Year: 2010

They did have a short disclaimer (like this statement) about not being true at the end of the newscast, very short! And at the beginning of the news cast was a statement that the program showed a sequence of possible events that could only occur “If Georgian society is not brought together against Russia’s plans.”} <---- Kinda small and short like this! Within several minutes into the news report, they “reported” the death of Saakashvili and creation of the People’s government headed by one of the opposition leaders, Nino Burdzhanadze. (Nino Burdzhanadze is pissed!) By this point Georgia was a madhouse of instigated turmoil and the damage was done…

On Sunday after all was over with and a form of calm had set in, Mikhail Saakashvili claimed that such “staging” of a war situation might be useful to protect Georgia from a new war with Russia. But he made clear that he had nothing to do with it and next time that the news station should do a better job of letting people know that is was a false report!

OK! I really believe that Sassy had nothing to do with it…

Windows to Russia!

Soon in America will start a battle is fought all summer long. I, my dad, my uncles, grandfather and my kids fought this battle. The battle of the “evil dandelion”…

The Dandelion is a widely distributed perennial weed. The mature plant arises from a strong, deep taproot that exudes a milky substance when cut. There is no visible stem. Leaves are sparsely hairy or without hairs, have deeply serrated margins, and are clustered in a rosette at the base of the plant. Dandelion can reproduce from seed almost year-round or it can regrow from its taproot. Bright yellow flower heads, 1 to 2 inches (2.5 – 5 cm) across, consist of petal-like ray flowers and are borne singly on the tip of a hollow stalk, 3 to 12 inches (7.5 – 30 cm) long. Seeds are enclosed singly within fruiting bodies and are attached to a long slender stalk that terminates in a parachute-like structure called a pappus. Seeds are transported in the wind. The bristles on the seeds can clog cultivation equipment.

In America the dandelion is an evil plant that defies most efforts to eradicate it. The amount of money spent to destroy it is astronomical. The man hours to kill it have never been calculated & yet the dandelion thrives. 🙂

Now lets travel to Russia: Where the Russians think that the dandelion is a beautiful flower! That they are an enhancement to your yard. A flower whose leaves you can eat in salads. The root can be roasted and ground up for a coffee like drink. It also can aid digestion, improves the liver function, help in weight lose, help fight cancer & last but not least help control Diabetes!

Strange how one mans poison is another mans delight!

Windows to Russia!

It seems that one presidential election would not make that much difference. But when you had a leaders such as the last Ukraine president and Prime Minister you really have no where to go but up.

Today several announcements have been made and it looks like Ukraine might see a little light at the end of the tunnel instead of total darkness.

The first thing that happened was:

MOSCOW, March 12 (Itar-Tass) — Standard and Poor’s, an international rating agency, has raised the sovereign crediting rating of Ukraine on its liabilities in foreign currency from CCC+/C to B-/C, and on the liabilities in the national currency – from B-/C to B/B. The forecast on the ratings is “positive,” says a press release of Standard and Poor’s.

We believe that the recent formation of a new ruling coalition and the cabinet of ministers in Ukraine opens up new opportunities for the improvement of policy coordination and for the resumption of cooperation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said Franklin Gill, Standard and Poor’s crediting analyst.

Now that is a shot in the arm, so to say! Even if you (like me) do not believe that “Standard and Poor’s” credit analyst is worth a hill of beans, the business world does and that is what counts.

Then also today the Ukrainian Defense Ministry has announced that Russia and Ukraine, after 7 long years of total Navy ignoration, will resume exercises of the Ukrainian Navy and the Russian Black Sea Fleet just like in the old days!

Wow, what a difference a new president has made for Ukraine?

Windows to Russia!

Russians who want to come home are being given that chance and 18,000 have returned so far since 2006! Many Russians left when the Soviet Union collapsed and now the Russian government has set in motion the groundwork to help those that wish to come home…

So pass the word if you know a Russian who would like to come home to the Mother Land!

Windows to Russia!

• Russia: Maslenitsa, I Miss Real Pancakes!(Blini) (windowstorussia.com)
• Palestinian State: Russia Unchanged Opinion From Soviet Era… (windowstorussia.com)
• Russian News From Russia… (02-07-2011) (windowstorussia.com)
• Russian Video From Russia: Check this out on the bombing at Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport… (windowstorussia.com)
• Putin Keeps Laying the Groundwork for the Future… (windowstorussia.com)
• Lavrov Speaks Out On Khodorkovsky… (windowstorussia.com)
• Coffee and Russian Smile Realizations… (windowstorussia.com)
• Don’t Come to Russia and Coffee Thoughts… (windowstorussia.com)
• A Russian Adoption Abuse in America – Again… (windowstorussia.com)
• Our Blogs… (windowstorussia.com)

The Nabucco pipeline has been used to slap Russia in the face time and time again. This pipeline has also been touted as the answer to break the Russian Bear’s hold on Europe…

But there has been a huge flaw from day one and that is getting gas to fill the pipeline. It seems that in the last few months Europe has come to a realization that Russia, is the only way to fill the pipeline that is to save Europe from the Evil Russian Bear… (interesting thought…)

Now – South Stream and Nabucco, the two major southern European pipeline projects, linking the Caspian region with Europe, should join forces! According to Paolo Scaroni, head of Italian energy company, Eni. He even states that even some of the pipeline sections should be combined to save costs and be more efficient!

Now that is a sure fire way to get gas to fill the pipeline, that cannot be filled (Nabucco): Get the one gas line guaranteed to be filled (South Stream), to connect to your empty pipeline. That way if the day comes that you can fill the Nabucco pipeline because you blow up Iran and get that huge gas field to fill Nabucco with, minus the sanctions of course. You can just cut the Russian gas off and thumb your noses again at Russia…

Isn’t that a sweet thing to do?

What! Does Russia look like the cat above?

Windows to Russia!

The minister used his annual Police Day address last November to remind police chiefs that officers should point their weapons at criminals, and not aim them at law-abiding citizens. Shortly after this, he advised ordinary citizens to “give as good as they get” if they are attacked for no reason by officers.

It seems to me that Russia is one of the last frontiers when it comes to interesting things that happen. Russia has many strange happenings and this is an example of one of those strange things that happen in Russia…

The video will explain what happened and it makes me wonder what goes through the minds of people – be they cops or anyone else! Medvedev is working hard to get the police force in Russia to get their act together and then the cops do something like this…

Watch the Video and you will understand!

Times are changing in Russia! Heads have rolled because of this incident. But the old ways die slowly and if the cops want the people to respect them. Then the cops must change the way they treat people.

Reminds me of stories that Grandpa would tell about the old days in America…

This is why I love Russia – What a cool and stupid thing to do! 🙂

Windows to Russia!

PS: This video was posted at Mizozo first! I just noticed that he beat me to posting it…

Update a video by RIA:

The Nord Stream pipeline development has exposed treasures that were not expected! The latest discovery was made during a search of the seabed east of the Swedish island of Gotland by the Nord Stream consortium, which is building a 750-mile pipeline in the Baltic Sea. The 12 wrecks were found in a 30-mile-long and 1.2-mile-wide corridor of the sea.

The find is considered to be exceptional because the Baltic sea has a lower salt level and by that one condition, a sea worm that attacks and eats wood does not exist in the sea…

This means that the ships, some as old as 800 years. Are in fantastic shape. Nord Stream has promised to not destroy the hulls of the ships and will do everything necessary to make sure everyone interested can find and research these ships. The ships found do not lay in the path of the pipeline so that danger is mute…

There are several big issues that are circling the Russian news agencies: One is Russia joining NATO and the next is that the US and Russia are currently negotiating a successor to the START nuclear disarmament treaty.

Lavrov the Russian Foreign Minister has always made it clear that NATO is the “hind end of a donkey” and he was given normative support for this thinking recently:

Madeleine Albright, secretary of state under former President Bill Clinton and currently involved in the development of a new NATO strategic concept, has only nurtured Lavrov’s skepticism. Washington, she says, will never allow Russia to influence NATO strategy: “We will not allow the tail to wag the dog.” (Link)

That is where the truth lies and to think different would be a total lack of empiricism…

As far as the successor to the START treaty: America has created a quandary for itself! Russia who has stayed firm on her commitments, thoughts and factors. Is seeing an America that talks out of two mouths. One of the most important factors to Russia is American missile defense in countries around Russian borders.

As Prime Minister Putin has eloquently stated in a recent speech in the Pacific coastal city of Vladivostok.

If Russia did nothing to oppose the missile defense system, he added, the other side would “feel completely safe under its missile shield, and it would do as it pleased. The balance would be gone, and aggression in politics and business would grow abruptly.” Putin’s conclusion is that “Russia needs new offensive systems.”

So as America plays games of decisive destruction of confirmatory relations with major world powers such as China and Russia – America keeps wondering why no-one wants to trust her…

Hello,

When Svet and I travel Russia, we will eat out allot. One of the main soups that I look for is solyanka. When we ask the cafe what soups do you have, you will hear borsch, solyanka and a mushroom soup listed, 90% of the time. Svet grabs the borsch and I perk up at solyanka.

I, as I have said before, I am half German and my Grandma made a form of solyanka from the old country. So it was natural for me just to dive into a good bowl of Russian solyanka when I first came to Russia.

Lets make a simple solyanka so that you can enjoy the taste from the East:

Recipe: Simple Solyanka from Russia:

Lets get the Ingredients:

300gr – beef or chicken or mushrooms or fish* (cubed in about half inch size)

5 or 6 – cups of water

200gr – smoked bacon, sliced

2-3 – Smoked Pork Sausages, diced (kielbasa)

400gr – salted cucumbers, diced (not vinegar)

1 – Onion, diced

2 – tablespoons tomato paste

1 cup – olives (ripe but green can bee added with the ripe)

3 or 4 – bay leaves

About a dozen capers or more (Capers – are the unripened flower buds of Capparis spinosa, a prickly, perennial plant which is native to the Mediterranean and some parts of Asia.)

Sour cream

Lemon slices

Fresh Dill, chopped

Lets Make Preparation:

First place the beef, chicken or mushrooms (fish needs to wait as it will crumble to nothing.*) cut into cubes in a big pot, adding 5 – 6 cups of water. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer until done.

(*If using fish do not add fish at this point. I like to use mushrooms to prepare the soup, then add fish at the end. If mushrooms are not desired in the soup and fish is still desired, Just prepare the soup as normal with out the beef and we will add Fish in a few minutes.*)

Second cut bacon slices into squares, fry in separate skillet until lightly brown on each side. Add to the pot. (let simmer)

Third fry the onion with the bacon fat in the skillet that you just fried bacon in – until translucent. Add tomato paste, cucumbers, stir and fry a few more minutes.

Fourth during this few minutes of frying in the skillet it is time to add the fish to the big pot. Make sure that the fish gets about 3 to 4 minutes of cooking time before using the stock from the pot.*

Fifth add a cup of stock (liquid) to the skillet from the big pot and simmer about 5 more min.

Sixth pour contents of the skillet into the big pot together with the sausage (diced) and bay leaves, bring to a slow boil. (Simmer about 10 – 15 min.)

Seventh turn the stove off and leave the big pot sitting on the burner, add ripe olives. Leave for 20 – 30 min., then it is ready to eat.

Serve in a big bowl 🙂 with a big daub of real sour cream, several lemon slices and a few capers to taste. (more the better)

Sprinkle with fresh diced dill and enjoy! YUMMY!!!

Notes:
The fish situation is a matter of taste on my part. I like to have chunks of fish visible in the soup. So if you cook the fish to soon it will disappear as a solid form. That is ok because the flavor is still there.

The main ingredient which makes this dish so special is salted cucumbers. (salt pickles) It is a traditional to make pickles with a strong brine (no vinegar) flavored by garlic, currant leaves, horseradish and dill.

Windows to Russia Recipe!
Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.