TBLPOD29jan2015

Chikaidze bolts, PM in Davos, Lith PM visit, Usupashvili in Iran, NATO Vershbow in town, Tamriko in US, Lari still sliding, long BI interview he “researches” NGO leaders, Russia duma oks Abkhaz treaty, Margvel Supreme Court consultations, EU delegation talks visa free, Lifers in Guldani 8 are ticked, shortlist for deep Anaklia port, investigation for harassing prisoner “L”, Kvitsiani, EU cash, UEFA U19, Ireland okays Geo EU Association Agreement, e-visas coming, coke arrest, Corn Island wins Trieste, Henkel plant in Garadabani, smart lights, Alain Delon visit, NYT rec Pheasant’s Tears, Interior bill to limit freedom of speech, foreigners and farm land, Rimple great, Soros NYT great, Chiatora cable cars, ugly/great Tbilisi Buildings, econ freedom high reg freedom not, Rayfield on Niko Marr in London

3 thoughts on “TBLPOD29jan2015

  1. The MEME this week is a video posted to youtube by the UNM of “police abuse” — that is, a woman in her giant BMW SUV abusing police. The police officers pulled her over for talking on the phone while driving, say they’re going to fine her. She yells at them and then calls up some guys and says its the head of police on the phone, and complains about the two cops who pulled her over, and in the end she doesn’t get fined. Link: http://bit.ly/1zkRFIu

    THINGS TO READ

    Paul Rimple reports for Deusche Welle from Pankisi, on one school teaching English, working to keep its kids globally connected and not susceptible to radical groups. Link: http://bit.ly/1JSrQ7s

    Tbilisi-based journalists Monica Ellena and Justyna Mielnikiewicz write for the Saint Petersburg Times on the Sukhishvili national ballet’s new modern dance project. Link: http://bit.ly/1BCmnOb

    Another piece, this time for Slate, on the rusty cable cars of Chiatura. Link: http://slate.me/1ETcf4C

    This week’s blog from the CRRC looks at the economic condition of pensioners in the South Caucasus, in light of the increasing aging population. Link: http://bit.ly/1Lp4nfG

    George Soros and Bernard Henri-Levi write a great piece in the New York Times to save the new Ukraine — vs the old, corrupt Ukraine. They compare it to 2004 in Georgia, getting rid of the hated traffic police asap and how important that was for the public. Link: http://nyti.ms/1KaNqlS

    Heather Yundt writes on IWPR’s trainings and trips to document life on the ABL with South Ossetia. Link: http://bit.ly/1tCNRms

    Tara Isabella Burton talks with one East German woman’s peculiar new life living in a cave in Pankisi Gorge. Link: http://bbc.in/1uYWlp2

    Idaaf magazine has a list of the most beautiful and the most ugly buildings in Tbilisi. Interesting mix or old and new buildings. Link: http://bit.ly/1yIUWh9

    Watch the youtube trailer for up-coming horror film “Unfriended” by Georgian director Levan Gabriadze. Link: http://bit.ly/14WmEk3

    Thomas Frear for the Moscow Times goes over Russia’s annexation treaty with South Ossetia, saying that “the reality is that neither the West nor Georgia have any mechanisms with which to influence this process.” Link: http://bit.ly/1uv8jRn

    Giorgi Kalatozishvili writes in Vestnik Kavkaza in response to a letter from the Armenian Apostolic Church in Georgia, which asked that his article about Armenia claiming 450 Georgian churches as its own be taken down. In his interviews and discussion he refutes their claim that calling the churches Armenian was not a political move. Link: http://bit.ly/1wHcoBS

    Georgian Journal talks with rapper Andria “Hadi” Ioseliani — and the trickiness of being a rapper in Iran. Link: http://bit.ly/1Hpnabn

    My Georgian Journal and Kviris Palitra column this week is about traffic in Tbilisi and how confused both the government policy and cultural attitude is towards it is. Link: http://bit.ly/1yd6Gcz

  2. you asked about what makes “smart traffic lights” smart.
    Check the Tbilisi Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) p 11
    (I’m not saying that these plans are really smart, I’m just trying to make transparent where they come from…)
    http://mycovenant.eumayors.eu/docs/seap/1537_1520_1303144302.pdf
    Quote:
    “In addition to the rehabilitation and construction of the road network, as its priority the Tbilisi City Hall set to increase the capacity of transport infrastructure and reduce traffic congestion through marking, an efficient crossroad and traffic lights system, and an improved city parking scheme.
    A so-called ‘Green Wave’ system was introduced at Pekini Avanue, allowing for an uninterrupted stream of vehicles through six intersections. Before, around 2100 cars (per hour) had to stop at four out of six different intersections. Now after the introduction of a new system, around 800 cars have to stop only at two intersections, thus increasing the speed of the traffic flow and reducing the amount of fuel used by vehicles (approximately 1920 liters less per day)….”

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