In Ukraine showing thumbs up with your hand is considered obscene due to some vague reference to erected penis. I have been reprimanded for showing it by older Ukrainians. I think that younger people no longer care about this though.

Wikipedia also mentions that it is also offensive in Iran but I have no direct experience about it.

I don't think that these 1 Ls ($2) cards are available anymore.

Sorry to disappoint you but Latvian payphones are disappearing too. There is no real need for them as even tourists can use cell phones. In fact, Latvia has very cheap prepaid plans. One can buy a SIM card for $2 practically from every newspaper stand and use that for calls and data. 3G coverage is practically everywhere and while it is not Wi-Fi speed, it is enough for all practical purposes of mobile use. You can use tethering as well. Or simply use 3G stick (modem).

Lattelecom still sells Wi-Fi access plans that can be used in coffee shops, gas stations and other establishments. But the price is no longer that cheap. Now it is $4 per day and $10 per month.

It is all quite useless though. Past memories have been shown extremely unreliable while confidence of the false memories increases with years.

It is all about relative prosperity. You will be miserable if you make $10,000/y in the US while your neighbors make $100,000/y. Whereas if you lived in poor village in India you would be quite happy even with $5000/y.

The social issues in the UK are as much real as in India or elsewhere. Don't be mislead by absolute comparison between countries. The high unemployment and slums are very real and if nothing is done about this, it will turn very ugly.

The truth didn't come from the police. It came from IPCC which is the Independent Police Complaints Commission. The police initially said that Mark Duggan exchanged gun-fire. Actually they found Mark Duggan's gun hidden in his sock.

It is hard to say if it was the police miscommunication or an attempt to cover their mistakes but the incident was badly managed.

Well, when there are clouds it often rains and occasionally they produce thunder and lightning. I guess Amazon though that they can have clouds without worrying about their byproducts.

By social traditions and way of living Belarus is very similar to other European countries. They certainly has less dependence on cars as they have greater social equality and developed public transportation. But it is also a flat and boring piece of land.

Lukashenko period may indeed to turn out a blessing in disguise. Senseless privatization has destroyed the beauty of my country, Latvia. When I traveled around Europe, the best country for tourists was Slovenia because they didn't allow total privatization. Their state owned camping places and tourism infrastructure was well organized and efficient. In comparison, Austria was a big disappointment as many nice places were restricted with "Privat".

Of course, Latvian people want economic prosperity. They have introduced the most liberal economic policies among all western countries. We low taxes, flat tax income tax, little regulations etc. It also spectacularly failed to increase standard of living. It only created social inequality. It only benefited some companies who exploited cheap workforce for a while. In average the Belarus economy was growing at a faster rate despite having completely opposite policies.

It turns out the democratic countries requiring liberal economic policies were cheating. They all themselves gained wealth through protectionism in one way or another. You mentioned Finland which had a state controlled economy for a very long time.

There is a book I suggest reading to everyone: 23 Things They don't Tell You About Capitalism by Ha-Joon Chang.

I agree with you up to the point where you compare it with North Korea. It is not and you should know it. It is even better than China. Emotional feelings are not helping. It can only lead to another Bay of Pigs.

Provide a better alternative if you can. In reality it is hard, very hard. The USSR was discontinued because people wanted freedom but it destroyed the economy and created widespread unemployment and poverty. Next to Belarus is my country, Latvia, and people are leaving it in droves to better European countries even though Latvians have democracy. It has failed to ensure economic prosperity and the freedom alone is not enough.

It is easy for those who live in rich western countries that were developed with hard work of your forefathers and often with great social injustices like slavery or working conditions that were close to slavery. Belarus may have less political freedom but the life there isn't slavery.

While the Belarus people should demand more freedom, they should learn more diplomatic ways to achieve it. First, they should understand how politics work and why their current protests are just a waste of time.

There is a saying: Poverty is the cause of all vices. This is exemplified in India which is technically democracy but the extreme poverty only creates corruption and misery. You don't have to be obscenely rich but without decent standard of living you will not be free or safe.

You can criticize the US government without any issues in Belarus. :)

On the other hand, wikileaks activists have a lot of trouble in the US.

Discounting this, the US has more freedom but it still has very strict limits. I would say that Belarus people has as much freedom as China. Most people tolerate the current status in exchange of economy growth. Lukashenko will die or be forced out one day and then it is better to have country in order instead of ruins.

Estonia is that much better either. The standard of living is higher but not by much. GDP (PPP) of Estonia is $18,518 vs. $13,909 in Belarus.

Estonia is that much better either. The standard of living is higher but not by much. GDP (PPP) of Estonia is $18,518 vs. $13,909 in Belarus. Besides unemployment and emigration to better European countries in Estonia is much higher.

Of course, Belarus politically is backwards country and Lukashenko is a dictator but Belarus has considerable higher standard of living than Molodova ($3,082) and Ukraine ($6,656).

Passing the list to the FBI only increases the financial damage. Now FBI and sysadmins of different ISPs will spend countless hours tracking down these IP addresses, investigating, maybe even arresting some kids etc. without any tangible results. As if the FBI is not wasting enough of taxpayer money.