British Say No to War

Demonstrators in the biggest ever peace march in London mocked Tony Blair as Bush's poodle

By Efim Barban

MN London bureau

According to London police, more than 700,000 took to the streets this past week­end. The march, under the slogans "No to War with Iraq" and "Stop Attack on Iraq," ended in a huge, peaceful rally in Hyde Park. The speakers included Tony Benn, the ubiquitous veteran of the paci­fist movement and ex-MP; Charles Kennedy, leader of the Liberal-Democrat­ic Party; London Mayor Ken Livingstone; the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a human rights activist who flew in from the United States; and Ben Bella, Algeria's first president.

The demo came as a serious blow to Tony "Blair's standing and his policy of close cooperation with the U.S. Speakers kept referring to him as "Bush's poodle" and "vice president." Later in the day, Blair himself addressed a Labour Party confer­ence in Glasgow, saying that he respect­ed the right of his voters to protest, but unpopularity is the price a leader some­times has to pay for his views. Thus far, there are no signs that the demo has in any way affected British policy toward Iraq. London has already sent a quarter of its armed forces to the Persian Gulf area. True, in a country where mature civil society has been opposed to the govern­ment for at least 100 years, protest dem­os have become part and parcel of the British way of life. Since 1904, when 1,000 East End suffragettes came to the House of Commons, and until last Sep­tember, when 400,000 rural Britons marched through London to protest against the bill banning fox hunting, dem­os have been an important gauge of pub­lic mood in Britain. Signs are that it is now turning against a war with Iraq.

(taken from the “Moscow News”)

Vocabulary

a serious blow – серьезный удар

mature civil society – зрелое гражданское общество

the bill banning – закон, запрещающий

ubiquitous veterans – вездесущие ветераны

suffragettes – зд. «суфражистки» (женщины, борющиеся за право голосования для женщин)

gauge – мера

poodle – зд. «подхалим»

become part and parcel – стать необходимой частью

Task

1. Read, translate the newspaper article and identify the stylistic linguistics features of the following sentences:

1) The demo came as a serious blow to Tony "Blair's standing and his policy of close cooperation with the U.S.

2) "Bush's poodle"

3) Thus far, there are no signs that the demo has in any way affected British policy toward Iraq.

4) …protest dem­os have become part and parcel of the British way of life.

5) True, in a country where mature civil society has been opposed to the govern­ment for at least 100 years.

6) Dem­os have been an important gauge of pub­lic mood in Britain.

7) Signs are that it is now turning against a war with Iraq.

Pancakes Galore: Muscovites Celebrate Maslenitsa

On the threshold of Orthodox Lent and amid the piercing winds and merciless snow of early March, the winter- weary nation is eager to welcome the coming of Maslenitsa — the Russian version of Mardi Gras or Pancake week. For seven days, Muscovites will indulge "in festivities and stuff them­selves silly with the traditional bliny (pancakes), served with either butter, sour cream, caviar, mushrooms, sturgeon, or anything their taste buds may fancy. Dating to pagan times, Maslenitsa is one of Russia's most beloved folk ho­lidays. Celebrating the end of winter, the round yellow pan­cakes symbolizing the long-awaited spring sun. Incor­porated into Christian tradition, it also became the last week of gaiety and self-indul­gence before the 40-day aus­terity of Lent.

This year, early spring may be low on sun, but it certainly promises to be high on fun (not to mention pancakes), as the Moscow City government for the first time made Maslenitsa an official city hol­iday. The "Great Maslenitsa in Moscow 2005" celebrations will take place from March 07 till March 13 in Maslenitsa town, specially constructed near Red Square. The festivi­ties will include Russian folk­lore and pop singers, sko-morokhs (clowns or jesters), sledge-rides, open-air stage performances and fireworks. The festival will be crowned by the traditional burning of a scarecrow and a carnival pro­cession along Moscow's cen­tral streets.

Apart from Red Square, cel­ebrations are planned at over 300 locations throughout Moscow, including Gorky Park and the All-Rus­sian Exhibition Centre (WC). A spokesman for the Moscow City Tourist Committee, cited by RIA-Novosti, said that the city's law enforcement agen­cies will be taking extra secu­rity measures during the fes­tivities.

MN

(taken from the “Moscow News”)