*There are probably all of twelve of these keyboarding zealots, but the Internet is a wondrous thing.
International protest groups take up ‘Tea Party’ flag in Moscow, Tel Aviv and the Hague
By Kyle Peterson - The Daily Caller | Published: 1:44 PM 06/14/2010 | Updated: 10:39 PM 06/14/2010
"As Tea Party protests pop up in places like Moscow, Tel Aviv and the Hague, Americans may question whether the Tea Party platform can cross international and cultural borders. For activists outside the U.S., the answer is a resounding “yes.”
“I think the message of the American Revolution is global. The message of natural, unalienable rights, the message of opposition to tyrannical government — that’s not just well-known, that’s universal,” Boris Karpa, organizer of the Israeli Tea Party, told The Daily Caller in an e-mail. “As you know well, many countries have based their founding documents on the U.S. Declaration of Independence or other American documents.”
Although several international organizers had never even heard of the Boston Tea Party until U.S. protests brought the events of 1773 back into the spotlight, they now wear the Tea Party badge proudly as an example of American exceptionalism worth emulating.
“This [Tea Party] title is ideal for Russia,” Max Kronos, (((maybe it's uncharitable of me, but I dare to think that an unlikely name like "Max Kronos" must be a hacker handle))) organizer of the Moscow Tea Party, told The Daily Caller in an e-mail. “This event has forever gone down in history — in Russia, such events have not happened.”
That’s not to say the Tea Party moniker has always been helpful.
“The mainstream media calls the U.S. Tea Parties a bunch of gun-loving racist rednecks,” Roy Hofkamp, organizer of the Dutch Tea Party, told The Daily Caller in an e-mail. “That image in the media was not an advantage for us, but fortunately more and more Dutch people get their news from foreign media and they knew our intentions were good.”
(...)
Kronos cites, “The Federal Law on Basics of State Regulations of Trade Activities in the Russian Federation # 381-FZ,” signed by Russian president Dmitry Medvedev on Dec. 29 as his initial motivation for organizing. The law allows the government to put price ceilings on food products, and forbids retailers from opening new shops in areas where they have over 25 percent market share.
Kronos compared the Russian economy to the dystopia in Ayn Rand’s novel “Atlas Shrugged.” ((("Ayn Rand" being the pen name of Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum, native of Saint Petersburg, maybe the Russian Tea Party connection is less far-fetched than it seems.)))
“In the new conditions, to start a business from scratch is nearly impossible,” Kronos said.
So like the U.S. Tea Party protesters that inspired them, they organize to spread their message and promote their objectives.
The Moscow Tea Party gathered 250 people in three cities on April 25. The Dutch Tea Party protested with 80 people and five guest speakers in front of the Netherlands’ parliament building on May 29. And the Israeli group will hold its first rally, to celebrate “Tax Freedom Day,” on July 16 in front of Tel Aviv’s City Hall....
(((In more exciting Russo-American amity news, smoke from the climate-crisis fires in Russia has now reached North America.)))
http://www.wwfblogs.org/climate/content/russian-president-climate-change-5aug2010
