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Idle: Fairytale Character Map Raises Ire In Russia and Ukraine

The downside of not having ones base of children's stories crafted and maintained by trained storytime engineers from the Disney Corporation has reared its warty head in Russia and Ukraine. A map of purportedly Russian folktale characters' haunts has drawn fire from Ukrainians, who object to what they see as the appropriation (from Ukraine) of such famous characters as miraculously strong Ilya Muromets, the gold-producing Speckled Hen, and Kolobok ("a cheerful talking cake who flees animals eager to eat him"). This seems like nothing that couldn't be cleared up with some artfully mis-pointed highway signs and a few tons of papier-mâché.

146 comments

  1. Here's the actual map by moonbender · · Score: 4, Informative
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    1. Re:Here's the actual map by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Flash warning

      Too late! *pulls down pants*

  2. Unfortunately by mgiuca · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "Unfortunately, folkloric heritage is not regulated by international norms or by intellectual property rights," Marina Primenko, the creator of the Ukrainian map, said.

    Yes, very unfortunate. Because we need more historical culture to be tied up in intellectual property rights so rich people can sue other people who reference it.

    1. Re:Unfortunately by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 1, Interesting

      I always have to marvel at the cognitive dysfunction of people who would rather have cultural antiquities locked away behind a mass of litigation. I can't tell if it is an occurrence of the 'ren-faire fallacy'(virtually everyone in medieval europe was a squalid peasant. virtually everyone at the ren-faire is pretending to be a knight or better...) where they think that they will be the ones who will end up owning it; or if it is a case of vindictive hurt feelings("I feel very strongly about the birthplace of an imaginary talking cake, therefore it must be depicted my way or not at all.")

      Either way, WTF, dude?

    2. Re:Unfortunately by Belial6 · · Score: 2

      You must have been to different ren-faires than I have. The ones I've been to have had the majority of people dressed as peasents. Perticularly the women who take particular pleasure in being dirty whorish peasants. It's fun for all.

    3. Re:Unfortunately by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's a ren-faire, not a lesson in its perspective history. This event is supposed to be one of celebration and happiness of the positive aspects of medieval life.

    4. Re:Unfortunately by JAlexoi · · Score: 1

      You mean like the Loire valley castles are effectively copyrighted?

    5. Re:Unfortunately by Vintermann · · Score: 1

      It is very strange that you do not recognize sarcasm when you see it, yet still try to use it yourself.

      --
      xkcd is not in the sudoers file. This incident will be reported.
    6. Re:Unfortunately by maxwell+demon · · Score: 1

      "Unfortunately, folkloric heritage is not regulated by international norms or by intellectual property rights," Marina Primenko, the creator of the Ukrainian map, said.

      Yes, very unfortunate. Because we need more historical culture to be tied up in intellectual property rights so rich people can sue other people who reference it.

      Well, given that many of the fairy tales Disney re-tells come from Europe, I guess Disney wouldn't look very well in that case. ;-)

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    7. Re:Unfortunately by sgt+scrub · · Score: 1

      i'm sorry but dirty whorish peasant women and lazy drunkard men are the property rights of irland. please disclose the location of the particularly whorish women or desist and retract your comment immediately. -- Really Intrusive Asshole Association

      --
      Having to work for a living is the root of all evil.
    8. Re:Unfortunately by Belial6 · · Score: 1

      Your crazy if you think I'm giving up my stash!!!!

  3. Don't Believe It! by The+Wild+Norseman · · Score: 4, Funny

    Kolobok ("a cheerful talking cake who flees animals eager to eat him").

    The cake is a liar.

    --
    "A government is a body of people usually -- notably -- ungoverned." -Shepherd Book
    1. Re:Don't Believe It! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Kolobok ("a cheerful talking cake who flees animals eager to eat him").

      The cake is a liar.

      I can't wait for the film!

  4. No shit by SquirrelDeth · · Score: 3, Informative

    Russia always steals from the Ukraine (I'm a Ukrainian). At least this time it's just fairy tales. Last time they tried to starve us to death http://www.holodomorsurvivors.ca/
    And Stalin's grandson excuses it saying genocide was not illegal in 1930's and is trying to sue the Ukraine http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/58247/.
    Screw the fairy tales I want justice for a genocide.

    1. Re:No shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You should send Ilya Muromets to whup their collective Russian ass with his boots. Oh wait, he's been conscripted into the Russian army, and is on a mission devouring Ukrainian refugee cakes and poultry.

      (Seriously, I thought Ilya Muromets hailed from Murom, which is in Russia, so I'm not sure how it can be theft...)

    2. Re:No shit by oldhack · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Stalin was a Georgian, though.

      --
      Fuck systemd. Fuck Redhat. Fuck Soylent, too. Wait, scratch the last one.
    3. Re:No shit by SquirrelDeth · · Score: 1

      Hitler was Austrian.

    4. Re:No shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I am from Finland and I understand you perfectly. Nothing good ever comes from Russia.

      However, I know many Russians, and they are very nice people. I do not like their government but people are fair and nice.

      I know also many Americans (U. S. of A.) and they also are very nice people. I do not like their government also -- Obama has been a real disappointment, in some ways even worse than Bush the stupider -- but the people are nice.

      Governments are full of shit. People are okay.

    5. Re:No shit by oldhack · · Score: 1

      Good point.

      --
      Fuck systemd. Fuck Redhat. Fuck Soylent, too. Wait, scratch the last one.
    6. Re:No shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But punishing today's people who weren't even born back then for something their parents did (assuming the punishment/justice will be of the same gravity as the genocide), is exactly as wrong and evil as the genocide itself. Why don't people get that? Why do they think that the right way to make something horrible OK, is to themselves become exactly like that and do something horrible too?

      Although, I think digging out Stalin's corpse, and shitting on its face, would be generally cheered upon. ;)

    7. Re:No shit by Black+Parrot · · Score: 2

      And Napoleon was a Corsican.

      ...Is there a pattern here?

      --
      Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
    8. Re:No shit by tetromino · · Score: 3, Informative

      they tried to starve us to death

      Who's "they"? Do you mean Stalin (a Georgian)? Or maybe you are talking about the (ethnic Ukrainian) communist functionaries who sent Stalin fake statistics to try to convince him that his economic policies were working well and that there was no starvation in Ukraine? And who is "us"? Because the entire grain belt of the Soviet Union (covering parts of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan) was starving in 1932-1933. Millions of ethnic Russians starved to death too, yet today the Ukrainian authorities are cynically trying to appropriate the tragedy for themselves and portraying the event as an Ukrainian genocide by the evil Russians.

    9. Re:No shit by cbiltcliffe · · Score: 1

      Yeah. People who come in from other countries and end up ruling, tend to fuck things up.

      Hey, Iggy! GTFO!!

      --
      "City hall" in German is "Rathaus" Kinda explains a few things......
    10. Re:No shit by eugene2k · · Score: 1

      Well, gladly, today they are not. The previous administration was all about that crap. I take it this guy is a fan who only sees what he wants to see.

      --
      Apple has "Mac vs PC", Microsoft has "Laptop Hunters", Linux has recession
    11. Re:No shit by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 2, Informative

      Dude. The notion that Ilya Muromets is "stolen" from Ukraine is pure BS, because when the real-world prototype of that folk hero actually lived, our ancestors lived in a single country called Kievan Rus, spanning most of today's European Russia and Ukraine. In a similar vein, The Tale of Igor's Campaign is equally a "great work of Russian literature" and "a great work of Ukrainian literature" - well, for sure, because it was written in a language that was an ancestor to ours both!

      Both Russia and Ukraine (and also Belarus) are equally successors to the history and culture of Kievan Rus. You can't steal something that you share, unless you deny the other country their rightful claim. I don't see that here.

      Last time they tried to starve us to death

      Oh, and Russia didn't "starve you to death". Bolsheviks did, at the same time when several million Russians were also killed. And they were very much internationalist folk - led by a Georgian at the time, with many ethnicities from all over ex-Russian Empire in their ranks, with Russians - yes! - but also Poles, Jews, Latvians, and for sure plenty Ukrainians as well. Most people who implemented prodrazdverstka on Ukraine were Ukrainians, too. If you're so eager to get someone to pay, maybe you should look in your own country first?

    12. Re:No shit by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      According to some Ukrainians, Buddha, Jesus and Ancient Egyptians were all Ukrainian, too. Nothing new here.

    13. Re:No shit by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      I am from Finland and I understand you perfectly. Nothing good ever comes from Russia.

      Hey, independence ("from Russia", quite literally) did! ~

    14. Re:No shit by tetromino · · Score: 2, Interesting

      And to expand on my point: the 1932-1933 Soviet famine wasn't genocide. It was a horrific man-made accidental disaster that affected the entire Soviet grain belt with no regard for ethnicity, and was caused by a combination of poorly thought-out and brutally implemented collectivization, habitual use of fake statistics, and a bureaucratic culture where underlings were afraid to tell their higher-ups that the higher-ups' "wise policies" were rapidly leading to disaster. Thirty years later, the same scenario was played out on an even grander scale, and with even more victims, during China's Great Leap Forward.

    15. Re:No shit by Lloyd_Bryant · · Score: 2

      Who's "they"? Do you mean Stalin (a Georgian)? Or maybe you are talking about the (ethnic Ukrainian) communist functionaries who sent Stalin fake statistics to try to convince him that his economic policies were working well and that there was no starvation in Ukraine?

      While there may have been general starvation as a result of Stalin's failed policies, there were special policies put in place that applied *only* to areas where Ukrainians were dominant. Such as the law that if a collective farm failed to meet its quota, agents of the government would move in and seize 15 times that farm's quota, leaving that farm with no food at all.

      Exact numbers are hard to come by, but the best estimates are that around 8 million people died in that famine, about 5 million of whom just happened to be ethnic Ukrainians. So others *were* dying. Just not as many.

      --
      Don't tell me to get a life. I had one once. It sucked.
    16. Re:No shit by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 3, Insightful

      One other thing worth keeping in mind while visiting the links provided.

      While a major famine with very high death toll did happen, and it is quite likely that it was, at least in part, orchestrated by communist authorities, there has been a great deal of falsified materials in various articles on the subject, especially photos. For example, there is an information stand in Kiev describing Holodomor, but the most prominent photo - the one with the actual pile of corpses - is actually of a village near Saratov, during the Russian famine of 1921. Another popular photo set is from the US Great Depression - both have been prominently features as "horrors of Holodomor" in various official Holodomor-related thematic expositions in Ukraine and abroad.

      In other words, same business as usual - when you see someone paint you a picture with angels on one side being tormented by fiery demons on the other, make sure to check your sources. The gist of it may well be true, but the representation is often exaggerated, and there's plenty of distorted information from both sides. If you want solid information, you should read books written by professional historians on the matter (and, preferably, from a "neutral" country, not either side to the conflict), rather than websites set up those with an ax to grind.

    17. Re:No shit by tetromino · · Score: 2, Informative

      15 times that farm's quota

      Not quite. The law that you are referring to (passed by the Politburo of the Ukrainian Communist Party, which at the time was led by an ethnic Pole) stated that if a farm failed to meet its quota, the farm could be subject to fines of up to 15 monthly quotas of meat. Even if government agents decided to apply the maximum penalty and to seize the fine immediately, in theory the farm would still be left with grain and vegetables.

    18. Re:No shit by FreakyGreenLeaky · · Score: 1

      man-made accidental disaster

      Something's weird with that phrase.

    19. Re:No shit by mangu · · Score: 1

      Napoleon was a Corsican

      There was an Italian saying "non tutti corsicani sono banditi ma buona parte"[sp?]

    20. Re:No shit by mangu · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Stalin's grandson excuses it saying genocide was not illegal in 1930's

      Yes, it was: "The fact that internal law does not impose a penalty for an act which constitutes a crime under international law does not relieve the person who committed the act from responsibility under international law."

      The only reason why Stalin wasn't tried at Nuremberg was because a high level bureaucrat at the US government was a Soviet agent. This book shows some interesting plans the US and Britain had to invade Europe from the south, instead of northern France. According to the author, it was Soviet influence that made the allies chose the much riskier and harder invasion through the English channel.

      After invading Italy in 1943 it would have been relatively easy to invade through Trieste, which would have had the advantage of cutting off the Nazi oil supply from Romania. The reason that they picked Normandy was that this route would leave all Eastern Europe to the Soviet Union .

    21. Re:No shit by JAlexoi · · Score: 1

      Ukrainian nationalists are no better than any other for blaming some nation for all evil. All and any nationalities have their barbaric bloody tyrants. Ukrainians are no exception. Fact of the matter is that a bloody tyrant was in power and, while unfortunately his birth city is still "sacred" in Gerogia, literally slaughtered everyone to his left or right. I can attest by having grandparents dead(famine, 1932) and exiled from south of Russia.

    22. Re:No shit by Hognoxious · · Score: 2

      People who come in from other countries and end up ruling, tend to fuck things up.

      Oh, come on. The country was already in a mess when Obama took office.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    23. Re:No shit by SquirrelDeth · · Score: 1

      All the barbarian races raped the Ukrainian women because they were so hot. So there is interbreeding beyond your imagination. That is why we look so different. And the Ukraine is very valuable farmland in the middle of everywhere. So lots of people fought over it and the women. The Ukies were simple farmers in the middle of barbarian hordes. Now lots of us have hooked Turk noses and dark Mongolian features and others are light skinned blue eyes.

    24. Re:No shit by SquirrelDeth · · Score: 1

      The US deported a Ukrainian for being a guard at a train station.
      www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/02/us-usa-nazi-deportation-idUSTRE71179G20110202

    25. Re:No shit by SquirrelDeth · · Score: 1

      The Ukrainians did not post posters in Russia that said eating your dead babies was barbaric nor did the Ukrainians force the Russians to stock the stores with food they could not buy when western reporters were in Kiev.

    26. Re:No shit by SquirrelDeth · · Score: 0

      You are a douche forcing communism on someone and when they refuse starving them to death is not a man-made accidental disaster.

    27. Re:No shit by Willfon · · Score: 1

      The Baltimore Sun has another twist on that story: http://articles.baltimoresun.com/keyword/bonaparte/featured/4 But it's a good one, in either case. Good enough to post as a facebook status ;)

      --
      kwik-mart
    28. Re:No shit by SquirrelDeth · · Score: 0

      If Hitler said/did that to a Jew would it be OK?

    29. Re:No shit by SquirrelDeth · · Score: 1

      So then the holocaust was exaggerated because Hitler killed lots of Poles? MY grand mother and great grand mother lived through the Nazi invasion of Poland. And what about the blacks Hitler loved the blacks didn't he?

    30. Re:No shit by JAlexoi · · Score: 3, Informative

      Hitler executed genocide of jews. The massacre in Rwanda was a genocide. The orchestrated famine of 1933 was not a genocide, by definition. Because it was not targeting an ethnic group. Purely cynically, when 37.5%(3/8) of deaths are not of the target ethnic group(s) it's not genocide.
      And every time I hear that, I am reminded that a few people in my family died in that famine. On both sides! One is Ukrainian and the other one is Russian. And I have the graves in Ukraine and Russia to prove it.
      So those nationalists in Ukraine, that paint the picture of Russians(and they truly mean ethnicity, not citizenship) being bloodsuckers, are the usual variety nutjobs. And they have their academics that try to prove that Russians are actually slavinised finns, that the treaty of Pereslavl was not what it was, etc...

    31. Re:No shit by Alex+Belits · · Score: 1

      Robert Conquest

      That's pretty much the origin of all anti-Russian and anti-Soviet Holodomor-related propaganda. The rest of "sources" are Ukrainian from early 2000's -- the time when Ukrainian Nationalists were closest to power.

      --
      Contrary to the popular belief, there indeed is no God.
    32. Re:No shit by JAlexoi · · Score: 1

      A) If you're Ukrainian, then spell it like your government wants you to - Kyiv.
      B) Most of those "Russians" were most definitely not Russian.

    33. Re:No shit by ultranova · · Score: 1

      And Stalin's grandson excuses it saying genocide was not illegal in 1930's and is trying to sue the Ukraine http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/58247/.

      I find it utterly hilarious that someone is invoking human rights in defence of Stalin. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot indeed.

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

    34. Re:No shit by cbiltcliffe · · Score: 1

      What the heck has this got to do with Obama?

      "Iggy" is the nickname given to Michael Ignatieff who came from the US (born in Canada, but hasn't been here for years) to run the Liberal Party of Canada, and is now vying for the position of Prime Minister.

      --
      "City hall" in German is "Rathaus" Kinda explains a few things......
    35. Re:No shit by Xacid · · Score: 1

      Woosh.

    36. Re:No shit by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      It's not obligatory to reply to the whole post. See those bits with grey bars down the side?

      P.S. I hadn't heard of the person you're referring to, nor the city he comes from. The only Iggy I know of is the son of Mr and Mrs Pop. I just assumed it was a pretentious sig about some obscure B- movie or novel.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    37. Re:No shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But punishing today's people who weren't even born back then for something their parents did (assuming the punishment/justice will be of the same gravity as the genocide), is exactly as wrong and evil as the genocide itself. Why don't people get that? Why do they think that the right way to make something horrible OK, is to themselves become exactly like that and do something horrible too?

      Although, I think digging out Stalin's corpse, and shitting on its face, would be generally cheered upon. ;)

      People really seem to get off dragging shit on forever that didn't even happen to them....... but like to be included as one of the victims. They also enjoy blaming the descendants of the perpetrators who also had nothing to do with it.
      It's a big joke and will never end.
      Humans are retards and I wish I was a robot.

    38. Re:No shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Seriously? I'be been beaten up at the age of 12 while on a school trip to Kiev for having a Russian accent. Why don't u pay for that? Whatever, this whole thing is stupid.

    39. Re:No shit by moortak · · Score: 2

      The is a much better reason than Alger Hiss that Stalin wasn't tried at Nuremburg. He was the sitting head of one of the countries holding the trials.

      --
      Xavier Rabourdin for president 2012
    40. Re:No shit by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      There is something ugly about people who come into a discussion to 'fact-check' air-brush historical atrocities. Clearly you've done your homework on the matter and have an agenda behind your attempts to soften history's judgment of the murderous actions of the Soviet Communists in the 1930's. For goodness sake, tell us what that agenda is.

    41. Re:No shit by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      Well, it's nice to see a card carrying Communist chime into the discussion.

    42. Re:No shit by Alex+Belits · · Score: 1

      While I am the closest thing to a Communist you can find on Slashdot, it does not make Robert Conquest anything other than a propaganda writer.

      --
      Contrary to the popular belief, there indeed is no God.
    43. Re:No shit by SquirrelDeth · · Score: 1

      Here come the genocide promoting commie's to mod me down.

    44. Re:No shit by SquirrelDeth · · Score: 1

      Commies with mod point what is this world coming to?

    45. Re:No shit by lennier · · Score: 1

      You are a douche forcing communism on someone and when they refuse starving them to death is not a man-made accidental disaster.

      Sure it is. Ever hear of "unintended consequences"? That's how you get most accidental man-made disasters: someone wants Good Outcome A, they use Questionable (Yet Effective Looking) Method B to attempt to get it, and instead they get Inevitable (Yet Undesired) Outcome C.

      For instance: A. you want unlimited power too cheap to meter, B. you install a General Electric Mark I Boiling Water Reactor, C. You say goodbye to a 20 km radius of farmland.

      Or: A. The working poor are starving while idle rich bastards are feasting. Also you still have actual feudal serfdom, and your rich bastards just got you embroiled in a nasty war that you're losing. B. You decide to kill the idle rich and give their stuff to the productive poor. C. Now you have a new state but people are rioting. So you ship them off to the prisons built by the rich bastards, and now you've become a bigger bastard yourself.

      Oops.

      --
      You are not a brain: http://books.google.com/books?id=2oV61CeDx-YC
    46. Re:No shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Genocide, by definition, is not exclusive to ethnicity.

    47. Re:No shit by mirix · · Score: 1

      Ukrainians don't say "the Ukraine". They don't even have a definite article in the first place.

      The famine was a trainwreck for sure, but being perpetuated by multiple ethnicities (incl. ukrainians) and the brunt was felt by multiple ethnicities (incl russians), it wasn't genocide.

      troll harder.

      --
      Sent from my PDP-11
    48. Re:No shit by jaxtherat · · Score: 1

      How is this a troll? This is possibly the most historically accurate and level headed post yet. Yes, all of us Eastern Slavs (Russians, Ukrainians and Belarussians) share a close common heritage, and a lot of our folklore will be shared.

      And yes, it was the Bolsheviks and not the Russians per se that are to blame. Don't tar an entire people by the actions of a douchebag villainous political party that held the country by force and bullying. Russians are yet to have a level headed ruler since their independence from the Tatars all those hundereds of years ago, all we seem to get is murderous monomaniacal cretins. The closest we had to a normal ruler was Gorbachev, and look how well that went.

      On, and food for thought:

      The kolobok folk tale is thought to be originally Finnish, and brought into Slavic foklore through novgorod.

      Disclaimer: I have both Russian and Ukrainian heritage, amongst other nationalities.

      --
      http://www.zombieapocalypse.tv/
    49. Re:No shit by SquirrelDeth · · Score: 1

      So since Hitler had other nationalities helping in the holocaust and they killed more than just Jews your point is what exactly?

    50. Re:No shit by cbiltcliffe · · Score: 1

      Ok. So you're one of those people who thinks Obama's birth certificate must be fake, since you know for a fact that he wasn't born in the US, since you don't like him.

      Either that, or it was a very subtle joke, which, due to the current crop of asshats making a big deal of that exact subject, doesn't come across as such.

      --
      "City hall" in German is "Rathaus" Kinda explains a few things......
    51. Re:No shit by airdweller · · Score: 0

      "After invading Italy in 1943 it would have been relatively easy to invade through Trieste, which would have had the advantage of cutting off the Nazi oil supply from Romania. The reason that they picked Normandy was that this route would leave all Eastern Europe to the Soviet Union ."
      Thank you for clearing that up. They all lied to us and finally we know how it all went. We're all just humbled by your knowledge and wisdom.

  5. Summary seems familiar... by jamesh · · Score: 1

    The summary seems awfully familiar... it reads like the filter-poisoning crap you get tagged onto the end of spam that sneaks past your spam filter.

  6. in Soviet Russia.. by TravisHein · · Score: 1

    In Soviet Russia, folkloric heritage disputes YOU!!

    1. Re:in Soviet Russia.. by hedwards · · Score: 1

      Quite apt, given that he's Ukranian and everybody assumes he's Russian.

    2. Re:in Soviet Russia.. by meerling · · Score: 1

      give it up, that joke meme was worn and old 2 decades ago

    3. Re:in Soviet Russia.. by cbiltcliffe · · Score: 0

      In Soviet Russia, 2 decades ago is worn and old joke meme.

      Wait.....what?

      --
      "City hall" in German is "Rathaus" Kinda explains a few things......
    4. Re:in Soviet Russia.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      that joke was worn because it still fits perfectly now get off my lawn you insensitive clod!

      (Buy Apple crap because it is shiny. /. tribute there)

  7. Hooray for IP laws! by hedgemage · · Score: 1

    I'm so glad that in America our media conglomerates have taken upon themselves the duty to define and police our beloved characters. I shudder to think what would happen in 300 years if Mickey Mouse was allowed to move into public domain. We'd probably have those damn, dirty Canadians trying to say that he lived in Ottawa or something.

    1. Re:Hooray for IP laws! by SquirrelDeth · · Score: 1

      Watch Canadian Bacon to many times?

    2. Re:Hooray for IP laws! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm so glad that in America our media conglomerates have taken upon themselves the duty to define and police our beloved characters. I shudder to think what would happen in 300 years if Mickey Mouse was allowed to move into public domain. We'd probably have those damn, dirty Canadians trying to say that he lived in Ottawa or something.

      Everyone knows Mickey Mouse has been happily living in Halifax, NS, Canada for years.

    3. Re:Hooray for IP laws! by sjames · · Score: 1

      If Mickey Mouse wasn't a cartoon character, he'd probably be in hiding in Canada now hoping his pimps never find him...

    4. Re:Hooray for IP laws! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm so glad that in America our media conglomerates have taken upon themselves the duty to define and police our beloved characters. I shudder to think what would happen in 300 years if Mickey Mouse was allowed to move into public domain. We'd probably have those damn, dirty Canadians trying to say that he lived in Ottawa or something.

      I really don't think anyone wants your Mickey Mouse.

  8. Cry me a river. by /dev/trash · · Score: 1

    you know what you need to do.

    1. Re:Cry me a river. by SquirrelDeth · · Score: 1

      Would you say that to a Jew?
      Remember according to the Russians genocide was not illegal till the 90's.

    2. Re:Cry me a river. by theArtificial · · Score: 2

      Would you say that to a Jew? Remember according to the Russians genocide was not illegal till the 90's.

      I'll bite. Jews weren't the only ones who were slaughtered nor were they the majority. I assume you're referring to WWII which was responsible for many more Russians deaths at the hand of the Nazis. Hitler was bad but Stalin was much worse. Your view point seems very American. In Poland the Holocaust has more Catholic undertones due to the purge of the clergy (among others).

      --
      Man blir trött av att gå och göra ingenting.
    3. Re:Cry me a river. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In WWII, the jews were slaughtered because the illiterate Germans could not tell the difference between Jews and Bankers.

      Given today's literacy levels, and the current behaviour of bankers, I see another holocaust coming real soon!

    4. Re:Cry me a river. by SquirrelDeth · · Score: 1

      In Poland the Holocaust has more Catholic undertones due to the purge of the clergy (among others).
      Than why did the Catholic’s get Hitler elected and fund his army? And why has the Catholic church hid Nazi war criminals?

    5. Re:Cry me a river. by maxwell+demon · · Score: 1

      Well, to start with, Hitler didn't get enough votes to get into power that way (indeed, the party was already in decline). Hitler got into power through an intrigue where some people who thought they could control him put him into power as way to later get into power themselves. Well, that obviously didn't work out well.

      Second, I've once seen an interesting pair of maps of Bavaria of that time. One showed how many people voted for Hitler. The other showed which areas were predominantly catholic, and which were predominantly protestant. The areas where Hitler got many votes were those with high numbers of protestants. While it doesn't proof anything, it's a remarkable correlation which doesn't exactly support the notion that the catholics got Hitler elected.

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    6. Re:Cry me a river. by Hatta · · Score: 1

      Mod parent up funny.

      --
      Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
    7. Re:Cry me a river. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Germans could not tell the difference between Jews and Bankers.

      There's a difference!?
      -Mel Brooks

    8. Re:Cry me a river. by wpi97 · · Score: 1

      No, you should not have bitten. Jews weren't the only ones who were slaughtered, but Jews and Gypsies were the only ethnic groups who were targeted for complete and systematic extermination. Yes more Russians were killed in WWII than Jews in absolute numbers, simply because there were more Russians to begin with. Jews lost a far greater fraction of their number than anyone else, except maybe the Gypsies. 2/3 of European Jews were slaughtered. And no, this is not an American point of view. Hilter was out to conquer the world, but he only devised the "final solution" for the "Jewish question".

    9. Re:Cry me a river. by airdweller · · Score: 0

      Would you YOU say that to a Jew?
      Already forgotten how many Jews were killed by the Ukrainian mobs? Or it's Russia's fault too?

    10. Re:Cry me a river. by theArtificial · · Score: 1
      I'm sure it's not personal bias but your post implies that Jews and Gypsies are worth more. It may come as a shock but WWII wasn't all about Hitler's undesireables.

      Yes more Russians were killed in WWII than Jews in absolute numbers, simply because there were more Russians to begin with.

      Lets turn this around: Yes fewer Jews were killed in WWII than Russians in absolute numbers, simply because there were less Jews to begin with. Profound indeed. /sarcasm

      Jews lost a far greater fraction of their number than anyone else, except maybe the Gypsies. 2/3 of European Jews were slaughtered. And no, this is not an American point of view.

      I'm not downplaying the loss of life however the amount of focus placed upon a single ethnic group is really sad. The remark regarding the American view point stems from the Jewish ethnic focus. Millions of non-Jewish Polish civilians died as well.... For the sake of argument lets estimate six million Jewish deaths total. In Poland nearly half of their losses were civilians, you know Doctors, Lawyers, Journalists, Clergy. At over 16% of the population Poland suffered the highest per capita death rate of ANY country. WWII didn't just involve Europe, China also sufferred massively at the hands of the Japanese. WWII death tolls for countries involved might be of interest to you.

      Hilter was out to conquer the world, but he only devised the "final solution" for the "Jewish question".

      You're entitled to your own opinion but not your own facts. You may be surprised to disocover that the Final Solution was devised by Himmler. You know who else was out to conquer the world? Britain. For some fun read up on evil that the British East India Company was responsible for in India.

      --
      Man blir trött av att gå och göra ingenting.
    11. Re:Cry me a river. by wpi97 · · Score: 1
      I am not implying that anybody is worth more than anybody else. I am simply stating that Jews have lost a greater percentage of their number than any other group, except maybe the Gypsies, for which I do not have the data. As you have pointed out, Poland lost 16% of its population (including Polish Jews, by the way). The USSR lost 14.4% of its population, which also includes the Soviet Jews. European Jews have lost about 60% of their number. The reason for that is that Jews were specifically targeted for systematic extermination, and so were the Gypsies. On the other hand, while millions of Russians, Poles, Ukrainians, and others were murdered, and while numerous atrocities have been committed against these groups, they were not targeted for extermination.

      And, yes, you are correct, Himmler came up with the idea of the death camps. And Eichmann worked out and managed the logistics. Those are details, which are certainly important, but which do not absolve Hitler of any personal responsibility for the Holocaust. Nor do they change the fact that there was a "Final Solution of the Jewish Question", but not a "Russian Quesiton" or a "Polish Question".

      By the way, if you read the wiki article of the "Final Solution" that you've cited, you will see that Himmler put together his plan in 1942, after tens of thousands of Jews of Kiev had already been shot in Baby Yar, and after thousands of Jews had already starved to death in the Warsaw Ghetto.

  9. Russia and Ukraine were second world countries by tepples · · Score: 0
    Anonymous Coward wrote:

    Stop posting pointless stories about third world hellholes.

    Technically, Russia and Ukraine weren't third world (defined as unaligned in the Cold War); they were second world (USSR and its allies). And if by "third world" you mean the colloquial definition of "a country substantially less developed than my own", look at comments to any story about mobile phones and you'll see Finnish people and other northern and western Europeans calling the United States a third-world hellhole.

  10. Is that Ho-oh? by tepples · · Score: 1

    Just north-northwest of Nizhny Novgorod is what appears to be one of the Pokeymans.

    1. Re:Is that Ho-oh? by SuricouRaven · · Score: 1

      They are both based on the same origin point.... sort of. The phoenix myth originated in ancient egypt or thereabouts. One version traveled west, through greek and roman civilisation (Mutating along the way) and became eventually the russian Firebird. Another went east through Persia, on to China, and eventually inspired the Pokemon character designers to create ho-oh. They are related, but only very distantly.

      The Russian version also inspired another anime character more directly: http://www.kyotoguide.com/ver2/css/images/thismonth/event/201010/5.gif

    2. Re:Is that Ho-oh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You might be the most retarded gameboy player ever. I assume you've heard of the Phoenix, yes?

    3. Re:Is that Ho-oh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I assume you've heard of the Phoenix, yes?

      I assume you've heard of the Irony, yes?

    4. Re:Is that Ho-oh? by LordVader717 · · Score: 1

      Looks more like Moltres

  11. Six Degrees of Canadian Bacon by tepples · · Score: 1

    "Canadian Bacon"? I thought he was from Philly. Do we need to see his long form?

  12. The Ukrainian complaints are utterly ridiculous by tetromino · · Score: 4, Informative

    Back in the middle ages, when these fairy tales were created, Russians and Ukrainians were one, united ethnic group speaking one language (it took many centuries for the languages and cultures to drift apart, and Ukrainians didn't really start to develop a separate national identity until the 19th century); so claiming that an ancient fairy tale character is exclusively Ukrainian or exclusively Russian is utterly ridiculous. Unless, of course, that character is somehow firmly tied to a particular geographic location. One such example is Ilya Muromets, who (as you can guess from the name) is from the town of Murom, located in Russia, 400 miles north-west of the Ukrainian border. The insane people claiming Ilya Muromets exclusively for Ukrainian folklore have clearly failed both history and geography.

    1. Re:The Ukrainian complaints are utterly ridiculous by gblackwo · · Score: 1

      Regionally, where Ilya Muromets came from is known today as the Ukraine. I think that is their point.

    2. Re:The Ukrainian complaints are utterly ridiculous by gblackwo · · Score: 1

      Maybe I just misremembered from my Russian culture- my mistake.

    3. Re:The Ukrainian complaints are utterly ridiculous by tetromino · · Score: 1

      where Ilya Muromets came from is known today as the Ukraine

      Ilya Muromets came from Murom. Murom is and has always been in Russia, not Ukraine. And it's in the solidly Russian part of Russia; the territories where Ukrainians form a major part of the population are hundreds of miles to the south.

    4. Re:The Ukrainian complaints are utterly ridiculous by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      We have very little clue where Ilya Muromets actually came from. The problem is that, as most folk heroes, it is a mythic figure that has gathered the traits of many real-world persons over the centuries, as folk stories were told and retold, with each teller adding their own spin. Consequently, there are several candidates for the role of the original prototype, and explanations for the "Muromets" nickname - only one of which is about Murom as origin. There are also several villages, all over the country, with somewhat similar sounding names, which could all similarly be the origin of the character.

      Either way, I don't see why it matters. It was a single country with a single (East Slavic) nation and a single language at the time. All countries which are the successors to it - Russia, Ukraine and Belarus - are equally entitled to the culture and history of that country and nation.

    5. Re:The Ukrainian complaints are utterly ridiculous by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Back in the middle ages, when these fairy tales were created, Russians and Ukrainians were one, united ethnic group speaking one language (it took many centuries for the languages and cultures to drift apart, and Ukrainians didn't really start to develop a separate national identity until the 19th century); so claiming that an ancient fairy tale character is exclusively Ukrainian or exclusively Russian is utterly ridiculous. Unless, of course, that character is somehow firmly tied to a particular geographic location. One such example is Ilya Muromets, who (as you can guess from the name) is from the town of Murom, located in Russia, 400 miles north-west of the Ukrainian border. The insane people claiming Ilya Muromets exclusively for Ukrainian folklore have clearly failed both history and geography.

      Ilya Muromets comes from Murom, but he is buried in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine and, by coincidence, the first Russian city. Otherwise, yeah, it's quite ridiculous to divide up a common body of folklore. The stories of Kievan Rus are common cultural heritage.

    6. Re:The Ukrainian complaints are utterly ridiculous by Sique · · Score: 1

      But Muromets just means "from Murom". So we know where the folk tale puts Ilya Muromets - to Murom.

      --
      .sig: Sique *sigh*
    7. Re:The Ukrainian complaints are utterly ridiculous by JAlexoi · · Score: 1

      If you actually read the stories, you'll notice how strange he moves around. On his way to Kiev he makes a huuuge detour. So probably his title Muromets was added later or in honour of Murom. The price he visits references Kievan prices spanning 130years. And the tales are definitely not precise enough to establish his origin. In fact his nickname does not indicate his relation to Murom or any geographical place for that matter.

    8. Re:The Ukrainian complaints are utterly ridiculous by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      If you look through all the related folk tales, he was not always called "Muromets". Other alternative spellings include "Muravits", "Morovlin", "Muravlin", "Muravlenin" etc. Indeed, the reason why this whole fuss was raised is because Ukraine has a city named "Morovsk", which also happens to have several places around it with names corresponding to those in folk tales about Ilya.

    9. Re:The Ukrainian complaints are utterly ridiculous by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      19th century. What are you on crack. Know your history. Ukraine started before 900 AD. Russia stole most of Ukrainian history and called it their own. Where is Kievan Rus Located Kiev the Capital of Ukraine not Russia.

      Ever ask a German what happen in history from 1939 to 1945 the answer from Family Guy no one was home everyone was on vacation meaning He who is in control writes the history books
      Ukraine has been under control off and on from Russia for years. Ever hear of Russianization well that lasted for centuries no wounder the history books are a messed up and you can't get a straight answer.

  13. Just regular Russian behavior. by Tharsman · · Score: 1

    My wife is from Tbilisi, Georgia and she has told me this is nothing new. Russia has a long history of taking credit for everything in the caucus, from regional foods, to traditions, to even attempt the world to think actors and singers are of Russian origin.

    I am not sure what they get out of it. Perhaps they attempt using it as tourism lure, or a local morale thing. For the most part, the other countries have made sure the rest of the world knows better.

    1. Re:Just regular Russian behavior. by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 2

      My wife is from Tbilisi, Georgia and she has told me this is nothing new. Russia has a long history of taking credit for everything in the caucus, from regional foods, to traditions, to even attempt the world to think actors and singers are of Russian origin.

      Yes, we even take credit for that 30 million (or what's the purported count these days?) murdered by Stalin - who, coincidentally, was a Georgian. Damn Russians, always stealing them great achievements of poor and oppressed caucasian people. ~

    2. Re:Just regular Russian behavior. by tworavens · · Score: 1

      Russia has a long history of taking credit for everything

      Kirk: Does everyone know about this wheat but me? Chekov: Not everyone, it's a Russian inwention!

    3. Re:Just regular Russian behavior. by 21mhz · · Score: 1

      Perhaps your wife could provide some examples?
      All I could think of where the due credit may not have been given is kefir, but only because its production was industrialized outside Caucasus, and this wonderful dairy product has been widely consumed all over Russia (and Ukraine, and elsewhere) ever since.

      With actors and such, it's even more nuanced. If a Georgian actor plays in Russian films or plays, is recognized by many Russians, sometimes taking a lasting place in the Russian culture, that makes them a Russian public person as well. If you disagree, ask Americans how dare they "take credit" for that Austrian guy called Arnold Schwarzenegger.

      --
      My exception safety is -fno-exceptions.
    4. Re:Just regular Russian behavior. by JAlexoi · · Score: 1

      Tell your wife that a lot of Russians will gladly give back all the "legacy" of Joseph Jughashvili and in addition we'll give you the option of taking Gagarin as your...

    5. Re:Just regular Russian behavior. by Alex+Belits · · Score: 1

      300 millions. It will never be sufficiently impressive unless the number of "victims of Stalin" exceeds total population of the country (and I would therefore not exist because my ancestors would be all dead).

      Really, it's around two millions (actually persecuted by Stalin who actually died as a result of it -- executed or while imprisoned). It's still two millions too many, but it places Stalin among some pretty ordinary mass-murdering heads of states, does not turn him into some Hitler-eclipsing monster that US propaganda portrays him. For comparison, WWII in Europe (entirely Nazi's fault) killed 60-70 millions of people.

      --
      Contrary to the popular belief, there indeed is no God.
    6. Re:Just regular Russian behavior. by Sponge+Bath · · Score: 1

      KIRK: Does everybody know about this wheat but me?
      CHEKOV: Not everyone, Captain. It's a Russian invention.

  14. U.S.? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Indeed, there are way too many articles about that rat hole.

  15. Yugo the magic Vodka swilling Bear by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    He has the power to drink vast quantities of Vodka and wake up face down in an alley without a hangover. Russia discounts the stories of his Ukranian origins and even points to an alley named after the magical Bear and the fact the Bear is a symbol of Russia itself.

  16. Hair splitting is par here by tepples · · Score: 0

    WTF? We splitting hairs here?!

    It's par for the course on Slashdot, where hairs split YOU!

    1. Re:Hair splitting is par here by darthdavid · · Score: 0

      I'd say you forgot "In Soviet Russia..." from your joke but we're already there!

  17. This is daft, Speckled Hen is Brit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    According to wikipedia, the old Speckled Hen comes from Abingdon: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Speckled_Hen. Very tasty too.

  18. An old sweet song keeps Russia on my mind by tepples · · Score: 1

    Russia has a long history of taking credit for everything

    If Russia had its way, would it be "Russia on My Mind"?

    in the caucus

    I thought Georgia ran a primary, not a caucus. Did you mean Caucasus?

    1. Re:An old sweet song keeps Russia on my mind by Tharsman · · Score: 1

      Did you mean Caucasus?

      Yea, thats what I meant! :P

  19. No worries by SnarfQuest · · Score: 1

    No worries about this. I mean, nobody ever got into a war over some fairy stories. Unless you include someone elses religious stories. Lik the Bible or the Koran.

    --
    Who would win this election: Andrew Weiner vs Andrew Weiner's weiner.
  20. Wow, Hohlosrach makes it to slashdot. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hohlosrach is the perpetual exchange of expletives between Russians and Ukrainians on the Internets, which has been going on since the Soviet Union fell apart and the Internets spread over there.

    For those who speak Russian, but don't frequent the udaff-com site: http://lurkmore.ru/%D0%A5%D0%BE%D1%85%D0%BB%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%87

    1. Re:Wow, Hohlosrach makes it to slashdot. by Alex+Belits · · Score: 1

      Oh, for fuck sake... I go to Slashdot and learn more about that ridiculous crap with "Hohols" and "Moskals"...

      At some time I will get so sick of it, I will organize The Real Jewish Conspiracy just to spite them.

      --
      Contrary to the popular belief, there indeed is no God.
    2. Re:Wow, Hohlosrach makes it to slashdot. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ZOG may finance you at that time, comrade.

  21. Idiot by Digital+Vomit · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "Unfortunately, folkloric heritage is not regulated by international norms or by intellectual property rights," Marina Primenko, the creator of the Ukrainian map, said.

    No, that's actually a very, very good thing.

    --
    Modern copyright is theft of culture from everyone and it retards the progress of the useful arts and sciences.
  22. foot on other boot... by lkcl · · Score: 1

    "i'll get youuu, disneyy, and your little talking mouse tooo AH hahahahahaaaa"

    1. Re:foot on other boot... by Alex+Belits · · Score: 1

      Our singing witches are better (or at least funnier): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0CY3CA30Do

      --
      Contrary to the popular belief, there indeed is no God.
    2. Re:foot on other boot... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Btw Disney was Ukrainian ha

  23. what!!!!!!!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    oh man, screw this! i didn't believe it could happen, but then i clicked the link to the map and there it was. right all up in my face! russia stole kolobok and ilya of murom from ukraine. i heard rumors this might happen one day, but i didn't listen. i said "shut up dummy, they already have buratino and sadko so why would they steal kolobok and ilya?" but who's the dummy now? i didn't know... you'll pay for this russia!

  24. Riddle me this by SquirrelDeth · · Score: 1
    1. Re:Riddle me this by wsxyz · · Score: 1

      So the Nazis printed a poster stating that Catholics should vote for them. What does that prove?

    2. Re:Riddle me this by SquirrelDeth · · Score: 1

      Hey smart ass no comment? Or do you you concede to being an ignorant douche?

  25. "ones base"?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Timothy, you illiterate fuckwit.

  26. Communism by jth4242 · · Score: 1

    [...] caused by a combination of poorly thought-out and brutally implemented collectivization, habitual use of fake statistics, and a bureaucratic culture where underlings were afraid to tell their higher-ups that the higher-ups' "wise policies" [...]

    Sometimes also called Communism.

  27. did you read the article? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    the article has nothing to do with disney. apparently not everyone knows that disney borrowed from multiple sources (copyright, so what?). the point of the article is what country did the folk tales originate.

  28. Funny, and yet by jandersen · · Score: 1

    It may look like a total non-issue from an American point of view, but I think there are quite a few in the rest of the world who have annoyed - or even incensed - by the constant, superficial and so very American tendency to take the tales of other countries, get them completely wrong and produce some totally vapid "Grand Epic" with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor or, good grief, some idiotic superhero cartoon. That there are still countries in the world whose cultural heritage hasn't been commercialised and/or semi-raped yet is only down to the fact that the perpetrators are generally not all the well versed in other countries' tradition, because that would require the to get some education.

    Personally, I feel particularly affronted by the cartoon featuring "Thor", being Danish, but I don't think there has ever been just one accurate, faithful representation of any folk-tale, religious myth or other in any American mass production. Mulan? Pocanhontas (and that one is native American!)? Sparta?

    Probably, the reason why it feels so bad is that these cultural traditions are so old - they have, generation after generation, touched something deep in ordinary people, and then some smarmy wanker from Holywood comes and pisses on you. How can you not feel bad about that?

  29. It proves you don't know what you're talking about by SquirrelDeth · · Score: 1

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Pius_XII
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichskonkordat
    The Reichskonkordat is the concordat between the Holy See and Germany, guaranteeing the rights of the Catholic Church in Germany. It was signed on July 20, 1933 by Secretary of State Eugenio Pacelli (who later became Pope Pius XII) and Vice Chancellor Franz von Papen on behalf of Pope Pius XI and President Paul von Hindenburg respectively.

  30. What's with them? by nostereotype · · Score: 1

    Here's a reciprocated story of another fairytale character. Did you know that in China the very loved Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland were banned in that country.