Windows to Russia

Imagine a community where you want for nothing, where work is plentiful and life is easy. Today, a Utopia that once existed in a remote Russian outpost is a fading memory.

The lost paradise did not lie in the embrace of Russia’s national borders, but sat in splendid isolation on the Norwegian archipelago of Spitsbergen. The town of Pyramid once embodied a Soviet dream – a system without money, but where everyone’s needs were provided for.

The town is gone, and in its place is one of the busiest sea gull colonies in the Arctic. Restless as the northern sun, the birds scout the island in search of food for their young. Noisy and disorderly like all big clans, the gulls are the last reminder of the warm family atmosphere that once permeated this Arctic island.

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Windows to Russia!

I just love these Tall Ships and it seems that Russia has a lot of them. I have had several recent articles about these ships and now we have another one coming back to port…

St. Petersburg: The crew of the training sailing-ship Mir (peace) of the State Maritime Academy (SMA) named after Adm. S.O. Makarov will be welcomed back home by brass band music at the Lieutenant Schmidt Embankment on Vassiliyevsky Island here on Thursday

The ship arrives in the native city after a four-month voyage along the shores of Scandinavia and Western Europe. During the voyage, the sailing-ship called at 20 ports of nine countries.

The cadets of the SMA, one of Russia’s oldest transport institutions of higher learning, and their age-mates from related educational establishments of Europe, Asia, and Africa took part in the voyage. The youths and girls not only engaged in studies under the instructional program, heard lectures and took credit tests but also got thorough systematic marinization training.

Professor Ivan Kostylev, SMA president, has told Itar-Tass, “We are proud of the fact that the Mir has an official status of St Petersburg Messenger abroad. This is confirmed by its regular participation in various events there”.

In 2011, the sailing-ship’s mission was to introduce Russia and the city of St Petersburg during the 11th Assembly of the International Association of Maritime Universities in the city of Gdynia (Poland) from June 12 to 16.

When the ship visited the port of Greenock (Scotland), guided tours were organized on board the Russian ship. The visitors were able to enjoy the performing skills of a Russian folklore ensemble. The sailing-ship crew took part in arranging a presentation event on the theme of “The Russian Museum: Virtual Affiliate” that embodied the idea of the accessibility of the world’s major collection of Russian arts to broadest viewership outside St Petersburg.

The sailing-ship Mir was built in 1987 and since then it has been actively used as a floating school for hundreds of SMA cadets and to the students of maritime educational establishments of Russia and other countries. During this voyage the seamen made a successful showing in large-scale international regattas.

They are so beautiful…

Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia!

Libya Jamahiriya Broadcasting Corporation (LJBC, or Libyan state television) was the state run broadcasting organization in Libya. It distributed news in coordination with the Jamahiriya News Agency in accordance with state laws controlling Libya media…

On 22 August 2011, the organization was rendered defunct when its channels were taken off-air by the National Transitional Council forces, which had entered Tripoli the previous day…

Now the Station is back online and telling a side of the story that the West does not want heard…

We will see how long it stays online before it is shut down again…

Watch and learn…

Windows to Russia!

Sveta has a knack for being at the right place at the right time or better I should say, she got delayed at a Moscow Metro station and found this delight while waiting to come home. Now Sveta is not shy and will pull out her camera at the drop of a hat. She got a gem of a video this time and I really think that you will enjoy it…

Sveta bought one of their CD’s and that gave us their website. http://yarik-ecuador.com/index_.html is the URL of the site. You will have to translate with Google translation as they do not have a translation button. The CD is wonderful quality and I am enjoying the music now as I write this… 🙂

Enjoy the video….

This is part of what makes Russia so unique. Every time you turn a corner you never know what delight you will find waiting for you there…

Kyle and Sveta
Windows to Russia!

As I said the other day I just love these huge sailing ships of Russia’s. We have a Tall Ship right now in Honolulu:

A Russian Tall Ship (Pallada) in Honolulu is so beautiful.

But my favorite is the Kruzenshtern. It is as I have said before it originally was German made but Russia got her after World War Two as payment for the war…

So Russia’s famous tall ship, the Kruzenshtern, will set off on Wednesday for its 97-day fall voyage to visit seven European ports. “The route lies in the Baltic Sea, the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The ship will visit seven ports in four countries: Helsinki (Finland), Warnemunde (Germany), Zeebrugge (Belgium), Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Spain), Vigo (Spain), Bremerhaven (Germany), and Rostock (Germany),” spokeswoman Irina Chiklinenkova said…

The Kruzenshtern with 120 naval cadets on board is scheduled to return to its home port of Kaliningrad on December 1. The Kruzenshtern is widely regarded as one of the jewels of the Russian sailing fleet. It was built in Germany in 1926 as a windjammer class ship (then called The Padova).

That is one beautiful ship…

Windows to Russia!

PS: Search for Kruzenshtern >>>

I have said before that Sveta is a very patient person and really does not say a whole lot about things that irate her. But when she does say something I listen and she has talked about the stupidity going on downtown Moscow. She said that walking around downtown has become a real problem at times…

The Problem is that the Mayor of Moscow for some reason decided to spend a fortune and replace all the sidewalks in Moscow with brick sidewalks. Not repair sidewalks but tear up all the sidewalks and replace them, whether they were bad or not.  Now this has caused lots of issues downtown and some people are hot under the collar. In fact the news agencies and blogs have taken it up as a protest of sorts and are wanting explanations of why this is being done. No one it seems asked the people what they thought about their sidewalks…

There is a ton of evidence it seems that is pointing to family gains by the Mayor by doing all the sidewalks in Moscow in brick. That is what is being posted around the town…

This has prompted the Mayor to come out publicly with this type of statements:

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has once again denied that his wife is in anyway involved in the brick-making business. Rumors surfaced that the mayor’s wife was involved in the brick business after the mayor chose to replace nearly the entire city center’s asphalt covered footpaths with brick.

“My wife is an educator, a teacher, she doesn’t work with bricks,” said the mayor on Vesti Fm radio on Tuesday. He also added that the removal of asphalt was necessary. “Asphalt on footpaths is the same as engine oil on a fry pan,” said Sobyanin.

Now all this is doing is causing more issues with the people who are complaining and after I read the Mayor’s comments. I then wonder what this is all about. Brick sidewalks are not better than any other sidewalk. In fact the brick sidewalks that we have where we live are only a few years old and they are a disaster. When the whole world drives on these sidewalks. All you get is loose bricks everywhere and they are dangerous. About the only thing good I can say about a brick sidewalk is that you have plenty of bricks to defend yourself with against dogs and hooligans… 🙂

The upkeep is tremendous on brick sidewalks, plus the cost is horrendous and to be truthful upkeep is not in the Russian language…

I have watched for a month now about this controversy of the sidewalks in Moscow.  It all boils down to this:

1. Asphalt is bad for you!
2. Bricks are good for you!
3. We (the Mayor) don’t care how much money is spent on this project!
4. It will take several years to get done!
5. The city sidewalks are now in a worse mess and are dangerous from construction.  (I know I have seen them)!
6. The Mayors wife is not a bricklayer!
7. Now Shut Up…

That just about sums up that situation in a nutshell…

I hope for the Mayors sake that he is not pulling an old Mayor ‘switch a roo’, because the people here do not like the new mayor, near as well as the old mayor (Kinda that good ole boy thing!). I guess time will tell and in the mean time, we here in Moscow are getting nice new brick sidewalks. I guess we have nothing else to spend money on and that way we have lots of bricks to chase stay dogs/hooligans away with…

Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia!

I just love this video. It is an advertisement video for a company in Russia. It is so much fun to watch and really pegs Russia like she really is. You can tell Russians made this video because they have all the little things that are important in the video…

One of my favorite spots is, “You never know what is best guarantee in Russia. A paper! Two Papers! A paper giving guarantee to the previous two! Money! Big Money! Signature plus a stamp!”

Okay! I guess you have to live here to understand… 🙂

Just watch the video because it is so true…

Kyle and Sveta
Windows to Russia!

Original source: http://video.kylekeeton.com/2011/09/russian-video-this-is-russia.html

British Prime Minister David Cameron had to bring up the Litvinenko issue on Monday in Moscow, the first visit to Russia by a British premier since 2005. Of all subjects that are dead in the water, literally. This is a subject that has no merit and he was told firmly by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that the extradition of Lugovoi would “Never Happen!”

I have lots of articles on this subject and Russia has offered many times to do a joint investigation on the death of Litvinenko. Always to be snubbed by Britain…

For some reason Britain wants Lugovoi badly in custody. So bad they refuse to communicate with Russia why. They just use the ruse that Lugovoi killed Litvinenko and we want him extradited. Like Russia keeps saying, communicate and if what you say is true then we will decide his fate. Russia has also accepted that a third country could be involved and Lugovoi tried in that country…

It just looks really fishy on Britain’s part that they refuse to communicate with Russia on this issue…

Makes Britain look guilty of deception…

Kyle
Windows to Russia!

PS: Reminds me of how other stupid politicians all over the Western world keep bringing up South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The answer is the same and will not change. NO…

As reported by Agence France-Presse, on September 10, two groups of Libyan rebels from three towns clashed in a fierce battle. As a result, at least 12 people were killed, dozens wounded. No more details have been reported, but the reason for the clashes is the years-long enmity between the inhabitants.

Now that the Libyan rebels have captured most of the country’s territory and are launching an offensive on one of the last Gaddafi’s strongholds, the town of Bani Walid, the question arises: what’s next?

This…

Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi have killed at least 15 guards and injured two others in an attack on an oil facility outside the coastal town of Ras Lanuf, fighters of Libya’s National Transitional Council (NTC) have said.

Citing NTC fighters present at the scene, Al Jazeera’s Hoda Abdel-Hamid said a column of vehicles carrying armed Gaddafi loyalists drove up to the refinery’s checkpoint on Monday morning.

Ras Lanuf is located approximately 600km east of the capital, Tripoli.

The attack came as pro-and anti-Gaddafi forces fought fierce battles around Sirte and Bani Walid, key towns still controlled by forces of the toppled leader.

Anti-Gaddafi fighters had reached the gates of Bani Walid, located 150km southeast of Tripoli, on Sunday but encountered fierce resistance from Gaddafi loyalists who ignored a NTC deadline to surrender.

But I was told it was over…

As I have said before about things in life, “It ain’t over til’ the fat lady sings!”

Damn this has been the longest “few day” war I have ever seen…

What is it – 7 months now? Hummm…

Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia!

PS: The war drums on Syria are beating hard today…

MOSCOW, September 12 (Itar-Tass) — The Syrian leadership believes that the Libyan scenario does not repeat in the country, Syrian presidential adviser Bouthaina Shaaban said.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Shaaban said, “As for the fact that the Libyan scenario repeats in Syria, we believe that it is impossible. The people drew the lesson.”

Shaaban said, “Before NATO invaded Libya about 20 people were killed. And now a total of 50,000 people have been killed and 10,000 injured, and 100,000 people remained homeless.”

“And nobody in the West is talking about human rights and refugees. And the figures are huge,” the Syrian presidential adviser said.

Shaaban denies reports saying at least 10,000 people died in Syria.

“According to our data, a total of 700 people were killed from every side,” Shaaban said.

“The U.N. has no such information and one can get it. We have a list of those who died. And we can present it,” the Syrian presidential adviser said.

I would say that he is pretty accurate about Libya and about 700 have died in Syria…

I remember when I was a teenager in Jr. High School and my dad was trying to figure out how to escape the USA borders and work for the Peace Corps in another country. In fact the reason that I am thinking about this is that I found an old application that I kept of my dads, after he died. It was an application to the Peace Corps…

I did not understand why he wanted to leave at that early age of mine. But after several years myself in the armed forces. I understood the why. You see, my dad was in the Korean War and he had very little to say about that war and what he did say was not very good…

I remember the strained look on my dads face when he dropped me off to go to boot camp. He looked like he had aged 20 years over night. That image never left my mind and my dad did not make it many years after that. My dad died at 50. But he saw me come home and saw that I was still alive. My dad also saw my first born (Lyle) and the baby was a boy. That was very important to my dad and he died a few months later knowing that the Keeton’s had another boy to carry on the family. That was a very important thing to my dad and the worry that I would never come home from my escapades weighed heavy on him…

As I worked in America, I had memories of what I had seen around the world. I even worked in a Military College to stay in touch with my past. I kept contacts and I kept my rank alive. I decided after the divorce from the kids mother. That I would think outside of the box, so to speak…

Then one day after years and years of 16 hour days and six heart attacks! I met someone who was not from my world. Someone who was as far away as you could get from my world in America. Call it an accident, fluke, destiny, god intervention and or plain dumb luck. But I met a woman from Russia. This woman was different and unique. She was perfect and I could feel it even through an e-mail message. It turns out that my instinct was correct and it was the same instinct that kept my alive for many years and I learned to trust that instinct…

That same instinct told me to leave the USA and see the world. I severed ties and I mean I severed ties in America. I bought (bribed) my freedom from various parties and buried my past deep. That was the best money I ever spent. Probably the only thing that I did wrong was to not get another passport from another country as a backup. I see issues happening now with having a USA passport and they are not good for long term situations in many other countries. But it is what I have and what I will deal with…

Sometimes that past rears it head in the form of nightmares and dreams: Sometimes it comes in bits of paper from the past, such as an application for the Peace Corps that my dad filled out. I have to shake my head and clear the cobwebs. Then I assimilate myself to the fact that I am no longer dealing with the life that I had in the USA. That always makes me smile… 🙂

It dawned on me today that I achieved what my dad did not. He was from an older generation and they had harder roots to break. I also had wandered around America looking for what you would call, home. I never seemed to find it. I owned land, houses, built homes and moved from city to city. I never found peace because I always had a past dragging me into a pit…

I understand that it was me and only me who had that problem in my life. It could not be blamed on anyone else. I have lived in Moscow longer than anywhere in my life except when I was a kid. I use to buy a new car every year, sometimes two or three a year. I was always searching for an answer and material items seemed to be the American way to solve it. Inside of me, I realize was a person who did not accept the American way of life. The way of life that the media and government presented to us on a daily bases. So when the kids where on their own. I was on my own…

It is strange: I have no desire to leave Moscow. I have no desire to buy a new car. I have someone who really loves me for who I am and not what I am suppose to be according to media, government and social standards…

You know what? That just might be the answer…

Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia!