Monday, November 8, 2010 

Updated: 5:05 pm, Bozeman time

Well, the snows have finally come. Last year we had our first snowfall in Bozeman on September 30. This year we managed to hold things off until the second week of November.

For the past week or so, in fact, the weather has been absolutely gorgeous. On both Saturday and Sunday I got up early and went on a 7-mile bike hike around town in the morning. Now it looks like I'll be doing most of my riding inside the gym.

But don't forget: I'm hard-core. Even when the wind is swirling and the snowflakes flying, and as long as there aren't several inches of undulating ice covering the road, I'll still be on my bike.

But, as everyone in the northern Rockies knows, this weather brings with it the ski season!

Here are some shotz I took last year from skiing at Bridger and Big Sky.


Up at the Borderlands Lodge, thoughts are slowly turning towards the ski season

For the rest of you living in the lowlands, here's a little N & P to help keep things right:


Russia and ex-USSR

The big story out of Russia these days is the beating that was given to a Kommerant journalist over the weekend.

Oleg Kashin's fingers were broken in the beating, a sign that he was being punished for something he had written.

Kashin's been placed in a medically-induced coma, and doctors seem unsure about his chances for a full recovery. The tip of one of his fingers was apparently severed altogether in the beating he received.

Meanwhile, it appears that someone else who was working on a story similar to one that Kashin was working on has also been beaten up recently.

These events don't usually get a lot of attention in the state-controlled media of Russia, but Kashin's beating has been well-publicized on TV and other government-controlled sites, like the Voice of Russia.
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Jamestown spooks: EU concerned that Ukraine might not be democratic enough for European integration

Ukrainian President Yanukovych: who wants European integration? You must be thinking of the dude who had this job before me.
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They're the experts: Russia pledges 'expanded' help for US in Afghanistan.

Gee, I wonder what the Afghans think about our efforts to bring the Russians back into Afghanistan.

Oh yeah—they don't like the idea.
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Politics as entertainment: hundreds of Azeri parliamentary candidates given four minutes of airtime each in dizzying free-for-all in preparation for elections held yesterday.

Well, at least I now know what the bizarre Jamestown spooks article was talking about the other day when its author claimed that the elections were being held in an "open, transparent and democratic atmosphere."

Good grief! Anyway, it seems like the results will end up being the same as always.
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US & World

Juan Cole has a good piece on Pakistani reactions to Obama's India visit.
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In Michigan this week, people are remembering the thirty-fifth anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald in icy Lake Superior. Here are some photographs of the Edmund Fitzgerald underwater.


The Edmund Fitzgerald in happier times


The Edmund Fitzgerald and the bodies of 29 crewmen have been on the bottom of Lake Superior since Nov. 10, 1975. I was in kindergarten when the ship went down.
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Recession update: counterfeiting hits the streets of Detroit
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I think this Olbermann thing is really stupid. So stupid that I won't link to it or talk about it.

Yes, that stupid.
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Turkey & SE Europe

Turkish President Abdullah Gul: Turkey's headscarf-in-university problem solved.
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Nothing new here, but still:  Kurdish defendants fighting for right to use own language in Turkish courtroom. 
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 Turkish courts debate methods, merits of trying 1980 coup-leading generals. While trying these generals was something that was explicitly prohibited by the 1982 constitution, Turkey's recent referendum has changed that provision to allow the generals to go on trial.


Will Kenan Evren and friends soon be reading their statements to a judge?
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Yigal Schleifer writes that maybe it's not a good thing that a columnist critical of the government gets fired from a newspaper desperately trying to get out of paying an enormous tax bill in excess of $2 billion. Maybe it isn't so cool that the Prime Minister keeps suing journalists and cartoonists who criticize and mock him.

Schleifer is talking about the resignation of Oktay Eksi who abruptly left Hurriyet after writing a column in which he insinuated that the leaders of the AKP would even sell their own mothers.

Hurriyet, as I've written before, is trying to fend off a huge government tax bill

Andrew Finkel, meanwhile, manages to say a few nice things about Eksi while still piling on enough to please his bosses at Zaman.

This full-throated defense of a free press by western media folks must be a real inspiration to journalists everywhere—and especially those working in Turkey.
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There are an estimated 1,200 trials involving journalists that are pending in Turkey right now.
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Late responder: Allen Iverson was supposed to play his first game for Besiktas on Saturday against cross-town rival Fenerhbahce. However, it was announced late last would that the Answer won't even be arriving in Turkey until Monday, Nov. 8.

Early Monday morning, Bozeman-time, the Answer finally arrived in Istanbul. Hayırlısı olsun!


A thoroughly freaked out looking Allen Iverson is met by Besiktas officials, fans, and photographers at Istanbul's Ataturk airport Monday morning

Here's a clip covering his arrival, and enthusiastic greeting, at the airport:


Iverson was originally supposed to arrive on Saturday and an even larger turnout was expected.

I bet he's pretty glad he didn't make that flight.

Hang in there, AI!

My sense is: he's likely out of there by New Year's. But still I'm pulling for some cross-cultural success!
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Well that's all for now. I hope you have enjoyed your N & P!