Maslenitsa 2011: February 28th to March 6…



Maslenitsa 2011 will take place between February 28 and March 6th. This is a pre lent festival. So as Russian traditions are observed and people eat their fill of blini (Pancakes) the festivals help to bid farewell to winter. The idea is to dispel the cold with symbols of spring other words: Pancakes with their round shape and yellowish color represents the sun and an effigy (Man of Straw) is burned to welcome warmer weather. Other activities, like group fist fights (Ouch), sledding, and troika rides, are traditional Maslenitsa activities…

So look at the week of expectations!

Monday – is called “a meeting”. With the first pancake it is tradition to give to beggars for them to mention the poor dead.

Tuesday – is called “zaigrysh” (games). On this day, the morning begins with a funny game.

Wednesday – is called “gourmand” (A gourmand is a person who takes great pleasure in food.) On this day, the hostess act on saying: “What is in the oven, First of all delicacies, of course, pancakes.” On this day Mother in-laws invite Son in-laws to eat pancakes.

Thursday – “razguliay”. On this day begins Maslenitsa full strength. As well as helping to drive winter away and bring the sun into play again. Example to do this, like riding horses clockwise around the village.

Friday – “Teschin evening” (Inlaws). Son in-law invites Mother in-law and treat them pancakes.

Saturday – the “zolovkiny chat” Sister in-law invites female relatives of her husband. If the husband’s sisters were married, the daughter of guests invited and their unmarried friends. But if the sister was already married, she invited relatives married. Bride daughter had bestowed their gifts zolovok.

On Sunday – the last day of Maslenitsa is called “Forgiveness Sunday”. On this day, you should apologize to all relatives and friends for all the resentment, thus relieved of their sins before Lent. Also on the last day of Pancake week, you burn a man of straw – the symbol of winter. The ashes of the man of straw fly all over the fields – for a rich summer harvest.”

I now just love Russian pancakes (At first I had reservations about a Russian pancake) and this week is great because I will be making pancakes for almost every meal…

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Putin warns against whipping up democratic processes…


BRUSSELS, February 24 (Itar-Tass) — Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has warned Moscow’s partners in the West against attempts at whipping up democratic processes in other countries in connection with the ongoing events in North Africa. He was speaking at a joint news conference with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, devoted to the results of the full-scale meeting of the Russian government and the EU Commission.

Asked by European media whether he felt any concern about events in the Middle East and their possible “echo” in the North Caucasus, Putin replied in the affirmative, but added that the impact of those shocks would be felt not only in the North Caucasus, but in all countries, including those in Europe.

“We are concerned, firstly, about the number of casualties in the events in North Africa. We are concerned about that despite the soothing claims a rise to power or growth in the influence of radical groups in northern Africa are unlikely.”

“And if that really happens, it cannot but affect other parts of the world, including, of course, the North Caucasus,” he said.

“As you may know,” continued Putin, “today we express concern about what is happening in Libya. Please, to take note of the fact that the North African cell of al-Qaeda, too, is concerned about what is happening in Libya. Is that just a coincidence?”

Having made this historical allusion, Putin recalled that the former leader of the Iranian revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini, before his return to Tehran and the overthrow of the Shah’s regime had lived in Paris, and the Western policy of “inoculation of democracy” in the Palestinian territories caused bloody conflicts and brought to power Hamas, very unpleasant for many in the West.

“The people are to be allowed to decide their own fate and their own future,” he said. ”We must give them an opportunity to build their own destiny in a natural way without any interference from outside.”

“Society must move toward democratic institutions, toward self-regulation, towards its own system, with reliance on the internal processes of development,” underlined the prime minister.

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The European fairytale didn’t exactly manifest itself in the Middle East…


Windows to Russia

Middle East

In the beginning, the USA and the EU were supportive of the Middle Eastern protests. But a column for Izvestia wrote this morning that the scale of the violence in Libya has sobered up many western politicians. The European fairytale didn’t exactly manifest itself in the Middle East and now Western governments are grabbing their heads with worry. Why? Well, if Libya stops exporting oil, Algeria decides to stop selling its gas, or southern Europe gets covered in a wave of refugees, the voting consumer will blame it on their leader, be it the prime minister of Rome, Paris or Berlin. But the ideological “church” of the USA and EU will no doubt present the chain of revolutions as evidence that democracy is the one true path for humans. This would be a colossal mistake. Hungry and violent political overthrows are not evidence of progress, but a symptom of a major crisis, that everyone needs to help find a way out of…

http://english.ruvr.ru/radio_broadcast/25950828/46105462/index.html

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The West is in a Panic over Libya or How Libya Rocked the Oil World…


Libya Location

If the situation was not important in many ways. It would be a great cartoon to have, over the way the Western world is running around like chickens with their heads cut off over the issues in Libya…

While Russia and China say, “Slow down and do not panic and do some things that you may regret later.”  The western world is tossing sanctions in the air, crying to their mothers and freezing bank accounts and having secret little phone conversations to converse about what is happening to the precious oil situation in the world. All in the name of democracy and humanity…

Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, like the U.S. State Department, often issues statements on significant world events simply because that is what world powers are supposed to do. But there was nothing routine about the Ministry’s statement calling “unacceptable” any attempts to exert “outside pressure” on events in the Arab world. (Link)

The above is an example of what is being said by Russia. I have seen the same being said by China…

[pullquote]Where was all these Western Headless Chickens when Georgia attacked and killed multitudes of her own people in South Ossetia? (Why they were on the Georgian side of the conflict…)[/pullquote]

I had a thought last night. Where was all these Western Headless Chickens when Georgia attacked and killed multitudes of her own people in South Ossetia? What is the difference? Why is Libya bad and Georgia was OK by killing her people? Time magazine lets slip the reason…

Libya’s high-quality, low-sulfur oil is not that easily replaced by the sulphur-heavy Saudi oil, particularly in Europe, which is short of refineries. Indeed, the immediate boost needed to keep supplies steady would be more likely to come from the strategic reserves of the U.S., Europe and Japan, all of which keep 90 days’ supply in stock to deal with dire emergencies. (Link)

Oil – Europe and America are being crippled and devastated by rising prices…

That is the difference and it has nothing to do with democracy and freedoms. Don’t let the West fool you…

Life is interesting…

Windows to Russia!

7 More Bite The Dust: Medvedev Is In A Terminating Mood Again…


Windows to Russia

Dmitry Medvedev

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has fired 7 Interior Ministry Generals, in particular the Chief of Moscow’s Criminal Police Alexander Ivanov and the Police Chiefs of a number of Russian regions…

This is the latest in several years of a steady terminations that seem to be geared toward the cleaning of the closets of corruption…

I got to admit that being a president of Russia is a lot different than being president of the USA. The president of Russia has a heck of a lot more control over all his underlings than the American president…

It seems by what I have been seeing over the last few years. That the Russian president can just about fire anyone in any position anywhere and if he can’t then no one told him and he has been anyway…

As I have said since Medvedev was elected for president of Russia. Don’t let Medvedev’s sweet little baby face fool you. Those kind of people are ruthless when it comes to getting things done…

I hear that Medvedev is on appearance soft and flexible. He is extremely intelligent.  He is a great team player. But when the rules are finally made and set he is as rigged as oak tree until the end result is obtained…

Besides he is a lawyer by profession… 🙂

Hummm…

Windows to Russia!

Coffee and Windows 7 Starter Version…


In Russia there is a version of Windows 7 that you only hear bad things about in America or never hear about it at all. A version of Windows 7 that is so cheap that you will cringe and a version of Windows 7 that does virtually anything that your Windows 7 Ultimate will do. Now you will possible (?) see this intentionally crippled operating system on a net-book that you might buy in America. With the hopes that you will upgrade for lots of $$$…

We are talking about Windows 7 Starter. A version of Windows for us poor pathetic countries such as Russia, India, China and so forth. Well, I get to take advantage of such stupid idioms and a while back I purchased two copies of Windows 7 Starter for a measly $17.99 each including tax… (Legit with real Microsoft key in a real Microsoft box and real Microsoft CD. Did I say real…)

Here is what they say it can not do (I will tell you that yes it can):

  • No Aero Glass, meaning you can only use the “Windows Basic” or other opaque themes. It also means you do not get Taskbar Previews or Aero Peek. (I say so what. But it is there if you gotta have them. They are just hidden. Besides you can always use aftermarket skinning to satisfy that desire. There also is several glass programs that excel on the original if you so desire. I do not desire…)
  • No Personalization features for changing desktop backgrounds, window colors, or sound schemes. (This is also not true. Any good tweak program will allow you to bring 90% of the settings to life and there is a free software program made in France that allows the changing of wall paper…)
  • No ability to switch between users without having to log off.(Who cares? This is not a business computer. We use the same profile in our house…)
  • No Multi-monitor support. (Not true! Just unlock the system with a good tweaker or after market software. I have nVidia and I use the control panel and have no issues with multi monitors…)
  • No 64 bit version. (Sorry I can’t help on this. I have never used 64 bit and really see no reason to use it…)
  • No DVD playback. (Not true, VLC Media Player which is open source plays DVD’s just fine on this sweet operating system…)
  • No Windows Media Center for watching recorded TV or other media.(Duh! Who cares use aftermarket it is better anyway…)
  • No Remote Media Streaming for streaming your music, videos, and recorded TV from your home computer.(Not true, just unlock the capabilities…)
  • No Domain support for business customers.(?)
  • No XP Mode for those that want the ability to run older Windows XP programs on Windows 7. (? I have not had any issues come up on this at all…)

I do not see any limitations. I also know that they say it will not use BitLocker (?) from the Windows system. I say that an aftermarket program is better and it does work. But I know that I have got it working…

I will list a few good selections of tweaking software for Windows 7 and they work on the Starter Edition also…

From a Store in India...

Bottom line is that I paid $17.99 (actually 500 rubles even to be exact) for Windows 7. Brand new in a box and never opened except by me. I have no ram, cpu, or for the fact any hardware limitations. I have no real limitations what so ever…

As you see, my laptop is not a powerhouse but this Windows 7 Starter literally screams with that Celron M processor. It has a footprint of about 300 megs once loaded and is as stable as any OS that I have ever used…

I also have it installed on a desktop (A separate version from the laptop. So no calling the pirate cops… :)) with a lot more oomph than the laptop and it works like a charm. It is a fast operating system…

I am a Linux nut and have had nothing good to say about Windows for a long time. I have to admit that Windows won me back with this Windows 7 Starter. I have played and played with it. I have tweaked and tweaked and use the toned down version on the laptop. I have abused it. I have tried to fault it. I have opened it up to full literal Ultimate on the desktop. With all the bells and whistles. But it is still Windows Starter in its heart…

Microsoft has a winner in Windows 7…

What did you pay for your Windows 7?

Windows to Russia!

Russia Celebrates Defender of Fatherland Day… (02/23/2011)


Dozens of festive events are under way in Russia today in honor of Defender of the Fatherland Day, when people pay tribute to army servicemen and war veterans who used to or continue to safeguard the country. A 30-gun salute will take place in Moscow, the cities of military glory and the main administrative centers of Russia in memory of those who were killed defending their Motherland against foreign invaders…

Read More >>>

Source: Voice of Russia.

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Viewing cable 07MOSCOW2981, SMALL BUSINESSES REPORT SOME EASING IN CORRUPTION…


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C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 002981

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/13/2017
TAGS: ECON PREL RS
SUBJECT: SMALL BUSINESSES REPORT SOME EASING IN CORRUPTION

Classified By: DCM Daniel A. Russell for Reasons 1.4 B and D.

¶1. (C) Su…

C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 002981 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/13/2017 TAGS: ECON PREL RS
¶1. (C) Summary. Corruption is arguably the Russian economy’s most pressing problem. For larger economic actors and individuals, corruption continues to trend upward relentlessly. Yet, interviews with more than forty entrepreneurs working across Russia over the past year suggest surprisingly that the small and medium business sector (SME) is moving away from cash bribes and that the voice of the SME community is being heard in government policy circles. SMEs now have more transparent registration processes, a more stable security situation, and fewer inspections. However, these same interviews confirm corruption remains most acute in subcontracting, procurement, and real estate. End summary.
¶2. (C) Interviews over the past year with more than forty SME entrepreneurs (producing everything from cutting-edge encryption software to reindeer-fur baby-booties from Smolensk to Chukotka) suggest some abatement of the corruption demands they face. While our survey is not scientific, we were surprised that most of those we interviewed said they do not pay cash bribes to anyone anymore. Five years ago, entrepreneurs had to pay off organized crime in order to keep their businesses from being burnt down, but none of the SME entrepreneurs we interviewed still cite this as a problem. They told us that the registration process (though not fully “one-window”) has become faster and more transparent. Inspections (a major source of bribe-taking) are also down. Depending on the sector, inspectors are now coming every quarter or six months and in many cases actually inspect what they are supposed to. Finally, many small businesses needing credit to start or expand are moving towards formal accounting for all revenues and expenditures in order to meet bank requirements, making it harder for bribe-seekers to gain advantage.
SMALL BUSINESS REGISTRATION
¶3. (C) An emerging rule of the game expressed by many of our SME contacts is that if you follow the rules and stay away from middlemen facilitators, you don’t have to pay bribes. Olga Fomina, who started a special taxi service for women and children called “Pink Taxi” obtained information from the Moscow City website about steps to start a business. She looked into hiring an attorney, but realized she could do it herself in less time (about a month), for a quarter of the cost. The hardest part of the process was rounding up paperwork (something she would have had to do for the attorney anyway) but the steps were simple because she followed the instructions carefully. She might have finished faster and done less running around if she had paid a bribe during the process, but she refused to do so because she wanted to protect her company’s long-term reputation.
INSPECTIONS
¶4. (C) Tortilla Chip manufacturer Solntse Mexico and glass table manufacturer ArmaDecor both told us that the inspection processes are not nearly as cumbersome as they used to be. Solntse Mexico told us that sanitary and phyto-sanitary inspectors come every quarter to inspect their facilities. Once the company was written up for having an improper ventilation system. The inspector gave them a warning and some time to rectify the problem. Solntse Mexico acknowledged that the inspector was not asking for a cash-payout as he would have a few years ago; only that the company fix something that did not meet standards.
¶5. (C) ArmaDecor had a similar experience. Because the company uses very heavy machinery to mold molten glass, it is subject to special inspections related to the labor code every six months. ArmaDecor was told by inspectors in the past to replace old equipment and control heat and noise levels on the production floor and worked towards making necessary improvements. The inspectors, according to ArmaDecor, would not have accepted a bribe, even if the company offered one. Both Solntse Mexico and ArmaDecor told us that the regulations are so complicated, the inspectors are likely to find something wrong each time they visit. But, if an entrepreneur makes it very clear to the inspector early on that he/she intends to operate above board, claim these two companies, the inspectors will not seek bribes.
TAXES
¶6. (C) Mr. Viacheslav Tsai started his home theater store after taking free entrepreneurial classes from the South East Ward of the City of Moscow. He found the classes particularly helpful in teaching him how to file his taxes. He learned how he could benefit from the simplified taxation scheme for small businesses and has since followed it to the letter. Other colleagues from his classes have had problems with mistakes on their tax returns and have settled it by paying off the tax police, but Mr. Tsai says doing some homework saved him that hassle.
ACCOUNTING AND CREDIT
¶7. (C) Small business entrepreneur Dmitriy Izvekov told us that applying for, receiving, and maintaining credit at the SME level requires clean accounting. He applied for a $150,000 loan for his plastic wall-siding company DekoPlast and was turned down repeatedly. Working through the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s Russia Small Business Fund (RSBF), he was finally able to write a detailed business plan and implement the internal accounting mechanisms to get the credit he needed. His business has since grown from backyard enterprise to international exporter. Clean accounting has also reduced bribe seeking opportunities by regulators and taxmen.
CHARITABLE GIVING VICE CASH BRIBES
¶8. (C) Some of our SME interviewees have moved away from cash payments to officials. [Имя удалено] pizza and catering company in Novosibirsk. He told us the wife of Novosibirsk’s Governor is constantly asking his company to provide free catering services for charitable social events. [Имя удалено] ends up writing these evenings off as charitable tax-deductions. [Имя удалено] competitor, a coffee shop owner, was asked by the regional government to outfit the fire brigade with new uniforms and equipment each year. Though that ought to be covered by tax revenue, [Имя удалено] competitor jokes that the firemen now come for coffee in the shop more often.
CORRUPTION IN SUBCONTRACTING AND PROCUREMENT
¶9. (C) Many entrepreneurs from medium-sized business (100-500 employees) say that, while they oppose corruption, it can be difficult to ensure that every employee shares that philosophy. Sergey Riabokobylko, a partner in a successful real estate company, told us how he fired an employee who had colluded with an outside business to award that company a contract in exchange for a kickback. Not only was the arrangement damaging to the firm, the losses continued as the company had to retain legal counsel to deal with the fired employee and then hire and train a new employee. Unfortunately, this sort of business-to-business corruption is a common problem for firms of this size. Several of the “SME Successes” we have interviewed tell us that they hire outside auditors to scrutinize their procurement and accounting departments before tax season to catch any wrong-doing and rectify financial discrepancies
CORRUPTION IN REAL ESTATE
¶10. (C) If there is one area in which even the cleanest SME will resort to paying bribes, it is real estate. Businesses have told us that bribes are required to win the bid for a site, get permits to develop it, get the site hooked up to the municipal electric and water supply, and construct buildings. The firms we have talked to say they would never try to do this alone, and generally hire a connected construction firm to handle these matters. Some medium-sized companies backed out of transactions after the final sum overshot original estimates significantly. All of the entrepreneurs told us that they assume construction companies are paying large bribes to government officials throughout every step of the process, but they prefer not to know about it.
¶11. (C) Comment: While high-level and individual corruption continues on an upward trend, some small and medium-sized businesses clearly see the virtues of corruption-free operations. The examples cited above show that it is possible to start and operate a clean business with the possible exception of real estate acquisitions for growing firms. While our anecdotal survey is not scientific and really crooked entrepreneurs are not going to come clean with us, five years ago the situation was clearly worse. We believe that part of the reason for the improving environment is the influence of SME business groups, like OPORA, the All-Russian Association of Small and Medium Businesses. End comment.
BURNS

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Viewing cable 10STATE8676, C) REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ON ITALY-RUSSIA…


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E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/28/2035
TAGS: PINR EINV ENRG ETRD PGOV PREL IT RS
SUBJECT: (C) REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ON ITALY-RUSSIA
RELATIONS (C-RE9-02730)

REF: A. ROME 000097
¶B. ROME 000948 …

Classified By: ELISSA G. PITTERLE, DIRECTOR, INR/OPS

¶1. (C) WASHINGTON ANALYSTS GREATLY APPRECIATE THE
EXCELLENT REFS ON ITALIAN-RUSSIAN RELATIONS AND WOULD
APPRECIATE ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS TOPIC, AS
POST’S TIME AND RESOURCES PERMIT. BECAUSE ITALY IS ONE OF RUSSIA’S STRATEGIC PARTNERS IN EUROPE, THERE IS SIGNIFICANT POLICYMAKER INTEREST IN ITALY’S POLICIES TOWARDS RUSSIA AND THE FACTORS DRIVING THOSE POLICIES. ANY INFORMATION REGARDING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HIGH-LEVEL OFFICIALS, PARTICULARLY THOSE BETWEEN ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER SILVIO BERLUSCONI AND
RUSSIAN PRIME MINSTER VLADIMIR PUTIN OR RUSSIAN PRESIDENT DIMITRY MEDVEDEV, AND ITALIAN FOREIGN POLICY TOWARDS RUSSIA WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.

¶2. (C) THERE IS ALSO CONTINUED POLICYMAKER INTEREST IN THE ITALIAN GOVERNMENT’S ECONOMIC RELATIONSHIP WITH RUSSIA, PARTICULARLY IN THE ENERGY SECTOR. ITALY IS AT THE FOREFRONT OF EUROPEAN ENERGY AND CONTINUES TO ENGAGE IN BUSINESS DEALS WITH GAZPROM, THE RUSSIAN ENERGY GIANT. ENI, ITALY’S PARTIALLY STATE-OWNED ENERGY CONGLOMERATE, IS GAZPROM’S LARGEST PARTNER IN ITS EFFORTS TO STREAMLINE THE SOUTH STREAM PIPELINE, AND WE ARE VERY INTERESTED IN HOW THE TWO COMPANIES
ARE OPERATING TOGETHER. U.S. POLICYMAKERS ALSO REMAIN INTERESTED IN ITALY’S MOVEMENT TOWARDS ENERGY DIVERSIFICATION AND THE RESTART OF ITS NUCLEAR PROGRAM. ANALYSTS WELCOME ANY AVAILABLE INFORMATION ON THESE TOPICS, AS TIME AND RESOURCES PERMIT.

¶A. (U) FOREIGN AND ECONOMIC POLICY:

1) (C) PLEASE PROVIDE ANY INFORMATION ON THE PERSONAL
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RUSSIAN PM VLADIMIR PUTIN AND ITALIAN PM SILVIO BERLUSCONI. WHAT PERSONAL INVESTMENTS, IF ANY, DO THEY HAVE THAT MIGHT DRIVE THEIR FOREIGN OR ECONOMIC POLICIES?

2) (C) WHAT FACTORS ARE DRIVING ITALY’S FOREIGN POLICY WITH RUSSIA?

3) (C) HOW DO ITALIAN LEADERS VIEW U.S. FOREIGN POLICY
TOWARDS RUSSIA. HAVE ITALIAN POLITICAL OR BUSINESS LEADERS INFLUENCED RUSSIAN POLICY AGAINST U.S. INTERESTS, AND IF SO, HOW?

¶B. (U) ENERGY POLICY:

1) (C) WHAT ARE ITALIAN GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS’ AND ENI
OFFICIALS’ VIEWS ON ITALY’S ENERGY RELATIONSHIP WITH RUSSIA AND THE SOUTH STREAM PROJECT? WHERE DOES ITALIAN ENERGY POLICY CONVERGE WITH RUSSIAN ENERGY POLICY, ESPECIALLY REGARDING LIBYA AND THE BALKANS?

2) (C) PLEASE PROVIDE ANY INFORMATION ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ENI EXECUTIVES, INCLUDING CEO SCARONI, AND ITALIAN GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS, ESPECIALLY PM BERLUSCONI AND THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS.

3) (C) PLEASE PROVIDE EXAMPLES, IF POSSIBLE, OF ANY
INSTANCES WHERE THE ITALIAN GOVERNMENT MADE DECISIONS TO BENEFIT ITALIAN BUSINESS OR COMMERCIAL INTERESTS AT THE EXPENSE OF POLITICAL CONCERNS ABOUT ENERGY POLICY.

¶3. (U) PLEASE CITE C-RE9-02730 IN THE SUBJECT LINE OF
REPORTING IN RESPONSE TO THE ABOVE QUESTIONS.
CLINTON

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Russia Today Brings Wisconsin Into the Open…


Demonstrations are going on in the US state of Wisconsin:  But you would not know it walking past a news stand in the USA. American papers have photographs of protests in other countries on their front pages, with no mention of the estimated 70,000 protesting on US soil, fighting for their rights at home…

Yes – My contacts have scoured the American news stands such as in Atlanta Georgia and New York City and the coverage up to now has been pathetic compared to the goings on in Egypt, Libya and other parts of the world…

Smile you live in a stifled American society!

What shocked me several days ago: Lawmakers in the US were rallying the troops against protesters and the top republican in the US derided their tactics, saying this was “not a way to have an adult conversation.” Yes the process was in the works to have troops used to control the crowd. Yes the news said that lawmakers were at a presence of danger. That no guarantee could be made for the safety of said lawmakers…

No actually it is the correct way and you want to start a issue you can not handle then send the troops against the people in Wisconsin. I hear America talk down the way it is handled in Libya but yet we think in the same circles when it happens to us…

The American news should have this issue (Wisconsin) plastered on the front page 24 hours a day. What is happening in America needs real coverage by the main news. The main news needs to get off the government nipple and report.  They would have in the old days of journalism…

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