04 May 2004

Women's World Chess Championship Moves to Tibetan Buddhist Outpost in Europe

The Argus has a whole series of interesting posts about the conflicts between the newly renovated democratic Republic of Georgia and its separatist movement in Ajaria. Living With Caucasians is on the case, too. Among the drastic bits of fallout is this:
The Women's World Championship has moved from Batumi [in Ajaria] to Elista. 'Where the hell is Elista?' you ask. Kalmykia, Tibetan Buddhism's outpost in Europe (when it was independent, it was the only Buddhist kingdom in Europe). On this map, it's south of Moscow and just above Dagestan.
To see where the Kalmyk-Oirat fit into the Greater Turanian States and Territories, visit the Ottawa Hungarian Folkdance Chamber Group, which seeks to restore Hungarians to their rightful place as masters of Eurasia.

See also Kalmykia and Buddhism in Russia.

UPDATE: On a more serious (but joyful) note, the U.S. and Russia seemed to have cooperated to help the citizens of Georgia and Ajaria liberate themselves from the now-exiled thug, Aslan Abashidze. The Argus offers a detailed chronology. I hope the Georgian sumo wrestler Kokkai ('Black Sea') is pumped up enough to make a spectacularly successful showing in this month's sumo tourney.

UPDATE: In the comments, PF cites some evidence that the millionaire chess-enthusiast Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, President of Kalmykia, might deserve a good dose of thug-repellant as well. At the very least, he seems to suffer from a serious cult-of-personality disorder.

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