Estonia's "Singing Revolution"

An independent film named "The Singing Revolution" (here's the website), which is about the survival and resurgence of national identity in Estonia during the Soviet occupation, is being shown around the U.S. Anyone interested in the Cold War, or the history of the Baltic states, or in the subject of revolutions and mass movements, would find the film rewarding.

The producers would like to bring it to a theatre near you, but this non-commercial endeavor is being marketed in an unusually way. Basically, they need 1,500 people in a city to express interest via the film's website - click here - in order to arrange a local showing.

Here's a brief description, from a review in Foreign Policy in Focus (Estonia's Singing Revolution):

In a remarkable new documentary, The Singing Revolution, filmmakers Maureen and Jim Tusty tell the little-known story of the Estonian people’s nonviolent struggle against decades of Soviet occupation, culminating in that country’s independence in 1991. The movement played an important role in the downfall of the entire Soviet Empire.

The title refers to the use of Estonian folk songs to assert a collective national identity that rejected Soviet Russian domination. Here's the film's trailer:

French Troops in Afghanistan

If you haven't seen French television news, I highly recommend it. Their foreign news coverage is especially good. Most TV audiences in the U.S. can find France 2 on cable.

Here's a video from a France 2 nightly news report on French troops in Afghanistan. They're operating out of a "Fub" [English translation: FOB, or Forward Operating Base] and supporting U.S. troops who are ambushed while patrolling in their "um-vee."

The video has English sub-titles intended for a North American audience, and these are sometimes amusing, as when, near the end of the story, "d'accord" is translated "yep."

Reports From the Future of Iraq Project

I recently attended a class in U.S. diplomatic history where, not surprisingly, the subject of U.S. foreign policy towards Iraq was heatedly discussed. Most of my fellow students were aware that [REDACTED] [the foreign affairs department of the Washington DC area's largest employer] had conducted an extensive study of Iraq in preparation for a post-Saddam U.S. occupation, and they also knew that the results of that study were subsequently disregarded by the Coalition Provisional Authority. But only one of them knew that the reports generated by the study are publicly available.

Thanks to a Freedom of Information Act request that was granted in 2006, you can find the twelve reports of the Future of Iraq Project online here, here, or here, eight of them in their entirety and the others redacted only slightly.

War Criminal or Stand-Up Comic?

I can't be the only one to have noticed the resemblance between Radovan Karadzic, the recently captured Serbian war criminal, and the late George Carlin. Was Karadzic hiding out by doing a one-man show tribute to Carlin in some Belgrade theatre?

Ancient Elvis

It really is a remarkable likeness.

From today's UK Daily Mail: "Are you Roman tonight?".

Before The Sound of Music, there was Das Boot.

I have never been able to sit all the way through The Sound of Music, even though I've had plenty of opportunities since it's one of my wife's favorite movies. But I'm reading a book right now that's given me a new appreciation for the father of the singing Von Trapp family, Captain Georg Von Trapp. The movie makes it clear that he had been a sailor of some kind, incongruous as that seems in landlocked Austria, but it doesn't give his whole back-story. In fact, Von Trapp had been a submarine pioneer in the Imperial Austrian Navy before the First World War and a highly successful U-boat commander during the war, sinking British and French cargo and warships in the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas.

One of his grand-daughters has now translated into English and published Von Trapp's memoir of his war experiences, To the Last Salute. I am fascinated by submarine narratives in general - maybe because I'm too claustrophobic to tolerate actually being in a sub myself - and this is the best one I've ever read. It's full of amazing details about the early days of undersea warfare, such as the "gasoline stupor" (unconsciousness brought on by breathing fumes) that would overtake the crewmen when a gas engine boat was forced to dive before it could be completely ventilated.

The narrative is also full of poignant political sentiments by Von Trapp, usually contrasting the impending fragmentation of his beloved monarchy with the harmonious working of his multi-national Imperial Navy crews:

"Our men are really good fellows ... everything runs so smoothly. It is really a beautiful life we have together on U-14!"

"Yes sir" [a fellow officer answers Von Trapp] "and at the same time you must consider that we have on board representatives from every nation that exists in the monarchy. This business with the nationality disputes - I don't believe it. It is only a rumor from a few instigators who want it to happen. Let the men live alongside one another as human beings under a fair command, and look how well it works."

And it is obvious: it is not only the duties and their responsibilities that force them to get along with one another; no, it is true friendship that binds them together. It is a matter of course for them to accept responsibility for one another.

Von Trapp wrote his memoir right after the war, while he was still stunned by the crushing loss of defeat. He lost not only the war, but the navy, the empire, and even the coastline. Eventually he lost Austria itself, when it was absorbed into the Third Reich.

An interesting tidbit from the book is that the first songs Von Trapp taught his children to sing were ditties the Imperial Navy used to teach German letters and numbers to new sailors who spoke Hungarian, Czech, Croatian, and all the many other languages of the monarchy. Now that I know the "Do-Re-Mi" song had its origins in Austrian Navy boot camp, it doesn't seem quite so treacly. I might even manage to watch the whole movie sometime.

Brazil to Gons Nachman: "There's Nothing Normal About It"

Here's an article from the Brazilian newspaper Correio Braziliense about the sentencing of Gons Nachman: former diplomat is sentenced. I've gotten a translation from Portuguese using Google language tools; it's a very poor translation, but you can get the gist.

The really interesting thing is that I found this article on the website of the Brazilian Foreign Ministry. I assume they posted it to make clear that, contrary to Nachman's when-in-Rome defense, Brazilians do not consider sex with under-age girls to be the least bit acceptable. In fact, Nachman would have been punished just as severely under Brazilian law as he is under U.S. law.

Here's the translation, in which I've put the key points in bold:

American Gons Nachman, accused of maintaining relations with minors in Brazil and Africa, says it is "normal" in Brazilian culture. It can take 11 years of imprisonment in the U.S.

The Editorial

In May 2006, the American Gons Gutierrez Nachman, 42 years, was of samba lessons in Washington, capital of the United States. Alegre, they smile for the camera of the newspaper-TV NBC while ensaiava steps. "I'll work in Brazil later this month. Always loved the Brazilian music and culture. I think this is a great way for me to adapt to the country, "said the recording. Two years later, the former diplomat is behind bars. In the United States, he was found guilty in April for the crime of child pornography and sex with girls between 14 and 17 years in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and in Brazil. Nachman argued that the suit was "normal" in the two countries.

"There's nothing normal about it," said the Mail Leila Paiva, coordinator of the Programme of coping of Sexual Violence in Children and Adolescents of the Special Secretariat for Human Rights. "There is this cultural difference alleged. It is a crime, and the law of Brazil that is very clear. "To defend itself, the American said at the trial that sex with minors is a cultural issue in the African country and Brazil.

Nachman sexual journey began in 2003 as a diplomat in the DRC. According to documents filed in court, he maintained sex with teenagers at home, paid with the money the U.S. government. It was found that, in Congo, a girl of 14 years and another of 17 came to live with it. In Brazil, he lived with one for 16 years. Nachman recorded all the adventures in a diary and sometimes filmava the girls. He came to launch the video on the Internet 2004 - sexual adventures in the Congo.

Child pornography delatou Nachman in the United States. But if he had continued in Brazil, would also be charged with corruption of minors and sexual exploitation by the Statute of the Child and Adolescent. "Even with the consent of the adolescent is a crime. If they pay a dinner in exchange for sex or had any relationship of market power with the smaller, is considered exploitation, "said Leila.

Rationale

When the investigations began, the diplomat was expelled from the U.S. consulate in Rio de Janeiro in November 2007. In a letter written in prison, where he is since February, he tried to explain: "In the Congo, women are growing fast, physically and emotionally because of the substantial responsibility that society has about them since childhood." Nachman also is accused of having two molester who went to the Brazilian consulate in Rio in search of a visa. He would have demanded sex in exchange for the "favour". They testified in the U.S. and Justice said they were persecuted in an "aggressive" the former diplomat.

The story of Nachman also drew attention in the U.S. for another reason. In the midst of the trial, in April, he asked the judge to carry out his marriage with the Brazilian Ana Carolina Pereira Porcher, 21 years. The judge denied the request, said it would be absurd to divert attention from a serious case to perform a marriage. The couple also tries to marry the Justice and is having an ongoing process. As established by the story, the Brazilian is a family of upper middle class, student of law and lives in the state of Maryland.

The judgement of Nachman to be announced on August 22. The judge asked yesterday a psychological evaluation of ex-diplomat. The mail came in contact with the defence lawyer, Stephen Stine, but received no response. The U.S. can take up to 11 years in prison.