Windows to Russia

While drinking that delicious morning cup of coffee. I was doing some backtracking on several issues that have been forefront in the news yesterday. So lets see what was happening in Russia.

“Russian Interior Ministry and Moscow police personnel are checking information that unidentified persons abducted in Moscow the son of well-known entrepreneur Yevgeny Kaspersky,” the source said. Russia media report that Ivan Kaspersky, 20, may have been snatched on Tuesday and some reports say he is being held for a 3 million euro ransom. Yevgeny Kaspersky, who is behind the Kaspersky Labs anti-virus software, has a personal fortune of $800 million, according to Forbes magazine, and ranks 125th among Russia’s 200 richest persons…

When I first heard about this I was thinking a young child. But today I heard that this was a 20 year old guy. So I am going to wait out this story before I say a whole lot. This should be big news and is being taken rather strangely by the press…

Next on the list is Putin. Now Putin is always in the news and lately he has been in the news a whole bunch more. But this item is strange:

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday invited Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to visit the United States, Putin’s spokesman said. The invitation came in a telephone conversation, Dmitry Peskov said. Biden told Putin “he and President Barack Obama would be pleased to see the Russian prime minister,” Peskov said. Biden and Putin also discussed “various aspects of Russian-U.S. trade cooperation, including Russia’s admission to the WTO,” Peskov said.

Now I know that Putin can not be bought by the West like Medvedev has been. That is what makes Putin dangerous in the Wests eyes. But this is looking a whole lot like pre Russian election games to me. By America from America. Can anyone say, “Please do not run for Russian President, Mr. Putin…”

Next on the agenda is an item that caught my attention yesterday. Russia is wanting to drug test students in the schools. I normally would say, “Hey that is eroding my freedoms!” But if you saw how much it looks similar to the drug and alcohol problems in America, here in Moscow. Then you would change your mind. (Then maybe you wouldn’t!) I use to take evening walks in America and you could watch the young adults smoking pot and crack all up and down the neighborhood streets. Beer cans would be stacked in pyramid piles on the front porch to display their drinking abilities. I remember steel doors being torn down by cops every week on my street. I really do not want to see that become Russia…

Russian schools will introduce a program of annual drug tests that will be able to detect drug use up to half a year earlier, Marina Myagkova of Moscow Narcology Center said on Thursday. “We will test pupils’ blood for amphetamines, barbiturates and opiate-specific antibodies. The antibodies remain in the blood during five or six months after the last use,” Myagkova said. The first drug tests were carried out in 2005 among 713 university students. “We got shocking results: 72 of the students taking part in the research used drugs. This is 10 percent.” The pupils will be tested with their parents’ permission.

I know that with the Flying J Corporation that I worked for in America at one time. There was mandatory surprise instant drug testing. They could at anytime, test any employee for drugs. It was our policy to have 25% of the work force available, on call to work for the occasions that they tested us. Management was not told when they would be coming. Because a normal unit lost 20% plus of the employees at a drug test. As this program was fully implemented the percent of employees doing drugs dropped because employees realized that they should work at places that do not drug test. Sooner or later you will catch a huge percent of them. I remember one of the main questions asked in an interview by prospective employees was, “Do you test for drugs?” I had a lot get up and leave the interview when told, “Yes, when hired and surprise tests while working! Here is the handbook it explains the policy!” (Flying J by the way was the company that I had been Sexually Harassed with.) So with the drug problem I see in Russia that is seems to be getting worse by the day. Something needs to be done. I have taken a lot of drug tests in my day so they are not worrisome unless you do drugs. But I still want to say that they are an eroding of our freedoms… 🙂

Next I found an interesting tidbit of information that was expensive…

Workers in a Siberian mining company in Yakutia have discovered a large diamond weighing more than 136 carats, a spokesman for the republic’s Industrial Ministry said on Thursday. The diamond has a very rare “honey-yellow” color, measures 33 x 23 millimeters, and is of irregular shape. The diamond’s worth has not yet been determined…

What a diamond! I wonder what it will be cut into as far as size and shape? I guess we will have to wait and see what it is worth…

Well that is it today and I have rattled on enough. Those happen to be the issues that caught my attention… (Except Libya of course!)

I am going to finish my cup of coffee now…

Windows to Russia!

http://windowstorussia.com/russia-have-you-ever-been-sexually_11.html

Interesting but over the last few days in Russia it has become official that Libya has armed the civilians in Lybia. This has been done because the West has made it clear that they are getting ready to launch a ground attack…

It seems that according to News Sources in Russia, that a stalemate has developed in Libya. So the next exciting chapter of this story will be for the West to send in ground troops…

Well by golly they (News Sources in Russia) are correct…

1. McCain is in Libya…
2. Obama orders Predator Drones to be used…
3. NATO and the UN are asking politely for Russia to tone down the rhetoric against the Western War – I mean humanitarian help session to save Libyans from Qaddafi…
4. UK says that they are in this humanitarian help session for the long term…
5. France is like a little pug dog with his chest puffed out saying, “Let me at em!”
6. The US, France and UK have all sent military experts to help out the Rebels or are they terrorists? I get confused…
7. The West has taken the rebels side as fact…
8. The UN resolution on Libya is a shambles…
9. We still exaggerate the murder and mayhem by a hundred fold…
10. We have driven the words humanitarian effort into the world until it sounds like a broken record…
12. We could go on but you get my drift…

Now we wait to see if the Russian press is made to shut up about broken UN Libya resolution and tons of other things they say bad about the West right now…

Lets hope not because it is all true…

I would have much more respect for America, Britain and France if we just would not lie about it all and just do it. Other words if you do not like Quaddafi then tell it like it is and admit that we are going to kill him and turn Libya into a puppet state of the West…

Boy Oh Boy – We have got ourselves into a Pickle…

Windows to Russia!

Moscow, Russia celebrates the birthday of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin, if still alive he would be 141 years old. Born on April 22, 1870 and died on January 21st, 1924…

The lasting testament to his affect on the Russia during the Soviet times is the huge number of statues of Lenin that still exist all over Russia. If you ever travel Russia you will see what I mean…

He was 54 years old at time of death…

Windows to Russia!

So as we stated in Part 1. Propane (LPG) is an environmentally good fuel and cheap. Now I am going to show you the parts. The only things that I could not get a good picture of, is the base plate on the carburetor and the switch to tell which fuel you want. I had to drill and install the gas to the base-plate myself and the inside of the car was too dark… (Here is what I mean by base-plate >>>)

The parts are few and very simple. Propane (LPG) does not need a fuel pump of any type. It does not need to be atomized because it is a vapor. But as you see (fourth picture from the left) there is a Propane Heater that is run off of hot water from the car. That is necessary because Propane (LPG) is so cold that it will freeze everything and it is in a liquid state. This device turns the liquid to a vapor. For cold weather operation you definitely need the propane heater…

I said that the tank would be interesting. The first picture above is our fill valve for propane (LPG). The second picture in the row is our tank. It is located where the spare tire is supposed to be. It holds around 55 liters. The picture to the left is a tank before installed. Ours has a rubber inner-tube installed around it for vibration control…

The third picture from the left is a magnetic shut off for the gasoline. When you activate the switch under the dash (below) and turn on propane this is the little devil that stops the gasoline from flowing. Believe me when I say that trying to run on gas (LPG) at the same time as gasoline does not work…

The last picture across the top is a regulator for the propane (LPG). It also shuts off the propane (LPG) flow when there is no electrical flow to the engine. It is mainly as I see it a safety device. Keeps the propane at a constant pressure and stops the flow of gas when you turn the key or switch off…

Now the unseen parts is copper tubing used for the propane (LPG) flow from the tank to the Propane Heater. It is insulated every foot with rubber buffers. You also have to have several meters of heater hose to install the Propane Heater inline with the heater core and such on the car. Of course there is lots of little fittings and such…

The propane goes right from the heater and straight into the bottom of the carburetor. Or in some case I have seen adapters to install on top of the carburetor. When I rebuilt the system I elected to remove the base-plate and drill a new hole to attach the gas (LPG) line. It had an adapter plate that was cumbersome and poorly designed. Gas straight into the intake manifold works much better and power loss is minimal. You have several way to attach the gas (LPG) line and if you manifold is of correct design you can actually tap into the manifold directly. I had to use the carburetor base because of design limitations…

That is about it for parts for running propane (LPG). It is a very simple system and in basic reality you do not even need a carburetor at all. In my case it is for throttle control and starting only. One thing that I do know is that since you do still have a carburetor attached that you must run it once in awhile on gasoline. Gasoline goes bad and varnishes up something terrible. So if you do not use it up or keep the carburetor wet inside you can cause some serious issues down the road…

Stay tuned for Part 3… (Driving on Propane is great…)

Windows to Russia!

PS:
Driving on Propane (LPG) in Russia… (Part 1)

Driving on Propane (LPG) in Russia… (Part 3)

Can’t you just hear those ground war drums? Going Boom Boom Boom…

I can hear those ground war drums! Going Boom Boom boom…

They are saying ground war in Libya! Going Boom Boom Boom…

Russia is very upset at the situation that is now progressing by the West in Libya. The lies have continued, the false accusations have kept coming, the staged photo sessions are still in full print and now that two reporters have died who should not have been there in the first place, Russia is watching the twist of propaganda that forelays invasion by the West on the ground…

It is easy to see all this from Russia. Can you see it or do you care that we manipulate the masses to get the means for the end?

Windows to Russia!

In Russia I Can Hear The Drums Tonight About Libya: Boom Boom Boom…
Starting to Look Like the West Will Cross the Rubicon River…

The sun is shining and the coffee is good. But it looks like our planned trip to Britain will not happen. It is just too much hassle and too many issues for Sveta to get a visa to Britain. She got halfway through the process and after talking to her cousin in Britain they decided that most likely it will not be an issue if Sveta does not show up at the wedding…

Her son Misha does not ever want to go through the terror of getting a visa to Britain again and so he said he will not go…

I thought it was bad getting a visa to Russia for me, but for a Russian to get a visa to Britain. Is not a fun process at all. It seems that Britain is so worried about how much you make, who you know in Britain, why you want to come, do you have plane tickets with return trip, must have an interview and so on and so on and so on. Besides I do not even think she could get a visa in time and she has been working on it for months. It was causing her to have bad nights of sleep because of the stress of trying to get a visa…

So Sveta has big plans now in her head about a trip to Turkey because she can swim and no visa required. I agree because Sveta and I have talked many times about countries that do not have visa free with Russia. We do not want to go… 🙂

I have talked about Turkey before and it looks like now that Britain is pushed aside. Turkey is in the limelight again…

It is a shame that countries like America and Britain who really need the tourists and their money make life so difficult to travel there for Russians. Now of course I being an American have no problem traveling to Britain. That really is discrimination against Russians in my eyes…

I know of more Americans who want to escape America, than Russians who want to escape from Russia…

Maybe Britain needs to think about that…

Windows to Russia!

This is exactly what Russia wants. China, Belarus are right now buying oil with rubles and one day Europe will be doing the same…

Ukraine has asked Russia to switch to rubles for payments for energy products supplied to the ex-Soviet republic, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday…

Slowly but surely one step at a time…

Buy your gas and oil in Rubles…

Windows to Russia!

Russian-born Kirill Makharinsky who is successful at Silicone Vally in America decided to come back home to Russia…

The question is asked why? He gives answers and much more. He also talks extensively about the entrepreneur situation in Russia…

I recently had an article about business in Russia and said that Russia was a very good place to start a business, but that Russians do not have knowledge’s about making a viable business: Coffee and That Dereliction of Russian Business…

Well this young man after succeeding in America, decided that opportunities are better in Russia. He says that Russia is basically wide open for entrepreneurs. Because the concept of being an entrepreneur is so new in Russia. He said something that made me laugh, “There is at most three people in all of Russia that understand early investment risk…” 🙂

I agree with him and from what I see Russia is the future for business…

Windows to Russia!

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday he did not support the idea of increasing the working week recently suggested by a local oligarch.

“I have always been and will always be against increasing the working week, and using other absolutely groundless methods of generating profit, when working in an ordinary mode or in conditions of economic modernization,” Putin told the State Duma, Russia’s lower parliament house. “The effect could be contrary to what was expected,” he added.

Last year tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov proposed increasing the working week by 20 hours to 60 hours, an initiative which was sharply criticized.

Prokhorov later backtracked, saying he was misunderstood and noted a situation was emerging in the labor market favorable to the employee, due to the worsening demographic situation.

Prokhorov suggested adopting a new labor code which would include what he called the possibility of the employer managing his labor force freely. He said social guarantees and motivation should be tied to labor productivity, which is low in Russia compared to developed states.

MOSCOW, April 20 (RIA Novosti)

I just filled up the Volga and took note of what we are paying per liter. I wanted to figure out at home what that per liter price equates in per gallon amount. Sveta and I just paid 20 rubles per liter and we could have gotten it cheaper by one ruble a few kilometers farther away. Out in the country it is cheaper yet. We find the most expensive fuel as we travel is generally in Moscow. But I have been grumbling because the price has been going up and over the last year I have seen it go up by a few rubles…

So we will use that 20 ruble number per liter. Now this is 80 octane benzine (gasoline). I do not have to burn that high octane stuff and I can save a fortune. I see people with their new foreign cars trying to burn the 80 instead of the 92 and their cars do not do well with the cheap gas. But our Sammy the Russian Volga purrs with 80 octane…

Now lets see how many liters in an American gallon? Google says: 1 US gallon = 3.78541178 liters. So lets round it off to 3.79 to make life easier. We have 3.79 times 20 rubles per liter. That equals 3.79 X 20 = 75.8 rubles per gallon. It takes as of right now today: 28.15 rubles per dollar. So lets divide 75.8 by 28.15 and that equals $2.69 per gallon…

I don’t expect with Russian presidential election season coming in Russia, that price will change a whole lot until after the election. So since that will be in 2012. We have these prices for awhile…

The reason I also bring this up is that I was shocked today after reading an article that: Gas Prices Reach Five Dollars a Gallon in the Nation’s Capital That floored me because I only worry about what I pay in Russia and I was upset about the creeping price of fuel in Russia. After I started to look around the news and saw what is happening in America with gas prices. I will quit complaining. What I found in America and Europe is not good and you all are being taken for a ride. I do not know about Europe but I do know that America has huge reserves of oil and there is no shortage anywhere of any bulk crude oil. Saudi Arabia just pronounced no shortage of oil on the market and Russia has been stating the same thing. There is no shortage of oil…

If it has to do with refineries then America better get its act together…

I know that awhile back in Russia (6 or 7 months ago). Putin told Russia to get the price of gasoline under control or else. (Looks like they did.) How much are you willing to pay when there is plenty of oil around?

I grumble at 20 rubles per liter and drive much less than I would otherwise…

Windows to Russia!