Windows to RussiaHello,
Since I was a little kid I always wondered how it could be New Year in Australia?! Neither snow nor a fir tree… How could there be a real, New Year & Christmas!
When Kyle found an article of our Australian friend , I realized it could be Christmas in Australia!
More information, pictures and even slide show you can find here: Link!
You want to know more? Ask Alex!
Best wishes for everybody!
Svet and Kyle
http://www.russia-ic.com/news/show/5414/
Orthodox Believers Accuse Coca-Cola of Blasphemy
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19.12.2007
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A group of Orthodox believers from Nizhniy Novgorod has accused the company Coca-Cola of spreading a blasphemous advertisement insulting the religious feelings of Christians. In particular, they mean the image of the local temples drawn inside the contour of a Coca-Cola bottle and intentionally turned upside down Orthodox crosses. The Orthodox group asks the local procuracy and the city governor to ban the commercial and punish the administration of Coca-Cola.
An action against Coca-Cola started at one of the websites on the Internet where two Nizhniy Novgorod citizens posted photos of refrigerators with the “insulting” advertisement labelled on them. The crosses intentionally turned upside down are the main object of the Orthodox activists` rage.
At the same time the representative office of Coca-Cola in Nizhniy Novgorod explains that by placing sights of architectural and art objects on the bottles the company demonstrates its position concerning the cultural heritage protection.
Source: og.ru
Hello,![Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket](http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa306/kylekeeton/coffee.gif")
Just an item off the news wire:
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NEW YORK (AP) — Time magazine on Tuesday named Russian President Vladimir Putin its “Person of the Year.” The nod went to the Russian leader because of Putin’s “extraordinary feat of leadership in taking a country that was in chaos and bringing it stability,” said Richard Stengel, Time ‘s managing editor.
Putin, 55, is enormously popular in Russia, presiding over a resurgent economy flush with revenue from oil and natural gas. But critics say he has moved the country away from Russia’s democratic reforms of the 1990s by tightening control of the media, courts and parliament. ==========================
Good choice for person of the year!
Kyle
RBC, 17.12.2007, Moscow 19:55:09.Over half of Russians (53 percent) believe the recent State Duma elections to have been free, democratic and fair, an opinion poll held by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center revealed. 19 percent of respondents held the opposite point of view. The opinion that the elections were fairly democratic is more widespread in rural (57 percent) rather than urban Russia (48-52 percent). The estimates, however, have changed for the better since the previous election of 2003, when 49 percent of poll participants thought the elections had been democratic, and 26 percent condemning them as unfair.Half the respondents said they saw no other party that should have been granted seats in the Duma apart from the four parties surpassing the threshold. Others regretted that the Agrarian Party (19 percent) and Yabloko (5 percent) were not on the list, as well as Civil Force, the Union of Right Forces, the Party of Social Justice and Patriots of Russia (4 percent for each).The poll was held among 1,600 Russians in 153 locations in 46 of Russia’s regions and republics on December 8-9, 2007. The margin of error does not exceed 3.4 percent.
RBC, 17.12.2007, Moscow 18:57:03.The United Russia party has officially nominated Deputy PM Dmitry Medvedev as its candidate for President at the close of its 8th congress, with 478 delegates voting in favor, and 1 against the nomination….(click: read more for more news)
RBC, 17.12.2007, Moscow 17:54:38.Gazprom is willing to cooperate with the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) in the diagnostics, maintenance, exploitation, and modernization of Iran’s gas network, as well as in raising its transportation and energy efficiency. The matter was discussed at a meeting of the energy working group of the Russian-Iranian trade and economic cooperation commission, the Russian Industry and Energy Ministry’s press office said in a statement today. The meeting was chaired by Russia’s Deputy Industry and Energy Minister Anatoly Yanovsky and Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Hossein Noghrehkar-Shirazi.According to the statement, the parties made a high evaluation of Gazprom’s experience in servicing Iran’s South Pars field project.
RBC, 17.12.2007, Moscow 16:51:46.Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to become the country’s next Prime Minister after he steps down in March. The Russian leader made this statement at today’s eighth session of United Russia. Putin noted that there would be no changes in the roles of the President and the government.
RBC, 17.12.2007, Moscow 12:20:57.The weighted average euro exchange rate closed at 35.62 RUR/EUR at this morning’s special trading session for today deals, which is RUR0.22 lower than the official rate set by the Bank of Russia for December 17. Meanwhile, the low on euro deals stood at 35.56 RUR/EUR. The current developments on MICEX may be attributed to the euro’s significant decrease against the euro on international exchanges. The latter is now trading at almost USD1.4380, down from nearly USD1.4610 at the same time on Friday. Consequently, the US currency has surged 1.5 percent against the euro on the global market since then.
RBC, 17.12.2007, Moscow 11:10:47.According to unaudited date, Magnit’s net retail revenue climbed 40.5 percent to RUR82.443bn (approx. USD3.36bn) in January-November 2007 compared to the same period a year earlier, the retail chain indicated in its official statement. The company’s revenue grew 49.15 percent to almost RUR3.212bn in dollar terms. The company opened 228 new stores, bringing their total number to 2,121 shops.
RBC, 14.12.2007, Minsk 19:15:51.Russia and Belarus are to develop a program for a common foreign policy for 2008-2009, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting of the Supreme Council of the Union State in Minsk today. He reiterated that the international cooperation of the two countries was implemented on the basis of an exisiting target program.The leaders of the Union State should seek to create a common economic space, Putin stated, adding that trade between Russia and Belarus was expected to top $24bn in 2007, an impressive 20 percent increase from the previous year.
That is all for today as far as news is concerned!
Kyle
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Hello,
I am drinking my morning cup of coffee and thinking about some of the past post that we have done. So I am going to list 5 posts from the last two months of the Blog. That way you do not have to search……(click; read more for links)
http://kylekeeton.com/2007/11/russia-poem-translation-by-reader.html
http://kylekeeton.com/2007/11/svet-sunday-all-in-your-hands.html
http://kylekeeton.com/2007/11/svet-sundays-strong-people-of-russia.html
http://kylekeeton.com/2007/11/russia-secret-cities.html
http://kylekeeton.com/2007/12/russia-art-of-toasting-bread.html
Kyle
comments always welcome.
Hello,
This morning when he drank his coffee with cream and I drank my green tea with lemon, He was telling me that Blogger finally admitted that they had made changes with their “comments policy” and removed an URL string.
Kyle was very upset that I put him in the bed (but he has a temperature 39C./102.2F.), so he asked me to write an article about new comment policy of Blogger…
Blogger says; “Right now, the only way to add a URL to your name when commenting is to sign your comment with OpenID. We apologize for removing the URL field from the comments form prematurely two weeks ago. That was a mistake on our part that came from launching OpenID support on Blogger in draft.”
This is Blogger full article: OpenID Commenting.
I am not sure how all this works, hope our readers from LiveJournal and another communities check it and tell us (is it convenient), like how Blogger tries to assure us…
Best wishes and take care!
Svet and Kyle {who always watches me (even from the bed) when I do articles ;)}
comments always welcome.
Kyle Keeton
Hello,
I was drinking my morning cup of coffee & thinking again about the American Dollar. I have written several articles about the Demise of the Dollar! I have now just read that the Canadian Dollar is worth more than the American Dollar. I think that I read some where that the Australian Dollar is worth the same as an American Dollar.
Seems to me that the world currencies are adjusting to be more equal with each other.
This downfall of the Dollar is causing Russia to have inflation problems. To the Russians; “It’s clear that Washington is not going to do anything to solve the problem that it has created. As former U.S. Treasury Secretary Connally also famously said, “The dollar may be our currency, but it’s your problem.” Especially in an election season next year, the United States is focused on how to minimize recessionary risks — hence lower interest rates and a bigger fiscal deficit.”(click: read more)
“Again, Russia is not alone in this predicament. Late last week, discussions within the Gulf Cooperation Council ended without any action to break the peg to the dollar, which places those countries in an identical inflationary predicament as Russia. Asian countries face similar concerns.
It’s clear that Washington is not going to do anything to solve the problem that it has created. As former U.S. Treasury Secretary Connally also famously said, “The dollar may be our currency, but it’s your problem.” Especially in an election season next year, the United States is focused on how to minimize recessionary risks — hence lower interest rates and a bigger fiscal deficit.
So will Russia and its economic partners continue to play the victim in order to maintain the dollar as the monetary anchor of the international financial system? Perhaps the time has come for Moscow to help organize a new cartel. No, nothing to do with energy, but rather a “sound money” cartel among those countries that collectively wish to reassert monetary stability. Of course, as we all know, this is just wishful thinking.
Martin Gilman, a former senior representative of the IMF in Russia, is a professor at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow.” (Moscow Times)
The Horizon looks bad for the American Dollar! Looks like America has some recession years coming up. I remember the past well.
Kyle
comments always welcome.
Hello,
I was drinking my morning cup of coffee & thinking about Putin.
In America we have a saying about, holding all the “Aces”. (means, that you have the highest cards) How do you think Putin will play his aces?
You have to admit that Putin is one smart man! When Putin retires he needs to write a book called; “Putinisms!” I would love to read a book about how he thinks, to help understand his mind! He is shrewed and cunning! Reminds me of a Fox!…… (click: read more to continue)
“Dmitry Medvedev, endorsed by President Vladimir Putin as his preferred successor, asked Putin on Tuesday to become prime minister in his future government in order to ensure continuity.
Medvedev also said his priority in the Kremlin would be to raise living standards, and he praised Russia’s growing might in the world.
Putin, who almost certainly cleared Medvedev’s statements beforehand, gave no indication whether he would accept the post of prime minister. But he praised Medvedev as someone who respects democratic values, during a meeting with foreign ambassadors.
Medvedev’s comments were his first since Putin backed him as the next president Monday, and they provided a glimpse into what politics might look like after Putin leaves the Kremlin next year. Medvedev, who has little visible power base in the Kremlin, is seen as beholden to Putin, whose preferred successor is expected to easily win the presidential election on March 2.
“Expressing my readiness to participate as a candidate in the presidential election, I am calling on [Putin] to agree to become the head of the Russian government after the election of the new president,” Medvedev said in a speech shown repeatedly on state television throughout the day, lending it the appearance of a campaign ad.
Medvedev is not a registered candidate yet.
Sending a clear signal to the country’s elite that he does not plan a government shake-up, Medvedev said, “It is important to keep the effectiveness of the team created by the incumbent president.”
He echoed Putin in heralding the country’s revival on the international stage. “The attitude toward Russia in the world is different now,” he said. “We are not being lectured like schoolchildren. We are respected and we are deferred to. Russia has reclaimed its proper place in the world community. Russia has become a different country: stronger and more prosperous.”
The conditions that Putin himself has set to become prime minister appear to have been fulfilled. Putin floated the idea of occupying the post on Oct. 1, but he said two conditions should be met first: United Russia must achieve a crushing victory in State Duma elections, and the next president must be a “worthy” person with whom he could work.”(Moscow Times)
So Putin has all the cards, as we say! Lets see how he plays them over the next few years!
Kyle
comments always welcome.
Hello,
I can not understand why anyone in this world would injure innocent people. Seems strange to me to hate the world so much that you have to blow up buses to enjoy life!
I remember the Oklahoma City Bomb! (Timothy McVeigh) . That was a good example of someone killing innocent people for no reason.
What do you think? Are times changing for the worst?
Kyle
comments always welcome.
(to continue with more of the same article: Click: Read More!)
(article from Moscow times)
“A bus blast that killed two women and injured 14 others in southern Russia over the weekend was the result of an explosive device, investigators said Monday.
The bomb went off at about 4:30 p.m. Sunday while the bus was making a planned stop in Nevinnomyssk, a town in the Stavropol region, and the number of casualties would likely have been much higher if the bus had been on the road and full of passengers, Kommersant reported Monday.
Many of the passengers were outside taking a break when the explosion tore through the bus, which was heading from Stavropol to Pyatigorsk.
Besides the two dead women, identified as Susanna Gazoryan and Yelena Tarasova, 14 others were injured in the blast, Interfax reported, citing a source in the regional Emergency Situations Ministry. Five victims remained hospitalized as of Monday afternoon.
Photographs showed the gutted, charred shell of a bus with its windows shattered and the back of its roof lifted upward by the force of the explosion.
The bomb had the equivalent of 500 grams to 1 kilogram of TNT, an unidentified law enforcement source said, Interfax reported.”
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