Category Archives: archive

Wrong anthem of Kazakhstan at medal ceremony

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The Kazakh athlete Maria Dmitrienko won the golden medal at the Arab Shooting Championships on March 23 in Kuwait. She was confronted with a very unpleasant surprise. Instead of the national anthem from Kazakhstan, the parody of the anthem was played. The organizers downloaded the wrong and offensive anthem from the internet. They were very ashamed and apologized. Maria Dmitrienko, as you can see in the video below, felt awkward but she remained firm and even smiled at the end.

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Azerbaijani musician arrested for insulting

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Last Saturday (March 17) a demonstration was held in the suburbs of Baku. The protesters were represented by the youth organizations of the opposition (Azeri Report). The musician Jamal Ali was arrested for having insulted President Ilham Aliyev’s late mother at the demonstration. Insulting the “King clan” can be extremely dangerous according to his friend and singer-songwriter Cirttan. With the coming Eurovision Song Contest coming to Azerbaijan, it seems particularly sour that singer-songwriters are put behind bars.

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Putin-bashing on Youtube

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On March 4 the presidential elections will be held in Russia. Current prime minister, Vladimir Putin, who was elected in 2000 and 2008, is the main candidate. Since December last year after the parliamentary elections – according to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) there was a widespread fraud in favor of the ruling party – thousands of demonstrators protested against the results of the polls and lots of them want to get rid of Putin. Putin has never experienced popular protests like these before. There seem to be no freedom of speech and opposition protesters aren’t very welcome – even if they’re 5cm high and made of plastic. This doesn’t stop people from making songs and video-clips to do some serious (and funny) Putin-bashing. Here are a few examples.

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Mitt Romney loves Dutch Umpa Bands

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‘Dweilorkest’ is the Dutch equivalent for Umpa Band. It’s a kind of a band with brass and drums played by amateurs. The music is fun, festive and folkloric. It’s a tradition the (high brow) Dutch usually don’t want to be associated with. The umpa, they feel, needs to be replaced by modern beats during skate events. Mitt Romney definitely thinks otherwise. Read more about his relationship with Kleintje Pils.

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