Category: Russia

Russian News (03/07/2011)

NATO not to interfere in Libya

from Voice of Russia, News
NATO does not intend to interfere in the Libyan events, though a real civil war is going on there, NATO’s Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says. Still, he adds, any further developments are possible, and NATO countries are getting ready to defend themselves if this turns out to be necessary.

Russian skier wins European Cup

The Russian skier Aleksander Bondar has won the European Cup in freestyle cross-country skiing near Murmansk in northern Russia. There were a total of seven races.He came first in two and was sixth in one. It is the first time that a Russian competitor has won this award.

Russia, Poland mull easier border crossing

Russia and Poland are close to allowing free border crossing to residents of their adjacent border areas. These areas would include the entire Russian region of Kaliningrad. The Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told this to the media Monday after discussing the matter with Kaliningrad Governor Nikolai Tsukanov.

Putin’s playing piano, singing in English pays off for hospitals

Sponsors have been found to provide three hospitals with new medical equipment after Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin participated in a fundraising event, Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, said on Monday.

Russia sets up $10 bln fund to attract foreign investors

Russia is setting up a $10 billion fund to boost investments from foreign companies into the national economy, the Financial Times newspaper reported Monday.

Russia wins women’s European track-and-field championships

Russian girls have won the European track-and-field championships in Paris. The have grabbed five gold medals out of the six, and they boast a total of 15 different medals. The French proved the second-best, with the Germans coming in third.

Russian wins silver at European air gun competition

Alexander Sokolov of Russia has won the silver medal at the European air gun competition in Brescia, Italy. Peter Szidi of Hungary won the competition, with Italian Niccolo Campriani grabbing the bronze medal.

Moscow nightclub shrugs off warnings, throws ‘Putin Party’

A Moscow nightclub has held an event entitled “Putin Party. I want the Prime Minister” regardless of earlier warnings by the prime minister’s press secretary that the government would seek legal advice on the possible illegal use of Putin’s name.

One dead as six cars collide between Moscow and St. Petersburg

One person died and three were injured as six cars collided on the highway linking Russia’s two largest cities.

Europe’s pot of Islamic debate is boiling

from RT by RT
Germany’s new interior minister said Islam “does not belong” in the country. With thousands of refugees from the Middle East and North Africa fleeing the violence in their home countries, Europe is facing a profound…

Despite NATO invitation, Russia still waiting to join Euro missile defense

from RT by RT
Two years ago, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov met in Moscow where they announced a “reset” in relations between their respective nations.
Windows to Russia!

How Is That Reset as Russia Ponders it…

RIA NovostiHillary Clinton and counterpart Sergei Lavrov“Reset” rings hollow after two years, say analysts…

19:24 06/03/2011 Two years on, the “reset” in U.S.-Russian ties has changed the tone of relations, but the “hollow” veneer of its overall success does not mask enduring mistrust between the countries and their different national interests, say analysts.Read More >>>

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Breaking Free: I Broke Free to Russia – You can do it – Anywhere in the World…

Breaking Free [FULL] from Matador Network on Vimeo.

Wow what a video! I found this wonderful site Matador Network. The worlds largest independent travel Magazine…

The video is called “Breaking Free” and it may not be about Russia but it is about Expats like me and they talk about Breaking Free… http://matadornetwork.com/

Ditching routine, comfort zones, and their own personal fears, they have sought and found vibrant, purpose-driven lifestyles to inspire viewers of all ages.

Filmed in diverse locations around the world, each hour-long episode investigates how these remarkable people started over, understanding the unique challenges, goals and passion that allowed them to follow their heart.

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IKEA’s Broken Reputation and the Smear Campaign on Russia…

The Swedish company (IKEA) says it won’t build more stores outside the Moscow region until local officials stop withholding permission for two outlets in the central cities of Samara and Ufa. After investing US$4-billion in Russia over 10 years, IKEA placed a freeze on expansion in June 2009… (Link)

I got 8 emails from America that point to this fact. People are so sure that Russia is a bribe city. That makes me smile. Then I have to smile when I see companies like IKEA whine and cry. Lately this company has done a lot of crying (literally) trying to cover up their reputation flaws…

Also Notice that IKEA says, “it won’t build more stores outside the Moscow.” Rats I hoped they would not build anymore stores at all…

So they plan on building more stores in Moscow?

The reason the stores aren’t opening is that IKEA is refusing to pay bribes to safety inspectors, said Kirill Kabanov, head of the non-governmental National Anti-Corruption Committee in Moscow…

Sounds like IKEA has internal problems, who thought that they should pay bribes to get business done in Russia. They thought wrong…

Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad, considered one of the wealthiest people in the world, controls the company through a secret foundation worth 100 billion kronor ($15.34 billion), according to a Sveriges Television (SVT) report… (Link)

and how about this for employees: (It takes two to tangle!)

Ikea’s founder Ingvar Kamprad on Friday expressed “distress” over a bribery affair which has led to the firing of the Swedish furniture giant’s two top managers of its Russian division… (Link)

Orders come from the top on such decisions…

Companies like IKEA are despicable and two-faced. Work the smear campaign to save face at the home town front and hope one of its biggest external markets does not catch on and quit buying from them…

I say, “IKEA is going nowhere and will stay in the Russian market, because it is so damn lucrative. IKEA is a corrupt company and will undermine any and all legit countries, trying to get a better deal for themselves…”

But you do not care. If it is anti-Russia then all is good…

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Coffee and Spring in Russia…

Life is like a Cup of Coffee...

It is the start of Spring and instead of seeing buds of jonquils and blooms of crocuses emerging from the ground. We have a dropping thermometer and a new foot of snow being laid down, in a furious storm with winds that are drifting the snow into meter high piles. So that cup of coffee is really good this morning…

But my thoughts are really about that Russians are very optimistic about Spring. In my opinion they have developed rituals that promote that optimism:

Maslenitsa 2011: February 28th to March 6…

These rituals have to do with Spring and making sure that Winter goes away and Spring is welcomed… (Except this year Old Man Winter is Cranky!)

It seems that we just go from holiday to holiday at this time of the year starting at the New Year occasion. We just ended Defender of the Father Land on the 23rd of February. Remember we also had 11 days off at the first of the year for Winter Holidays.

Plus we have had several other wonderful holidays. It seems to be the therapy for the super long Winter… 🙂

Now we have International Women’s Day on March 8th. It is sorta like Mothers day and if you treated it that way you would not fail at making women happy. Just act like all women are mothers and you got it. The flower shops are ready and the flowers will be sold. Plus chocolates are a huge favorite with the women in Russia… (Just make sure to carry them upside down as you walk to deliver them…)

Spring In Moscow...

All this is part of what makes Russia what it is. Russia is a world that unless you live here you really can not understand it. Especially if you are from the West…

So we are enjoying our Spring in Moscow. As the snow flies and frostbite nips at your nose. Gotta Love It…

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And Now, The Gaddafi Genocide? It Never Happened…

Article by Keith Harmon Snow: (Very Good read!)

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=23481

Claims made by Libyan ‘opposition’ and reported in the western press that Gaddafi is committing genocide against his own people represent the height of western arrogance and hypocrisy. At this very moment the wars being prosecuted by the USA and its allies, including Japan, Europe, Israel, South Africa, Canada and Australia, far dwarf the ‘atrocities’ committed in Libya. While we have no credible reporting about who is killing, who is opposition, how many dead, etc., out of Libya, we have credible report after credible report establishing that the US and its allies have perpetrated massacres, tortures, and other atrocities, in the millions of people, in Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, Afghanistan, Iraq and Sudan – for a short list.

The claim of genocide here, akin to the one-sided charges against former Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana, or against Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir, are one more clear example of the Politics of Genocide delineated in great detail by this writer and others. Reports in western media — provided, again, by the FNSL and other western intelligence, covert operations or psychological operations flak organizations — are filled with harsh language and characterizations not seen in reporting on or by western military campaigns. For example, in many western reports we can find, such as Gruesome Footage Proves Libya Using Heavy Arms makes claims that “newspapers obtained shocking footage of corpses with bodies blasted off and several torsos in Libyan hospitals.”

So there are several torsos. That is not quite genocide. Where are the images? If such images of death and destruction do appear it will be in sharp contrast to the complete whiteout on dead bodies in the Pentagon’s other theaters of war, in the eastern Congo or Somalia, or in Afghanistan.

Images of dead bodies can be produced and published but these are easily stripped of context. How do western audiences and propaganda consumers know that these are authentic and not recycled images of protests from Yemen or Bahrain dumped into the western press (with their willing acknowledgment) by Britain’s MI-6, as has been alleged? Al-Jezeera shows its true western colors by not reporting much of anything, and that certainly not critical of western manipulation or involvement.

Read More >>>

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=23481

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The Great Nuclear Icebreaker Vaigach, in Gulf of Finland…

This is a great video. It is about a Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker the Vaigach, and has come to assist smaller icebreakers to release cargo and passenger ships stuck in the ice in the Gulf of Finland…

What a cold cruel world the Gulf of Finland looks like from the video…

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Boza and I Took a Walk… (3/4/2011)

Boza and I take a walk several times everyday, but today is a touch better than most days. It is only -2 c. outside and I can hold the camera to take pictures without my hands freezing. So Boza and I decided that we needed to take pictures on this fine March day with the sun shining… (It is Spring you know!)

First off, this is what all our paths look like. We have spent months walking narrow paths between mounds of snow. In fact there is so much snow that they really do not have anyplace to put it right now…

But for some reason they decided to start digging the playground out today. There is about 2 feet of very hard packed snow on the playground. I really think it has to do with the melt coming. You see under this whole complex is pay parking. At a million rubles each to buy a car spot. I think they need to get the snow off because they have issues with water seeping into the underground areas…

So since Boza and I like big trucks and backhoes we stood and watched for a few minutes… 🙂

Boza says, “I see a dog over all this snow and I wanna play…”

Then this is an example of the business in the basement that I always talk about. In Russia you put a business anywhere. Even two flights of stairs down into the recesses of the earth. This entrance goes down three levels and when they are done there will be about 8 shops down below in this one area…

Then we found our car. I finally got it dug out and it took 5 guys to help me this time. She was buried deep. But she starts at -20 below c. and purrs like a kitten. (Well as much like a kitten that a Volga can.)

Then I turned around and found a pile of snow taller than me by our front door. That pile might be there when the fourth of July comes around…

That is it and we went inside. The wind is blowing like a March wind except no kites in this weather. We also are going to get some more snow and the temperature is going to drop again. So Boza and I enjoyed our Spring walk…

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Coffee and I Wasn’t Going to Say Anything, But…

I see no hope for the American government. I truly see the need for a revamp of the political and governmental systems in America. I see a need for the people to wake up and grow a back bone…

Over the last few days I have gotten my blood pressure sky rocketing and other issues elevated. So this is going to be my last post on America. Oh – I will have posts that has to do with Russia and America and their interchanges and such. But I have lost faith in the American government and I really do not think that it will come back until America implements some big changes. “Real Changes” not false political promises…

I love America and the people of America can be the best in the world. But the world does not know that, because we have a government that gives a false impression of who really is in America. We have a government that has literally messed up the world…

The last few years the American government has reached a new high in total all out lying. It has reached a new high in deceit and corruption. I have never seen media controlled like I do in America and your local news is probably the worst. Americans are trained to watch the local news at 10:00pm. Americans are trained to have TV baby sitters. Americans are trained to have data input as a pacifier. It seems to me that America has reached a crossroad and she is not sure what to do…

America seems to go from one crises to the next and most of these crises are created or manufactured by the American government…

Today I was astonished and most likely that is why I am writing this post…

Chavez of Venezuela came up with a legit good idea. One that makes sense. Qaddafi agreed. Chavez said it was better to seek “a political solution instead of sending marines to Libya, and better to send a goodwill mission than for the killing to continue”…

So who throws stink on the plan? The same ones who threw stink on issues with Iran when a plan to take care of the uranium was suggested…

United States, France and opposition activists dismiss Venezuelan proposal to form a commission to mediate crisis…

Then Obama has proven me correct and danced to the tune of the neoconservative: President Obama said Thursday that he had ordered plans giving the U.S. military “full capacity to act, potentially rapidly,” in Libya if the situation there deteriorates. “I don’t want us hamstrung,” Obama said. He cited the possibility of a humanitarian crisis, or “a situation in which defenseless civilians were finding themselves trapped and in great danger,” or “a stalemate that over time could be bloody” if Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi continues to resist international demands that he step down… (Link)

Surprise surprise surprise – I guess that is why we have sent enough warships over there to blow up a small country.  (That is what we will do if we decide to and kill more civilians than Qaddafi ever will. ) The fact that we think in this manner is wrong…

Looks like the American government does not want a happy ending anyway but the American way…

Number one, we really have no idea what is happening in Libya. No we really do not. I have watched the reported numbers of dead in Libya go from 200 to 500 to 1000 to 2000 to 3000 to now 6000. I have yet to see anything but a few wounded and 4 dead in a morgue in all the videos. I scourer the news and see nothing that resembles what the press is portraying. I have seen fake planted explosions. I have seen a lot of guys shooting guns in the air and waving their arms like they are at a party. Not even the press has facts, they just tell us that is what is happening by so and so witness. Do you know what 6000 dead look like? The streets would be lined with bodies and the streets would be running red with blood. We have seen what collateral damage looks like in Iraq from videos that have been successfully sneaked out from the armed forces. This is not that type of situation. We have no right to enter into a civil war in Libya. No more than anyone (another country) would or should interfere if America had another civil war…

Lets switch to another issue before I stop this long post:

I have also watched an America become so scared of everything that we hinder our own lives and think it is OK…

I will most likely try to never enter America again. The last time I crossed the America border I remember taking shoes off. I had to remove all clothes and objects from my suitcase and so on and so on and so on. I said never again at that time. It pissed me off because it was wrong…

Now I would be in jail now. Because the minute a man or woman puts his or her hands between my legs they have gone too far. I fought for freedom and rights but I would never fight for taking away my rights. I will fight against that process. No one but no one has a right to question me in the name of being a scared rabbit and afraid of your own shadow. Wave a wand metal detector around me and swipe for explosives. I will walk through a metal detector. But never touch me and scan me with any sort of machine that penetrates without a medical reason…

Simple fact: I have done nothing wrong and do not treat me like I have done something wrong. Do not treat me like I am a terrorist…

If you want to live in a world of fear then go ahead. I won’t…

Want a very true story? Many years ago I lived in that world of fear that you live in: I lived in a quiet American suburb. It was typical of the American dream. I had a wife and two kids and a baby on the way. It was 4am in the morning, the morning after we had come home from the hospital and we had lost a baby with the cord wrapped around his neck 6 times. It was a solemn situation and everyone understood that peace and quiet was the best thing for now. At 4am with the world looking like crap because of losing a baby. Someone knocks on the front door of the nice little suburb home we lived in. I walked to the door not worried because it was a quiet little town and no one was ever a issue. Before I got to the front door, I heard someone shoot out the sliding rear door on the house. I turned as was natural and at that moment someone tore the front door off the house inwards and knocked me to the floor with the door pinning my legs. The local police had shot out our back sliding door and used a big door ram to tear the front door down. I was handcuffed and they swarmed the house. Around 15 guys. My two children were up against the wall and so was my wife. They went into all the closets and were looking for something…

It seems that someone had reported that we had killed our new baby and had hid the body in the closet… (Can you say sick person! I know who it was and that is very sad!) I remember that they (Police) never said a word after they realized that it was a huge mistake and took off my handcuffs. They then left the house. I had a broken front door and a shattered rear slider with several bullets embedded in the floor. No one apologized no one even tried to call and ask are we all OK. The police tried to act like it never happened. They never offered to fix the doors and in fact refused to talk to me about it. I know that if we had a dog they would have shot it. I went to the police station several times and did get out of them who it was…

Simple fact:  No one has a right to submit you to that kind of terror that I and my family went through that night…

I have a whole lot of moments of my life like the above situation. I have lived with guns against my head to convince me that I should think different. I have had my house burned down. I have had my cars brakes tampered with. I have been through the wringer in America. I will tell you no when you try to tell me something against my morals and principles. What I have done out of America in the name of America is another whole different story and I regret that even more. That is when I decided that I will never again go against what is right and moral. I have paid dearly at times for standing up for what I believe in…

Yes we need a change of governmental bodies in America. From the small towns to the Federal government. That includes all forms of government from police to politicians…

I won’t live in that world of fear. There is a whole world of delight out here away from the borders of America.  That is one of the many reasons why I am in Russia now. That and my sweetie are damn good reasons. Russia is safe and when it becomes too much like America (Sveta and I have talked) maybe it will be time to go somewhere else in the world……

Lets hope Russia never becomes like America…

Windows to Russia!

Russia and Saudi Arabia on Thursday warned about Libya…

RIA NovostiLibyaRussia, Saudi Arabia caution against intervention in Libya
Russia and Saudi Arabia on Thursday warned against outside political or military intervention in Libya, saying such actions could only make the situation worse…
Read More >>

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