Year: 2009

Every once in a while I come across a statement in the world press that kinda just floors me. Usually something someone says that is printed verbatim. Being an American, I stay involved in American news. I still have contacts in DC and when they give me the heads up, I look around for the connections in mainstream media. Today it is two statements:

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Wednesday that:

“U.S. troops would be out of Afghanistan by 2017.”

Then he said:

“We will stay in Afghanistan as long as it takes to finish the job. Obviously that is not forever.” (I wonder if he smiled when he said that?)

I just wonder if you realize that it is 2009 and they are talking about staying in Afghanistan at least until 2017.

When did this war start?

The war was started in Oct. of 2001 – This will mean a 16 year war… (We really will never leave just like in Iraq!)

Tidbit of Data: Afghan War Costs US $3.6 Billion Per Month!

A better question would be: Why did this war start?

You got any answers for why this war started?

Windows to Russia!
comments always welcome.

Another Tidbit: 2017 is the actual limit to the budgeted money for this war (Until updated future operations are reevaluated). So he could not say a date any farther than 2017 because he has no authority to express any farther information.

SPIEGEL ONLINE – Reports:

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has accused the West of breaking promises made after the fall of the Iron Curtain, saying that NATO’s expansion into Eastern Europe violated commitments made during the negotiations over German reunification. Newly discovered documents from Western archives support the Russian position.

No one in Russia can vent his anger over NATO’s eastward expansion quite as vehemently as Viktor Baranez. The popular columnist with the tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda (“Komsomol Truth”), which has a readership of millions, is fond of railing against the “insidious and reckless” Western military alliance. Russia, Baranez writes, must finally stop treating NATO as a partner.

Baranez, a retired colonel who was the Defense Ministry’s spokesman under former Russian President Boris Yeltsin, asks why Russia should even consider joint maneuvers after being deceived by the West. NATO, he writes, “has pushed its way right up to our national borders with its guns.” He also argues that, in doing so, NATO has broken all the promises it made during the process of German reunification. (Interested? Read More)

Grechka: Could be Called – Russia’s Brown Rice!

When I first came to Russia three years ago. I was fed for one of my very first meals Grechka (Buckwheat). Now since I grew up a country boy I had eaten hot buckwheat before. But never any that tasted as good as the Grechka in Russia!

It had a distinct nutty flavor that I had never tasted before (due to roasting process and oven baking). So getting the right Buckwheat may not be easy in America, but you can get Buckwheat and it is worth the try to make Grechka. Tidbit of information – Buckwheat is not a grain it is a fruit seed (the seed is related to rhubarb)!

Lets make some Grechka to warm our tummy’s on a cold winter day. Maybe you could have Grechka with that Thanksgiving meal as a side dish…

Ingredients:

200-250 ml whole roasted buckwheat groats
Tablespoon of butter (rounded)
½ tsp salt
boiling water

Lets Make:

Rinse groats with cold water then pour them in a flat and wide casserole dish or oven pan.

Add a tablespoon of butter. (More if you so desire)

Then sprinkle with the salt. (to taste and I like a pinch of pepper)

Pour enough boiling hot water into pan to coat the groats completely and then mix gently.

Then just cover pan tightly with a lid or a piece of foil and bake the dish, at 150 to 175 °C for about 1 – 2 hours. (not too hot so we do not burn the Grechka.)

(Baking is important and helps give buckwheat its nutty taste.)

Remember – The steam building inside the pan is an important part of cooking this dish, so you should not remove the cover or stir the mixture during baking. (Using a double boiling method is advised for the perfect Grechka. A pan within a pan and the first pan with water.)

The Grechka is ready when all the liquid has been absorbed, softening the Buckwheat groats.

Serve Grechka with melted butter. Grechka may be served as an individual dish for a healthy meal or as a replacement for rice. (It is better than rice)

Notes: I like to add mushrooms and any other variety of seasonings and veggies. Grechka can be turned into a wonderful soup that with hit the spot on a cold winter day…

YUMMY!

Windows to Russia!
comments always welcome.

Today the pressing news in Russia is the S-300 air defense missile systems that Iran wants delivered by Russia. Iran is even saying (according to TV station 1) that they can sue in the International court of law to get the contracted S-300 air defense missile systems.

We all know that Israel and the USA have tried and are putting pressure on Russia not to deliver these state of the art air defense missiles…

With all the hoopla about Israel wanting to attack Iran and trying to get permission from Obama to overfly Iraq, the installment of these Russian S-300’s would virtually assure Iran of a unbeatable defense to Israel attack.

Why is the S-300 air defense so important to Iran?

Well look at what Wikipedia says:

The S-300 is also capable of destroying ballistic missile targets, and is regarded as one of the most potent anti-aircraft missile systems currently fielded. Its radars have the ability to simultaneously track up to 100 targets while engaging up to 12. S-300 deployment time is five minutes. The S-300 missiles are sealed rounds and require no maintenance over their lifetime. An evolved version of the S-300 system is the S-400 (NATO reporting name SA-21), that entered service in 2004. (Link)

This would allow Iran to virtually “mop up the air” on Israel jets that attack the nuclear sites in Iran…

So while Iran is being lambasted with reports from Western press that Israel wants the OK from Obama to attack and get Americas help.

Iran needs that protection and now! (Israel says threat of attack on Iran, no bluff ” If no crippling sanctions are introduced by Christmas, Israel will strike,” Sneh said. “If we are left alone, we will act alone.” )

Should Russia send the contracted S-300 air defense missiles to Iran?

Windows to Russia!
comments always welcome.

Russia’s GDP to grow 3-4% in 2010 – Central Bank:
Russia expects its gross domestic product to decline less than projected in 2009 and grow 3-4% next year, Central Bank First Deputy Chairman Alexei Ulyukayev said on Tuesday.

One dead in shooting in Russia’s Ingushetia:
One person was killed in Russia’s North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia on Monday when unknown assailants opened fire on a car driven by a police officer, Ingush police said.

Two Russian security officials found beheaded in N.Caucasus:
The headless bodies of a court bailiff and a police officer have been found in the southern Russian republic of Kabardino Balkaria, a security official said on Tuesday.

Russia may be forced to stop issuing biometric passports:
Russia could soon stop issuing biometric passports due to technical problems, a newspaper reported on Tuesday citing the head of the Federal Migration Service.

Men in police uniforms beat man to death in Moscow:
Three unidentified men dressed in police coats beat a man to death in southeast Moscow on Tuesday, a law enforcement source said.

US ready to continue talks with Russia on Afghanistan:
The United States is ready to continue dialogue with Russia on Afghanistan-related issues, Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, said Monday.

Naftogaz delegation to visit Moscow to sign gas documents:
A delegation of Ukrainian state-owned oil and gas company Naftogaz will visit Moscow on Tuesday to hold talks with Russian energy giant Gazprom and sign documents excluding fines for Ukraine.

Iran completes 1st stage of drills to protect nuclear facilities:
Iran’s armed forces have completed the first stage of a large-scale air defense exercise to protect the country’s nuclear facilities.

Medvedev says Belarus has not been asked to become part of Russia:
President Dmitry Medvedev has said Moscow wants to build a closer union with Belarus, but has not invited the country to become part of Russia.

Russia pledges 30-40% discount on gas for Belarus in 2010:
Russian natural gas prices will be 30-40% lower for Belarus than for EU states in 2010, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday.

That is all for today: Come back tomorrow and I will try to post another round of pictures!

Windows to Russia!
comments always welcome.

http://www.windowstorussia.com/2009/11/trip-to-israel-was-blast-photo-set-1.html

While Svet and I traveled Israel this time we went to the Lebanon border and saw the grottoes! As always Svet loves to take pictures and movies. I picked this movie because it shows not only the star attraction of this article but some of the beautiful landscape that is around the area. While you watch the movie remember that the tiny little creatures that are shown in the film are a relative of the Elephant – Yes an Elephant…

Called a hyrax (from Greek ὕραξ “shrewmouse”) is any of four species of fairly small, thickset, herbivorous mammals in the order Hyracoidea: The Rock Hyrax Procavia capensis, the Yellow-spotted Rock Hyrax Heterohyrax brucei, the Western Tree Hyrax Dendrohyrax dorsalis, and the Southern Tree Hyrax, Dendrohyrax arboreus. They live in Africa and the Middle East.

Hyraxes are sometimes described as being the closest living relative to the elephant. This is because they may share an ancestor in the distant past when hyraxes were larger and more diverse.

Hyraxes are well-furred rotund creatures with a short tail. Most measure between 30–70 cm long and weigh between 2–5 kg. From a distance, a hyrax could be mistaken for a very well-fed rabbit or guinea pig. (Link)

My first reaction was that they are rodents but after closer examination of the creature I have discovered that they are very interesting and considered very important to the ecology of the Middle East.

So hope you enjoyed our little Israel tidbit of information today?

Windows to Russia!
comments always welcome.

http://www.windowstorussia.com/2009/11/trip-to-israel-was-blast-photo-set-1.html

Remember Litvinenko? The ex Russian KGB that defected to the West and was murdered? (They say he was murdered.)

Well – it has been three years since former Russian security officer Aleksandr Litvinenko died of polonium poisoning in London and that seems to be the end of the story. The simple fact that he died of polonium is about the only true statement that can be upheld in anyone’s book. The rest of the so called facts and statements have all been falling to the wayside.

This very month – Scotland Yard’s case against Lugovoy sustained a huge blow. A German court dropped its legal action against another Russian, Dmitry Kovtun, who was suspected of transporting the polonium-210 that Britain believed was used to kill Litvinenko. (They are saying dropped because of lack of evidence.) Kovtun has now been given access to the evidence that was to be against him.

“Already now we can see a lot of inconsistencies. If we study carefully all the documents and discrepancies in this case, it will help us to prove the guilt and to show to the world that the Russian party had nothing to do with that,” Kovtun said.

This issue now brings into focus – How strong is the British evidence? MP Mike Hancock, chairman of Britain’s All-Party Parliamentary Group on Russia says:

“I sometimes wonder if the evidence is as strong as what we suggest it is. I’d like to think it was because the whole country is being led to believe that the evidence is so overwhelmingly patently easy to prove. Then we should try it and see if we can convince the Russian judicial system of the merits of the case. If we can’t, then let’s be honest enough to say we can’t!”

I remember well the hate emails and comments of death and destruction over these articles that I recieved. People at the time had no doubts that Lugovoy killed him and if you questioned the facts you where attacked from all viewpoints…

Links below are the articles that I did since the beginning of this case. I will stand by my thoughts: I think that Britain has been barking up the wrong tree all this time. But they were led to that tree by the ones who really did the killing! (Time to chase other cats up other trees.)

http://www.windowstorussia.com/2008/01/no-one-knows-who-killed-
http://www.windowstorussia.com/2008/03/could-litvinenko-have-pois
http://www.windowstorussia.com/2008/05/russia-says-lets-work-tog
http://www.windowstorussia.com/2008/06/russia-was-polonium-210-
http://www.windowstorussia.com/2008/07/russia-moscow-has-reques
http://www.windowstorussia.com/2008/07/london-rejects-bbc-litvinen
http://www.windowstorussia.com/2008/07/russia-more-on-litvinenko-
http://www.windowstorussia.com/2008/07/russia-german-prosecutor-

Windows to Russia!
comments always welcome.

Windows to Russia!
comments always welcome.