Category: Russia

I have mentioned many things over the years and many things that I have mentioned are about the strange ways that Russians do things. I thought that today I would talk about these things, that even after 7 full years, I still find it strange, but I would never want it to change. For all the strange things Russians do are what makes me love Russia…

1. You walk/drive in Russia! You will find that hardly anyone looks at you. They know you are there and they try to watch with their head down and determine your path. They very rarely look you in the eyes. I find by this action alone, that Russians are introverts and they make me a extrovert in comparison. Even though in America I am a introvert, that is not true in Russia. I look at peoples eyes (Or try to!) as I walk and I drive. It is a known fact to me, that Russians try to drive the way they walk and I set that as an example to why Russians are terrible drivers…

2. A Russian and their shopping cart! I have never seen the likes of how dangerous a Russian is pushing a shopping cart. They are totally dissociated with the fact that their shopping cart is a solid object and it will hurt or maim people as they ram it through the isles of a big store. It would be hilarious if I was not the one to be attacked all the time, but I am it seems to be forever slammed in the ankles with a shopping cart. They never run into Sveta and she does not understand why I get testy with Russians as they run over me with those damn shopping carts from hell. This is another case of a perfect example about how they drive their cars and walk…

3. That cashier at the store! I have no issues with this type of way to handle business. I know how to make sure that they will deal with me and that frown and hateful expression that is there anyway, will be accurate when I am done. A cashier in Russia 9 out of 10 times will despise the fact that you even dare to want to buy something. Why just today, my cashier at the corner store who was new and was having a discussion with the security guard (While the store was full of people who just might steal things! :)), decided that I could stand there and wait, while she discussed fingernail color with the female guard. So I took a 10 ruble coin and made enough noise to wake the dead, as I tapped it on the stainless counter. This was the sign to give me some mean looks and I was satisfied. For I would have received the same mean looks whether I woke her up or not. For I could have stood there for 5 minutes and been treated the same. The security guard was laughing as she ran off, for this was a new cashier and the others have dealt with me before. I buy a lot of food from them and they know it, next time I know she will be alert to me…

Continuing on a cashier: This is normal in Russia and I would have it no other way. I have learned when I am by myself, to judge the situation as I come up to pay. I may drop something from a higher level and create a loud smacking noise and see if that gets the attention of the cashier. It is simple in Russia, a cashier does not like you to bother her. Even though that is her job. I let Sveta deal with it when we are together…

Oh – we all know about the worthless cashier in America, but that is the exception not the norm…

4. The drink cooler! All over Russia are drink coolers. You know! The ones that sit inside a 7-11 and hold beer, Coke, Pepsi or what ever needs to be cold. They have doors on them and do a good job of keeping that small bottle of soda nice and cool. Well in Russia you may find that one out of twenty coolers actually work. Well I should say they work, but they are never plugged in. They are just storage units to hold room temperature soft drinks. They sit outside, inside and anywhere that someone wants to have a way to lock up their drinks, but not to cool them. I always wonder every time I get a drink from a kiosk and they hit the button to let me open the door to get my drink, as they watch with eagle eyes, to make sure that I do not run with more than one that I bought. I am not sure why they would think a fat bear would run with any of their drinks, much less hot drinks from a should be a cold cooler. I am use to it and would have it no other way now…

5. Children will be outside and there is no exceptions! I am sure that this next thing is because of the fact that winter is half a year or more, but the Russians believe that your child goes out and pays, no matter what the temperature is. Now they have appropriate clothes for these occasions, but the fact is that it can be -30 C and the playground is full of kids. They simply seem to have no aversion to cold. These little monkeys as I call them, can play for hours outside at subzero temperatures and never bat an eye. They are tough and that is that…

To go along with this train of thought: People pull there kids everywhere on sleds. The kids get on and are in for a wild ride, as mom goes to do her things. I have seen kids left behind and seen kids dumped in snow banks up to their ears. They take it in stride and one thing that seems to be very true, Russians kids do not cry at the drop of a hat and they have super grips as their hands have to hold them onto a sled that is being drug over hill and dale…

6. Russians don’t value money as much in comparison to western counterparts. It is of course a better life with money than without money, but to have lots and lots of money is a really a bad thing! Being a rich person, you are considered to be unfair and a greedy type of people. If you are rich – don’t ever boast about your money. It will come back on you and you may not be rich very long. Many Russian people live from salary to salary and often borrow money when they can from neighbors and family. Russian people are a more than a bit lazy at times and don’t always earn much money, but that is what makes them unique! They get away from the high-speed money race that is so common in the west. They are able stop and look around in time and see the beauty of the world and people around. I like to call it, “Stop and smell the Roses!”

I find that my way of thinking falls into the same category as Russians and I find that money is evil also…

I will end this today, because I could write forever about differences. Maybe I will write another soon and tell about even more differences. I see them all the time and I thought I would end this with: One curious thing about Russia…

It has become strange now for me, I watch foreigners coming from (so called rich) western countries to Russia for the first time – they are stunned (good and bad) by everything they see here. But then they stop and absorb what they have seen. Many do not understand what catches their eye, mind or soul in this badly organized, gloomy and cold world that Russians live in. But it is not abnormal that they come back again and again and again, to feel the Russian inner soul, traditions, customs and culture…

They are ready to drop their pretenses of the west to be able to feel the Russian collectivism, hospitality, friendliness and disorganization, but also at the same time to feel how wonderful it is – just to live life as a real free person, in mind, body and soul…

That is why I love Russia…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

EU, Cyprus Act ‘Like Bull in China Shop’ – Russian PM…

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday slammed the European Union and Cyprus for their handling of the island nation’s debt woes.

Medvedev told a group of European media outlets in an interview that the crisis had been entirely mishandled, undermining confidence in financial institutions, in Cyprus and beyond.

“The actions of the EU, the European Commission and the Cypriot government to settle the debt problem unfortunately only resemble the actions of a bull in a china shop,” Medvedev said.

Parliament in Cyprus on Tuesday rejected a government bill that envisioned a levy of 6.75 percent on deposits of less than 100,000 euros ($128,950) and 9.9 percent on larger deposits, which has been set as a precondition for securing an international 10 billion euro ($13 billion) bailout loan.

Dmitri Medvedev compares Europe to USSR:

The Cypriot banking crisis shows that expropriation of bank accounts and private property is not a thing of the past. The EU’s decision to raid the private bank accounts is compared by the Russian Prime Minister to some controversial decisions taken by the Soviet authorities in the 20^th century.

On Wednesday, Dmitri Medvedev criticized the European and Cypriot authorities for their actions in the context of the bailout of the Cypriot banking system. One of the reasons for the harsh reaction of the Russian Prime Minister is the unwillingness of the European authorities to take into account the negative consequences of their actions.

Reuters reports that Dmitri Medvedev compared the actions of the European Union and Cyprus with the actions “of a bull in China shop”. He added that “all possible mistakes that could be made have been made by them”.

RIA reports that Dmitri Medvedev described the “unique solidarity levy” imposed by the so-called Troika (ECB, European Commission and IMF) as “clearly confiscatory”, condemning its “expropriating character”. The Russian Prime Minister stressed that such actions are absolutely unprecedented and are very dangerous. “We are living in the 21st century, under market economic conditions. Everybody has been insisting that ownership rights should be respected,” he added. Dmitri Medvedev compared the actions of the European Union to the actions of the USSR authorities. “I can only compare it some of the decisions made… by Soviet authorities, who did not give a thought to the savings of the population,” he told Russian journalists on Wednesday.

Reuters reports that a delegation of the European Commission, lead by Jose Manuel Barroso, will negotiate the future of Cyprus in Moscow. The negotiations are unlikely to be easy, given the negative reaction of the Russian authorities to the bailout package proposed by the Troika. The Cypriot negotiators have failed to achieve anything in Moscow, but their European partners are unlikely to be more successful. It seems that the Russian decision makers are quite unhappy that they haven’t been consulted prior to the rash decision to expropriate the money held in the Cypriot bank accounts.

This is while Cyprus is working on leaving the EU…

Cypriot parliament has come up with an alternative plan to stabilize the country’s economy by exiting the eurozone if its government fails to come to terms with the EU and IMF, a diplomatic source in London has confessed.

According to the plan, Cyprus is considering leaving the single currency union while staying in the EU that would see its national currency, the Cypriot pound, restored across the island country.

This measure could potentially help the Central Bank of Cyprus steer clear of the crippling economic and banking crisis.

Cyprus has cited Iceland as its role model, saying it was on the brink of collapse in 2008 but managed to weather the budding crisis by pursuing an independent monetary policy.

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

Sveta and I need to get a way from all the snow. Especially Sveta, she is going snow crazy. I understand why and if you saw out our windows today you would see snow falling and falling. That is the thinking’s today and that is what is going with a cup of delicious coffee as I am thinking it…

So we found a fantastic 5 day trip to Turkey and since it is off season, we got a 5 star hotel, airline tickets round trip and it includes all food. For two people it costs: $600 and a tiny bit of extra pocket change…

It is 16 to 20 C. in Turkey where we want to go and that is a far cry from -10 that it is here right now…

Sometime at the first of next month we will be leaving and walking the beach in Turkey… 🙂

Maybe when we get back the snow will have disappeared in Moscow, Russia…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

Reported out of Baghdad: A wave of bombings tore through the Baghdad area Tuesday, killing 57 people on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion and showing how unstable Iraq remains more than a year after the withdrawal of American troops…

This is so sad and is really what is wrong with Iraq. What is definitely wrong with Iraq and what has caused turmoil there, is America’s fault and America’s doing. America is totally responsible for the outcome for the next hundred generations, in Iraq and that is that. We stepped in and changed what was! We stepped in and killed so many humans and so many are innocent, that we have created a condition that will never go away. America has signed her own time stamped ticket, of retribution in the future and when the time is correct, someone will take payback with that signed ticket. That bothers me and I do not understand how if anyone proclaims to love their country so much, that they would endanger the whole population over games and lies. They are called war crimes and “That is That!”…

We waltzed into Iraq and destroyed a society that really had a good thing going. We danced our way into a war in Iraq and even told everyone at the cocktail parties, “They (Iraq) have weapons of mass destruction!”

Then the famous: “Those weapons of mass destruction have got to be somewhere!” —President Bush, joking about his administration’s failure to find WMDs in Iraq as he narrated a comic slideshow during the Radio & TV Correspondents’ Association dinner, March 25, 2004…

Then this was all while Russia was saying: “Russia does not have in its possession any trustworthy data that supports the existence of nuclear weapons or any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and we have not received any such information from our partners as yet.” – Vladimir Putin

That really bugs me to think that we destroyed Iraq for a lie and it should bother you…

Look how wonderful the place is, after we instilled a fake democracy and a new dictatorship to run the place for the USA…

The clock is ticking… (And since we have done this to several other countries, they all are waiting patiently in a queue to use their ticket!)

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

They burned the straw man, asked for forgiveness and ate enough pancakes to choke a horse! Maslenitsa is over for another year and everyone is hoping that Spring will soon come, as the fields will turn green with a bountiful harvest. It goes like this every year…

Monday is called “a meeting”. With the first pancake it is tradition to give to beggars for them to mention the poor dead.

Tuesday is called “zaigrysh” (games). On this day, the morning begins with a funny game.

Wednesday is called “gourmand” (A gourmand is a person who takes great pleasure in food.) On this day, the hostess act on saying: “What is in the oven, First of all delicacies, of course, pancakes.” On this day Mother in-laws invite Son in-laws to eat pancakes.

Thursday – “razguliay”. On this day begins Maslenitsa full strength. As well as helping to drive winter away and bring the sun into play again. Example to do this, like riding horses clockwise around the village.

Friday – “Teschin evening” (Inlaws). Son in-law invites Mother in-law and treat them pancakes.

Saturday, the “zolovkiny chat” Sister in-law invites female relatives of her husband. If the husband’s sisters were married, the daughter of guests invited and their unmarried friends. But if the sister was already married, she invited relatives married. Bride daughter had bestowed their gifts zolovok.

On Sunday the last day of Maslenitsa is called “Forgiveness Sunday”. On this day, you should apologize to all relatives and friends for all the resentment, thus relieved of their sins before Lent. Also on the last day of Pancake week, you burn a man of straw – the symbol of winter. The ashes of the man of straw fly all over the fields – for a rich summer harvest.”

This is an every year thing for Russians and it is deeply rooted in tradition and culture. It is very important that times like Maslenitsa are followed as you definitely do not want to upset the flow of life. So below in photos you will see what Sveta took pictures of as our little spot in the world celebrated Maslenitsa and the final day…

This year Sveta and Boza had to go alone! I was getting ready for the dentist and found that I could not make the special events this year. Kind of upset me, but when Sveta brought home these wonderful photos, it was just like I was there…

As you can see it is bitter cold in our part of Russia. This is the way it is every year and the hope that spring will come soon is strong in everyone’s minds. For winter is long and we are tired after a hard winter, especially the one we have had this year. It is snowing heavily today and looks like it will snow for another week…

I just love Russia…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

Years ago I decided that a Bank was a crooked institute! I was scoffed at and ridiculed at, that I refused to use a bank account. In fact I refused to use any service of a bank, as it was to my belief that Banks are there only for taking your money and if something would happen, they will not give you your money when that something happens…

I did use a Russian bank for a year, when I first came here and in America I was forced to use a bank to get my money direct deposited in. That word forced, is a fact! I would not be paid unless I used a bank and had a ATM card. So if I was to be paid, I opened an account and on payday I immediately withdrew all funds at the banks own ATM (To not incur a charge to withdraw!) and never left anything but the pennies in the account. I know that is not what the bank desired, but hey! I was forced to have a bank account and to top it all off it was a bank that the corporation said I had to use… 🙂

I guess my feelings are and were correct and now in Cyprus, we have an example of what happens when we trust the banks…

For those who are living under a rock and have no idea what is happening in the world! Cyprus has closed the banks until Thursday and are using that extended holiday excuse to figure out just how much of their money they are going to steal from the Cyprus citizens and other countries industries. The bank closings are a reaction to the huge bank run that started on the banks and in answer they closed the doors…

This is a classic, “See how far the masses can be pushed!”

This is an idea that politicians and banks desire. When you need money just take it by force, all in the name of, “We have no choice! We have to or else!”

Well, many years ago, I gave up on banks! I saw the issue then and see that the issue has become exceptionally crooked and stupid…

Oh yes and I know what you say, “It will not happen in the USA!”

I guess that you do not realize that America is the home of the IMF and its headquarters are in Washington, D.C., United States…

That is all you need to know about the International Monetary Fund (IMF)…

Have a nice day and think about your money, that you have tucked “nice and safe” in a Bank. There are a hundred ways to store your money and all of them pay better than the interest in a bank…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

“The wire reports on the Cyprus situation are working overtime to try to make the case that 80% of the deposits belong to the people of Cyprus, and only 20% of the deposits belong to the Russians. That’s absolutely false. After 1985, when the Robber Barron’s of Russia took over the general economics of Russia, that was the transformation from the KGB to private business. The number one place for banking Russian funds was and is Cyprus…

Now, there is one leader in the world that would be very dangerous to tread on, and that is Putin of Russia….

“What’s just happened is the IMF has backed up, lauded, supported, and publicized, as if it were a victory, the taking of 10% of what really turns out to be 80% of Russian money. The Russian money is kinda KGB money, who is now in big business. The leader of Russia (Putin) was a former KGB official. Who’s money do you think they have taken? They are trying to confiscate KGB’s money. The KGB money is the peoples money and that means Russia is being robbed and that my friend is how Russian people are going to look at it. In fact that is how the Russian people are looking at it and no one in Russia is going to take kindly to the Western Empire stealing their money again. As was done in the past with weak leaders…

This is the biggest mistake the IMF could possibly have ever made.”

Eric King: “Jim, it’s unimaginable to me, but, incredibly, just ten days ago you warned that you don’t want to anger Russian leader Putin because he and Russia will punish the West in the gold market. Can you talk about how this is going to impact the gold market?”

If Cypriot authorities go ahead with the tax plan and levy every deposit placed in the country’s banks, it would be “unfair,unprofessional and dangerous,” Putin said, according top residential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov…

The assessment was voiced during a special meeting with senior economic aides and officials on Monday, in which the situation in the euro-zone and the Cyprus banking crisis were discussed…

Cyprus wants to impose a levy on bank deposits as part of its plan for a bailout by European creditors. While the proposed measure provoked anger from the population of the tiny country,foreign investors stand to lose most from the scheme if it is enacted…

The word is spreading that: In short I believe that it is possible that the international bankers my have picked the wrong patsy’s pocket to pick as Putin has the means to extract his revenge and the muscle and spine to back up that decision if he so chooses to…

The word is that Putin is pissed and I see that he can easily and will send the gold market to hell and back and we will look at $2000 per oz gold. This is the gold market that has been corruptly manipulated since day one for many years, by the West. I guess we will see what concessions that they make to Russia…

Stupid is as Stupid does…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

Moscow gathered another 24 centimeters of snowfall late on Friday and early on Saturday, bringing the total so far this winter to (and it is still around and packed solid): 279+ centimeters. That is over 9 feet to metric illiterates and more is coming down right now, as I write this article excerpt. I see 10 to 11 feet worth of snow before it all ends in a few weeks. By next Friday they are talking about -22C and that equates to -7.6F…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

A ex-army commando who kidnapped several hostages in southern Russia demanding money, a getaway car and a pizza! He wanted to impress his ex-girlfriend, as he had her as one of the hostages…

The 17-year-old girl was among the three hostages being held at gunpoint by Alexander Kuptsov for several hours in a inner city college classroom in the city of Astrakhan…

Alexander Kuptsov, who threatened to blow the place up with a home made bomb, was dubbed the “pizza terrorist” by Russian media, because a pizza and a soda were all he asked for…

But after finishing his pizza snack, he got brave and asked for a modest ransom of 50,000 rubles ($1,630) and an SUV to escape in…

He also asked for some anti-anxiety medicine…

Police eventually grew tired of being nice and stormed the classroom and nabbed the “pizza terrorist” and found that the bomb he claimed to be carrying proved to be a fake and his gun only a plastic toy…

Hmm…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

1. Russian Federation   2. Ukraine  3. China  4. Sweden  5. Germany  6. India  7. Lithuania  8. France   9. Poland  10. Turkey…

Now that is cool butter beans and I am working on growing my world coverage everyday! I learned the hard way to rely upon having a site that caters to only the USA and it bit me in the butt real bad. Now I have expanded my horizons (As we say!) and have gotten a hundred search engines from all over the world to spider Windows to Russia. I keep a good translation widget available and it is used hundreds of times a day and I keep original content going…

It has had an effect and now Google has tried to reclaim the lost usage and are showing my site three times more than they have in two years to the US audience. It is strange to see people stopping by from Google search. That took me almost two years of e-mails to get cleared up and it seems that it was all a mistake… (Okay! I believe that, like I believe that the US government is kind and sweet!)

I had given up on Google a long time ago and I will stay that way, until Google gets it together and treats all sites the same. Too much censoring going on with Google…

The countries listed above are the norm for the last few months and they have been fighting it out for who is first and second. I do not count my IP as I work on the site, so that does not give Russia a advantage. Ukraine has knocked Russia off the perch several times and this is after, I fought tooth and nail to get Ukraine to release my site from censorship. I won that battle and aas you see they are in second place as of the middle of this month. Now you understand why, when over a year ago I was having a fit about Ukraine and her censorship issues. It took me half a year and I finally found the issue and it was US based. That is really sad…

Look closely at the top 10 countries and that is what you should be looking at to cater to if you own a site. That is a reader base much larger than the US and they are very polite and do not try to abuse you in the comments. They have respect and I treat them back with respect…

The Western world has all but lost the meaning of the word respect and that is as I watch Iran being threatened a million times with annihilation this last week. Very sad and immoral world we have developed in the West…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…