SOA Rally – Has a Message Been Delivered?


For twenty years the SOA rally has been away for Americans to express themselves about a cause that is dear to heart for more than just a few…

It has been a rally of ups and downs but this time with out warning News Personnel were arrested and given only options of paying a bribe whoops I mean a fine ($5,500) or stay in jail for awhile… (That is a hell of a fine…)

Taken from Russia Today: An RT crew, including correspondent Kaelyn Forde and cameraman Jon Conway, has been released after detention by US police while filming protests near the Fort Benning military base in Georgia.

They were taken into custody despite complying with the police demand not to come close to the gates of the base. RT is now trying to find out the details of the incident.

The journalists were detained after the demonstration was over and everybody, including correspondents, was leaving the site. The arrest was very rough, RT Washington bureau informs, with hard plastic hand cuffs injuring Kaelyn Forde’s wrists. This type of handcuffs is commonly used by US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In the footage she can be seen yelling, “We are press, why are you arresting me?”

The RT correspondents, as well as the demonstrators, were charged with insubordination to the authorities, taking part in unlawful assembly and failure to disperse.

All those detained were transported to a jail, their private possessions, clothes and, in the men’s case, underwear were confiscated. They received prison jumpsuits with the tag “Muscogee County Jail”. The arrested were put in the same cells with convicted criminals serving their sentences. Kaelyn Forde managed to make a call from the prison.

After 24 hours of detention, all the arrested were brought before a judge.

After a six-hour interrogation of the arrested, and the policemen who detained them, the judge kept most of the charges in place.

In particular, the RT correspondent and a cameraman were facing the dilemma of admitting their guilt of “participation in unlawful assembly” and paying a fine, or going back to jail.

The decision was made to pay the fine.

Another charge, “insubordination to the authorities”, will require further investigative measures.

Eventually, at midnight Georgian time, 32 hours after the arrest, the correspondents were released.

Activists from a protest movement claim that this year’s crowd dispersal was the toughest and most irrational. One of the organizers of the rally, who wished to remain anonymous, claimed that it was done on purpose in order to intimidate the protesters, with the message that, if the government can take such rough measures against the press, it can behave even worse to the activists…

Looks like RT is stepping on some toes in America. I have been watching their aggressive reporting all over America and I really think we will see a lot more of this type of censorship. Russia Today is not under the media control of the USA. Like the rest of the Large media in America. Hence the reason that you do not see Western press spouting about this story and if you do it is a quiet article on the inside page…

Happy Thanksgiving Russia Today! 🙂

Windows to Russia!

The Yuan / Ruble Exchange has begun…


The Chinese Foreign Exchange Trade System signed up the first yuan/ruble trading on Monday. The deal requires that it equals or exceeds 1 million yuan with a rate of 4.67 rubles for one (1) yuan. So this is definitely an exchange for the wealthy to start with…

The ruble is now the seventh currency to be officially traded in China. The yuan/ruble trading was agreed upon last spring between Russia and China…

The Russian MICEX says, 50 plus Russian banks are interested in yuan/ruble trading…

Related articles

So America Did Not Like Russia Today Doing Some Reporting on the SOA Watch Rally…


Not a peep so far out of the Western Press. So where is the Western Press? Where is the screaming articles about this video? The whole Russia Today crew was arrested. What about the other news agencies?

An RT crew, including correspondent Kaelyn Forde and cameraman Jon Conway, has been detained by US police while filming protests near the Fort Benning military base in Georgia.

­They were taken into custody despite complying with the police demand not to come close to the gates of the base. Kaelyn Forde managed to make a call from the prison in Muskogee to which they have been transported. RT is now trying to find out the details of the incident.

Each year human rights activists gather at the gates of Fort Benning, which houses the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Co-operation (former the School of the Americas), demanding its closure. The institute has been training police and military personnel from Latin American countries, many of whom are said to have been allegedly involved in crimes against civil citizens and killings of foreigners.

Police have also detained a dozen protesters on the grounds of taking part in an unauthorized mass protest.

Watch the videos of the detention posted by Media4Movement and RT above!

Watch your back! It is starting to look like what the Western press spouts about Russia is happening around America also…

Update: When the rally participants tried to leave the vigil area, the police blocked off all exit points. After a few minutes, the police allowed people to leave on the sidewalk, only to follow them, indiscriminately arresting people who had neither committed any crimes nor engaged in civil disobedience. Among those arrested were journalists, who were filming the police misconduct and bystanders. All arrestees are currently being held in the Muscogee County Jail for up to a $5,500 bond.

Hummm, looks like people need to start waking up…

Windows to Russia!

Coffee, IBM, Gazprom, Shipping and Traffic…


The weather outside is just plain nasty and that cup of coffee is just plain good this morning. So while I was sipping that wonderful coffee. I was doing some thinking’s…

I was thinking about several things and least of which is not that Sveta has flown out early this morning from Moscow and headed to Belgium. Sveta who is an IBM AS/400 or iSeries computer specialist has a MIMIX 7, brain crushing week ahead…

So Boza and I have the flat to ourselves for a whole week and we are going to try real hard not to get in trouble… 🙂 (I said try!)

When I met Sveta I knew she was into computers but I had know idea that she was a software/programmer specialist and to top that off she is the IBM Server Specialist for the Gazprombank in Russia. Gazprombank is (in Russian: Газпромбанк) is the largest Russian non-state owned bank, which is among the three largest banks in Russia…

I am very proud of her…

Next on the thinking list was the traffic in Moscow!

Yesterday Sveta and I ran some errands. We had to go to the car market for some parts, mail a package to America, go to the shopping mall, go to Svet’s mothers and go to a movie…

Now that seems to be a reasonable list of things to do. It was Saturday and we had all day to do it. Up early and on the road was the plan and get home to go to the movies. Oops – It did not happen! We accomplished the first two items and that was all accomplished in about 13 hours. By the time we finally made it home, the movie was vetoed by us both…

Sometimes trying to drive through Moscow is on the verge of being akin to driving through a landmine field in a Volkswagen beetle. Just ain’t gonna happen and if you try it. You will be in bad shape…

We started out going to the auto parts market. It took us 1 ½ hours to get 5 km to the market. We were at the market itself about 5 minutes.

Now starts the hell:

Then we had to drive into the Moscow center and go to a UPS to mail a box of goodies for a person in America…

After watching and passing no less than a dozen wrecks and another dozen broken down trucks, we succeeded in reaching the nearest Mail Boxes Etc. shipping places. We had erased 7 ½ hours of our day already… 🙁

After 1½ hours to get a package packed and shipped. We started home. 4 hours later we found a parking space (miracles do happen) and collapsed in our flat. To be fair though the drive home was much better than the drive to the center of Moscow and we stopped at McDonald’s and had some of those great Fish Wraps that they have now… 🙂 (Only 3 wrecks on the way home to look at!)

So you may consider that yesterday was a failure? Not so! Sveta and I consider it an adventure. The one thing about Russia is, that nothing is easy and smooth. If it was, it would not be Russia. I really think that Murphy’s Law was founded in Russia… (No it was not. The first form of Murphy’s law goes back as far as 1877 out of Britain it seems… )

“Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong”

That is why I love Russia and never wish for it to be any other way…

Windows to Russia!

Father Frost (Santa Claus) Had His Birthday…


Russia celebrated the birthday of Father Frost on November 18. This is one of the most favorite children’s characters in Russia and all the world. Children of all ages in Russia are glad when he visits… (Me Too!)

http://windowstorussia.com/santa-is-real_09.html

http://windowstorussia.com/father-frost-delivers-red-square-new.html

http://windowstorussia.com/russia-santa-time-again_14.html

http://windowstorussia.com/svet-sunday-new-year-and-christmas-in_16.html

http://windowstorussia.com/russia-is-there-santa-claus-in-russia_12.html

What Will Putin Name His New Dog?


Prime Minister Vladimir Putin does not have a name for the new puppy that was given to him during a visit to Bulgaria. Russian citizens can help the prime minister choose a name for his Karakachan puppy. Each participant may submit a male name for the prime minister’s new puppy to his website.

The prime minister’s new pet has already gone through a brief quarantine and is completely healthy. The puppy is living in Putin’s Novo-Ogaryovo residence.

The puppy has not been introduced to Putin’s other dog, an 11-year-old black Labrador named Connie. “Of course, it is very important how they get along,” a source in the prime minister’s press service said.

Anyone can name the prime minister’s new male puppy. Mr Putin received the puppy as a state gift while in Bulgaria. To submit a suggestion, click on Letters to the Prime Minister and select the latest column: Name the Prime Minister’s New Puppy, in the Section menu. You will be required to enter your personal information on the application at the bottom of the page.

(Putin’s Site)

(Link to Letter to Prime Minister)

Just translate page in Google and you can do it…

One reader left a comment on my other article and said to name it Zagor!

I sent in “пончик” which means donut! I do not know why, he just looks like a donut to me. Sveta just looked at me like I was crazy when I told her the name I liked. Actually I wanted Jelly Donut but Russians do not have such a word…

I know that it will not be picked because I probably just insulted Putin’s new dog… 🙂

Go ahead send in a name and let us know…

PS: Guess I have to add this for the commentators that seem to not understand that we are naming a little puppy! Keep the comments clean and no cussing! I had to stare at 13 comments that expressed such vile and hate toward Putin and they were all from America and they all ended up in “file 13“…

This is name the dog, not name the man you hate more than anyone in the world… 🙁

Windows to Russia!

Does NATO Have a Future?


As the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is getting ready to meet in Lisbon, Portugal to map out its long term future. Russia Today takes us to the show CrossTalk with Peter Lavelle. Peter Lavelle asks his guests if NATO has a future considering the Washington-led failure in Afghanistan is high on the viability factor…

Does NATO have a future?

I like crosstalk and they have some good shows…

So does NATO have a future? I say not in the East…

Windows to Russia!

Bout was Psychologically Pressured by the USA-Russian Federation Consul Report…


NEW YORK, November 18 (Itar-Tass) – “Professional psychological pressure” was exerted on Viktor Bout during the flight from Thailand to the United States, Russian Consul General in New York Andrei Yushmanov said in an interview with Itar-Tass on Wednesday evening after a meeting with the Russian businessman extradited to the United States.

“Obviously, there was also a professional psychologist among the agents (of the Drug Enforcement Administration) escorting him on the airplane,” the consul general said. “He was given a hint that not only he alone is under threat, but also his family – his wife and 16-year-old child.” “The interviewer at the same time was insistently leading him to a conclusion that the threat is coming from Russia, from Bout’s motherland,” Yushmanov conveyed the defendant’s words. “In particular, he was offered to tell more about his activities and all his contacts – in this case the agent paid special attention to the contacts.” “For cooperation with the US justice he had been promised not only benefits but also that all will be well with him and his family,” the Russian businessman said at a meeting with the consul.

However, stressed Yushmanov, Viktor Bout, in his own words, “dismissed all the hints, because he certainly felt no guilt.”

At the same time the Russian citizen noted good conditions, which were created for him during the flight from Thailand to the United States, adding that he was “even given the same food as the escort.”

At the same time, the consul general stressed, “absolutely all was confiscated – personal belongings, clothes, watches, absolutely all the money and documents” from the Russian in the prison in Thailand. Therefore, he is currently experiencing an elementary lack of personal hygiene – not even soap to take a shower, and the money to buy it all. “He just feels cold,” said Yushmanov. “All this, in view of fatigue after a long flight, a complex agenda and climate change, of course, affect his health.” At the same time, the official said, “Bout keeps a stiff upper lip and shows good spirits.”

The consul general also said that Russian authorities would give assistance to Viktor Bout providing him with all the necessary things for the time of the investigation, including the hiring of paid lawyers. “All this will happen soon, because there is little time left before January 10 (the court’s next meeting),” he said.

“Viktor also asked to convey his regards to his family and arrange for him a contact with his wife,” the consul general noted. He also said that the Consulate is going to help the Russian citizen to find good paid lawyers, although at present “he has no claims to the free lawyer provided by the court.”

According to Yushmanov, representatives of the prison will meet with Bout soon in order to tell him about all his rights, duties, regulations and rules that exist in this facility.

The Consulate General for its part intends to turn to the prison administration in order to lay out all the claims and issues the Russian citizen has at this point regarding his detention in custody.

Bout’s extradition and delivery to the United States took place amid high secrecy and security measures and came as a complete surprise not only to his relatives, but even to his local lawyer and Russian diplomats. Russia insists its diplomats should be granted access to Bout, and it calls for respecting his rights as a citizen of the Russian Federation. The Russian Foreign Ministry has accused the Americans of causing “unprecedented political pressures” on the government and judicial authorities of Thailand and promised to continue to protect the rights of Bout as a Russian citizen. “The whole affair is a sample of blatant injustice,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier.

Head of the State Duma’ committee on international affairs Konstantin Kosachev, said in an interview published by the Nezavisimaya Gazeta daily that the Russian authorities were acting adequately. They have not interfered in the proceedings on the merits, but, feeling certain doubts about whether investigation and trial can be objective and fair enough in the US, they press for the unconditional compliance with Bout’s rights. Kosachev said that such behaviour by the US side was utterly unacceptable. “A very painful blow has been dealt on our mutual trust and our partnership. This will affect the climate of cooperation in the future. Following the path of some sort of sanctions or reprisals, or showing injured pride would be wrong. But we should draw conclusions regarding the sincerity of our partners.” “The fact that the Americans have used arm-twisting against the authorities of Thailand and brought Bout to their territory raises serious questions about the objectivity and fairness of the trial he may stand there,” he added.

Windows to Russia!

Coffee, Viktor Bout and the START Treaty…


While I was sipping that morning cup of coffee. I was thinking about a couple of items that has Russia a little upset to say the least…

1. Suspected Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who was extradited from Thailand to the United States on Tuesday…

(and or)

2. One of President Obama’s top foreign-policy goals suffered a potentially ruinous setback when the Senate’s second-ranking Republican said the U.S. nuclear treaty with Russia should not be considered until next year…

Well that just is a fine “Howdy Dowdy” from the land of chaos I call America …

Lets talk about Viktor Bout first…

The Eastern press is lit up over the Viktor Bout issue and the Western press keeps saying that America and Russia will survive this bump in the road. The Eastern press is calling it more than a bump in the road and it looks like that reset button that Hillary gave to Lavrov is about to be crushed under a bear paw…

What makes the Viktor Bout issue important to Russia and or America?

There is muddy water regarding Bout’s Soviet Military career although it is a fact that he did serve in the Soviet Union’s armed forces…

The clarity ends there. But the grapevine kicks in and gives us this…

Viktor Bout graduated from the Military Institute of Foreign Languages, it is said that he is fluent in six or seven languages. Bout’s own personal website (Read Here >>>>) points to the fact that he served in the army of the Soviet Union as a translator, holding the rank of lieutenant. Rumor has it that Bout reached the rank of lieutenant colonel.

[pullquote]But other gossip says that:
1. He rose to the rank of major in the GRU. (Which is an arm of the Soviet services that combined intelligence agents and special forces.)
2. That he was an officer in the Soviet air force.
3. That he is now a Soviet military intelligence personnel. Or
4. That he was in the KGB.

Take your pick… :)[/pullquote]

It is known that Bout made a significant amount of money through his many air transport companies shipping cargo. It seems that Bout was willing to ship just about anything and he even shipped military arms for United States in Iraq and the United Nations on a couple of occasions…

The Western media is playing the Hollywood game on this, as America is famous and world renown for. He is called “The Merchant of Death!” and “The Lord of War!”

With breathless excitement, the American media reported that Bout was transported from his prison cell to the airport, accompanied by two motorcades, one of which was a decoy intended to throw off potential abductors. The New York Times reported that Russia offered Thailand oil below market price in exchange for their refusal to turn over Bout to the United States, but Washington allegedly outbid Russia with weapons and other military equipment. Read More >>>

Remember the fact that he shipped arms for America. America has a habit of using people and abusing people (Ask  Saddam Hussein – Oops America killed him after he helped America!)… Hummm!

Now lets touch on the START treaty…

This is a real simple issue for me. America shows us what she does best…

Russia has been waiting for months on this very important treaty. But as I said in a past post, America has destroyed the opportunity to show the world that they care about the control of Nuclear issues. If nothing else this treaty causes a peace of mind in the world. So I do not care if this treaty was flawed or not, it was still a step in the right direction and for one of the two largest holders of nuclear weapons to not step up to the plate and play ball fairly, tells the world the true story…

That is the part that bothers me. That America lives in a  house of glitter and cannot see out the windows…

Windows to Russia!

A Semblance of Normality…


Our site, Windows to Russia has settled down and is back to a semblance of normality! We gathered a whole lot more readers over the last few weeks and is back full swing on the search engines again…

I have tried some new techniques to make the site run lighter on the server and we will see if it makes a difference…

Welcome to all the new readers!

from…

Windows to Russia!