In Russia You Can Not Just Blame The "Blue Light" Cars!


I had three people send me the same link to the same article by e-mail. So I think I will talk today about a subject that has irritated me since I have started driving in Russia almost 4 years ago… (Driving on the wrong side of the road!)

Lets start with the article:

MOSCOW, March 6 (RIA Novosti) A video recording has appeared in the case of a car accident involving the chauffeur-driven Mercedes of a vice president of Russia’s largest independent oil company, LUKoil, that resulted in two deaths.

Yes the “the chauffeur-driven Mercedes” in the article was a Blue Light car and while I think that the people driving and riding in these blue light cars are a huge issue. I think that the blue light is just part of the problem…

Lets back pedal first: When I first started to drive in what I call the “everyman for himself” driving experience in Russia! It was only the fact that I had been taught from a very young age to drive defensively that I survived.

Driving defensively is not in a Russians vocabulary. So I had to learn about how to drive in a very aggressive defensive mode, to survive the offensive driving that I was encountering everyday on the wild-west streets of Moscow and Russia.
That said, lets talk about what I call the K-mart “Blue Light Special” for important Powerful Russian Rejects! What is a blue light? Good question! (Try this – Link)
Svetlana and I have come close to being wiped off the road 5 times by a “Blue Light Special”. But that pales in comparison with the about 50 comparable times that the normal Russian drivers did the very exact same stunt. Only because I and Svet look around for them do we skirt the issue!
But we are talking about blue lights in this article, so the first and most memorable experience for Svet and I with a blue light, was coming around a corner on a 4 lane byway. The opposite traffic was at a stand still and we had good traffic flow on our side. As we rounded a corner, a black Mercedes with a flashing blue light appears traveling in our lane straight at us. The Mercedes was illegally traveling against traffic to bypass all the stalled traffic. I was traveling about 120km per hour at the time and he was doing about 250km per hour. He had no where to go because the road that he should have been on was packed and he could not re enter traffic. So it was up to me to find a way out of the death trap and with inches we made it… (Old Volga’s handle better than you think!)
Svet and I survived and from that experience we learned what conditions to watch for to avoid a “Blue Light Special”, for that matter any Russian driver! One thing that is a fact. When there is a traffic jam, many Russian drivers will take anyway they see open.. Link – Link – My Blue Light Article – Link 🙂
Back to the article: From what I see on the news in Russia is that this wreck was another example of a individual that feels he or she is above most of us here in Russia and their use of a blue light was just a helper ticket to kill someone, because they think they are special to get to bypass the normal rules. It is a shame that people have to die because of this type of stupidity.
This is with out a doubt an near perfect example of the blue light causing a wreck! But remember that “Blue Light Specials” are not the only rejects that travel the wrong way in traffic to get to their special destination quickly. Nearly 25 to 30% of the Russian drivers will do exactly like a blue light driver will do, except they are worse because they do not even have a flashing blue light to tell everyone that they are around.
But people have to start somewhere and get angry about situations that are just not right. This is one of those situations and when they get the “K-mart Blue Light Specials” under control. That will help get the blue light wannabe’s under control! That is where the laws have to change and take the blue light off the road except for emergency vehicles such as cop, fire and ambulances!
As I said earlier, Svet and I have had about 50 hair raising experiences with normal drivers pulling the same stunt. A four hour drive through Moscow will net you the view of one serious wreck per hour and two to three fender benders in the same time frame. In fact the usual reason for traffic blockage is a wreck, which in turn causes two or three more wrecks. Which is caused by aggressive offensive drivers that have no common sense and courtesy for the other drivers. But a blue light, while a big issue of that aggressive driving is a lessor cause of wrecks overall.

This is a normal experience in Russia, but it should not be a normal experience. Maybe this time as the people and news are screaming – Medvedev and Putin will take note.

I use to run a business on the premises that I can not expect employees to follow the rules if I do not follow the rules (The same hold true for societies)…
Windows to Russia!

Is Georgia is Being Tramatized by Saakashvili?



Saturday night during the news hour on Imedi TV channel, Made a broadcast that Russia had invaded Georgia after a “terror attack” on the president of South Ossetian republic, Eduard Kokoity. The news report started out and stated that Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili and his government had been evacuated.

They did have a short disclaimer (like this statement) about not being true at the end of the newscast, very short! And at the beginning of the news cast was a statement that the program showed a sequence of possible events that could only occur “If Georgian society is not brought together against Russia’s plans.”} <---- Kinda small and short like this! Within several minutes into the news report, they “reported” the death of Saakashvili and creation of the People’s government headed by one of the opposition leaders, Nino Burdzhanadze. (Nino Burdzhanadze is pissed!) By this point Georgia was a madhouse of instigated turmoil and the damage was done…

On Sunday after all was over with and a form of calm had set in, Mikhail Saakashvili claimed that such “staging” of a war situation might be useful to protect Georgia from a new war with Russia. But he made clear that he had nothing to do with it and next time that the news station should do a better job of letting people know that is was a false report!

OK! I really believe that Sassy had nothing to do with it…

Windows to Russia!

Russian Road Police Eats His Bribe!



A traffic police officer from the Chelyabinsk region, caught in the act of taking a bribe of two thousand rubles, ate the money right in front of the police.

On March 2, 2010 a traffic police officer stopped a car driven by a resident of Kasli who broke the rules of the road (passing in a no passing zone). The officer demanded a bribe of 2,000 rubles for not filing a report on the incident. The driver then left to get the money.
Instead of getting the money, the driver went to the police for help. The Economic Crime Department worked out a surveillance plan to arrest the corrupt traffic officer. The driver was given the sum, three bills adding up to the 2,000 rubles, which he passed to the traffic officer that same day.
During the planned arrest the officer locked himself in the company car and, covering his face, choked the money down. Having destroyed the evidence, he voluntarily surrendered to the police.
Gotta Love it…
Windows to Russia!

Russia: Loves Dandelions?


Soon in America will start a battle is fought all summer long. I, my dad, my uncles, grandfather and my kids fought this battle. The battle of the “evil dandelion”…

The Dandelion is a widely distributed perennial weed. The mature plant arises from a strong, deep taproot that exudes a milky substance when cut. There is no visible stem. Leaves are sparsely hairy or without hairs, have deeply serrated margins, and are clustered in a rosette at the base of the plant. Dandelion can reproduce from seed almost year-round or it can regrow from its taproot. Bright yellow flower heads, 1 to 2 inches (2.5 – 5 cm) across, consist of petal-like ray flowers and are borne singly on the tip of a hollow stalk, 3 to 12 inches (7.5 – 30 cm) long. Seeds are enclosed singly within fruiting bodies and are attached to a long slender stalk that terminates in a parachute-like structure called a pappus. Seeds are transported in the wind. The bristles on the seeds can clog cultivation equipment.

In America the dandelion is an evil plant that defies most efforts to eradicate it. The amount of money spent to destroy it is astronomical. The man hours to kill it have never been calculated & yet the dandelion thrives. 🙂

Now lets travel to Russia: Where the Russians think that the dandelion is a beautiful flower! That they are an enhancement to your yard. A flower whose leaves you can eat in salads. The root can be roasted and ground up for a coffee like drink. It also can aid digestion, improves the liver function, help in weight lose, help fight cancer & last but not least help control Diabetes!

Strange how one mans poison is another mans delight!

Windows to Russia!

Is Ukraine Seeing a Light at the End of the Tunnel?


It seems that one presidential election would not make that much difference. But when you had a leaders such as the last Ukraine president and Prime Minister you really have no where to go but up.

Today several announcements have been made and it looks like Ukraine might see a little light at the end of the tunnel instead of total darkness.

The first thing that happened was:

MOSCOW, March 12 (Itar-Tass) — Standard and Poor’s, an international rating agency, has raised the sovereign crediting rating of Ukraine on its liabilities in foreign currency from CCC+/C to B-/C, and on the liabilities in the national currency – from B-/C to B/B. The forecast on the ratings is “positive,” says a press release of Standard and Poor’s.

We believe that the recent formation of a new ruling coalition and the cabinet of ministers in Ukraine opens up new opportunities for the improvement of policy coordination and for the resumption of cooperation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said Franklin Gill, Standard and Poor’s crediting analyst.

Now that is a shot in the arm, so to say! Even if you (like me) do not believe that “Standard and Poor’s” credit analyst is worth a hill of beans, the business world does and that is what counts.

Then also today the Ukrainian Defense Ministry has announced that Russia and Ukraine, after 7 long years of total Navy ignoration, will resume exercises of the Ukrainian Navy and the Russian Black Sea Fleet just like in the old days!

Wow, what a difference a new president has made for Ukraine?

Windows to Russia!

Russians from Russia: Do you Want to Come Home?


Russians who want to come home are being given that chance and 18,000 have returned so far since 2006! Many Russians left when the Soviet Union collapsed and now the Russian government has set in motion the groundwork to help those that wish to come home…

So pass the word if you know a Russian who would like to come home to the Mother Land!

Windows to Russia!

Russia says: You Want to do What?


The Nabucco pipeline has been used to slap Russia in the face time and time again. This pipeline has also been touted as the answer to break the Russian Bear’s hold on Europe…

But there has been a huge flaw from day one and that is getting gas to fill the pipeline. It seems that in the last few months Europe has come to a realization that Russia, is the only way to fill the pipeline that is to save Europe from the Evil Russian Bear… (interesting thought…)

Now – South Stream and Nabucco, the two major southern European pipeline projects, linking the Caspian region with Europe, should join forces! According to Paolo Scaroni, head of Italian energy company, Eni. He even states that even some of the pipeline sections should be combined to save costs and be more efficient!

Now that is a sure fire way to get gas to fill the pipeline, that cannot be filled (Nabucco): Get the one gas line guaranteed to be filled (South Stream), to connect to your empty pipeline. That way if the day comes that you can fill the Nabucco pipeline because you blow up Iran and get that huge gas field to fill Nabucco with, minus the sanctions of course. You can just cut the Russian gas off and thumb your noses again at Russia…

Isn’t that a sweet thing to do?

What! Does Russia look like the cat above?

Windows to Russia!

This Is Why I Love Russia! (Stop That Car At Any Expense!)



I have watched this incident from the beginning and have been waiting to see what the Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev would have to say about this situation. Rashid has already had to express his dissatisfaction before:

The minister used his annual Police Day address last November to remind police chiefs that officers should point their weapons at criminals, and not aim them at law-abiding citizens. Shortly after this, he advised ordinary citizens to “give as good as they get” if they are attacked for no reason by officers.

It seems to me that Russia is one of the last frontiers when it comes to interesting things that happen. Russia has many strange happenings and this is an example of one of those strange things that happen in Russia…

The video will explain what happened and it makes me wonder what goes through the minds of people – be they cops or anyone else! Medvedev is working hard to get the police force in Russia to get their act together and then the cops do something like this…

Watch the Video and you will understand!

Times are changing in Russia! Heads have rolled because of this incident. But the old ways die slowly and if the cops want the people to respect them. Then the cops must change the way they treat people.

Reminds me of stories that Grandpa would tell about the old days in America…

This is why I love Russia – What a cool and stupid thing to do! 🙂

Windows to Russia!

PS: This video was posted at Mizozo first! I just noticed that he beat me to posting it…

Update a video by RIA:

Nord Stream Found Treasure Better Than Gas! (At Least I Think So…)



The Nord Stream pipeline development has exposed treasures that were not expected! The latest discovery was made during a search of the seabed east of the Swedish island of Gotland by the Nord Stream consortium, which is building a 750-mile pipeline in the Baltic Sea. The 12 wrecks were found in a 30-mile-long and 1.2-mile-wide corridor of the sea.

The find is considered to be exceptional because the Baltic sea has a lower salt level and by that one condition, a sea worm that attacks and eats wood does not exist in the sea…

This means that the ships, some as old as 800 years. Are in fantastic shape. Nord Stream has promised to not destroy the hulls of the ships and will do everything necessary to make sure everyone interested can find and research these ships. The ships found do not lay in the path of the pipeline so that danger is mute…

Cool!
Windows to Russia!

Russia is the Tail of Two Mouths!


There are several big issues that are circling the Russian news agencies: One is Russia joining NATO and the next is that the US and Russia are currently negotiating a successor to the START nuclear disarmament treaty.

Lavrov the Russian Foreign Minister has always made it clear that NATO is the “hind end of a donkey” and he was given normative support for this thinking recently:

Madeleine Albright, secretary of state under former President Bill Clinton and currently involved in the development of a new NATO strategic concept, has only nurtured Lavrov’s skepticism. Washington, she says, will never allow Russia to influence NATO strategy: “We will not allow the tail to wag the dog.” (Link)

That is where the truth lies and to think different would be a total lack of empiricism…

As far as the successor to the START treaty: America has created a quandary for itself! Russia who has stayed firm on her commitments, thoughts and factors. Is seeing an America that talks out of two mouths. One of the most important factors to Russia is American missile defense in countries around Russian borders.

As Prime Minister Putin has eloquently stated in a recent speech in the Pacific coastal city of Vladivostok.

If Russia did nothing to oppose the missile defense system, he added, the other side would “feel completely safe under its missile shield, and it would do as it pleased. The balance would be gone, and aggression in politics and business would grow abruptly.” Putin’s conclusion is that “Russia needs new offensive systems.”

So as America plays games of decisive destruction of confirmatory relations with major world powers such as China and Russia – America keeps wondering why no-one wants to trust her…

Hummmm!
Windows to Russia!