MOSCOW – Lyudmila Alexeyeva has spent decades grappling with the ghosts of history.
A schoolgirl in the days of Stalin’s terror, she helped send food parcels to starving friends and relatives in famine-struck Ukraine and distant parts of Russia. But her experiences were airbrushed from the official record as the country raced toward the bright communist future, divorced from its dark past.
It pointed out how Russia was turning back the clock to the Soviet days of oppression, creating laws restricting speech on its terrible past with harsh penalties, revising textbooks with propaganda (such as blaming Poland for WW2 by not giving into Hitler’s demands) and closing its state archives. While the article did a great job I though I should point out one error I thought was worth mentioning:
Even without the services of captain Sidney Crosby for more than half the contest, the Pittsburgh Penguins stood tall in winning the Stanley Cup for the third time in franchise history Friday night.
Centre Max Talbot scored both goals, sending the Penguins to a 2-1 win over the defending champion Detroit Red Wings in Game 7 at Joe Louis Arena.
Pittsburgh secures the franchise’s first championship since the Mario Lemieux-led Penguins of 1991 and 1992.
On March 4, according to the official records of the Alberta legislature, NDP leader Brian Mason said that "Stalin would be proud" of the government’s bill giving it power to freeze land development. As a result, in the final days of the sitting, Premier Ed Stelmach understandably complained how hurtful such words were.
Now, this comparison would be unacceptable in any decent politics, no matter who was in government. Stalin expropriated land, shipped owners off to freeze to death in the gulag, and starved out millions to make sure his collectivization produced enough food for the cities. It is every bit as absurd to suggest the government’s bid to preserve utility corridors is similar to Stalin’s land policies, as it is to compare occasional high-handed behaviour to that of Adolf Hitler. For the record, Stalin wouldn’t have been "proud" of Alberta’s government; he’d have laughed evilly at the absurd suggestion before having the person who made it taken out and shot.
On Sunday afternoon my father Roman; with my mother Irene, sister Ruslana, granddaughters Petra, Yaroslawa, Anka, Olena and Viktoria, and myself by his side; peacefully departed on his final journey after a courageous battle with cancer.
My father’s family were refugees fleeing the horrors of Soviet and Nazi terror during the Second World War. Our grandparents and my father arrived on Canada’s shores with dreams of peace and hopes for a better future.
He instilled in his children and grandchildren a deep appreciation and love for our great country Canada and an active engagement in our democracy and its resultant freedom. Alongside his love for Canada, dad, “tato,†also taught us to respect the history, struggles and sacrifices of our ancestral roots in Ukraine.
GENEVA (AP) _ Christianity’s largest ecumenical movement expressed hope Thursday that churches were moving closer to a common Easter for the world’s Christians, despite a historical debate nearly as old as the religion.
Catholic and Protestant congregations will celebrate their belief in Jesus’ resurrection on the same day as Orthodox churches in 2010 and 2011 because of a coincidence in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The common holiday has happened three times this decade.
But the World Council of Churches says consensus is emerging that these should not just be occasional occurrences.
At a recent meeting in Lviv, Ukraine, theologians representing nearly the breadth of Christianity agreed in principle on a strategy for all the faithful to continue observing their feast together.
On March 4, according to the official records of the Alberta legislature, NDP leader 
