Category: Russia

Ukraine Gets Passionate About Politics…

I have to say I had a good laugh over this. But in all honesty at least they have passion over something and are willing to fight over it. I am just glad no one was killed. From the videos that I saw coming out of Ukraine, they had lots of chains, knives and blunt metal objects to beat people with. As you can see they even chained the doors. That was the part that bothered me, this was a planned event by trouble makers…

(But still it would have been fun to have been there. Reminds me of the old bar room fight scene in a Western…)

The tensions are high and flaring between parties over the Yulia issue. We talked about it yesterday… (Link)

KIEV, December 16 (Itar-Tass) – A brawl that broke out in the Ukrainian parliament Thursday between the MPs representing the ruling Regions Party and the oppositionist Yulia Timoshenko bloc inflicted bodily damage on three MPs representing the latter – Vladimir Bondarenko, Vassily Kravchuk and Mikhail Volynets.The latter man was hospitalized with a trauma of the head and jaw. He said he had received a blow with a chair on the head.

Bondarenko had an arm fracture, while Kravchuk was taken out of the parliament’s building by a team of emergency medics on a stretch. Some MPs emerged from the brawl with bruises, scratches or torn clothes…

Sometimes I wish that the American politics would show more passion about what they are trying to do. You do not see this level of emotions in America very often. For that matter I really do not see these type of emotions happening in the Russian Duma either. But I have seen it happen in Georgia…

What have you seen from the country you live in?

Windows to Russia!

Yulia Tymoshenko is Under Investigation…

Yulia Tymoshenko the former prime minister of Ukraine and one of the leaders of the Orange Revolution, has not been detained, but has had to give a pledge not to leave the Ukraine country…

A case has been opened against Yulia only after investigations by international organizations audited Tymoshenko’s government. The report, prepared by the Kroll company, was made public in October of this year…

I do know that this is hot news in Ukraine at this moment and it looks like Yulia is screaming political repressions and what knots… 🙂

Windows to Russia!

Russian News Time… (12/16/2010)

South Korea to hold artillery drills near border with North:
South Korea plans this weekend to hold artillery drills on the island in the Yellow Sea that was attacked by North Korea last month, the Yonhap news agency said on Thursday.

Russia and India fix T.50 fighter design contract cost at $295 mln:Russia and India have agreed the estimated cost of a design contract for their joint fifth-generation fighter project at $295 million, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Chairman Ashok Nayak said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

Gazprom gets 50% of Bulgarian South Stream gas pipeline JV:Russian gas giant Gazprom has received a 50% stake in South Stream Bulgaria AD, the joint venture operating the Bulgarian sector of the South Stream pipeline project, which will pump gas to Southern and Central Europe, the company said in a statement on Thursday.

Senate agrees to open talks on new arms treaty with Russia:After months of wrangling over the future of the U.S. atomic-weapons complex, the Senate voted Wednesday to take up a new nuclear arms-reduction treaty with Russia, opening debate on a pact that President Obama regards as critical to his foreign-policy agenda.

Russia’s main New Year tree found and cut down in Moscow region:Russia’s main New Year tree has been cut down in the suburbs around Moscow and is being prepared for transportation to the Kremlin.

Uncertain World: Arguments against Russia joining NATO:This past year saw a lot of speculation about whether Russia will ultimately join NATO. Prominent analysts and former politicians took to the pages of Western publications to voice their opinion on the desirability of Russian membership.

Windows to Russia!

Putin Answers Questions!

MOSCOW, December 16 (Itar-Tass) – Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will hold his ninth annual Q & A session with the people of Russia on Thursday, December 16 2010.

A special program titled “A Conversation with Vladimir Putin, Continued” will go on air on the Russia 1 and Russia 24 television channels at midday on Thursday. The Mayak and the Voice of Russia radio stations will also broadcast the program live.

Putin’s Q & A session is expected to last for approximately two hours but it’s likely to be longer as usual. Putin broke record last year. He answered 87 questions in more than four hours.They have recieved over 700,000 questions this year.

I thought that this would be of interest to the readers on Windows to Russia! Thanks for the chance to say something.

Fred Banner

{Guest Post, Admin added links and photo}

Windows to Russia!

Moscow police force says it is holding 1207 people on suspicion of planning to take part in ethnic clashes…

The Moscow police force says it is holding 1207 people on suspicion of planning to take part in ethnic clashes. The arrests were made in the streets and at stations of the city’s underground metro system. Officers confiscated some 300 knives and seven traumatic handguns…

Fun time in the big city today… 🙂

We stayed home…

Windows to Russia!

Coffee and Teaching in Russia…

I was drinking that morning cup of coffee after walking the dog. Boza was glad that him and I could tromp through the snow and check out our special places that we always go to. Sveta had been walking Boza since I was feeling rough…

So now Boza and I are walking again… 🙂

So what was I thinking about today while drinking coffee? Glad you asked…

I was thinking about a young student who I am teaching English to. He is a bright artistic young man (he is 9 years old) that is struggling with English because he missed a good portion of the last year of school due to illness and it was a very important year for basics of English…

In Russia from what I can tell everyone is taught English when they are young. Sveta said that she had English most of her life as she grew up. They also learn French and German but English seems to be the second language of necessity. This brings us to…

In Moscow, Russia someone can make a living teaching English. The demand is high and I am amazed at the price that I see these non certified English schools charging. Several schools near us are averaging over a 1000 rubles ($30) per individual of a 12 person group (yes $360 hour), per academic hour (45 minutes). Private lessons at schools are much much higher. The schools are over flowing with students of all ages. So someone with the ability, nerve and desire can make a lot of money tutoring in Russia…

But I am not teaching him for the money and I do not expect money for teaching him. I am teaching him English because he needs help. But the money issue is what brings me to this article. I grew up in a world of corporations that heaven forbid you better take care of the bottom line and make a profit. Even if you give it away, there better be profit in it. Since those days I have discovered a better bottom line and a better profit… 🙂

The grandmother is the person who found me. She heard Sveta and I talking in English one day this summer. Then she approached with her predicament that her grandson needed help before school started. I said that I would be happy to work with her grandson and his English. They are a typical Russian family and money is very hard to come by. The boys parents have no way to afford lessons and this was the grandmothers burden to bear…

So I said 300 rubles per real hour. I expected nothing but realized that they had to have a price because charity was not going to be accepted. So that started my entrance as a family member in a Russian family of strangers…

In Russia the teacher is someone very important. In the case of tutoring like I am doing. I go to their home and teach three times a week in their surroundings. They pay as they can and usually it is in the form of food. Such as tea leaves, baked cabbage pies, frozen fish and many other food items. Even coffee. In fact the food that Sveta and I get far exceeds any cash amount that I could ever demand for the services…

Treats are also very common and since I can not have treats, it has been hard to explain that issue. They just have to give treats to the teacher. It is tradition and if the teacher would refuse it would be an insult to them. So Sveta’s mom and uncle have benefited from the treats I get. Sveta refuses to eat them because I can not…

I usually go to their place and the boy is alone sometimes. We have our lesson and usually I spend two hours at the price of one. The family trusts me and wishes me in their household at all times. They always try to get you to eat a meal with them. Sveta has explained to me that I am their teacher. That I am a family member in their home and life…

It is strange to me and has been an adjustment for me to accept the fact that I am like family with them. Yet here I am, an America from a whole different world than what is common here and they treat me like one of the family…

By the way, when we first started with this boy he was not able to say his ABC’s and in less than 6 months we have got him reading from this years text books…

I am proud of him…

Windows to Russia!

South Korea is Provoking North Korea?

{Guest Post} A day after the November 23rd Yŏnpyŏngdo attack, Justin Raimondo rightly noted that “the South Koreans were conducting military ‘exercises’ near the disputed island, which North Korea claims as its territory, and South Korean ships had opened fire,” going on to suggest that “the military exercises, code-named ‘Hoguk,’ involving all four branches of the South Korean armed forces and some 70,000 troops, simulated an attack on North Korea, and were meant to provoke the North Koreans, who responded as might be expected” [Korean Conundrum: Is There a Way Out?]. He continued, “US troops were supposed to have participated in the exercises, but apparently the Americans thought better of it and pulled back at the last moment – perhaps because they knew a provocation was in the making”.

Mr. Raimondo went on to argue, even more pointedly, “For the South Koreans to conduct military exercises in this explosive region, never mind firing off rounds, is nothing but a naked provocation of the sort the West routinely ascribes to Pyongyang. In the context of North Korea’s recent revelation that it is increasing its nuclear capacity, the South Korean military maneuvers were meant to elicit a violent response – and succeeded in doing so”.

A few days later, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said of the incident, “Launching a military attack on civilians is a crime against humanity, even during wartime” [South Korean president takes responsibility for failing to protect country, signals hardened military stance toward North]. Of course, he is about right attacks on civilians being crimes against humanity, but he said nothing of the irresponsibility of holding war games so close to an inhabited and disputed island.

Read More of: Who’s Provoking Whom in the Koreas?

Copyright © 2010 by LewRockwell.com. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given.

Thanks!

Patty Lane

{Guest Post and Links plus picture request added by Admin}

Windows to Russia!

Will The START Treaty Be Passed in the American Senate?

The American Senate is going to try (attempt) to pass a proposed nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia (START) as early as today, even though Republican’s say that there is too little time before Christmas breaks this year to properly study the disputed treaty. They express that they need time to explore the details of the treaty to make sure that it is in the best interest of the US needs…

Lets watch and see if this passes or not…

I can tell you that the Kremlin is watching closely because the Russian Duma has been ready for months and I really have my doubts that it will be passed this year…

Lets hope my doubts are wrong…

Windows to Russia!

Has America Taken the Soviet Path to Fail?

Now that we (USA) have officially extended our Afghanistan withdrawal to 2014 and or beyond.

Time article Read More Here >>>>>>

The only question left is how long will the longest war in American history be and will it take us into a grave like the Soviet version of the war back in 79 to 89? It has also been declared that we will never leave Afghanistan and that NATO was disavowing a 2014 leave date, that we would be out way before 2014. Looks like we were wrong!

AntiWar.com Read More >>>>>>

On Oct. 7, 2001 the US attacked Afghanistan. If we continue to the minimum that they call for of 2014. It will be around 13 years. We are very blessed that we do not have a Soviet empire and other countries that supports Afghanistan against us. Like we (USA) did with a number of other countries, including Saudi Arabia who offered the greatest financial support to go against the Soviet Empire. It looks to me like we would have been toast years ago if everyone had ganged up on us like we did to the Soviet Union.

Looks like Afghanistan is the graveyard of Empires!

Manfed Man

{Article by Guest Poster – Links below added by Admin}

Windows to Russia!

Coffee and Pondering in Russia…

This morning I did not get to walk the dog. Sveta took him for a walk before she took off for the day to the Gazprombank. As I said a few days ago that I am feeling rough and at that time had to take a nitro to get going for the day. I have had to take several more nitros since then during the evening times and in respect to that I have stayed calmer than usual. But in all honesty I am feeling a lot better than a few days ago. But Sveta still took the dog on his walk this morning and made me stay inside… 🙂

Now that brings me to my coffee and pondering…

I am pleasantly surprised with the uCan-Post program. I have woke up most mornings since starting the program and found one or two posts that are waiting to be looked over and posted. This is fantastic and so far 75% of the posts are worth posting. They are real posts and not a ranting spam. An example is that today I received three posts. Two of them are great but one was full of spitefulness and hate for Russia, with every other word a cuss word. Looks like to get the good out of the system, I will have to tolerate some trash…

Now I was also thinking about some advancements that Russia is making in the train travel department. One is the makings of a high speed rail between Kiev, Ukraine and Moscow, Russia seems to be in the works. Also the high speed rail that is working between Helsinki, Finland and St. Petersburg, Russia. These rails will travel at least 220km per hour and make the trip to adjoining countries a lot more fun. Sveta and I are talking about the rail to Helsinki and trying that out real soon…

Speaking of travel and St Petersburg:  A high-speed motorway from Moscow to St. Petersburg will cross the Khimki Forest. This has been finalized and will become a fact after all the hoopla that has been going on about it. I find it interesting that this planned roadway is still on the original path even though this was one of the big issues used against the Old Moscow Mayor to fire him. He staunchly stood up for the path of the road to transverse the Khimki Forest. He had said that was the best rout and nothing else will do.  He was basically used as a scapegoat over the path of the new road. Guess what? They are still using the route that he said was the best…

Next lets touch on the subject of NATO and Russia. Wikileaks had let out a cable that contradicted what NATO was wining and dining Russia about. NATO was being so sweet to Russia that Russia had to have know that they were speaking with a forked tongue. Well after the cable leaked, Russia wanted an explanation is the cable true or not? Since at the NATO-Russia summit in Lisbon very recently. NATO talked all nice with Russia. During this nice talk behind Russia’s back, they signed agreements to defend Poland and the Baltic states against Russia while Russia was being courted in the same meeting. NATO took a few days and thought about the implications of the “Hand caught in the Cookie Jar” issue. They finally decided the best thing would be a semblance of the truth. “The Alliance intends to protect them from possible Russian attacks.” implies Director of the NATO Information Center in Moscow Robert Pszczel.

Last thought while sipping my coffee is about Ukraine getting into the tourist business over the Chernobyl accident area. I knew about some private groups doing tours of the nuclear plant site but it seems that Ukraine was not involved in the situation. Now Ukraine is making it an official tourist site with controlled tours of the area. “Ukraine officials will open up the sealed zone which extends for a 30-mile radius around the Chernobyl plant, and guides will offer tours which would avoid contaminated areas while taking in the main sights, including the abandoned town of Pripyat.”

Well that is it for the thinking’s. The coffee is gone and it is time to get to work…

Windows to Russia!