Windows to Russia

Windows to Russia!

If you live in Russia then this is an issue that is well known to you. If you follow my blog then you already know what I think about “The Blue Light Special” that so called important people use to transverse the highways of Russia…

Wikipedia: The Society of Blue Buckets (Russian: Общество синих ведёрок) is a free protest movement that has recently emerged in Russia as a response to arbitrary, self-serving use of emergency rotating blue flashers by public servants. Inspired by blue toy bucket‘s strong resemblance to emergent blue rotating light, members of the Society fix buckets up to their vehicles’ roofs during automotive flashmobs, as a manifestation of their protest against misuse of emergency lights. “Blue Buckets” have met with warm approval among citizens since public indignation and hostility have aroused towards emergency-flasher-owners which do not belong to any emergency service and use emergency flashers on private businesses. Read More >>>

• Community Official Web Site (Russian) This site has some serious videos…
• Livejournal community (Russian) Join em and discuss the stupidity of Blue Lights…

Now those website are in Russian but a little Google translation goes along way for Russian impaired people like most of us… 🙂

Some of our articles…

Blue Light Wannabe’s
Link – Link – My Blue Light Article – Link
In Russia You Can Not Just Blame The “Blue Light” Cars!

As you see by above links, I have communicated about the stupidity of Blue Lights and communicated about the Russian driving experience…

The thought of a blue bucket society tends to make you smile, but this is a real issue that is growing with a fervor and it is a legit honest situation. That should be dealt with by the Russian government before it gets out of hand. The blue light crowd has wore their welcome out with the people of Russia…

Hence the “Society of Blue Buckets”…

Windows to Russia!

ANN ARBOR, Michigan/When my parents were visiting me in Moscow last summer, immediately following the worst of the heat wave and smog, my father especially wanted to see what a rural Russian town looks like. There are a number of ways to do this, of course, but I decided to take him on the suburban train toward Yaroslavl, in an ill-fated attempt to see Rostov-Veliky, which I suppose is an idealized rural Russian town. All tickets on the regular train to Rostov were sold out until well into September, so we piled onto the creaking buckboard familiar to anyone who has visited a train station in this country… Read More >>>

Matthew has a good blog and sees Russia for what it is. He also sees America for what it is. A parallel World with Russia. He seems to have taken off the rose colored glasses and that is a good thing…

Windows to Russia!

MOSCOW, June 9 (Itar-Tass) Russia’s gold and foreign exchange reserves climbed by 4.5 billion US dollars from 518.3 billion dollars to 522.8 billion (or by 0.87 per cent) on May 27-June 3, the business news agency PRIME reported on Thursday with reference to the foreign and public relations department of the Central Bank of Russia (CBR)…

The rainy day account is being built up again at a very fast pace. It looks like literally every ruble that can be spared is being socked away for that rainy day, soon to come…

Windows to Russia!

In Russia you can find babushkas selling marinated cabbage almost anywhere. In fact at almost any metro station in Moscow they peddle there concoction of delicious marinated cabbage daily. Now everyone has their own way of making it, but this is my recipe that I use to make for salads in banquets in America…

So this recipe may be missing some secrete ingredients that Russians use. But I can promise you that it will taste delicious and since I am in Russia it is a recipe from Windows to Russia…

Lets make a Marinated Cabbage…

Ingredients:

1 to 2 heads of cabbage (shredded)
4 medium carrots (shredded)
1 bunch parsley (chopped)
3 – 5 garlic cloves (chopped)
4 tbsp vegetable oil

For marinade:

1 Liter of water (about a quart)
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
5 tbsp apple vinegar (or more, on your taste)
Black pepper, peppercorns, bay leaves (to taste)

Method:

Chop the parsley and garlic “then” shred the cabbage and  carrots…

Then mix cabbage, carrots, garlic and parsley together with the oil, gently in a big glass mixing bowl or even a stainless one will do…

Bring the liter of water to boil, as it is boiling put all of the spices (Black pepper, peppercorns, bay leaves, salt and sugar (to taste)) in the rolling boiling water, turn heat off. Then allow to sit about 3 minutes…

Add the vinegar into the spiced water, mix, and pour it over the vegetables…

Let sit for about 2 to 4 hours and cool with a lid covering the bowl…

The cabbage is ready… (Yummy)

Windows to Russia!

PS: I prefer to chill the mixture before serving, but most Russians seem to prefer it on the warm side or room temperature…

Russia’s dream of developing its own hybrid cars is one step closer. The construction of the first Russian plant to produce a new generation of vehicles has started just outside St. Petersburg. ­Yo-Mobile cars were first introduced in January, and were an instant hit. The company got over 100,000 advance orders. Currently the Yo-Auto company is offering three car models – a crossover, a 5-door hatchback and a mini-truck, with a price range from $10,000 to $15,000. This will provide a much-needed boost for the Russian car industry…

Windows to Russia!

Strange and stupid world we live in. I was enjoying that morning cup of coffee and was reading about how wonderful of a world that we live in. It looks like the West is gung-ho trying to get World War Three in motion. While Russia and China are trying to get the opposite to happen…

In Yemen we (America) are performing airstrikes against the rebels who (rebels) are against a pro American government that was put in place by the USA. In Libya we are performing airstrikes against the government (Libya) for the rebels who (rebels) are a pro American group put in by the USA. But the rebels in Yemen are Al Qaeda and called militants. Isn’t that what Qaddafi said that the rebels were in Libya? (Al Qaeda and militants)   🙂

The acceleration of the American campaign in recent weeks comes amid a violent conflict in Yemen that has left the government in Sana, a United States ally, struggling to cling to power. Yemeni troops that had been battling militants linked to Al Qaeda in the south have been pulled back to the capital, and American officials see the strikes as one of the few options to keep the militants from consolidating power. Read More >>>

Now The West is pushing China and Russia to vote yes or not vote at all on a UN resolution on Syria. (We all know how the Libyan UN resolution turned out!) It seems that 4 wars for America and the West is just not enough. We want 5 wars and more and more and more. So I would predict soon that we will have airstrikes happening in Syria…

We (the West) are just a bunch of greedy gobblers when it comes to war…

The truth is we are at war in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Libya, Pakistan and who knows who is next. Anywhere that we are killing people means that we are at war…

Boom Boom Boom Boom the war drums are sounding as they try to cover up the financial devastation we call the West…

What I think is cute is that you all think that we do all this for humanitarian reasons… 🙂

Windows to Russia!

By Fred Weir :
Moscow’s previously troubled relations with NATO have improved greatly over the past two years, but the sleeping elephant in the room – the widening gap between Russian and Western visions for a missile defense shield to defend civilization from rogue attacks – may be about to wake up and turn nasty.

Matters could come to a head Thursday, when Defense Secretary Robert Gates meets his Russian counterpart, Anatoly Serdyukov, at the first high level meeting of the Russia-NATO Council since ties cooled following Russia’s brief summer war with Georgia in 2008.

Read more on http://www.csmonitor.com/

Windows to Russia!

I realized today how much like my dad I look. It is almost scary to see this picture. I really thought that it was my dad. You see my dad died at a younger age than I am now, but not by much. I caught Sveta as she took this picture and you see I am a big grouch…

It just seemed strange today as I looked over this picture and realized that could be my dad standing there and then it dawned on me that could be my grandpa also. Grandpa’s on both sides of my family lived to be mid 80’s but my dad only made it to his 5o’s. Lets hope that I see my grandpa’s life span…

I am blessed to be able to spend time in this Russian village and I am very blessed to have a sneaky picture taker such as Sveta… 🙂

Windows to Russia!

MOSCOW, June 8 (Itar-Tass) —— Russia is mediating a settlement of the conflict between the Opposition and the official authorities of Libya at the request of the West. But experts are already talking about the possibility of sending Russian peacekeepers to Libya, which can cause western resentment…

Can you say ouch and what the hey? As Russia determines if peacekeepers are needed to control the situation and slam the doors on NATO killing Libyan civilians…

Sounds to me like a good idea and will help get Libya under control after the West has blown the hell out of it…

There should not be another bomb dropped and everyone should work toward peace. But it seems that the Western world is blood thirsty and wants heads to roll. All they can see is killing Qaddafi and that is that…

At this point the Western NATO escapade makes Qaddafi look like a saint…

Windows to Russia!