Term hunt!

Fees and fines in countries of the former CIS are sometimes calculated on the basis of salary class, or some other similar government-set parameter, meaning that people who earn more will pay commensurately higher fines. It's a concept that makes sense, at least on the surface, as it offers an opportunity - in terms of fines, at least - to discourage certain behavior without either making the cost of violations disproportionately large for the less well-to-do or disproportionately small for the wealthy.

But that's not the point of the post.

It turns out that in Belarus, the fee for court costs is calculated in something called a "базовая величина" ("basic amount" which is literal and ugly). Searching online for the Russian yields the following:

Согласно Постановлению Совета Министров Республики Беларусь от 28.03.2005 №330 «Об установлении размеров тарифной ставки первого разряда для оплаты труда работников организаций, финансируемых из бюджета и пользующихся государственными дотациями, и базовой величины» с 01.04.2005 базовая величина установлена в размере 25500 белорусских рублей.

Basically, this is an item reporting the fact that the Belarus Council of Ministers issued Decree No. 330 on 28 March 2005, in which the "базовая величина" was set to 25,500 Belarus rubles as of 1 April of that year.

Curiously, I wasn't able to find any English-language reference to the decree, or what it did (finding one from a source such as CNN or IHT would provide an answer), but there was a site that referred several times to a "basic unit." I don't much like this term, either, but it's an improvement.

What relation this "basic unit" might have to anything is explained by a FAQ at LexPatent (my translation follows):

Что такое «базовая величина»?

Базовая величина — это устанавливаемая Советом Министров Республики Беларусь величина, на основании которой исчисляются размеры некоторых платежей, осуществляемых в соответствии с законодательством Республики Беларусь. С 01 декабря 2007 года базовая величина составляет 35000 (Тридцать пять тысяч) белорусских рублей, что на 01.12.2007 составляло примерно 16,3 долларов США.

What is a "basic unit"?

The "basic unit" is a quantity, set by the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus, on whose basis the amounts of some payments to be made pursuant to Republic of Belarus law are calculated. As of 01 December 2007, the "basic unit" is 35000 (thirty-five thousand) Belarus rubles, which is approximately equivalent to US$16.30 as of 01 December 2007.

I would guess that this "basic unit" is sorta-kinda supposed to correspond to an "average daily salary," but time is getting short.

In the absence of something in fairly common use, I'm going with "basic unit."

Cheers...

Blogger Appreciation Day

Darren Rowse, over at Problogger, has declared today (Unofficial) Blogger Appreciation Day. (Talk about viral, his declaration was apparently made today as well.)

It seems like a good idea to me, and since I'm not much for cloying songs of joy and exultation, I'll keep this short.

Whereas the people on my friends list, generally speaking, rock, I would like to particularly express appreciation to following individuals:

• auto194419, whose unique perspective on movies and technology (and whose hospitality) are appreciated
• avva, from whom I learned about lytdybr and can always be counted on to post good chess problems
• baikonur, for his insight, and his progress as a student of law
• bandicoot, for his numerous comments and good humor
• bekar, for his really cool photographs
• brenk, for friendship and hospitality (hope to see you back on LJ someday!)
• candid, for his humor and the way he has of making me look at familiar things from new angles
• daphnis, who always has good advice and a hug to spare
• eastexpert, whose reports from the UK are always of interest
• greymaiden, who is waging the good fight
• kitiara, whose adventure of Montana is enthralling and informative
• madhacktress, who finds some of my stuff of interest and says interesting things herself
• mallorys_camera, who has a way with words and reminds me of my visits to Monterey
• marketeer, whose ongoing struggle with management reminds me of my own battles of long ago
• mnemosynosis, most of whose infrequent posts I can barely wade through, but from which I learn nonetheless
• n5iln, who keeps at it with a level head on his shoulders
• olegvolk, for his pictures
• papoose, for her insights
• rfmcdpei, for the way he has of looking at issues
• rillifane, who can always be counted on to say something provocative
• rm, through whom I can better imagine what it is to be a fencer
• skipperja, whose posts about family and travel I follow with interest
• tamaraland, whose Adventures In Bureaucracy are always riveting
• tsarina, who provides a valuable benchmark
• vuzh, who provides yet another benchmark, and shares a love of mushrooms!

Thank you all.

Cheers...

Is my irony meter broken...

...or is there good reason to despair of the state of the Republic when its citizens seem to be aggressively ignorant of history?

Via LJer deadro:


Cheers...

The image is reproduced here under the doctrine of "fair use," i.e., "...for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, ..." in conformance with copyright law.