minsk last month. As for the Union, I agree it is lacking substance and has been for a decade. However, I am not sure that Putin (or for that matter his successor in 2008) will always be so patient toward the government of Belarus in this regard.

David Marples, in an email to Open Source, 3/22/06

Also:

As for your website, I would like to suggest a tiny spelling correction. The form with one s (Belarusian) is preferable, because there is no grammatical basis in English for spelling it with two s’s. Furthermore, Rus (Ruthenia) is not Russia, and Belarus literally means White Ruthenia (White Rus’). It is also worth noting that “Belarusian” (with one s) is the most popular and widespread spelling in English on internet, according to Google search results. You can also check English Wikipedia or Pravapis for further details.

Vlad of br23, in an email to Open Source, 3/22/06

Duly noted.