Three guys on the net...

An earnist politica- A Publius Pundit protestor of the month

Forgive me if I am a bit brief today. I have a wicked eye infection and it is making staring at the computer a bit painful. I didn’t even feel it coming on but Tatyana asked me why my right eye looked as if a corpuscle had exploded and only then did I both look and realize that it hurts. However, the Belarusian medical system allows for eye drops from the apteka across the street for a whopping 20 cents a bottle, so I am actively pursuing health even as I write these words.

I thought today I wanted to write a few words about some folks I have been speaking to lately. All three folks are on the net and have in common at least their political views regarding Poland, Belarus and/or Eastern Europe in general. And for the most part I think they are worth at least a plug here.

Firstly, if you have been reading me lately you undoubtedly have noticed several comments from one Mike Miller. Michael contacted me out of the blue a couple of months ago and we have been dialoguing ever since. Mike has a deep seated love for Belarus that came from a trip he made here a few years ago. The people here charmed him, the location seemed cultured and reasonable, and ever since then he has been thinking and rethinking things. He found my blog while searching for all things Belarusian and then wrote to me telling me that I seemed to be one who actually hit the nail on the head as far as how things really are here.

Recently Mike has put together a website based upon Jersey Kosinski. The Polish American author of amongst other things “Being There” and the “Painted Bird Postulate”, Mike’s personal favorite book of all time. I know that his website is due to start growing any day now, but in the interim, I thought I would give the man a plug just for all of the words he pumps out for the cause.

I also have been talking to Pete Beatroot, if this is his real name, the master of the Beatroot blog. Now, I for one didn’t know that there even was anyone else out there doing any sort of focus on Polish corruption. Ah but this was not so. The Beatroot blog has been dragging those evil, money grabbing, incompetent, incipit, boorish, lying, thieving, word-twisting and remorselessly G-dless Polaks through the mud for quite a while now. And his writing and language is not bad, for what I imagine to be an Englishman.

Pete found me one day and his first words were to admonish me to pick up the slack and get more Polish police and administrative corruption stories out there. I guess I had been a bit lapse and hadn’t even been reading stories about all of that lately, but Pete was a reminder that I have a torch being carried here, so I took his advise and went back to the files for some more bile swallowing. After a bit of back and forth we seem to understand that we are indeed on the same side of the fence and are both looking forward to Judgment Day when the great flood cleans the Polaks out. And you KNOW that they have it coming.

And last but certainly not least, Mr. Robert Meyer of the Publius Pundid Blog has decided to come to Belarus for a visit along the lines of his world-blogger journalism tour. Now, I am not expecting Mr. Meyer to come with a complete open mind, but I know that he will at least allow for some words one way or another about his experiences. I have called Robert the go-to guy insofar as concerns human rights issues and certainly Belarus is right up his alley.

It may be possible that both he and Mike Miller might be showing up as guests at about the same time. Personally, I am looking forward to meeting both of them face to face in the near future, but I am interested as to what would happen if they were in fact both her at the same time. Me, I just live here but these two basically sit on the opposite side of the fence from each other, and so I am sure that there would be fireworks one way or another.

In any case, it is the summer season and this means that it is also the travel season, so if any of you out there might be thinking in having a look at the great and beautiful Republica Belarus this season, be sure to drop me a line and let me know how I can help. The folks I know here do visa and voucher services and certainly I am more than capable of finding a reasonable room for a friend. He weather has been great, the beaches filled every day and certainly the bars and dance floors are open in Minsk. Or, if this is not your style, we have hiking, fishing, biking and sightseeing tours for pretty much any budget (once you are in that is) and really, why not do something out of the normal this year. Satisfy your curiosity. Take a shot at seeing what the most disparaged place on earth really looks like. Or for you cold warriors out there, what the USSR used to look like. In any case, we would be glad to have you.

Let me know.

More soon…


.