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Happy (Old) New Year!
It's January 1 in the Orthodox Calendar, observed by Orthodox Churches in Russia, Macedonia, Serbia, and many of the former Soviet Republics, including Ukraine, Armenia, Belarus, and the one that's all consonants. (Kryrrrgyztyrgystan)
So is Russia two weeks behind the times? Do they feel the need to have the last word on New Year's Eve parties? Or does being torn between two New Year's dates simply give them the chance to party for two full weeks?…(which the Russian winter could definitely use.)
Russian New Year
The story goes that up until the late tenth century, much of Russia and Byzantium celebrated the New Year during the spring equinox. That changed in 988 AD when Basil the "Bulgar-slayer" Porphyrogenitus* introduced the Byzantine Calendar to the Eastern Roman Empire.
The Byzantine Calendar was like the Julian Calendar except it began on September 1, and its "Year One" was 5509 BC—the year historians calculated as the creation of the world (Anno Mundi) according to genealogies of the Bible, from Adam to Jesus.
It took roughly four centuries for the "September 1st" New Year to make its way into the heart of Russia. And just when the Russians were getting used to that, Peter the Great switched to the Julian Calendar, moving New Year's to January 1 in 1700 AD.
It was only a matter of 50 years until all of Protestant Europe stopped using the Julian Calendar altogether, in favor of the Catholic Europe's Gregorian Calendar, leaving Russia and the Orthodox Church out in the cold.
So for the next two-hundred years, even though Russia celebrated New Year's on January 1st according to their calendar, their entire calendar was about 11-13 days behind the rest of the West. (Which is why the Russian October Revolution took place in November.)
It wasn't until 1918 that Lenin finally moved Russia to the Gregorian calendar.
But the Soviet Union couldn't let sleeping dogs lie. During the 1930s they declared war on the number 7, dividing months into five six-day weeks. Fortunately, this decade-long practical joke on the Russian people ended in June 1940.
Soviet Calendar of 1933
These days, when it comes to the Old Calendar vs. the New Calendar, the Russians have tossed aside their austere ways and say, "Why choose? Have both!"
Most New Year celebrations happen on December 31st, but the holiday season continues until January 14. It's a day of nostalgia, called Old New Year, a more sedate version of New New Year, often spent with family and watching the 1975 classic "Irony of Fate", the Russian "It's a Wonderful Life."
"Irony of Fate" poster
Julian Day
Today we also celebrate day 2,454,846 in the Julian Day system—the number of days that have passed since noon, Greenwich Mean Time, January 1, 4713 BC. The Julian Day system was developed by Joseph Scalizer in 1582, and is used mainly by astronomers and people with way too much time on their hands.
*Basil's title Porphyrogenitus means "born in the purple". The title was bestowed at birth upon children who were (1) born to a reigning Emperor and Empress of the Byzantine Empire, and (2) born in the free-standing Porphyry (purple) Chamber in the Great Palace of Constantinople. (That's why there's less Porphygenituses than Smiths.)
Happy Old New Year
Russian Orthodox Calendar
Belarus – Independence Day
"After 60 years of peaceful life, Chernobyl, dismantling of the USSR, 14 years of sovereignty, still WWII remains a major emotional rift in the Belarusian soul."
http://www.belarusguide.com/history1/WWII_partisan_resistance_in_Belarus.htm
"We want the peaceful sky not to know the fire of war" — My Dear Motherland, station designator of Belarusian Radio
Belarus as we know it today declared its independence from the Soviet Union on July 27, 1990, and became the Republic of Belarus the following year.
But the country celebrates Independence Day on July 3, in memory of the liberation of its capital city Minsk from Nazi forces in 1944.
We know all about D-Day on June 6th and the liberation of Paris on August 25th that year, but at that same time, the Soviet Union was conducting an equally pivotal advance against German forces.
The Belorussian Strategic Offensive Operation (Operation Bagration, named for a 19th century Georgian general) was "the most calamitous defeat of all the German armed forces in World War II" according to Bagration 1944 author Steven Zaloga. (http://books.google.com/books?id=1DAYmRrJTDAC&dq=operation+bagration&as_brr=3&client=safari&source=gbs_navlinks_s)
Operation Bagration began on June 22, 1944, exactly three years after the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union. The Soviets successfully used a bevy of ploys to confuse the Germans about their plan of attack, and borrowed a page from the Nazi military playbook…
"A Soviet force of one and quarter million men punched a two-hundred-mile hole in the German front between Ostrov and Kovel…ironically having mastered enveloping tactics once used by the Germans themselves."
In just over a week, the Red Army crossed the Berezina River. Three days later, on July 3, 1944, they liberated the Belorussian capitol of Minsk.
"…as the Russians crossed Belorussia, they encountered a 'desert zone' with a million houses burned, crops deliberately ploughed under, and no evidence of livestock."
According to Pravda…
Every fourth citizen of Belarus was killed in the war.
http://english.pravda.ru/world/ussr/03-07-2009/107933-belarus-0
Our Bloody History –
belarusguide.com
http://www.belarusguide.com/as/history/history.htmJuly 3
— Partisan Resistance in Belarus During World War II
Belarus declared its independence from Russia on March 25, 1918 (an independence which lasted about 10 months) and again from the Soviet Union on July 27, 1990. But Belarus celebrates neither of those dates as its official independence day. Instead, the festivities of July 3rd commemorate the liberation of Belarus's capital city of Minsk from Nazi forces in 1944.
We know all about D-Day on June 6th, 1944 and the liberation of Paris that summer, but simultaneously the Soviet Union's Red Army conducted an equally pivotal advance against German forces.
The Belorussian Strategic Offensive Operation (Operation Bagration, named for a 19th century Georgian general) was "the most calamitous defeat of all the German armed forces in World War II" according to Bagration 1944 author Steven Zaloga.
"A Soviet force of one and quarter million men punched a two-hundred-mile hole in the German front between Ostrov and Kovel…ironically having mastered enveloping tactics once used by the Germans themselves." — Michael Burleigh, The Third Reich
"…as the Russians crossed Belorussia, they encountered a 'desert zone' with a million houses burned, crops deliberately ploughed under, and no evidence of livestock." (Burleigh)
According to Pravda, "Every fourth citizen of Belarus was killed in the war."
The division among Belorussians referred to in the opening quote stems from the notion that World War II was merely one occupation replaced by another. Prior to the Nazi invasion in 1941, the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin conducted mass executions in Belarus—the mass graves from which were uncovered in the 1980s. In 1986 the Chernobyl Disaster and the Soviet Union's initial denial of the nuclear accident fueled the flame of nationalism and independence once more.
Our Bloody History – belarusguide.com
Victory Day – Russia
In Russia and in several of the countries that were formally part of the Soviet bloc (including Belarus, Ukraine, and Moldova), today is Victory Day. It celebrates the surrender of Germany in 1945 and the end of World War II in Europe.
France, the United Kingdom, and other Western European countries celebrate Victory Day on May 8, but it was already the following day when the news hit Russia, the only country in the world that spans 11 time zones. And ever since then, May 9 has been celebrated with full Russian military pomp and circumstance. This year (2010) troops from England, France and the United States participated in Russia's Victory Day parade for the first time.
Despite a 1939 treaty with Germany agreeing not to attack each other (and to split up Poland instead) Russia found itself cast in the role of Germany's next victim only two years later. They encountered devastating losses in the first couple of years. However,
"…Russia was quick to learn from its mistakes, quicker than the Germans learned from theirs…Part of this was accomplished by simple attrition: less capable officers and troops were killed off, more capable ones survived. But there was also feedback from the front. Divisions were left in action until fewer than half the troops remained alive and fit for action…The veterans knew that everyone's prospects of survival increased according to how much of their combat experience could be transferred to the new recruits."
— The World War II Bookshelf by James Dunnigan
In addition to its effective armored "Tank Corps" attacks, for which Germany never developed a practical countermeasure, the Soviets made use of their biggest advantage: Europe's largest population. They overpowered the Germans with sheer numbers and indomitable resilience. The unfortunate result of this strategy was that over 20,000,000 Soviets were killed in the war, nearly half of them civilians.
While France, the United Kingdom, and the U.S. focused mainly on the Western Front…
"the 'Eastern Front' was the largest theater of war in history, notorious for its unprecedented ferocity, destruction, mass deportations, brutal weather conditions, and immense loss of life by means of battle, starvation, disease, and massacre…The Eastern front was arguably the single most decisive component of World War II, eventually serving as the main reason for Germany's defeat."
— Eastern Front (World War II) — wikipedia.org
Siege of Leningrad, diorama, Sergey Nemanov
Standing out even among the battles of the Eastern Front were the Sieges of Leningrad and Stalingrad. Leningrad lasted nearly 900 days and was the deadliest siege in world history. But it was the Battle of Stalingrad that marked the turning point of the war and eventually broke the back of the German army.
"Victory at Stalingrad did not come easily or cheaply for the Russians. Nearly half a million soldiers and civilians died in defense of the city. Almost all of its homes, factories, and other buildings were destroyed. But the Russians had won, and that victory united the Russian people, giving them the confidence and strength that drove them on to Berlin."
— "Top 10 Battles of All Time" by Lt. Col. (Ret.) Michael Lee Lanning
Had Hitler cut his losses at Stalingrad, the war might have turned out differently, but in January 1943, he ordered General Von Paulus:
"6 Army will hold their positions to the last man and the last round and by their heroic endurance will make an unforgettable contribution towards the establishment of a defensive front and the salvation of the Western world." — Adolf Hitler, Jan. 24, 1943
According to World War II: Blitzkrieg and the Eastern Front,
"Out of 250000 [German] soldiers trapped in the Stalingrad pocket, approximately 90000 became prisoners; Barely 5000 survived the war."
Upon learning of the defeat…
"Hitler ordered a day's national mourning in Germany, not for the men lost at the battle, but for the shame von Paulus had brought on the Wehrmacht and Germany."
— www.historylearningsite.co.uk/battle_of_stalingrad.htm
The final battle of the war (in Europe) and indeed the last major battle on Western soil was the Battle of Berlin. In April 1945, the Soviets plowed into Berlin with 2.5 million soldiers. Hitler committed suicide in Berlin on April 30. Germany officially surrendered on May 8, 1945.
Soviet flag atop Reichstag, Berlin, photo by Yevgeny Khaldei


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Escondido News
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Letter to the Editor: ONE MAN'S OPINION DRIVES LIBRARY DECISION
By admin | on August 31, 2017
Editor, Times-Advocate:
It's terrible that basically the opinion of one person in Escondido, the city manager, is driving this ridiculous proposal to outsource our public library to a private company that in 30 years of business has barely garnered 20 contracts for service with a total of just 83 library buildings most of which are in just two counties, Riverside in California and Jackson County in Oregon. Hardly the kind of diversity one would want to use to model the operation of any library.
With over 9,000 public libraries in the US that's less than a 1% market penetration. A terrible business record by any standard. However, in trying to create a better library the city manager decides to talk to the 1% of libraries that have been sold out to LS&S not the 99% that have rejected LS&S. How's that for a very balanced approach to getting answers.
The citizens of Escondido are virtually unanimous in their opposition to this un-American idea of allowing a government resource to be used for private business profit. The previous three directors of the Escondido Library are against the idea. The Library Board of Trustees opposes the idea. The American Library Association opposes the idea. The entire Library staff oppose the idea. And the municipal governments that manage the over 9,000 non-LS&S public libraries in the US oppose the idea. Yet the city manager having swallowed the LS&S sales pitch, hook, line and sinker assumes he knows more than all these other people and organizations, and is trying to railroad this proposal down the throats of Escondido citizens.
Obviously library managers in Shasta county, Riverside county or Jackson county Oregon are going to support LS&S because it allowed their libraries to reopen after shutting down. It was a choice of no library or LS&S. Escondido is not in that situation. Our Library is operating in the black and has state of the art technology, programs and expert staff. We don't need or want LS&S leaching off our public library for their profits.
And if the city manager thinks this will make it easier to get a new library in Escondido he's the only one. This will drive away library supporters, volunteers and donors in droves. Would you donate either time or money to a for profit business? I and many others would not. And the division he's created between city officials and the Escondido community means the chances of getting a bond measure passed for a new library are nil.
Let's be honest the deal with LS&S is being made for one, and only one reason, to save money. The vague promises of better quality, supported by absolutely no verifiable data, are just a poor attempt to put a good face on a bad deal. The only reason LS&S was brought into the backrooms of city hall to make a deal is because they promise to cut city expenses. If they had said they needed more money to bring quality they would have been sent packing.
It's time for city officials to listen to the people for a change, instead of a few biased and uninformed accountants, and leave our library as it is, a valuable and great public asset whose service to the citizens of Escondido should not be sold out to the lowest bidder.
Allowing any private business to make a profit off a sacred public asset such as a public library is a disgrace and a shirking of constitutional responsibility by the public officials who would allow it to happen. As Andrew Carnegie, perhaps the greatest supporter of public libraries who ever lived said, "a library outranks any other one thing a community can do to benefit its people." We should be true to the wisdom of Mr. Carnegie and true to the spirit of our democracy and follow the will of the people of Escondido. Do not outsource our Library. Let's keep it a genuinely public controlled and managed library as are all the great libraries in the United States.
JOHN DONEL, Escondido
*Note: Opinions expressed by columnists and letter writers are those of the writers and not necessarily those of the newspaper.
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One response to "Letter to the Editor: ONE MAN'S OPINION DRIVES LIBRARY DECISION"
If a profit is somehow to be made operating the library, why doesn't the city just continue operating themselves and keep that profit in the general fund? Doesn't really pencil out this way? Then where is LS&S's profit going to come from? You and me, that's who. Whatever dumb sap thinks this is a good idea probably isn't really qualified to be a city manager.
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The Russian hospitality industry was one of the highlights of the third day of the 2018 Gaidar Forum. Experts discussed the regulation of hotel prices during the 2018 FIFA World Cup and touched upon the issue of adapting cultural heritage sites to the hospitality business.
Vice-President of the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers of Russia Vadim Prasov moderated the session. The discussion was attended by Vadim Solovyov, General Director, Administrative Directorate of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation; Sergei Kolesnikov, Operational Director of Alliance Hotel Management; and Ivanna Tabachnikova, General Manager of Sukharevsky Hotel.