The Economist: Soviet words and deeds

FIRST came the word and the word was Soviet. “Soviet” is the name of a hotel that stands on the left-hand side of Leningrad Prospect in Moscow. On the other side stands a kebab house, which had long earned the nickname “Anti-Soviet”—not because its clientele or kebabs were subversive but because of its position: directly opposite the “Soviet”.Last month the owners of the cafe decided to make a brand out of the Soviet-era joke and put up a sign “Anti-Soviet”. But they chose the wrong moment and inadvertently caused a political scandal which speaks volumes about Russia.On September 7th the Moscow union of pensioners and veterans, a name that oddly unites those who fought in the war with those who served as commissars, guards in the Gulag and secret policemen, complained to the local authority about “the inappropriate political pun” and urged that the name be changed in order not to irritate those who “respect the Soviet period in our history”. The letter was signed by Vladimir Dolgikh, an 84-year-old former Communist-party boss. The local authority, in the person of Oleg Mitvol, a PR-hungry bureaucrat, got into the act, threatening the owners and making them change the anti-Soviet sign.....Restul aici: http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14667887&source=most_commented