Windows to Russia

Dear Kyle and Svet,

I have read your article about Russian expedition to the North Pole that is taking place at the moment, and saw you mention that you were looking for the diary page of the expedition.

My name is Ilya Kovalev, I am the Canadian coordinator of the MLAE-2011 expedition which is currently underway.

Here is the web page with information about our expedition as well as daily blog with updates of expedition progress.

I will be happy if you post the link to it on your site:

http://yemelya-yemelya.blogspot.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MLAE-2011_Expedition_from_Russian_Arctic_to_Canadian_Arctic_over_the_North_Pole

I like the idea of your site. Keep up the good work, and if I can help in any way, please let me know.

I am Russian- English interpreter and currently working on translating books by Vladimir Medinsky “Myths about Russia” which attempt to dispel some of the common in the West myths about the country in hope of relieving the unjustified cultural tensions that exist between the West and Russia.

If you would like to publish some of Medinskiy’s articles in my translation, please let me know, I will consult him first and then send you the translations.

All the best to you!
Ilya Kovalev

Original article…
Russian Arctic Expedition Time…

Looks like I need to get some of his translations to post. Sounds like a wonderful idea…

Thanks Ilya Kovalev for the wonderful e-mail and sorry that I could not respond sooner. But I have been having an expedition (just not as big or as important as yours) of my own to deal with, over visas for Russia… 🙂

Windows to Russia!

Driving on Propane (LPG) is great! It is hard to explain but until you drive on propane you will not totally understand. The best that I can say is that, driving on propane is smoother and cleaner. The oil virtually never gets dirty. It stays clean and almost the same color as it comes out of the bottle. There is no unpleasant odors coming from the tail pipe and the driving experience is second to none. The harshness of the gasoline engine is tamed by propane. With such a high octane you can adjust your distributor and get a really smoothly running car…

Sveta and I travel many a mile on propane and here next weekend we are looking forward to a long trip to our village, Sunrise to Freedom. It will be traveled 99% on propane…

In Russia obtaining propane is not an issue, or at least has not been an issue for us. But we have gasoline as backup just in case and that really makes a difference in mental satisfaction…

The only time that we have to deal with gasoline smells is when we start the car. Then as soon as it is warm enough I can switch to propane. Usually after starting it the first time on gasoline, you can start it the rest of the day on propane, in fact I have figured out how to start it on propane and never use gasoline at all. I just have to remember to run the gasoline every so often because the carburetor will dry out. Hence I start on Gasoline to wet the carburetor down…

These are the first two installments on Driving on Propane in Russia…

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

Driving on Propane (LPG) in Russia… (Part 2)

The workings of the whole system as explained in part 2 is really simple. You have a tank that holds propane. You have a line that takes the propane from the tank to a regulator and then from that regulator to a heater. Then it goes directly into the engine, either by injectors or carburetor. It really is that simple. No fuel pump to worry about, because propane is under pressure. In fact if you opt for a system that is 100% propane then you do not even need a carburetor. Just a orifice and filtered air supply at the entrance to the intake manifold. Propane already is a vapor and unlike gasoline which has to be vaporized, it just mixes with air and off you go… (With some minor adjustments to initial propane flow amounts of course…)

So in my book propane is the way to go. It makes your car engine last longer, it is definitely more environmentally safer and it just plain feels good driving around on propane… 🙂

Hope you enjoyed the three articles on propane (LPG) and if you have any questions on propane I will do my best to answer them. Because I did not cover but just the basics of “Driving on Propane in Russia”…

Windows to Russia!

Russia’s Proton-M carrier rocket that blasted off from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan last night has effectively placed the US communications satellite Telstar-14P into its final orbit. The satellite is due to provide communication for fleet air and flight navigation facilities in Central and South America. This has been the 65th commercial launch of the Proton carrier rocket.
Read More >>>
Source: Voice of Russia.

Don’t get me wrong! I think it is great for Russia, but being an American and watching the USA Space Program go to hell. Just bothers me…

When I grew up we all wanted to be astronauts and space was the things dreams are made of. I guess that I just think that Space exploration and abilities to put our own satellites in orbit rank a hell of a lot higher than spending trillions on destroying little Middle East countries…

Russia still has the desire to explore space and it seems that they will not set those desires aside. Looks like a mistake is being made somewhere and it is not by Russia…

What is wrong with this picture? It just does not look right to me…

Windows to Russia!

I was sipping that morning cup of coffee and realized that humans have just put a real hurt on things in this last few years or so (OK, so maybe the last thousand years or so!). What, between the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Those two escapades alone have evenhandedly affected the world in a downward direction…

The repercussions are unknown still from the Gulf oil spill (and that does not look good) and we are just starting to see the beginnings of the effects of Fukushima. These are literally the largest environmental disasters ever on earth and it is starting to show. One more disaster may break the camels back…

I am not even caring about the financial effect. That is all a game because the financial world is a farce anyway and we should all know that by now… (Though the financial will affect what I see as most important.)

I am talking about the food crises that seems to be looming ahead on the horizon. These two events alone have put a real hurt on fishing and food production in the world…

I know that the whole world has been polluting and destroying the planet forever (Including Russia big time!) and we seem to not be capable of getting that part of us under control. We have gotten good at covering things up, but the issue is still there and it looks like we are reaching a saturation point…

So as it (food issues) sneaks up on you while you sip your cup of (more expensive by the day) coffee. Just think about the hundreds of food items all over the world that seem to be in a bind right now and it all seems to have started with grain shortages several years ago…

I really think that this is a serious problem that has been building a long long time but it came to a forefront when countries like Russia and Ukraine had a drought that stymied grain production. But now with fishing capabilities being put under attack by man made disasters. The problem has become compounded. Would you eat fish from the (Corex) Gulf of Mexico? Would you eat fish from Japanese radioactive waters? Fine – but do so at you own health and risk… (I would not!)

Coffee gets too expensive! I will drink chicory without hesitation… 🙂

Windows to Russia!

PS: I heard a good statement: (The world wastes a billion tons of food every year!) My, we are amazing creatures aren’t we…

The rules for getting a Russian visa of any kind need to be corrected to the better not the worse like what seems to be common here in Russia…

The Russian government should review its strict visa policies and take more efforts to make traveling in Russia easier in order to attract more tourists, the head of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) said. Read More >>>

I resemble this statement by the UNWTO, after what I have just gone through getting a visa for Russia! 🙂

While Sveta and I traveled Ukraine this last few weeks. Sveta came up with a statement that made a whole bunch of sense, “Ukraine does not have a visa needed for 90 days for Americans and you do not see a bunch of hooligan Americans rampaging Ukraine. So why would Russia want to keep doors closed to Americans either tourist or business? It is not like Americans will come and affright Russia!”

Once again she is correct. Russia has nothing to loose and everything to gain by setting up even a 30 day no visa with America…

I realize Russia does a Tit for Tat on the visa, but in this case with countries like Britain, America and other scared of Russia countries. Russia needs to show that they are the adults and not play games. Open the doors and let the good times roll…

Ukraine does…

Windows to Russia!

Where is the ‘reset’?
What the world has come to understand by ‘reset’ is the political course aimed at putting US-Russian relations on a new track, as coined by President Obama as he waived George W. Bush’s much beloved project of deploying American missiles in close proximity to Russia’s borders on the territory of Poland and the Czech Republic. That was a serious move, paving the way for settling a number of other, equally important issues, in relations between Russia and the United States. The signing of the START 3 Treaty marked a major step in this direction. Good will and political honesty are needed if this reset is going to be more than a catchy phrase and become a full-blown political program…

Read More >>>
Source: Voice of Russia.

The Russian press has been all over this reset issue. I would say instead of a 50/50 split as in the past, over whether it (reset with America) was a good thing or not. That split has become 20/80 now against the value of said reset…

We have a saying: Fool me once, shame on you – Fool me twice, shame on me…

Windows to Russia!

Sveta found the OutdoorLife article for me and I read it this morning while sipping my coffee. Outdoor life was my last and best subscription that I ever had on a magazine (It ended two months before I came to Russia!). I love the articles and since I was an avid hunter and fisherman. The Magazine fit my lifestyle…

OutdoorLife did an interview with Putin and they did not disappoint. It was most likely the best Western Press interview and article that I have seen. It was not biased and not slanted in any way…

Article of interview: http://www.outdoorlife.com/articles/hunting/2011/05/one-one-vladimir-putin?page=0%2C0

One-on-One With Vladimir Putin

In a rare and exclusive interview, Russia’s Prime Minister speaks out on fishing, hunting and why he loves the outdoors. Article by Gayne C. Young

I was very happy to see my favorite magazine from my past did not let Putin down. It is a good read and well worth the time to invest in…

Putin was in his usual flair, just tells it like it is and “political correctness” aside, as he always does…

Now this article will not get raves from the Western Press but then it showed the true side of Putin and No One but No One, wants to see that. For we all want to see the devil when we see Putin… Right? 🙂

Thanks OutdoorLife for a good interview with Putin. It made a wonderful read with that morning cup of coffee…

Windows to Russia!

When Sveta and I go on vacation we like to take lots of pictures of what we see. This little video to the right is a group of clowns that Sveta and I found performing on the streets of Odessa. It was Victory day in Russia and Ukraine or also called May Holidays. It is not a very good quality video but I still like it a lot. My camera phone takes fantastic photos but videos are not so good. The people were really good and it is always a pleasant surprise to find artistic people willing to share their talents and abilities…

In Odessa the May holidays seems to be split up into two factions. One based on World War Two and the trials and tribulations associated with that and then two is based on a lighter more merry mood of Spring and delight…

The streets of Odessa were full of activity and wonderment. We found bands playing music, we found clowns singing and dancing, we found Opera singers singing classical songs from the old days and we found military bands playing for all they are worth and singing songs of World War Two…

I have discovered that Victory Day (May Holidays) are a huge deal in the CIS countries. It was confusing to me at first because being from America, World War Two is just not that big of a deal. In fact after being in Russia all this time, I now understand why it is a big deal for Russians. To travel Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and other CIS countries you will find monuments to World War Two everywhere. The impact of World War Two was so devastating to this side of the world, that it still has a hold in the hearts of the people from young to old. I guess when war comes to your door step and knocks as it did in the CIS countries. Then when you don’t answer and it kicks the door down and tries to take your home away. The after effects are much greater than if you watch the war from overseas and by the news…

Sveta and I had a wonderful May Holidays in Odessa and we are very glad that we got to share in those events…

Windows to Russia!

Much Ado About NothingBy Andrew Roth
Russia Profile05/18/2011Russia’s most burning political question was not answered today, as Russian President Dmitry Medvedev frustrated expectations that he would give an announcement on whether he would be running in the 2012 elections. The press conference was Medvedev’s first stab during his three years as president at holding the type of public question-and-answer session that was made popular by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin during his presidency. Yet with little new to say, it remains unclear what Medvedev gained from the much-hyped event in the first place. Read More

Good Article…

Windows to Russia!

Putin reveals outdoor passions in US interview:

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin spoke of his passion for fishing and extolled the virtues of the outdoor life in an unusual interview with a US hunting and fishing magazine published on Wednesday.

“I value more and more what sport has given me, the habit of a healthy way of life, and the opportunity to be in the countryside,” Putin, once famously photographed fishing with a muscle-bound naked torso, told Outdoor Life magazine.

The interview was published in full in the original Russian in the Russky Pioneer magazine, where Putin writes an occasional column.

“As for fishing, it is close to me and I love it, and I always make use of unfortunately the very rare opportunity to sit with a rod,” said Putin, whose last public fishing outing was with Italian counterpart Silvio Berlusconi.

“It’s true work sometimes helps. How else would I be able to fish in America and what’s more in the company of two presidents?”

Putin praised early 20th century president Theodore Roosevelt’s creation of national parks in the United States, calling him a “passionate defender of untouched nature” and praising his “huge, priceless contribution… to nature preservation.”

Asked about whether it was appropriate for a president to be photographed in outdoor pursuits, Putin says: “I remember well a photograph of Theodore Roosevelt, on which he is shown not simply with a gun or a fishing rod, but with a lion he killed himself.”

While the magazine covers hunting and fishing, Putin is avowedly not a hunter, unlike Soviet leaders such as Khrushchev and Brezhnev.

“I am not a hypocrite and I think that hunting as a leisure pursuit has the right to existence, but only in certain cases, when it is properly regulated and when the animals are able to regenerate,” Putin said.

Putin has taken part in expeditions to tag a whale and a Siberian tiger, as well as heading the Russian Geographical Society, in an interest in ecology that burnishes his action man image but also appears heartfelt.

Putin gave an interview to Outdoor Life magazine, in a quirky choice of media outlet, after a columnist called him “the coolest man in politics.”  -AFP

Hummm – Good job Putin…

Windows to Russia!