Russia Starts The New School Year With Blessings…


Christ the Savior Cathedral Moscow after recon...
Cathedral of Christ the Savior…

The Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Kirill held a prayer service at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, dedicated to the beginning of the new academic year.

The service drew over 5,000 schoolchildren, students, their parents and teachers.

This is a tradition to start the school year on the right track with God…

I think that is not such a bad idea because we all need as much help as we can in this world. 🙂

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Moscow Hosts The 23rd International Book Fair…


More than 200,000 books from 60 countries will go on display at the 23rd Moscow International Book Fair opening on September 1. Organizers introduced a novelty – the International Parlor is designed to advance Russian book sales abroad.

Vladimir Grigoryev, deputy head of the Press and Mass Communications Agency and chairman of the fair’s organizing committee, explains: We invited leading Western and Eastern experts, who command great authority in the book industry. We are expecting the editor-in-chief of the most popular book digest weekly in New York, and the director of the London Book Fair. We want to focus our publishers’ attention on the need to advance Russian authors to foreign markets, and the markets are ready for that.

Regrettably, the process is being hampered by a lack of quality translations. With this in mind, organizers moved to convene the 1st International Translators Congress that will bring together 75 translators from 25 countries.Books from Belarus will receive special prominence during the upcoming book show with Belarus being the guest of honor at this year’s event.

Vladimir Grigoryev: Belarus will present its book industry, publishers and book novelties. It is no secret that many Moscow publishers use Belarusian printing facilities and that books released in Moscow can also be bought in Belarus. An agreement between the Russian and Belarusian Book Chambers will be signed during the Moscow event.

Belarus will showcase unique books, among them facsimile editions of the Gospel of Slutsk and the Gospel of Polotsk. There will be large displays of books from Latin America, China and France.

Visitors will be able to meet with writer Valentin Rasputin who will unveil his new selection of short stories. Poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko will read select poems from his new book, and painter and sculptor Mikhail Shemyakin will be there to sign up a two-tome album, the fullest catalog of his artworks published so far.

By permission of Source: Read More at Voice of Russia.

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Internet in our Russian Village…


Cell phone icon
Modem…

I read an article from “American Russia Observations” called “My Rocky Russian Road to a Better Internet Connection”

Sveta and I have needed to be able to use our laptop whenever or where ever we can on the internet. We knew that we could get it done by buying a special modem that plugged in to the USB, but that seemed like a waste for our situation. I needed something that I could use in Ukraine, Russia, the Village and or any place I could get a Sim card and use in in my cell phone. Because that is the only way to get internet 500 to 1000 km from nowhere in Russia…

I read the above article and Robert MacDonald the author of the article gave me some food for thought. 🙂

While he was not happy with using a cell phone for a modem. It struck me that a cell phone as a modem might be the answer for me. If you remember a while back we bought two new cell phones for Sveta and I. They happened to be the Chinese Clone Phones… (The best cell phones we have ever had!)

So we decided to see if one of the phones worked with the laptop as a modem. After a little bit of finagling and getting straight in our heads the order of procedures . Sveta and I convinced “Windows 7″ to talk to our cheap Chinese Phone and Walla Walla Bing Bang – We had Internet. These phones being dual Sim card phones allow us to have the best of both worlds. I use a Beeline card for talking and a Megafon card for internet…

The key to this whole transaction (besides the lack of ability by me…) was finding the drivers for allowing “Windows 7” to accept the phone as a modem. This was not easy because the drivers for XP and Vista just did not do the job and I finally found a set of drivers for another Chinese Phone that promised they could work on many different Chinese Phones and it was compatible with “Windows 7″…

Well! It was almost a match but then I decided to rewrite some of the code in the driver and again Walla Walla Bing Bang it worked…

Now we had a speed issue that Robert had mentioned in his article. I solved that by restructuring the software in the cell phone. (Nice way to say I hacked the phone…) That solved the speed issue and now it runs at a nice dial up speed just like in the big ol city. Still not fast but acceptable for doing what we need to do…

Sveta and I can now buy a Sim card from any area or place and as long as that card supports GPRS we can be up and running in a matter of a few clicks.

Read Roberts article on his dealings with internet in a village. He has much more detail and gives many options that are available. He also gives a good explanation of the wonderful (good and bad) customer service that you receive in Russia…

Windows to Russia!

Some Simple News From Russia (8/31/2010)…


Four major types of nuclear testing: 1. atmosp...
4 Ways To Test Nuclear Devices…

Lets look at something that got the Kremlin worked up: “Unidentified attackers have thrown two petrol bombs at the Russian embassy in Minsk, Belarus.” Now that caused a little bit of an uproar…

Then speaking of burning up: Russia broke 22 records for hottest weather this summer but Meteorologists forecast that September will bring abnormally cold and rainy weather in the Russian capital as the first frosts are due to hit Moscow before the actual end of summer…

Then it seems that Putin was at the opening of the Siberian Chinese – Russian gas line. But it look like Vietnam wants a piece of the action also:  Vietnamese oil and gas group PetroVietnam may take part in the Eastern Gas Program, Russia’s energy giant Gazprom said on Tuesday after talks between the two companies. This is pointing to the future of the gas business in the world. The West is slowly losing out on new supplies…

Then once again Putin has words of wisdom to tell us all: “In a few years, we will begin to gradually raise customs tariffs,” Putin said. “We are not, after all, members of the WTO and [we] can afford it.” , he added as he talked about raising import taxes on foreign cars imported into Russia. I think that is a smart move to push up the demand for cars produced in Russia by Russian factories…

We also missed an anniversary: August 29 in 1949 the Soviet Union carried out its first nuclear bomb test, at 7 a.m. at the Semipalatinsk test site…

Now in a sad issue another adoption scandal in America over Russian adopted children: Russia calls for an early signing of an adoption agreement with the United States in the wake of the recent reports about the abuse of Russian children from their adoptive American parents, Edelvina and Steven Leshinski. The Russian Foreign Ministry and Prosecutor-General are taking measures to probe into the incident and keep the situation under control. Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko comments…

Looks like a never ending issue with adopted children in America from Russia and America is still dragging her feet on rules and regulations to help protect these kids.

America is balking at working out a deal for some reason…

Hummm…

Windows to Russia!

Russians Are Really beginning To Question American Adoptions…


Russian orphans adopted by sadistic torturers by Alexander Vatutin

To date, 17 Russian-born orphans adopted in the United States have died at the hands of their foster parents. Speaking in Moscow Monday, the Russian children’s rights Ombudsman Pavel Astakhov urged the American authorities to thoroughly investigate the latest instance of abuse of Russian-born adoptees in the United States.Three teenage girls in the case were victims of beatings and sadistic torture at the hands of the Leszczynski couple, Larimer, Colorado.

The man and wife, named Steve and Edelvina, are now facing criminal charges.Astakhov accuses American social services of neglecting duty and failing to promptly detect the abuse.Indeed, the uncovered mistreatment goes quite some time back.

One day last winter, one of the girls turned up for classes with a badly bruised face. It turned out that her foster mother had hurled a heavy boot at her. A subsequent inquest also reported other abuse techniques, such as making the girls walk on their hands, stay outdoors in biting frost or pouring rain, run barefoot to 25 miles, punch one another in the face and do multiple push-ups on steel nails. The arsenal also included threats to return the girls to their orphanages in Russia.

Symptomatically, the US authorities ignored the fact that all Russian adoptees under 18 remain Russian nationals and their status and progress must be regularly reported to Russian consular officers. In the Leszczynski case, the Russian side got its first word of trouble in the Colorado family from the American media. All Russia-US adoptions are now on hold, pending a formal bilateral agreement on the matter.

We hear from Ombudsman Pavel Astakhov: The proposed agreement should commit the adopting couples to regularly reporting the conditions and progress of their adoptees to American social services and Russian consular officers. It should also contain retroactive clauses for making a flawed adoption null and void. It is quite strange that Russia and the United States have so long fared without any such agreement.

It look like this is a never ending issue. Pavel Astakhov is very vocal about this problem and it looks to me if he had his way America would never adopt another child from Russia! Everyday that goes by makes his case stronger and stronger and the lack of ending the stalemate on “adoption rules” between America and Russia, are making him look very correct about the issues with America…

I also can not find any Western press about this case and that really bothers me. It has been noticed by Russia that no one cares about this horrific crime…

Article from a Russian News Source:  Voice of Russia.

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Medvedev Meeting with Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia…


Patriarch Kirill I of Moscow
Patriarch Kirill of all Russia…

PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA  DMITRY MEDVEDEV: Your Holiness, I would like to sincerely congratulate you on this great holiday [the Assumption of the Virgin] and thank you for participating in the event that just took place, the consecration of an icon which is now once again above the gates of the Kremlin‘s Spasskaya Tower.

Of course this is a very special thing; it really is a miracle. It gives me great pleasure to take part in this event, as it is one that brings our country together. Indeed, it was the feat of those who decades ago risked their lives to preserve these icons for us. The fact that these icons were miraculously rediscovered is a very special thing for our country, for Moscow, and the Kremlin.

And despite today’s rain and quite unpleasant weather, it seems to me that this day will forever remain in our history. Today this really is long-awaited rain in Moscow, the rain Moscow was waiting for, that all Russia was waiting for, because the summer was very difficult.

The whole country helped extinguishing fires that broke out in the central regions and in the Volga Federal District. People helped using their own means, their own money, using everything they could. Everyone joined in, as we say in Russia.

The Russian Orthodox Church has not remained aloof from fighting this disaster: naturally the Church was with the people. I know that you personally worked actively in this regard and many priests participated in these affairs by supporting ordinary people.

Therefore, on behalf of all of us I would like to say thank you very much to the Russian Orthodox Church for these efforts, and express my admiration for ordinary Russians who came, donated their belongings, their money, or simply put their own forces and labour into extinguishing fires, sometimes people who perhaps did not even have a relationship with the affected regions.

That is what I wanted to say. Your Holiness, please go ahead.

PATRIARCH KIRILL OF MOSCOW AND ALL RUSSIA: I want to sincerely thank you, Mr President, for what took place today. Indeed, all this can be approached as the convergence of certain aspects of our history, or we can try to look at it from a different perspective.

The holy face of the Saviour appeared on Spasskaya [Saviour’s] Tower and this, of course, is a symbol. The fact that it rained today – and let’s remember that the Victory Parade also took place in the rain – is always an act of grace. We prayed hard for rain and now it pours; let the rain nourish our parched land.

Thank you for appreciating the modest efforts of the Russian Orthodox Church. You mentioned the people who participated in extinguishing fires. In our institutions which collected humanitarian aid and organised deliveries for firefighters, something special was happening. People kept coming there, young people who, instead of going to the disco, all of a sudden felt they were to come to these places, and they did, and donated what they had, and drove their cars to delivered humanitarian aid.

As one of high-ranking clergy in charge of this effort said: we have all changed. All of us were somehow cleansed by this fire. May God grant that the difficulties that befall our Fatherland make us stronger, and that Russia keep regenerating.

With all my heart I wish you God’s help and strength in your noble service for the benefit of Russia.

DMITRY MEDVEDEV: Thank you, Your Holiness.

Windows to Russia!

Big Automobile Business Likes Russia!


Ford Will Build a Second Plant in Russia
Ford Motors plans to build a second auto plant in Russia, according to Reuters, citing Ford European vice president Jim Tetreault.
Tetreault said the site for the new plant will be chosen next year. He also said the capacity of the Ford plant in Vsevolozhsk, Leningrad Region, will be brought up to 125,000 vehicles to meet the demand for Ford cars in Russia. That plant current produces 75,000 cars per year, and almost half of the Fords sold in Russia are imported. Tetreault did not specify what models would be made at the new plant. Experts suggest that the Fiesta family car and Kuga crossover SUV may be chosen.

Why are they building another plant in Russia?

The Russian market kept Ford from going belly up!
Ford made money in Russia last year and the years before. Ford sells all cars it made in its Russian Plant to Russians and can sell more. It even imports cars from outside of Russia to keep up with the demand. Ford lost money in the USA.

Looks like the rumor could be true, Ford is slowly moving overseas!

GM to Launch Carmaker in St. Petersburg Nov. 5 2008
General Motors will launch a plant in St. Petersburg on November 5, 2008, St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matvienko announced when delivering the annual address to the Legislative Assembly of the city, RIA Novosti reported.
“The second automobile plant, General Motors, will be launched November 5,” the governor said, reminding that laying the foundation stone of Hyundai has been slated for June, when St. Petersburg hosts the Economic Forum.

One of the global carmakers, General Motors, will launch in St. Petersburg the plant worth roughly $300 million with the annual capacity of 70,000 cars. Captiva off-highway vehicles are amid the models to be made by GM in that city of Russia.

General Motors is represented in Russia already. The company has a joint venture with local automobile giant AvtoVAZ. GM-AvtoVAZ was set into motion September 2002 and it currently makes Chevrolet Niva off-highway vehicles and Chevrolet Viva cars.

Goodyear Building Plant in Yaroslavl?
For the first time in three years, a foreign tire-maker may build a plant in Russia. The U.S. company Goodyear is considering a $200-250-million project in Yaroslavl Region to produce up to 5 million car tires a year. Goodyear executives met with regional governor Sergey Bakhrukov at the end of last month and asked him to allot them a plot of land. Sources say that Bakhrukov set aside about 70 ha. for the company. That land has no infrastructure, however. In addition, according to sources, Bakhrukov has asked Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to provide Goodyear with investment benefits, and the president has already asked the Ministry of Industry and Trade to look into the question. Ernest & Young consulted Goodyear on the project.
Goodyear, the Yaroslavl administration and the Ministry of Industry and Trade were unavailable for comment Friday evening, but Igor Karavaev, deputy general director of OAO SIBUR – Russian Tires, which controls the Yaroslavl Tire Plant that “the project really is being discussed” and “SIBUR is one of the participants in that discussion.”

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. owns 60 plants in 26 countries. It sells the most tires in the United States and second most in Europe. The company is made up of six divisions: British Dunlop Tyres, American Kelly-Springfield Tire Company и Lee Tire and Rubber Co., Slovenian Sava Tires, German Fulda and Polish Debica. It produces the Assurance, Fortera, Wrangler, Eagle, Nordic and Ultra Grip brands. There are two Western tire plants already operating in Russia. They are the French Michelin, built outside Moscow in 2004, which makes 2 million tires per year, and the Finnish Nokian Tires plant in Leningrad Region, which produces 4 million tires per year and may potentially increase its capacity to 10 million. The Japanese Bridgestone Co. considered building a plant in St. Petersburg, but rejected the idea.

Yaroslavl Region is relatively close to carmakers in both Leningrad and Moscow Regions. Goodyear already has experience there, since Yaroslavl Tire Plant has produced Goodyear tires on the off-take system (in which Goodyear sells them itself and the plant receives only a production commission). SIBUR – Russia Tires is likely to oppose the American company’s plans. “The state should support domestic producers first of all and create condition s for the innovative development of Russian enterprises,” Karavaev asserted. He noted that the People’s Republic of China requires foreign tire makers to form joint enterprises with local tire-makers. The rapidly expanding car assembly plants in Russia will have to be localized by at least 30 percent in the future. Therefore, if Goodyear is unable to finalize the project in Yaroslavl, it will be highly motivated to continue it in another region of Russia. Goodyear executives say unofficially that other regions are under consideration.

Renault to Make New Model in Russia!
Renault plans to assemble its new Sandro model, a five-door hatchback based on its budget model Logan, at its Avtoframos plant in Moscow. The Logan is also assembled at the Avtoframos plant. Assembly of the Sandro, with both gasoline and diesel engines, will begin in late 2009. The company has not said how many of the new car it plans to produce. Sources say that it may make 80,000-100,000 vehicles per year, which would use half of Avtoframos’ capacity. One source says, however, that the plant’s capacity will be increased next year to 190,000 vehicles. Officially, Renault plans to increase the plant’s capacity from the current 80,000 vehicles to 160,000.
Renault has been talking about expanding the capacity of Avtoframos and creating another model based on the Logan since 2005. The expansion at Avtoframos is estimated to cost $150 million. They note at the Ministry of Economic Development and Ministry of Industry and Trade that Avtoframos has yet to make amendments to its investment agreement for the industrial assembly of automobiles.

Observers say that the Sandro is likely to cost between $13,000 and $15,000, that is, more than the Logan. It would thus compete with AvtoVAZ models such as the Lada Priora (starting price $13,000), Kalina ($12,000) and Lada 110 models ($11,000). That price segment is one of the most popular in Russia. Renault owns a blocking (25-percent) package in by AvtoVAZ. A seven-passenger station wagon based on the Logan is made by AvtoVAZ.

French-Japanese Alliance to Build a Carmaker in Russia!
Another two car giants chose Russia for car assembly. French PSA Peugeot Citroen and Japan’s Mitsubishi Motors Co. have clinched a deal to set up a respective venture.
An automobile plant, which foundation stone will be laid in Kaluga June 10, will be making Mitsubishi, Peugeot and Citroen mid-size off-highway vehicles and mid-size cars of Peugeot and Citroen brands. The capacity is estimated at roughly 160,000 cars a year.

The initial plans were that Peugeot Citroen would independently construct the plant. But Mitsubishi is needed for a few models, which it makes for the French consortium. The matter at stake is all-wheel drive C-Crosser and Peugeot 4007.

Mitsubishi announced January 24, 2008 that it concluded an agreement on industrial assembly of cars in Russia with the RF Economic Development Ministry.

Quite a few of automobile giants have recently decided to launch car assembly in Russia. The Leningrad and Kaluga regions are the most favored whereabouts for that undertaking. Of interest is that Volkswagen has chosen both regions for Russia’s expansion.

Toyota Motor Corp. inaugurated its facility in St. Petersburg past fall. Suzuki and Nissan are also amid the companies that have decided to have plants there.

They all have one thing in mind…….

MONEY!

Windows to Russia!

Putin Truth and Tell – Part 2…


Putin Talks Over Lunch...

Putin is on a two thousand kilometer trip that has allowed him time to do some relaxing. On this trip he is expressing what he feels and thinks. Putin is being Putin again…

Putin stressed that opposition movements – all of whom stand for the rule of law – must also stick to the law and obtain official permission before staging a rally…

“What is a lawful state? It is abiding by the law. What does the current legislation say on the [opposition] march? You should get permission from local authorities. Have you got it? Then you can go out and demonstrate. If not, you have no right. If you went out without a right to do so – expect a baton to the skull. That’s it!” he said…

The comments referred to the so-called Dissenters March in support of Article 31 of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of assembly. About ten times now, human right activists and the opposition have attempted to stage rallies on the last day of each month that has 31 days. However, each time the gathering ends up with clashes with police and arrests, as Moscow authorities banned the demonstration at the capital’s central Triumfalnaya Square and the protesters insist they want no other site to stage their rally…

“Yes, I have heard on a number of occasions that they were protesting on Triumfalnaya Square but were dispersed. I ask: why were they dispersed? Because they were allowed to demonstrate in one place, but gathered at another instead. I say, but why did they go to the other place? I still cannot understand this,” Putin said…

“They have something to say, right? Am I right? They want to criticize the government. Well, in London, people are assigned places to gather for protests, and if they protest where they are not supposed to, they come in for a trouble. Not permitted but still came? Get it! And nobody sees it as wrong! If their goal is to say something, they should do it a different way,” he said.

“For example, how about inviting …Andrey Ivanovich Kolesnikov [Kommersant‘s correspondent] and a couple or more TV crews from the West and the East, taking out a Jolly Roger banner and saying out loud ‘Screw the government!’ and repeating it till you get what you want? You know what’s good about today’s world? You can say things round the corner of a public toilet, but they will be heard by the whole world because TV crews will be there! So why not just say whatever there is on your mind and call it a day?” the PM ranted…

But the goal is very different there, Putin said. “The goal is to defy current legislation, to say ‘We want a legal state for somebody else, not for ourselves. As for us, we will do what we want, and will provoke you to kick our asses!’ So they splatter themselves with red paint and say that the powers that be are anti-people and suppress human rights,” he said…

According to the premier, by holding banned rallies, the opposition provokes the police to use force against them…

“If the aim is provocation, it will always be a success. But is if the aim is to inform the international and Russian public, there is no point in provoking and breaking the law,” he stated. “If the aim is to make authorities compromise and they do so, there will be another cause for a provocation. And this will keep going for ever,” he added…

Darn I like this guy, he is a straight shooter. You know where you stand with him and if you step over the line, you know where you are then also…

Windows to Russia!

Looks Like Truth and Tell Time by Putin…


RIA NovostiRussian Prime Minister Vladimir PutinPutin slams West for deceiving Russia

12:34 30/08/2010 Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has accused western countries of using unfair political methods including deceit and breaking promises to obstruct the process of “resetting” relations between Russia and the West.Read More >>>

Putin has been expressing himself a lot more recently. The problem is that he is correct…

I see an presidential election coming…

Windows to Russia!

Medvedev Video on The Khimki Forest…


Dmitry Medvedev announced this decision in his blog. The President instructed the Government to suspend the implementation of the resolution on the motorway construction through the Khimki Forest and to conduct further public and expert discussions on the issue.

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