According to BGR’s source in AT&T, the next iPhone will be available in June, and “not even late June.” Such seems incredible, but not impossible, given that we haven’t seen the new iPhone appear at the FCC yet. [BGR] More »
IPhone – Smartphone – Handhelds – Apple – BGR
Is this the last Windows Mobile 6.5 phone ever? Noah gets the LG Fathom for Verizon out of its box and into the wild.
Despite some serious efforts by nearly every major automaker to get an electric car on the roads within the next five years, EVS are still being met with a lot of skepticism. Some say the limited range will lock it into city driving, and others are say the driving public isn’t ready to jump behind the wheel of something so similar to a gas-car, and yet so different.
Don’t tell that to Nissan though. The Japanese company’s LEAF electric car has been met with thunderous applause. Now, just a little over a month after Nissan sent out the first pre-order emails, CEO Carlos Ghosn has announced that the first 3 months of LEAF supply is officially “sold out” with 13,000 $99 reservations on the books.
by Steph Larsen.
The first edible plant to poke its head out
of the ground at my farm early this spring wasn’t lettuce, arugula,
broccoli, or any other hardy plant widely seen at early farmers
markets.
It was stinging nettles.
As a child, I nicknamed Urtica dioica “itch weed” because of the blistering rash that appears if you brush
against it. It wasn’t until graduate school that I found out nettles
are edible once dried or sautéed, which neutralizes the tiny stinging hairs they have.
After this past long Nebraska winter, I was
starving for something fresh and green, so when I found them growing in
our field I grabbed my garden gloves and started harvesting. Brian, my partner, took a little convincing when I suggested we make rotini alfredo with
nettles, but he was brave. I’m happy to report that he thought they had
a pleasant, nutty flavor. I think it’s the only time I’ve chopped
anything for dinner with gloves on, but I’ll bet it’s not my last.
The
rest of the yard began sprouting not long after the nettles appeared,
and we discovered a carpet of violets between our outbuildings. The
purple and white flowers made a nice contrast with the yellow
dandelions, and I knew then that spring had arrived.
I was
surprised, then, when Brian started picking the flowers and munching
them while we pondered where to put the garden. Turns out that violets
have a fresh taste and a pleasant crunch that goes well with deep
thinking. I was so excited about this that I briefly considered
planting our 5-acre pasture entirely to violets and selling the edible
flowers to high-end restaurants to use in salads and as garnish,
thereby making a fortune.
Clearly Mother Nature was listening
when I joked about this plan, and she is not without a sense of irony.
By far the biggest weed problem I have in my garden right now is
violets. It seems that when violets are tilled, the broken root pieces
are still viable and can sprout new plants. I’ve tried to make a deal
with the violets that they can have the rest of the yard if I can have
just my garden violet-free, but so far they haven’t taken me up on it.
The word “weed” has such a negative connotation, but really weeds are just “plants out of place,” as someone once said. I’m
starting to realize that plants I didn’t intentionally put on our farm
can be very useful. For example, I don’t think of it as “mowing grass”
at our house—instead, we’re harvesting mulch for the sapling trees
we planted. The wild asparagus is delicious, the bromegrass keeps the sheep fed while the pasture grows, and the garden phlox makes my house smell lovely. Someday I’d like to brew dandelion wine, but I think that’s for another year.
Even kudzu, the invasive weed nicknamed “the vine that ate the South,”
has important uses as a starchy food, a medicine to treat hangovers and
control alcohol cravings, and for lotions and soaps. I first learned
about kudzu from the book My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki,
and it occurred to me then that one way to control a weed is to find
enough ways to use the plant so that people want to harvest it.
As
useful as weeds can be, they can still get in the way of plants I’m
trying to grow. Still, when I’m in a bad mood, there’s nothing quite as
satisfying as to take my aggression out on a patch of stubborn
crabgrass. Just don’t tell my neighbors, or soon I’ll have everyone
inviting me over to weed their gardens, too.
Recipe: Fettuccine with Nettle & Ricotta Pesto
I use nettles in soup, pasta, eggs, sauteed with butter and garlic as a
side—anywhere you’d use spinach or kale. But this recipe, courtesy
of Mariquita Farm’s newsletter, looks especially tasty.
Created by Armando “Tiny” Maes of Lavanda in Palo Alto, it serves 8 people.
1 lb fettuccine (preferably fresh)
1/2 pound nettles
6 oz. ricotta
5 oz. pine nuts
1/4 cup pecorino
2 tablespoons parmesan
3 tablespoons green garlic (chopped)
1 1/4 cup Olive Oil
8 tablespoons sea salt
6 tablespoons butter
First, blanch the nettles in salted water. Bring a gallon of water and 4 tablespoons of the sea salt to a boil. Blanch for about 1 minute. (Trick:
put the nettles in a strainer, then set the strainer in the pot of
water. After a minute, take the strainer out. It saves having to
fish the leaves out.) Roughly chop the cooked nettles and squeeze out
excess water.
Place the nettles into a blender or food processor; add
oil, 4 ounces of pine nuts (saving the rest as a garnish), and the green
garlic. Blend until all ingredients are combined, about 30 seconds to 1
minute.
Place the combined ingredients in a bowl, add pecorino,
parmesan, and ricotta. Finish the pesto by folding in the three cheeses
just until it looks like everything has come together.
In
a separate pot, bring 2 quarts water and the remaining 4 tablespoons of the sea salt to a boil to cook the
pasta. (You should be able to taste the salt in the water; if not, add
more.)
In another large saucepan or large sauté pan, place about
just less than half of the pesto mixture and 6 tablespoons butter and heat until hot but not boiling
or popping. In the pot, cook the pasta for approximately 2 to 4 minutes, remove 1/4 cup
of the pasta water and reserve in case you need to thin the pesto.
Pull the pasta from the water, drain, and toss with the warmed pesto sauce,
then cook on medium heat for just about 2 to 3 minutes so that the sauce has
time to infuse into the pasta. Serve with good bread.
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Ask Umbra on pasta, Clorox wipes, and a satisfied customer
If you’re a fan of the BlackBerry 9700 but black just doesn’t go with your outfit, I’ve got some good news for you today. The “Flash White” colored T-Mobile branded BlackBerry 9700 is now available to purchase online via T-Mobile. If you want to sign your life away, you can get the phone for $99.99 after a $50 mail in rebate, or if you’re like me and don’t want to be tied down, $449 will get you the phone with no strings attached (just a dent in your wallet). I just checked out the Best Buy website and they are also carrying the device, though it appears to be on backorder already. The site claims the device will ship from the warehouse in 1-2 weeks (if I read it right). Chances are when it’s no longer on backorder you’ll be able to get similar pricing sans the $50 MIR (they usually take care of that for you instantly). Now if only I had the right shoes and belt to go along with it. If a white BBerry is your thing, let us know in the comments!
Via TmoNews
We’ll start with the bad news: according to some early stage testing done by PCMag, the HDMI output on the HTC Evo might kinda-sorta suck. While they haven’t quite pinned down the source of their woes, various TVs are all showing various issues.
On the upside: it looks like the HTC Evo is getting a fancy-pants micro-HDMI docking port, making it super easy to blast content onto your TV without having stray cables everywhere.
Them crazy cats over at AndroidAndMe scrounged up the shot above. That image up top contains just about everything we know so far: HTC EVO Docking Station! Coming Soon!
No pricing or availability details beyond “soon” unfortunately — but seeing as the EVO 4G isn’t.. you know, available yet, there probably aren’t too many people dying to buy this. Except for I/O attendees, of course.
Sat down (erm, stood up) at Google IO with our pals from Dataviz to take a look at Docs to Go version 3.0. We got a glimpse of it at Mobile World Congress in February, but now it’s ready for public consumption, though it won’t be available in the Android Market for a few more weeks. And if you’re looking for an easy method of syncing your important documents between your computer and phone, this is it. Check it out.
This is a post by Android Central. It is sponsored by the Android Central Accessories Store
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[JURIST] A Peruvian judge on Tuesday ordered the release of Lori Berenson [advocacy website], a US citizen held since 1995 for collaboration with a Marxist rebel organization. Judge Jessica Leon Yarango cited [press release, in Spanish] good behavior, Berenson’s renunciation of violence, and the completion of “re-education, rehabilitation and re-socialization,” in deciding to grant parole. Berenson will not be allowed to leave the country until her parole period has ended and must make monthly court appearances. The prosecution has appealed the decision. Berenson was arrested in 1995 for involvement with the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) [GlobalSecurity backgrounder], a Marxist rebel group. She is alleged to have trained guerrillas [Guardian report] and moved weapons for the MRTA in addition to assisting the group in carrying out an attack on the Peruvian Congress [official website, in Spanish] by gaining access to the body using press credentials.
In 2005, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights [official website] denied an appeal request to reinterpret its November 2004 ruling [JURIST reports] that upheld Berenson’s conviction. Lawyers for Berenson claimed that her trial failed to meet international standards for fairness, and sought to have her conviction and 20-year sentence overturned. In a 2000 CBS News interview [text], Berenson characterized her original trial proceedings as hostile and coercive, saying that she had faced a panel of hooded judges and that armed guards had aimed assault rifles at her and her lawyer’s heads during the 10-minute proceeding. She was initially sentenced to life imprisonment by a military court, but the sentence was reduced to 20 years in a civil retrial in 2001.
Better watch it, Diddy: Everyone’s favorite womanizing fossil is giving the ever-popular Ciroc Vodka a bit of competition at the bar after throwing his support behind Stoli Vodka instead. Hugh Hefner has signed on as the new face of the alcohol brand and is featured prominently in their new “Would You Have A Drink With You?” campaign.
Stoli — which prides itself on being the first imported Russian vodka to the US and first vodka brand to launch a line of flavored vodkas — will be unveiling new limited-edition Stoli flavors in Pomengranik and Ohranj, stamped with the Playboy Bunny logo, available just in time for the holiday season.
Spy Shots: 2011 Mercedes-Benz CLS
The new Mercedes-Benz CLS was caught hanging out for a photo shoot prior to its debut at the 2010 Paris Motor Show in October. As you can see from the pictures, the next-generation CLS is heavily inspired by the Mercedes-Benz F800 Style Concept.
The model in the pictures is the CLS 350CGI, which is powered by Mercedes-Benz’s V-Generation 3.5L engine making 302-hp and 273 lb-ft of torque.
We’ll have more details later this year. For now check out the pictures over at AutoExpress.
– By: Kap Shah
Source: AutoExpress
Marc Faber spoke with Bloomberg Television about his bearish views on markets yesterday, and they remain as bearish as always.
“The banks are gone,” according to Marc Faber, and are only being kept alive by European Central Bank and government aid programs.
Faber, though, feels in the near term that things are oversold, and that there will be a summer rally. The bottom won’t get here until October and November, when more stimulus should come in and challenge sovereign debt yet again.
Faber thinks the economy will settle much lower in the future.
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You already know that Greece is bust and that Spain is probably right on its heels. But we bet you haven’t worried enough about the next European disaster-in-the-making–FRANCE.
That’s right–the land of wine, cheese, and Lance Armstrong. Keith McCullough, CEO and founder of research firm Hedgeye, says that upcoming debt maturities will blow up France (and Italy) as soon as next quarter. And the U.S. is next.
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Produced By: Kamelia Angelova & William Wei
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CNN international correspondent Christiane Amanpour urged Harvard’s graduating class to take a year before plunging into the job market and head overseas to work on the myriad problems facing the world.
“I hope you will take this moment to think about traveling,” Amanpour said. “There is so much opportunity out in the developing part of the world … where I have been for the past 27-odd years. People are waiting for you. They’re waiting for an army of energetic idealists like you to help build small businesses, to run schools, to teach class … It will change your lives, and it will set you on the road to your future.”
Amanpour, who has been a fixture on the front lines of conflicts and disasters overseas, was the main speaker for this year’s Class Day ceremonies, traditionally organized by the seniors and held the day before Commencement. In her 25-minute speech Wednesday (May 26), Amanpour hearkened back to the Marshall Plan, the massive European aid effort unveiled at Harvard’s 1947 Commencement by Secretary of State George Marshall. Just two years after the end of World War II, he outlined the assistance that was pivotal in helping Europe to rebuild from its rubble. Today, Amanpour said, America’s challenge is similar, involving stabilizing Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, and Haiti, all important to America’s peace and security.
“Beyond the armies and treasure of the United States deployed to these places, they need armies of people like you who are graduating today, civilians wielding … high ideals, smart ideas, smartly deployed to really make development work,” Amanpour said.
Amanpour delivered her address in Harvard Yard’s Tercentenary Theatre. Amanpour said she too was graduating, after a fashion, moving on after 27 years at CNN to host ABC’s Sunday morning “This Week” program.
She was one of several speakers to address the seniors during Class Day, which offers a less formal setting than Commencement’s scripted rites and provides a chance for class members and College officials to address those attending.
Harvard College Dean Evelynn Hammonds briefed the students on what was coming Commencement Day, describing the exercises as “full of incantation and free of explanation,” and warning the students that the time will likely pass quickly for them, joking that it may seem especially quick since they probably won’t be paying attention.
Hammonds said the students will be sent into the world to “advance knowledge, promote understanding, and serve society,” goals she hoped they’d advance. She also added a personal farewell to the students and wished them luck.
The ceremonies also featured two Harvard orations, delivered by MacKenzie Sigalos and Benjamin Schwartz, the humorous Ivy orations, delivered by James Wilsterman and Alexandra Petri, and remarks by class officers and the president-elect of the Harvard Alumni Association, Robert Bowie.
Bowie said that though departing Harvard will be tinged with sadness for the students, they are embarking on an exciting journey. Although the closeness of House life will be gone, the students will become part of an alumni network that spans the world and can prove helpful virtually anywhere.
The Ames Awards, given annually to the man and woman who have dedicated themselves to service, this year went to Talya Havice, who took a leave from Harvard in 2001 to join the Marine Corps and who was commissioned a second lieutenant earlier in the afternoon, and Adam Travis, who worked tirelessly for the Harvard Square Homeless Shelter.
Amanpour, who got her start at then-fledgling CNN in 1983 after graduating from the University of Rhode Island, urged students to take risks and work in some field that they’re passionate about, that will spur them to work hard, and increase their chances of becoming successful.
“Mastery, mission, purpose: Those … were my greatest motivators,” Amanpour said. “Right now, I passionately wish for all of you to find something that sets you on fire, that fills you with joy, and love, and commitment.”
Despite the economic difficulties now facing journalism, Amanpour said, there is still as large a need for quality, professional journalism as ever. Amanpour called journalism “a public trust” and a critical element of democracy.
Other prominent speakers who have headlined Class Day include NBC’s “Today” show anchor Matt Lauer last year, Federal Reserve Board chairman Ben Bernanke in 2008, and former President Bill Clinton in 2007. Earlier speakers have ranged from the serious (humanitarian Mother Teresa) to the silly (comedian Sacha Baron Cohen).
We put this Super Duty to work—which is exactly where it belongs.
In all the excitement about Ford’s new Power Stroke turbo-diesel V-8—and excitement is not too strong a word—its gasoline-burning stablemate has received a bit less fanfare, even though it’s equally new and equally welcome in the company’s big-job pickup range. Now, after being thoroughly impressed by the performance and thrift of the Power Stroke during a product preview in Arizona, we spent some quality time here in the Midwest with the new 6.2-liter V-8 in an F-350 Super Duty Crew Cab 4×4. And by “quality time,” we mean to say we put the thing to work.
Keep Reading: 2011 Ford F-350 Super Duty Lariat 6.2 – Short Take Road Test
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Dramatic, Forceful and Luxurious
Arv Voss, Canadian Auto Press
Infiniti, Nissan’s luxury division, first revealed its all-new QX full-size SUV at New York’s prestigious 2010 International Auto Show. It represents the second-generation for the QX, which was designed to provide what Infiniti refers to as “a genuine five-star travel experience.”
2011 Infiniti QX
This latest iteration QX delivers 25 percent more horsepower, while at the same time improving the fuel economy by more than 10 percent – and it does so, amazingly, with no price increase over the 2010 QX models.
The new QX displays a dramatic and dynamic presence, with styling cues that relate strongly to, and identify with the rest of the Infiniti vehicle lineup’s DNA. To be sure, it is no longer simply a dressed up Nissan Armada, but rather a sophisticated and superbly luxurious full-size SUV that delivers state-of-the-art technologies and features, ensuring the ultimate in heightened levels of luxury travel. It offers more than Business Class accommodations, it is truly First Class, fully capable of transporting up to eight passengers and their gear in comfort. The QX is the way that Infiniti defines “immersive luxury,” with standards that provoke elevated emotion.
The bold presence of the QX begins up front with its prominent double-arch grille, flanked by low positioned, swept-back headlamps and a domed, wave-like hood. The profile is unique, with the blacked out B and C pillars combining with the reverse “kink” bright window surround emphasizing the generous greenhouse area. The rear view finishes with Infiniti’s dynamic back glass, LED taillights, double-arch license plate housing and concealed tow hitch. Decorative side vents appear between the hood line and fender arch, just ahead of the front door’s leading edge. The driver’s side vent is functional, providing engine air intake. Other functional design elements include the front and rear spoilers that enable zero lift, aiding in improved handling stability and the specially shaped exterior mirrors that reduce wind noise. The built-in running boards and low roof rails, along with the standard 20-inch wheels and tires or optional 22-inch rolling stock that substantially fills the wheel wells all add to the athleticism of the QX.
The inspired performance of the 2011 Infiniti QX is provided courtesy of a new 5.6-litre, DOHC, 32-valve V8 engine with direct injection technology that is shared with the new Infiniti M series, but tuned specifically for the QX. As already stated, the new engine produces 25 percent more power (up 80-horsepower) for 400 horsepower at 5,800 rpm, along with 413 pound-feet of torque at 4,000 rpm (up 20 pound-feet). Despite the increase in horsepower and torque, fuel economy is 14 percent better, with city driving yielding the EPA equivalent of 16.8 L/100km, while highway travel registers 11.7 L/100km.
The new engine couples to a new 7-speed automatic transmission with driver Adaptive Shift Control, manual shift mode and Downshift Rev matching. The 4WD system is Infiniti’s All-Mode 4WD, which in its automatic mode is rear-drive biased and continually adjusts power between front and rear wheels, delivering up to 100 percent in the rear and a maximum of 50 percent motive force up front. Position “4 High” locks the center differential at 50:50 and is operational up to 60 mph; while “4 Low” locks the center diff in low range.
Hill Start Assist prevents roll back on an incline for up to 2.5 seconds, while Snow Mode modulates the throttle for smooth starts under slippery conditions, Tow Mode automatically tailors gear changes to maximize engine torque when towing. A Tire Pressure inflation indicator activates the horn and flashes hazard signals when correct tire inflation has been reached. The available Hydraulic Body Motion Control System further reduces body lean during turning or cornering, and helps to minimize vehicle bouncing on rough road surfaces.
More inspired technology includes the Around View Monitor with a 360-degree view around the QX, making parking and towing exercises easier; Lane Departure Warning and Lane Departure Prevention systems; Intelligent Brake Assist with Forward Collision Warning; Intelligent Cruise Control with added Full-Speed Range; Distance Control Assist; and Blind Spot Warning System.
Infiniti’s Hard Drive Navigation System includes an 8-inch colour touch-screen display, XM NavTraffic and NavWeather, Zagat Survey restaurant guide.
Available options include a Theater Package with dual 7-inch colour monitors mounted in the first row seat backs with wireless headphones and 120V power outlet; a Split Bench Seat Package for the second row with 60/40 split folding; a Deluxe Touring Package with 22-inch, 9-spoke forged aluminum-alloy wheels; Hydraulic Body Motion Control System; Semi-aniline leather seats; climate-controlled front seats and heated second row outboard seats; heated second row seats; Advanced Climate Control System and 4WD headlight washers; Technology Package with Intelligent Cruise Control; Lane Departure Warning and Prevention; Distance Control Assist; Intelligent Brake Assist; Blind Spot Warning; Front Pre-Crash seatbelts and Adaptive Front Lighting System.
My test 2011 Infiniti QX was a 2WD model, and was loaded with virtually all of the available options. My pre-production tester sported an exterior finished in Platinum Graphite metallic with the interior executed in Wheat leather featuring polished wood trim accents on the steering wheel, centre console and doors.
The 2011 Infiniti QX possesses a distinctively elegant look – especially for a vehicle of its mass. The lines are fluid and flow smoothly. Yes, it’s big and yes, it’s an SUV, which are disdained by many, but it serves a definitive purpose – to transport as many as eight occupants from point “A” to point “B” in sumptuous luxury and security.
The interior is not unlike that of an executive jet. The acceleration isn’t as rapid as a personal jet, but it certainly more than fills the bill, with sedan-like handling and stability. The QX stays flat under spirited maneuvering conditions on challenging roadways. The Premium Bose Sound System fills the cabin with superlative audio for those who are not appreciative of the pleasurable mechanical sounds served up by the vehicle itself.
The list of standard features and equipment seems never ending, and when one throws in the full complement of available bells and whistles, the content of this second generation QX borders on unbelievable. At the rate that Infiniti is progressing, it may not be long before the art of driving could all but disappear. On the plus side, much of the QX’s technology may be switched off to enhance and restore the sheer pleasure of driving.
In the final analysis, even for those who are not fans of full size SUVs, the QX makes a sound case for the existence of such a vehicle and for those who wish to travel in opulence.
BREAKING: BP gets government go-ahead to proceed with Operation Top Kill.
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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called Russia and the United States to accept a nuclear fuel swap deal. Mr. Ahmadinejad stated that the swap would be a “historic opportunity” for President Barack Obama. He said that President Barack Obama “should bear in mind that if he does not use this opportunity, Iranians unlikely to give him a new chance. There are people in the world and in America who insist on pitting Mr. Obama against Iranians and push him to the point of no return and force him to do something which will forever block the path of friendship with Iranians.” Iran is already under three sets of UN sanctions for its refusal to stop the uranium enrichment process, where other countries see the program as a way to cover a drive for nuclear weapon. Iran denies any of the allegations and insists that the program is only for power generation and medical purposes. Ahmadinejad had gone out at Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Moscow’s position on the nuclear issue. He had accused their long time trade partner of “siding with those who have not been our enemy for 30 years.” He added, “We hope Russian officials will pay attention, make amends and not let Iranians put them in the line of their historic enemies.”
Iran had submitted a letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) with a plan to send 1200 kilograms of low-enriched uranium to Turkey so that it would be made into a higher –grade fuel and will be used for medical research reactor in Tehran. The IAEA has not yet commented on the deal; however specialists said that the accord has a key technical flaw as it fails to allocate enough time to make the fuel. Iran awaits a 20 percent enriched uranium reactor fuel within a year of depositing its low-enriched uranium in Turkey.
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Atlanta of late is awash in a whole lot of hotel restaurants that don’t want to be thought of as hotel restaurants. They want to be restaurant restaurants.
Brand name concepts (BLT Steak, Craft) and separate street entrances with distinctive architecture (Pacci, Market) try to indicate that these restaurants exist for Atlantans as well as hotel guests.
The St. Regis in Buckhead draws a good happy hour crowd to its bar — particularly on warm days when the crowd can spill onto the patio. But its grand dining room, Paces 88, hasn’t struck too resonant a chord yet. Recently the restaurant unveiled a more casual menu, with more plates to share, sandwiches and other friendly, accessible items.
I stopped by for lunch with a couple of friends the other day to check it out. We were the only people in the restaurant. The service staff actually outnumbered us, but they didn’t hover at all. In fact, the service was really excellent.
Here’s what we got:
My friend ordered these mussels in …
Penn State’s Solar Decathlon home, Natural Fusion, will become adopted by Bayer Material Science as its demonstration center for sustainable technologies. …
… “In its new capacity, this solar-powered, zero-emission building will serve as an energy modeling site, educational center and showcase for Bayer MaterialScience‘s EcoCommercial Building materials solutions.” …
Via Penn State: Solar-powered home (Link).
Sergei Supinsky/Getty
People attending the unveiling of a new Joseph Stalin monument, Zaporizhia, Ukraine, May 5, 2010
Three and a half months after a Ukrainian court convicted Stalin of genocide against the Ukrainian nation during the famine of 1932–1933, a new monument in honor of the Soviet dictator has been erected in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhia. Separating the two events was this year’s Ukrainian presidential election, in which Viktor Yushchenko, who had pursued a radically anti-Stalinist memory policy, was defeated and replaced by Viktor Yanukovych, who promised to avoid extremes and unite the nation. Though Yanukovych would prefer to steer clear of such ostentatious nostalgia for Stalin, he is responsible for a remarkable change in mood.
In his final months in office, Yuschchenko favored an ill-considered “trial” against Stalin and other long-dead defendants as a way to define the history of Ukraine’s past within the Soviet Union; Yanukovych, by contrast, has overseen the formation of a new coalition government that includes the Communist Party of Ukraine. Rather than simply letting his predecessor’s strident anti-communism fade into the past, the new president has pronounced on Ukrainian history in a contrary spirit. Thus, Yanokovych told the Council of Europe in late April that the deliberate starvation of the three million inhabitants of Soviet Ukraine by the Stalinist regime was not genocide, but rather a “common tragedy for all people who lived in the former Soviet Union.” His bland formulation blurs important truths.
While it is true that Stalin’s policy of collectivization—the state seizure of farmland and the coercive employment of peasants—brought enormous suffering throughout the USSR in the early 1930s, it is also true that Stalin made deliberate decisions about grain requisitions and livestock seizures that brought death to three million people in Ukraine who did not have to die. Some of the very worst of the killing took place in southeastern Ukraine, where Stalin is now being celebrated and where Yanukovych has his political base. The famine destroyed that region’s rural society by killing many, cowing more, and permitting the immigration of people from beyond Ukraine—chiefly Russians, some of whom inherited the homes of the starved. The cult of Stalin is thus no empty symbol in Ukraine; it is a mark of active identification with a person who owed his mastery of Ukraine to a campaign of death.
Against this background, the new Stalin monument in Zaporizhia has disturbing implications. Yanukovych himself would have preferred the city to have held a local referendum before erecting the monument, as has been the custom with public monuments in other Ukrainian cities. But the district committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine in Zaporizhia proudly declared on its Web site that the action was entirely legal. However that may be, the monument stands.
Communism is remembered for its killing, but communists ruled and repressed by subtler methods most of the time. In Yanukovych’s Ukraine, other signs of the Stalinist past, less prominent but perhaps more frightening, are beginning to resurface. As students organize protests of Yanukovych’s policies in western and central Ukraine, the Ukrainian secret service has returned to the discredited approaches of its institutional predecessor, the Ukrainian branch of the old Soviet KGB. Its officers now approach the rectors of universities and ask them sign statements that amount to promises of loyalty.
The premise is subtle but effective: the rectors take cognizance of the fact that students might be arrested and imprisoned. Then, when students are arrested and imprisoned, the secret service shows the students the letter, thus breaking their trust in the university system. The secret service keeps the letter, which also serves as an instrument of blackmail for university officials who later might think of refusing their cooperation. What seems at first like an anodyne acceptance of police authority quickly becomes a tool to force cooperation. These statements were the institutional basis for the effective collaboration of millions of people with the old communist regime. They had disappeared from independent Ukraine; now they return.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian secret services seem to have accepted a rather surprising concession: their colleagues in Russia’s FSB now have the open right, confirmed be an agreement between the two agencies on May 19, to act on Ukrainian sovereign territory. Late last year Ukraine was expelling Russian secret service officers; now it is inviting them back. In the Russian and the Ukrainian press, analysts speculate that the Russian officers will recruit from retired staffers and sailors of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. The change coincides with debates in the Russian parliament about the “strategic” use of ethnic Russians beyond Russia’s borders. The Crimean Peninsula, where the Russian fleet docks, is the only part of Ukraine with an ethnic Russian majority.
According to the treaty signed in April between Ukraine and the Russia, the Russian naval force will have the right to base at the Ukrainian port at Sevastopol until 2047. This makes NATO and EU membership very unlikely for Ukraine for the foreseeable future. Thus Yanukovych takes a political argument away from his political opponents, who say that they are the ones who can lead Ukraine into western institutions. If Russian military forces are to be stationed in Ukraine for the political lifetime of anyone now active in politics, which is what the thirty-year extension amounts to (Russian already had basing rights until 2017), it is hard to see how the conversation about joining NATO and the EU will even be possible in Kiev.
All of this represents a step backward for Ukraine, but the biggest loser—ironically—is probably Russia. Moscow will pay for basing rights in Crimea by subsidizing natural gas in Ukraine, a gain for the Ukrainian but a loss for the Russian budget. Moscow gets little of significance in return but the certainty of decades of headaches. The Black Sea Fleet is an important political presence in southern Ukraine, and that is precisely the problem for Russia. The very last thing Russia needs is to be drawn into imperial competition for Ukraine. Russian statebuilding (whether democratic or not) depends precisely on the ability of Russian politicians to attend to the obvious problems within their own country, rather than creating permanent distractions for themselves and their successors abroad.
Russian civil society is also threatened by endorsement of Stalin from beyond Russia’s borders. The plane crash that killed Poland’s president and ninety-five other Poles in April provoked a Russian conversation not only about the shootings of Poles at Katyn, which Polish dignitaries were coming to commemorate, but about Stalinist killing in general. Both Putin and Medvedev have encouraged not only political commemoration of the tragedy of Katyn, but also these broader discussions. At just such a moment, it is to be rued that viewers of Russian television watch a monument to Stalin erected in Ukraine, a land that suffered under Stalin even more than Russia itself.
