Windows to Russia

Today in Russia that thinking that goes with a cup of coffee is centered on Auchan of Russia. Sveta and I had many things to do yesterday and one of them was a trip to Auchan. Now this particular Auchan that we go to is only about 10 km away. That means it will be around a 5 hour trip in Moscow, Russia…

It had been 5 or 6 months since we have been to this Auchan. It just is not worth the trip when you have two meters of snow packed on the ground into 1 meter. Now though the sun is out, the flower bulbs are just starting to sprout, the snow is almost gone and the air is fresh and clean. It just seemed like a good thing to do and so we went to Auchan…

Lets understand what I mean by an Auchan. For you Americans and such. It is like a WalMart. The biggest, baddest and Monstrous WalMart you have ever seen. Until this trip I had thought that WalMart and Auchan were about even on the contest of the biggest single unit that I have ever seen freestanding as a store…

Yesterday we saw the largest, single unit under one roof store, that I have ever seen in my life. I considered this a huge store the last time we went there, but they have over the winter, tripled the size of the building. Plus there is a section that is about 25% of the usable section being readied to be opened in the future…

When we got done Sveta asked me as we started the car, “Was it just me or was that trip really worth it?” I understood her as to mean do we really need to ever go back to a store like that again? I slept on that thought last night and woke this morning with the thoughts over coffee of, “Sometimes you can have too much of a good thing…”

Sometimes a business goes to far. In this case with the rebuilding of Auchan they have reached a limit of what makes a good shopping trip or what makes a shopping trip to hell. The store was so big that it overwhelmed us to the point of dissatisfaction and mega stress. That says a lot because I am a Auchan fan…

I wonder if we humans in this world are just being crushed by excess? Take a look at these Mega Burgers from Japan…
1. Mega Burger From McDonald’s..
2. Mega Meat Burger From Burger King…

I really think that we have exceeded the necessary limits of what is right and wrong. I realize that people have a choice to buy these things or not. Many do buy them (Burgers) just as many will continue to shop at a store that is so big you need a three day vacation just to see the whole store…

I had my own restaurants and one of my biggest sellers was a 1 pound burger called the Farmers Burger. Everyone had to have one and really they were very good. But overkill is the word…

So the fact is Sveta and I will most likely not go back to this Auchan. It is too big, too crowded, too overwhelming and too much of a good thing. Just like we would never buy one of those Mega Burgers, it is just too much of a good thing…

We have decided that we could have bought everything we bought at Auchan at about the same cost right around the corner at the local markets…

Windows to Russia!

The iPhone is not really a seller in Russia. It has failed to generate a stir amongst the masses…

Russian mobile phones’ retailers on Sunday cut off about $100 for iPhone 4 because of the low demand…

In Moscow, 32GB iPhone 4s are sold for 36,900 rubles ($1,190), while 16GB iPhone 4s cost 31,900 rubles ($1,029). While in the United States, the gadget costs $199 – 299 with a two-year contract and 600-700 euros in Europe without a contract…

Russia has a slew of android phones on the market at a much better price than the iPhone is priced at. This drop in price will not change that demand much. The price drop for the iPhone ($100) is the amount that you can buy a good Chinese iPhone for and literally do everything a iPhone can do…

I have a LG android phone and it is fantastic and it does do anything the iPhone does….

So why Buy a iPhone for $1000 Russia? (I could buy 4 of my phones for that…)

Windows to Russia! 

Police officers have detained four suspected robbers who threw a grenade in their direction in the west of Moscow, a police spokeswoman said.

Spokeswoman Natalya Tolstobrova said the incident occurred early Saturday when policemen decided to check the identification papers of four Moldovan nationals inside a Lada car.

“When the police officers approached the car, a passenger threw a grenade at them. It did not detonate because it had no fuse,” Tolstobrova said.

All the four were detained. A rubber-bullet pistol and a few rounds of ammunition for a Makarov handgun were discovered in the car.

The detainees are suspected of involvement in a series of robberies of motorists.

Windows to Russia!

Hello!

Today Russia celebrates Palm Sunday what we call here Willow Sunday (because we don’t have palms here in Russia but Willows start blossom right at The Willow Sunday).

We call it in Russian Verbnoe Voskresenie.

People widely celebrate this day. And you can find a lot of beautiful “Happy Willow Sunday (S Verbnym Voskreseniem!)” greeting cards.

Today I want to share them with you.

Happy Palm Sunday!
С Вербным Воскресеньем!

Windows to Russia!

Moscow rally targets corruption: More than 50,000 members of the pro-Kremlin movement Nashi are taking part in an anti-corruption rally in downtown Moscow. After the rally the organizers plan to set up a youth anti-corruption committee to ensure public oversight for the often murky state procurement system…
Read More >>>
Source: Voice of Russia

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Update: The pro-Kremlin Nashi youth group and the Russian opposition People’s Freedom Party both protested against corruption on Saturday, holding separate rallies in Moscow.

Police said the Nashi event brought 50,000 young activists to Sakharov Avenue, named after the physicist and human rights campaigner Andrei Sakharov, north of the city center, while a RIA Novosti correspondent at the opposition rally a couple of miles away said about 1,500 people took part.

Moscow to close roads near cemeteries for Easter:

10:56 16/04/2011 Traffic police in Moscow will block streets near the capital’s main cemeteries as many Muscovites mark Easter by visiting the graves of loved ones.>>

Windows to Russia!

PS: Links to Easter Articles…
http://windowstorussia.com/recipe-from-russia-very-simple-kulich_24.html
http://windowstorussia.com/easter-in-russia-is-coming-2011.html
Link to all of our Easter Articles on Search >>>

Today April 17th, 2011 is a day of celebration across Russia. The Orthodox Church has its equivalent of Palm Sunday.

Since Russia does not have climate conductive to growing palm trees, willow twigs are used instead palms.

In the Russian Orthodox Church, Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Ukrainian Catholic Church, and Ruthenian Catholic Church, the custom developed of using pussy willow instead of palm fronds because the latter are not readily available that far north. There is no canonical requirement as to what kind of branches must be used, so some Orthodox believers use olive branches. Whatever the kind, these branches are blessed and distributed together with candles either during the All-Night Vigil on the Eve of the Feast (Saturday night), or before the Divine Liturgy on Sunday morning. The Great Entrance of the Divine Liturgy commemorates the “Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem”, and so the meaningfulness of this moment is punctuated on Palm Sunday as everyone stands holding their branches and lit candles. The faithful take these branches and candles home with them after the service, and keep them in their icon corner as an evloghia (blessing). (Link)

Windows to Russia!

This side of the world is not having a good time with the Western attitude and it is showing in all the news all over this side of the world. I am seeing a underlining worry about the situation in Libya. It was well known that Libya had been in good graces with the West for the last 10 years and Qaddafi had bent over backwards to change his ways (Especially after the Iraq slaughter.). In fact Qaddafi was welcomed and showered with attention by the West…

This article is an example of what you will find from China to Russia. While this is one of very few English articles about this. You will find Russian Live-journal and other Russian sources are lit up with the conspiracies about who is the next victim of Western wrath…

Leading party says Soros prepares “Libyan scenario” for Ukraine:

Ukraine’s leading political party has said that the international financier George Soros has been preparing a “Lybian scenario” for the country.

The head of the Party of Regions parliamentary faction Aleksandr Yefremov said in a televised comment on Wednesday that he had information that George Soros had allocated funds for the overthrow of the Ukrainian political authorities.

“I even have information that Soros has allocated certain funds in order to prepare a certain group of young men here in Ukraine who could launch any existing projects based on the North Africa examples,” Yefremov said. He also added that he hoped that the Ukrainian people will be wise enough not to follow such provocations.

Source to Read More >>>

This is not the way to lead the world and maybe just maybe the world is looking for new leaders to trust instead of fearing…

Hummm…

Windows to Russia!

Amateur shooter kills friend at Moscow firearms club:
A university worker has fatally wounded a colleague at a shooting range in Moscow. The owner of the club may be charged with criminal negligence…

Supreme Court rules earlier extension of Khodorkovsky arrest illegal:
Russia’s Supreme Court has ruled that the latest extension of arrest for ex-Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Menatep head Platon Lebedev was illegal…

UN resolution must not be artistically interpreted – Russian envoy to NATO:
Russia’s permanent representative to NATO Dmitry Rogozin has said that free interpretation of the UN resolution on Libya by the NATO-led coalition is bringing the country to the verge of humanitarian disaster…

UN resolution lacks provision on ‘Gaddafi’s future’ – French minister:
The intentions of U.S., French and British leaders to carry on military operations in Libya until Muammar Gaddafi steps down are not covered by the UN Security Council resolution authorizing the operation, the French defense minister said on Friday…

Aeroflot asks government to fine Sukhoi over Superjet delay:
Russia’s flagship airline Aeroflot is preparing a proposal for the government to fine the country’s leading aircraft producer Sukhoi for a delay in delivering Sukhoi Superjet 100 airliners, Aeroflot Chairman and Transport Minister Igor Levitin said on Friday…

BP given more time to resolve dispute:
BP gets one more month to find a way through the impasse with its Russian partners…

Palestine wants UN to recognize its independence:
Palestine is going to ask the UN General Assembly in September to recognize it as an independent state if there is no progress in the talks on a settlement with Israel by then. This came in a statement by the Palestinian Ambassador to Moscow Fayed Mustafa…

Fukushima operator to start compensation payouts with $600 million:
TEPCO will pay up to $12,000 to each of over 50,000 families residing in the 30km evacuation zone around the disaster-stricken nuclear plant.The company has also decided to dispense a radiation absorbing mineral along…

Suspected car thief steals his own criminal case:
A man suspected of stealing cars managed to spirit away ten files containing all documentary evidence against him, during his interrogation, while the police investigator was distracted…

MPs may strike back over Russophobia in ex-USSR republics:
The Russian State Duma Committee on Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Affairs suggests issuing a statement warning former Soviet states against stirring up Russophobia and re-writing history…

Medvedev calls for reform of global financial system:
There is a need for the democratization of international relations, believes President Dmitry Medvedev, which could be achieved through the reform of the world financial system…

IMF and World Bank’s aid tightens noose around poor nations:
The help provided by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund to debt-stricken countries is aimed at aiding their recovery, but it seems to be dragging them deeper into trouble…

Russia to introduce non-smoking prison cells:
The country’s prisoners will soon get more choice when it comes to the cells in which they have to serve their terms…

Finnish pastor defrocked for speaking out against terrorists:
A Finnish Priest has been defrocked for openly speaking out against a terrorist website hosted in the country…

Windows to Russia!

It looks like Medvedev showed a touch of bitterness over the abuse of the UN mandate on Libya. He interprets the mandate as he sees it and expects it to be fulfilled. But there is a problem with that…

As much as Medvedev wants to believe that the West is paved in good intentions and they are good friends and allies, it just isn’t gonna happen…

Loyalty from the West changes like the wind and when opportunity knocks to destroy your friend, be he an opponent or not, then that is priority in life. Morals and ethics aside…

For the first time since this started Medvedev made a statement about the falsification of actions by the West on the UN document. Medvedev said that, “The resolution is normal, but the resolution should be fulfilled, not seeking to abuse its mandate.” Then he added, “We have serious questions to the UN leadership,” he then pointed out. “The situation in Libya and Cote d’Ivoire showed that a dangerous tendency is taking shape.” Hummm…

It is important to understand that Medvedev stuck his neck out against the Russian people thinking’s on the UN mandate and fell hook line and sinker for the Wests tactics… (Medvedev believed in the West and her goals…)

I asked Sveta last night, “Do you think Medvedev has a advisory panel for Western idiosyncrasies?” She said, “I doubt it, he probably just makes the decision himself…”

That made me think and over that cup of coffee this morning, I am contemplating that very thought…

Does Medvedev have an adviser on what the West will do in certain circumstances? Mainly issues of moral, ethics, corruption, vanity, backstabbing, trust, faith, reliability and any other issue that has to do with betrayal…

It seems that he does not…

I learned the hard way in America. America has lots of beliefs in sayings that people in other countries should take to heart…

• “The ability to learn faster than your competitors may be only sustainable competitive advantage.” Arie de Geus
• “A competitor will find a way to win. Competitors take bad breaks and use them to drive themselves just that much harder. Quitters take bad breaks and use them as reasons to give up. It’s all a matter of pride.” Nancy Lopez
• “A competitive world offers two possibilities. You can lose. Or, if you want to win, you can change.” ??
• “You can’t just beat a team, you have to leave a lasting impression in their minds so they never want to see you again” Mia Hamm
• “The essence of competitiveness is liberated when we make people believe that what they think and do is important – and then get out of their way while they do it.” Jack Welch
• “The competition’s tough, and it requires us to be tougher.” Senator John Kerry
• “If any of my competitors were drowning, I’d stick a hose in their mouth” Ray Kroc
• “Agility means that you are faster than your competition. Agile time frames are measured in weeks and months, not years.” Michael Hugos
• “Many Americans are driven from birth to succeed and if we allow that desire to fail to intervene, then we have lost our edge.” Kyle

I could go on a thousand fold on quotes about competition and “When the Going gets Tough, The Tough get Going.” I taught many classes on such things in my past. What look like a betrayal of morals and structure to the world, is just common business procedures in the West. (As the winds change, be the first to catch the wind in your sails. For those who hesitate fail…) What many people in the world do not realize is that we (Americans) are formed from the beginning to feel that we can do what we feel like to accomplish our goals. Even if that means that we step on someone in the process…

So Medvedev learned another lesson about the West. He got stung by the facade of a friends face over top the true intentions. Now we are looking at a strong possibility of ground troops going into Libya…

Yesterday Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy, as well as British Prime Minister David Cameron laid the ground work for the next line of the Libya invasion. They posted a joint article that has been published in leading newspapers in the three countries. This article makes it clear that they will do what ever they have to to get Qaddafi out of power in Libya…

Medvedev really needs an adviser on the Western world. Hindsight is always better than foresight. Now Medvedev has begun to see the folly of the situation and Russia definitely sees that 90% of the information coming out of Libya is a fabricated lie. Hence, a No vote at the UN mandate would have caused a huge attitude adjustment and made it look really bad for the West to play shenanigans…

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