Category: Russia

Once upon a time: I remember my first true experience with how Russians hide their businesses. We were on a trip that Sveta and I took to our village home. We had to find an auto parts. We finally asked if the town had an auto parts store?

“Sure they did,” said everyone you asked. Everyone knows that it is just down the street, turn left, turn right, turn left, cross the ditch, turn right again, and turn left again and you won’t miss it…

But you will still never find the business because they do not have a sign out that says Auto Parts or actually, you will not find any sign for any reason, much less a business. You will not find it because it is located in someones house and they have a huge fence barricading the world from seeing that house. So you drive by it 10 times until someone else finally guides you there…

Of course everyone in town knows where it is at… 🙂

That is a Russian business. Word of mouth is king. (No pun intended!) Why put a sign up? You might get unwanted business and have to work…

If you do find a sign for a business you will find one of several things wrong with it… (But most likely, you will not find a sign!)

1.) The business is, “Out of business!”
2.) The sign is located on the wrong business or building. What you want is across the street, to the left and one block at the first light and then to the right…
3.) The sign is from the Soviet era and unreadable except for the hammer and sickle…
4.) The sign is hand written, on paper, taped to the door, outside, years old, and is in tatters all curled up…
5.) The sign has nothing to do with the true nature of the business…
6.) The sign is visible after you pass the business and you either turn around or go somewhere else…
7.) The hours posted mean nothing, for no one follows them…
8.) The sign uses English words that make no sense to a Russian…

The last one is interesting and it makes me wonder why they use American lettered signs. We have a “Chicago Style food” place near us and the sign is big as all get out. It says, “Chicago Style Foods” in huge bold letters. The problem is no one here, but me, knows what the heck “Chicago Style Food” is and the food they serve is definitely not “Chicago Style Food.” By the way I seriously would not eat there. Does the term “rat hole in the wall” mean anything to you?

Oh – but Russians regularly do post signs for one thing. In fact they are really good about posting this particular sign. It is almost guaranteed to be found on any business that you have just spent two to three hours looking for. The sign that they will post says something like: Tea Time – 20 minute break will be right back!

* * * Believe you me, in Russia “Tea Time,” is so important, that truck drivers will stop in literally the middle of the road and have their tea. Tea is serious business in Russia… * * * (That is another story!)

When Sveta sees that sign. She says, “Lets go, You don’t know what 20 minutes they mean!” At first I was confused, but after living here in Russia awhile. I realize that she meant, They won’t be back today…

That is a Russian business for you and now you know a little more about Russia…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

Hello everyone, hope all is good today?

It is hard to image how you can find a calm sort of peace within a city as huge as Moscow and her surroundings are. Huge in size and population. That is the thinking this morning as I sip on a wonderful cup of coffee. In fact I think that before I start thinking, I will go and make a second cup of coffee and then sip it, while I finish my article…

There, now that is perfect! See what I mean? Peace and quiet…

Holidays in Russia are wonderful, the people literally all get off work for the holidays and they stay inside and or play in the parks, which being located all over the place in Russia, create happiness galore. Oh, the holiday is March 8th, International Women’s Day and Monday (3/09/2015) is the day off for that particular day…

See, peace and quiet…

* * * * * * * * * *

Spring is here and I hope it stays here. In fact it has been the best winter since I have been here in Russia. Nine winters have passed behind me here in this wonderful country and while there have been ups and downs, nothing is worse than the roller coaster of a ride, I endured in the USA…

Thinking is pretty simple this morning:

1.) Snowden is either an idiot for trying to leave Russia or a planted patsy and his work done. I am leaning on the latter…

2.) McDonald’s and Coke Cola are starting to gasp and die in Russia. It is a toss up right now, if they will survive. Same is happening in China and looks like possibilities in both countries of complete removal of the companies could possibly happen. This is a death blow to these companies, for they do not survive on US sales alone anymore. I think that it would be a perfect storm scenario, if BRICS became a Coke and McDonald’s free zone… 🙂

“Don’t McDonald’s and Coca-Cola want to support Obama’s sanctions and rid us of their products? They would be true to their principles and we would be healthier,” the head of the lower house of parliament’s foreign affairs committee in Russia, Alexei Pushkov wrote on Twitter…

3.) If the US was anymore obvious about her death wishes for the world, she would have to take her pants down and crap straight on the worlds face, to relay her message any stronger to us all. Fact is, the US is a rogue country run by hate and warmongering. Reminds me of one of those little African dictator countries, that we all hear about, except America is the biggest most powerful gorilla in the room…

4.)  Six men pulled in “so far,” over the assassination of Nemtsov. Five captured and one blew himself into little pieces, with a grenade. Four of the ones left, are pretty quiet and head hangers, but one (fifth) stands out as the attitude in the group. He likes to give Islāmic love signals to the picture takers…

5.) We should look at life, like this photo shows below. We humans are most likely the worse thing to have appeared on Mother Earth and we always put greed before life itself. That is so against nature, that I take it to mean, we are not from this planet, but a viral organism that’s injected into the ecosystem to see if we could survive…

They point fingers and blame the Soviets, but no one is doing serious things to stop the death and we still blame the Soviets, many years later. Seems blames does not fix the issue…

6.) Europe (with exception of lap-dog Britain,) are all expressing the astonishment at the fact that America is frothing at the bit, like a rabid dog, over wanting a war with Russia. This has become a major concern, after the realization that America is run by NeoCons who desire nothing less than WW3 and death to all and all a goodnight. It is coming to the surface that America while it was psychopathic at its best days, now has become psychopathic and sociopathic on its best days, mixed together in a profound level of density that pales the total population, as a whole. Sorry norm has become deviant…

7.) Big news people, America is becoming isolated; China has stepped up and is batting full strength for Russia. The red lines are being drawn and stepping over them is going to be suicidal in the long term. The new empire in the east is showing tremendous patience with the floundering empire in the west. This is the way to do it and not by trying to show that you are the biggest cock on the walk…

* * * * * * * * * *

Sveta loves holiday, she sleeps in and relishes the down time. We usually find a place to eat out later after I cook a breakfast at home and preceding the dinner I cook at home also. We both find that the cooked at home meals are the best, but it is nice sitting in a restaurant and just talking about the future and life in general. Sveta and I have lots of irons in the fire, so to speak, we seem to not be able to get all done within a short time. The time frame seems to be five years or more to achomplish what we want to get done…

I am getting ready to spend the summer in the village and grow our food supply this year. It is time to finish the village home and get it ready for a unknown future, that is leaning to the dark side, being driven by the Western Empire…

This quote says it all to me…

“Give me the money that has been spent in war and I will clothe every man, woman, and child in an attire of which kings and queens will be proud. I will build a schoolhouse in every valley over the whole earth. I will crown every hillside with a place of worship consecrated to peace.” – Charles Sumner… (American Statesman and Abolitionist, Lived from 1811-1874)

Time to grab a cup of coffee and do some thinking!

Posted by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia

Happy March 8th to everyone…

From Sveta, Kyle and Boza
at Windows to Russia…

BEIJING, Russia and China will jointly support the international peace an security, they will also defend results of World War II, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a news conference on Sunday.

“Russia and China are permanent members of the UN Security Council. We shall continue strategic coordination and cooperation for support of the international peace and security,” he said.

“This year, both countries will have large-scale events devoted to the 70th anniversary of Victory in the war against fascism. We shall be supporting each other, support jointly the international peace and defend results of World War II,” the foreign minister said.

Posted by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia

President Putin also reduced the wages of Kremlin administration, government staff and the Chamber of Accounts by 10% as well.

In a move that will shock the western governments. Russia has cut not just governmental employees salaries 10% (I hear that some salaries are mandated and some will not be cut in the lower levels of gov. employees,) but the president on down has cut their pay also. No preferential treatment here, for the government is government from the top down…

MOSCOW, March 6. / TASS / Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree that reduces the salaries of the president, prime minister, prosecutor general, head of Investigative Committee, Cabinet members and Kremlin officials by 10%, the Kremlin press service reported on Friday.

Update: The reduction will also affect those with salaries based on the 2004 Presidential decree that’s titled “On payment for executive power federal organization top managers” and those that fall under the 2013 decree “on the monetary remuneration of persons in public office,” as well as for other people, whose salaries are mandated by a federal law…

I laughed when I heard this. I laughed because, there is no way in hell that the governmental officials in America would cut their pay 10%. They would be more like to increase their pay 10%, while the rest of the country was docked 10% to pay for it…

Think I am kidding? Herman Cain would have done the same and you see how far he got for president. He was threatened big time for his thinking…

This also was strongly supported by literally everyone in the Russian government, for it is just correct, when the going is tough…

I think since the US is so far in debt, shouldn’t we be cutting lots of things to get out of debt? A little pain to make some gain?

Cutting the pay of politicians in America is one way to get rid of the rift raft…

Posted by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia

Maybe this dish did not originate in Russia, but bring up the word Plov and a Russian will say Yummy or the equivalent there of! 🙂 It seems that Plov became a Russian tradition during the Soviet era. You can make this dish with chicken, turkey, pork, beef and lamb, or just simply without meat! So of the millions of way to prepare this dish. I chose my recipe that I served the Governor of Georgia in America once, at Georgia Military College…

Delicious Lamb Plov or Pilaf!

First the Ingredients:

4 tbsp olive oil.
1000gm cubed lamb (1 kilo)
2 large carrots sliced
2 large onions sliced
75gm dried apricots diced
50gm raisins.
700gm long grain white rice.
Sea Salt and course ground black pepper.
500ml chicken stock.
1 tsp grated orange rind.
800ml water.
2 medium red apple, cored and chopped.
2 – 3 whole garlic clusters (excess loose skin removed and top cut off, not bottom)

Next to Make:

Preheat the oven to 180 C.

Over a stove on medium heat, put the oil in a large frying pan. When the oil is hot, add the lamb cubed and fry for 5 minutes.

Remove the lamb after 5 minutes and set aside in a bowl.

Then in the same frying pan add the sliced carrots in the same oil for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

Then add the sliced onions and continue to cook for another 7 minutes.

Then add the diced apricots and raisins and cook for another 2 minutes.

Then add the rice to the mixture and cook for 2 more minutes. This is an important step and if you see that the heat is not holding up well in the skillet, increase the cooking time by a few minutes with the rice.

Now add the precooked lamb that you set aside in a bowl earlier, to the mixture in the skillet. Make sure all meat juices are added also! 🙂

Add salt and pepper to taste – even if you do not use salt – you need to add a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper. They are very important to release the natural flavors of the dish. Just a pinch…
Then add the chicken stock, orange rind and water. (Stir thoroughly)

Bring back to a boil in the skillet and transfer all the contents of the skillet to an oven proof dish that will hold the contents comfortably. (allow for expansion of the rice)

This is where the garlic cluster come into play: Insert the garlic clusters into the mixture.

Remember that we preheated the oven to 180 degrees C. and bake for 40 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed. (all liquid must be absorbed and do not stir while baking – repeat do not stir while baking)

After around 40 to 50 minutes you can remove the Plov from the oven. Now stir the Plov to mix all well… (care with the garlic clusters)

Scream for the family to come and eat…

Time to Eat: Take apple slices and lay them on the plate first. Take a nice scoop of Plov and cover the apples and those who love garlic get a cluster!

Yummy – Serves 6-8.

Posted by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia

by John Stanton

“…Evil minds that plot destruction. Sorcerers of death’s destruction. In the keeps turning. In the fields the bodies burning as the war machine keeps turning…Politicians hide themselves away. They only started the war. Why should they go out to fight? They leave that role to the poor.” Black Sabbath,War Pigs

Oh, it’s out there. It is the US government’s Selective Service/Draft program that currently requires all males 18 years of age to willingly sign up for the opportunity to have the US government force them, under penalty of law, to work for the government in a killing and maiming capacity (military employment), or in a supporting role for those who are on the front lines doing the US government’s dirty work in far away lands and, who knows, perhaps here in the USA.

The Selective Service/Draft system us in sort of a state of suspended animation to be used only when a national crisis forces the US government to dig into the pool of bodies when the volunteer military force can’t handle the load placed on them by the requirements of its own government or the enemy. Open conflict with Russia, China or an intervention to stabilize a collapsed Mexican government/economy would likely necessitate activation of the Selective Service/Draft.apparatus. Already the US national security machinery is stretched to the breaking point with active duty and national guard personnel seeing multiple rotations to conflict zones on every continent. Domestically, the support network—including communities, families, volunteer organizations–for returning military personnel suffering from debilitating injuries to mind and body is nearly broken ,aided and abetted by greedy private contractors looking to make money not alleviate the suffering of the veterans.

Politicians and military commanders fear the activation of the Selective Service/Draft lottery as they would lose the ability to respond to the disgruntled or abused soldier, “ You are the one who volunteered.” This even though study after study shows the much ballyhooed volunteer military force exists largely because the civilian marketplace has no need for low-level labor (as it continues to jettison labor, Target for example) or the military marketing campaign that pushes the myth that military service trumps that of civilian law enforcement and first res ponders who keep American communities as :”free and safe” as possible.

According to Mint Press, ‘”The military also seems to be drawing recruits who have less education, as a recent report documented the percentage of new recruits entering the Army with a high school diploma dropped to a new low. The study, which was conducted by the National Priorities Project (NPP), found slightly more than 70 percent of new recruits joining the active duty Army had a high school diploma, nearly 20 percentage points lower than the Army’s goal of at least 90 percent. Army officials confirmed lowering their standards to meet high recruiting goals in the middle of ongoing conflicts that the U.S. was involved in around the world. Massachusetts-based research NPP concluded that the number of high school graduates among new recruits fell to 70.7 percent in 2008. “The trend is clear,” Anita Dancs, the project’s research director who based the report on Defense Department data released via the Freedom of Information Act, [indicated],“They’re missing their benchmarks, and I think it’s strongly linked to the impact [of] the Iraq War.” The study also found that the number of recruits with both a high school diploma and a score in the upper half on the military’s qualification test fell by 15 percent from 2004 to 2007. An analysis of recruiting data revealed that low- and middle-income families are supplying far more Army recruits than families with incomes of more than $60,000 a year.’”

War Pigs: You are Fungible

There are too many War Pigs to count. According to CNN “Former Texas governor Rick Perry wants US troops to go and fight ISIS in the Middle East. He terms the group “the face of evil.” Senator Lindsay Graham, a former military litigator, said this at an AIPAC conference, “ And if military force is ever employed [against Iran], it should be done in a decisive fashion. The Iranian government’s ability to wage conventional warfare against its neighbors and our troops in the region should not exist. They should not have one plane that can fly or one ship that can float.” That means that the US “volunteers” will be responsible for eliminating all the Iranians who operate such machinery. One assumes that Graham also thinks no armored vehicles or missile systems or small arms should exist either. The US military would need more than a volunteer force to totally defeat Iran and would c;likely contemplate the use of tactical nuclear weapons. Graham is clearly on the edge of insanity’s black hole as are his fellow Hawks.

On that note, American War Pigs want to sell lethal weaponry to its puppet government in Ukraine and actually want to get into combat with Russian troops. Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Army General Martin Dempsey said, “I think we should absolutely consider lethal aid…” according to Time Magazine. That means private contractors are needed to sell the machinery and train the Ukrainian personnel.

Women will not long be exempt from Selective Service/Draft registration. It is only the continued dominance of the patriarchs that dominate US society that prevents women from shouldering the burden that men face with their Selective Service responsibility. Sean Kennedy writing for Collegian Central indicated that when Congress lifted the ban on women in combat in 2013, many people expressed concern that the inclusion of women would somehow degrade the quality of our military forces. Enter US Senator John McCain, War Pig extraordinaire and the the same American representative who glad-handed Ukrainian neo-Nazi and anti-Semite Oleh Tyahnybok in a show of support. “Senator John McCain urged special forces units to ensure that their “rigorous physical standards” are maintained. Never mind that women make up 15 percent of our military or that women have fought for our country as early as the Civil War. While there are certainly physical differences between men and women, the argument that this disparity is enough to warrant the exclusion of women is ludicrous and the perfect example of the mindset we need to distance ourselves from as a country.”

Not to worry. If a war with Russia or China breaks out, or with some as yet some unforeseen enemy, McCain and his ilk will be the first to turn to the Selective Service/Draft system to force women to fill the ranks of dead and wounded US military males.

The American war machine is positioning itself for large scale conflict. Every able-bodied American citizen, female and male, will be needed for the carnage.

Just wait and see.

John Stanton is a writes from Virginia. Reach him at captainkong22@gmail.com

Posted by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia

Oh that cup of coffee is good this cold and snowy morning. I have some thoughts to put down in writing and decided that you all need to endure some more thinking from an American in Russia. Therefore, grab a cup of coffee and or tea and sit awhile…

Windows to Russia is an interesting creature. It seems to have a life of its own and when I try to get away, she reaches out and grabs me again. I am reminded of past women that I know, they could careless about you until you decide to look around and then they become interested again, at least until you get corralled back…

Therefore, I try to wean from the blog and she gets all hissy and decides to open up and allow the world in to see her again. This is one of those days and Windows to Russia is being slammed by good traffic. Three websites have grabbed a link to three different articles and it is a race to see which one will win at the end of the day. I just hope that the server holds up… 🙂

I have given Windows to Russia a new dress and the dress is plain and simple. This is simply a way to thwart the crap of life and believe me Windows to Russia gets plenty of caca. The market is real and Windows to Russia makes money from the sales on it and it is selling… Surprise!

* * * * * * * * * *

Even during the Soviet times, America was somewhat constrained in her actions. That has all changed and now we see the fruits of the labor of warmongers all over the US, Britain and Canada. Some others also, but they are small fry in the picture. It has become seriously a psychotic episode in the west and Russia is the target. Truly a sick society has become the Western Empire…

We have done what never has been done; we have succeeded in uniting Russia and China as one military power. I think everyone should get the picture in Europe. Start a war with Russia and there will be 500,000,000 million Asians crawling across Europe to protect their families living all over Russia and much of south Europe. Just like Russians have gone to protect their families in Ukraine over what America started there. Just think about what China will do to protect their families. I know Europe is starting to see the picture…

Really pretty simple; keep the hate and warmongering up, keep the sanctions out of control for lies, keep spreading the hummus thick on the bread, and when you trigger that war you so desire, God himself will laugh at you from the heavens as war appears on your doorstep and rips you a new asshole…

Russia and China are prepared to knock on your door and say hello, lets have tea together, before we start to play…

Then since America does not drink hot tea, as all good civil societies do. (Just maybe since Canada and Britain do drink hot tea, they will sit to talk?) Instead of a cup of tea, we will have radiated lakes of hot water to make future tea with…

Stupid is as Stupid does!

* * * * * * * * * *

I found it amazing that the huge food stores in Russia have all gotten together and are freezing prices on about 15 items. Staples I call them. That is customer service…

I also found it interesting that all Russia’s government employees have voluntarily after being asked kindly 🙂 , have taken a 10% cut in pay. Now that is customer service…

I also found it interesting that chicken costs me 99 rubles per kilo, black bread is 11 rubles per loaf, milk was 38 rubles per liter and cabbage was 22 rubles per kilo. But eggs at 53 rubles per 10 each, still sucks…

I also find it interesting that Russia still has not invaded Ukraine, Lithuania, Estonia and a hundred other countries. Even though the west is screaming that Russia is invading the whole world. I think that maybe they have confused Russia with America (who does invade, rape and pillage the spoils,) but then Russia is in a whole another spot on the planet surface, but you know how things are…

How is your day? Mine is perfect…

Posted by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia

 

Freedom is an issue that I have dealt on before. It is the reason that I got an e-mail last night that lambasted me for even questioning the freedoms in America and comparing them to Russia. The fact that I consider Russia a freer country infuriated this person. They could not comprehend that Russia was not a cesspool of evil lies, corruption, mafias, communism and deceits. They also admitted that they based much of their assumptions on what their local and national media tells them and that blogs like mine are what is tearing down the fabric of societies all over the world…

So as I sipped my cup of coffee and considered my thinking’s this morning about why I feel freer in Russia…

The other day I watched a group of young boys playing army. They had sticks and their fingers as guns. I was walking the dog and Boza took an interest in the 7 or 8 boys running all around and shooting each other, then playing dead. Of course arguments ensued when someone did not want to die when they were suppose to…

I really do not know what two sides where at war with these kids and really do not care. I know that when I was little we played cops n robbers, cowboys n Indians and Army (Germans against Americans). This was a normal fact of life and I have never seen any harm in playing cowboys and Indians…

Boza and I were play shot several times by these rampaging renegades playing in a fantasy world. Obviously we looked like an invader of some type and that we watched them, drew their attention upon us and Boza and I paid the price with imaginary bullets. I acted like I was shot and that made them happy but of course Boza ignored the barrage of bullets that should have ended his existence. Which caused them to increase their firepower upon a super dog that would not falter at their efforts to dispose of him. Boza and I left before the bazookas came out of hiding… 🙂

This is common play in Russia just as it use to be very common play in America before we became scared of our own shadow…

Yesterday I watched two videos on YouTube made by a man who was filming trains at a train station in Boston, Massachusetts in America. He was traveling by train and had gone halfway across the country and even had been to Washington DC. He was harassed by security. He was detained from getting on his train. He was hounded for his state id. He was so on and so on. You would never know that America is a free country after watching these videos. The one thing that stood out in the videos was the security saying, “You do know about 911 right. You cannot just take pictures of trains anymore!” Or they said something close to that…

I also read a whole bunch of articles related to children being chastised over playing cops and robbers, at schools and at home territory. I also read a whole bunch of information about what the Patriot Act has done and is doing to our freedoms in America. Why we have issues in America now over dancing on public property, TSA feeling your private parts and so on and so on and so on…

So that video is very typical of what is happening in America. I do not see Israel doing this type of actions and in fact I do not see anyone else in the world doing this kind of stuff. We travel extensively! This TSA crap is happening not just on international flights but domestic flights as well…

I just feel a hell of a lot more comfortable in a country that does not run scared at their own shadow. I have often wondered what would happen in America if someone bombed a bus or the metro like they do in Russia and many other countries all the time. It is a sign of weakness to cave into the terrorists. People in Russia just shrug their shoulders and keep on going. Just as I do now that I live with the Russians…

Something that amazes me is that we kill Bin Laden and the call for more controls and freedoms dissipated, is increased at a steady pace. The Patriot Act was just extended by Obama and it is starting to look a lot like “nothing ever changes even when we spout change as a motto…”

I know that I said that I would lay off the America crap and I have, but when I get an email that triggers it and makes me think of stuff then I will respond…

In Russia we can walk just about anywhere we want to. No posted no-trespassing signs to tell me not too. In Russia we can piss on the side of the road and not ever be threatened. In Russia we can say what we want and think and not be censored. In Russia a locked gate is an invitation to break the lock and see what is hidden (Fences and gates everywhere but non of them lock and none work most of the time!). In Russia a grassy yard is a good place to start a path even when a sidewalk is present. In Russia we can buy raw milk and raw milk products. In Russia we are never harassed about IDs and about what we are doing walking at three in the morning. In Russia we (Sveta and I) have traveled 100,000+ km by car and never been subjected to scrutiny. In Russia we can take pictures of trains and metro. In Russia rules are to be broken. In Russia… (You get the picture, because the list is a mile long!)

In fact the only time I have been told not to take a picture was at the Ukraine border and it really was posted that you can not take pictures. I took them anyway and got yelled at. But they never harassed me and tried to take my pictures…

“Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.” Benjamin Franklin…

That quote by Benjamin Franklin is so true and Russia needs to listen to that same quote. For if they take Russian people’s freedoms just in the name of security then they are no better than Americans…

So it is not just one little trivial issue that makes me feels freer. It is the whole package called Russia! The whole basket of idiosyncrasies that create a wonderful life of freedoms, security and peace. Yes freedoms, peace and safety in Russia…

Who would a thunk it?

And that is enough said about that…

Posted by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia

http://windowstorussia.com/that-russian-way-of-life-ignore-the-rules.html
http://windowstorussia.com/dont-come-to-russia-and-coffee-thoughts.html
http://windowstorussia.com/you-are-not-free-so-accept-that.html