Coming Down to EarthBy
Tai Adelaja
Russia Profile07/25/2011Despite what sometimes seems like a passionate pride in their cramped and crowded tower blocks, most Russians quietly dream of life in a low-rise, single-family home. And they may be getting closer to realizing that dream as politicians here ramp up their pre-election rhetoric with more promises of social spending ahead of crucial parliamentary elections set to take place in December this year. “People are fed up with high-rise condominium buildings springing up everywhere,” Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told a televised meeting on low-rise housing construction on Friday. “Most Russians would like to live in low-rise homes,” Putin said, citing public opinion polls. “Overall, low-rise housing is one of the government’s priorities and it will receive considerable backing, first of all, [through] funding.” Read More

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A while back a Russian newspaper made a false statement about former Moscow Mayor Yury and he got mad and sued. Well he won, not a lot of money but he won the principle of the matter. Check your sources before you decide to call it fact…

Former Moscow mayor wins damages from newspaper:
Moscow’s Savelovsky Court awarded damages of 20,000 rubles ($715) to former Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov on Monday after he won a case against Russian newspaper Tvoi Dyen, and its owner News Media…

I thought that was interesting and only correct. It is a fact that ex-mayor YTuri did not have property in Abkhazia…

Then we are winding down on the investigation on the Volga riverboat incident…

Final death toll rises to 122 as last bodies recovered from cruise ship:
The final death toll from the sinking of a Russian cruise vessel on the Volga river was confirmed at 122 on Monday after rescuers found the last two bodies that had been missing following the tragedy…

That was a sad happening and lots of children died in this tragic accident. They are saying that the Captain who went down with his ship was trying desperately to reach a shllow area of the river and ground the boat. They say he was 40 meters from grounding the stricken boat and saving many lives…

Just too many people dieing right now from just too much stupidity. Lets look at the political and energy section of Russia, it seems that Gazprom has a plan to help the Korea’s with energy and make North Korea’s use of nuclear energy defunct as a sound reason to implement…

Russian Gazprom may reconcile two Korea’s:
Russian gas giant Gazprom is preparing a project on gas supplies to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea that will be implemented if Pyongyang winds up its nuclear program…

Lets hope that Gazprom plan can be of use to the Korea’s…

This was surprising! At least to me, because I see Russian police all the time. I have to wonder about the performance reviews that were conducted. 90% – Hummm…

Over 90 pct of Russian police pass performance review – interior minister:
Over 90 percent of Russian police have passed their performance review as part of the ongoing police reform, Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev said on Sunday…

Lets end this with an interesting nature story:

Single swan father hatches offspring all by himself:
An amazing story of love and fidelity has taken place in southern Russia, where a male widower swan has unexpectedly managed to hatch baby swans after his partner was killed by a stray dog…

That is a good daddy and now all he needs to do is find another mate for next year. But that is not easy to do because he is a rare black swan from Australia…

Hope that sparked a little interest in you today. It gives you some idea of what is happening in Russia…

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My thinking’s this morning have centered around getting the next visa for Russia. I leave on Wednesday and will spend some time in Ukraine getting my next visa. As I said a few weeks ago I will be getting a year visa this time. The reason for the switching from every three month visa is because for me to get a three year business visa I have to have a recent one year visa first. This is little known information and I am now in the process to be able to get a three year visa next time. Then maybe I will be able to finalize getting a residency permit during the three year visa span…

I have already gotten my HIV test done and I have my office form that says that I do not have HIV. We have already confirmed that the telex invitation is at the Russian Consulate in Kiev and is good for the days that I get there. We are hoping that this invitation will allow me to get a fast visa? We even had them put on the telex for a hurried visa. I really dislike hanging around Ukraine for two weeks when I could be busy back home getting things done…

You still have to have invitation, two filled out applications, two visa/passport photos, one copy of your passport and a copy of migration card to get the visa. It is just that this time I need an HIV certificate to get a year visa…

Everything around getting a Russian Visa is changing for Americans. This is not for other countries and I will update this visa experience after I get back from Ukraine…

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I am too mad sad to say much about what happened in Norway…

While you are at it maybe we should all take a break and say a silent prayer for all the needless deaths all over the world. From those dying in needless wars, those drowning in boats on the Volga in Russia, those starving from no food and those that are killed by warped idiots that target innocent children playing on an island…

This quote came to mind today:

I don’t know if God exists, but it would be better for His reputation if He didn’t. ~ Jules Renard

Nuff said…

Kyle and Sveta
Windows to Russia!