Is There Scotch Whiskey in Heaven?

I guess I am old fashion because I find one to one communication to be so much better than by electronic ways.

If you have ever traveled Russia by train you will experience hundreds and hundreds of kilometers that are electronic-less vacuums in space. You are in a cocoon that is sealed to the outside world and you must deal with who is inside or as in many cases not deal with who is trapped with you.

This particular trip to Ukraine, 7 guys gathered together out of protection as much as communication. For you see there was only 7 guys on this particular train car and the rest was packed to the brim with women. There are about 50 some places on this car and do the math and realize that us men were out numbered. So survival meant gather as a pack and protect each others backs. Seems strange that this was a natural thing to do by us men. The women did not like the seats near the toilet and we made a deal to allow us to sit there and talk about important guy things…

This was a social network in real time and not electronics. There was men from France, Spain, Britain, Ukraine, Italy and America. Two from Ukraine so that makes 7 guys trying to stay out of all the womens way.

So have be it, we all spoke English as a common language. Some of course spoke better English than others. But we all could communicate and that is what counted…

To not go into another story that I will write, I will say that we had a group of intellects that traveled allot so they understood the world better than many people. We covered a lot of territory both by train and by conversation. I will write another post about our conversation later in the next few days.

To end this story in a sad note:

One of the Ukraine guys named Yuri was a Freemason in Ukraine. I had gotten to know him the best of the group. He was born in Russia and was 56 years old. He moved to Ukraine when the Soviet Union collapsed. He offered me a drink of Scotch Whiskey. I turned him down like I turned down all the others. I explained that I have had 6 heart attacks and had to quit drinking and smoking. He thought a minute and said, “I proud of you. I could not tell her NO! You can.” Then I will remember these words very clearly. He said,”Scotch will probably be her who kill me. I wonder is there Scotch Whiskey in Heaven?”

One of the guys said a toast to Yuri’s words and I joined them with my fruit juice I was drinking. I sat in silence for a few minutes because I have an uncanny ability to feel when bad things are going to happen. It is what allowed me to survive several years in a war situation. Yuri got a strange look on his face and he asked me to go with him while he smoked. We talked a little more and Yuri said he does not feel good. I helped him back to his seat and went and got a steward. The next large town a group of medics came on board and I could tell that it was not good. Yuri was very blue in color…

They helped him walk off the train and as he passed me he stopped and grabbed my hand. He said, “See us in Heaven!” with a weak voice. I said in response, “I will!”

The train was very quiet after that and a few more minutes at the next stop. Almost all the women on the train had gotten off. They had been on a shopping trip to Moscow and were home. Us men went back to our correct seats and got ready for bed. At this stop the steward came back through and told us that Yuri had died, before he even was able to leave the previous station.

So Yuri, I will be looking for you when I arrive on my train trip to heaven. I wonder, is there Scotch Whiskey in heaven…

Windows to Russia!

Making a Visa Run to Ukraine!

Going to Ukraine this weekend and I really expect to find a different Ukraine as compared to the last 3 or 4 times I have been there. The last time in January 2010 that I was there, Kiev was beginning to become a much happier place. Just like it was before the crash of all the world financial system…

I am taking a train as usual and am looking forward to the trip as it allows someone to do a lot of thinking about things. Kinda hard to do anything else since you are pretty well captive for 12 hours. 🙂

My thinking this time will be centered on our blogs because I have been working day and night trying to save them. I hope that I have everything under control enough so that I can not worry about them too much. Svet and I have several projects that we are working on and it centers around being self hosted now…

So I will try to post from the hotel but as always there is very little I can do when Internet becomes scarce or too expensive to make it worth posting.

So I will be back by Tuesday next week… (I hope!)

Windows to Russia!

Prozac or Stupidity…

It’s the Kennedy/Khrushchev l962 Cuban missile crises all over again, from the opposite side of the fence. It’s an issue of survival for Russia which simply can’t allow NATO interceptor missiles right up against their border. Obama and his advisers must be delusional. Prozac is a fluoride based compound, it does a lot of brain damage over time, it is now an established fact…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

Plans and more Plans…

You are witnessing the execution of a well-contrived plan multiples of years in the making with a major objective, to literally surround Russia with enemies. What the real end game is? I cant be sure of because I don’t think like our moronic evil schemers in D.C. do..

One thing is clear, psi-ops went into action and prepped Putin to be cast in a negative light across the spectrum. From anti-gay, to pro-communist and to anti-Semite. The western media is fully 100% complicit with the attempted assassination of Putin’s character, including that planted ^#@& American newscaster who quit on air. You see the white house is instigating one provocation after another, like a bunch of punk kids in grade school flicking the ear of the big Russian kid who really wants to mind his own business, but cant. Who will feel sorry for him when the leader of the punk gang has lots of charisma and buys his group of minions candy and pizza all the time after school?

This is a very cruel world indeed and I believe that Russia is up to the task of dealing with the school yard bully, no matter how much candy he has…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

Russia has raised $5.5bn in Eurobond!

Russia has raised $5.5bn (4bn euros; £3.5bn) in its first international debt sale since it defaulted in 1998. Initial reports said that demand for the Eurobond was five times higher than expected. The Eurobond was split between a $2bn issue repayable in five years, and $3.5bn in ten years.

I have been following this from its initial conception a few months ago. I was curious about what the outcome would be. Russia has tested the waters with this bond issuance because they needed to get a grip on what the markets are demanding.
Looks like a success…
Windows to Russia!

The Past Always Comes Back To Haunt!


It was just a few months ago that workers who were building a federal road to the site of the 2012 APEC summit near Vladivostok dug up a mass burial grave. The huge grave held some of the victims of the “political persecution campaigns” in the 1930s.

The road construction was immediately stopped and the site blocked from any other construction. After that came the question – What to do now?

Vladivostok’s residents think the remains should be reburied in a proper way and a proper place. So a commission has been set up and will decide where to rebury the dead found.

This seems to be a normal happening in the world and the past always has a way of rearing her head time and time again. The video shows that there is many remains to be uncovered.

It makes you wander how many people have been buried all over the world in mass graves like this…

Windows to Russia!

Shhhhhh Don’t Tell Viktor Yushchenko! A Gas Deal…


Interesting little tidbit of news:

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday. That Ukraine will receive a discount of $100 per 1,000 cu m at the natural gas price of $330 and a 30% discount on other prices. He also commented that the Black Sea Fleet will stay in place for the next 25 years. This announcement came after a meeting between the two presidents of Russia and Ukraine after a bit of productive finagling.

A smile, handshake and cooperation that is all it takes. Would that have been to hard for the last Ukraine president?

Oh – I forgot Viktor Yushchenko was bought and paid for by America…

Windows to Russia!

PS: Added the video that shows more of what transpired. Looks like Relations are going back to normal with Ukraine. Lets hope it stays that way…

Our New Camera Phone in Russia!

Today I tried out the new camera phone (The one I will use all the time.) and it is not quite as good as the older phone we had. But it does OK and cost a quarter of the last one! The day was very hazy and it looks like we finally have a touch of the ash cloud drifting in and we seem to have a brown haze in the sky.

This first picture I really liked because it shows the mentality of people and parking here. No lie – I can not get my finger between the cars. They are that close.

This is a long time favorite and it is a graffiti of a standard type washing machine here in Russia.

Of course we have to have a shot of our dog – Boza the Bear!
He always has his nose to the ground and sniffing as much as he can…

I think the camera phone that was killed in the “hit and run” the other day was better. But this will do and does a good job of recording those pictures that I find as I walk around Russia…

Everyone have a nice day!
Windows to Russia!

Almost 4 Years in Russia and the First Mustang That I Have Seen!


I heard that they had some. I heard that you could find them near the University of Moscow. But I have never seen one in Russia until the other day. Svet and I walked by a doctors building and…
I started acting crazy and Svet thought I had lost my mind! I finally found a Ford Mustang in Russia. We talked to the people that owned it and they just bought it used from America. Notice the transit tags in the window. Now if I could just find a Camaro…
Windows to Russia!

49 Pieces to The Puzzle Make a Russian Coat of Arms!

Now this is just plain cool…

A gigantic 49 square meter canvas was unveiled at the Moscow Tuning Show on Sunday. It may become the largest work of aerography in Russia. Forty-nine painters unveiled their collective work at the Crocus Expo exhibition hall. They worked for three days, from 10 a.m to 6 p.m.

Each participant was given a piece of blank canvas, where they could paint anything they wanted. The main requirement set by the organizers was to stick to orderly graphic lines and use four main colors: blue, white, red, and yellow.

The works were assembled three days later to form a single picture of a double-headed eagle against the background of the Russian flag, which came as a surprise for the artists themselves.

Windows to Russia!