Windows to Russia

Gazprom had two big goals in the American market. The first (1st) goal was the LPG market in America. They have already accomplished that goal. Once that happened they started to push for the second (2nd) goal. The Russian entry into the the American Natural Gas market. Gazprom as of October 2nd has accomplished the second goal… (Why?)

Because: The USA is the largest consumer of gas in the world: 668 billion cubic meters in 2008 – more than in whole Europe and twice as much as in Russia. The USA makes about 583 billion cubic meters of gas itself, imports 75 billion via pipelines from Canada and imports 10 billion of liquefied gas. (Link)(Link)

Tidbit of information to make you go Hummmm….

Windows to Russia!
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Seems that Russia can not ever stay out of the news.

Lets look at Israel hopping up and down screaming – Russians helped Iran with nukes – Israel: A list of Russian scientists who allegedly helped Iran to develop a nuclear bomb was handed to the Kremlin by Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, The Sunday Times reports. Now all this is because Israel is blowing a smoke screen to divert attention from the way the UN slamming Israel over the Gaza war…

Lets look at – The Pentagon: joint use of Russian radars possible:
The US is considering jointly using two Russian radars as part of its missile defense system, US Assistant Secretary of Defense Alexander Vershbow said in an interview with a Russian news agency. Now this just gets better all the time. This is exactly what Russia said more than a year ago and at that time answers from America came back not really very nice. Russia is now having the same reaction as then: Is America Going Nuts? (Sometimes!)

Lets look at – Elton John tickles the ivories of his “Red Piano” in Moscow: On October 7th, 2009 not only do you get a wild and full-of-energy Sir Elton John, but you get it all in a truly unique environment also. “The Red Piano”, the spectacular musician’s show, comes to Moscow straight out of Las Vegas. That would be worth seeing but I hear that tickets are all sold out and have been for a long time.

Let stake a peek at – Old Testament to be put behind bars?: A scientist in Russia has sent a statement to the Prosecutor General’s office in Stavropol, Southern Russia, demanding the Old Testament Bible be declared extremist literature. I am going to follow this one because having graduated from a Baptist University I find things like this interesting.

Lets look at an age old problem that seems to rear its head every few months – Moldova’s Transdniester wants independence, accession to Russia: The case of Moldova’s breakaway region is different from that of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, observers believe. Whether it is really different or not I do not know for sure. But what I can tell you is that after being there personally. Transdniester wants to be part of Russia. (Seems a little bit hard with Ukraine between the two though..)

So as always Russia is having fun and stays either in trouble with the world or gets involved in things that cause trouble down the road… (except with Elton John we hope!)

That is what I love about Russia! 🙂

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Sammy the Volga Car!

We had an interesting weekend. Svet and I finally won the battle to get our car tagged. This was not an easy war and we lost many battles in the process. But winning the war is what counts – right?

I have stayed quiet about this because I wanted to concentrate on getting tags not writing about how interesting it was to get them. (I felt like I was dealing with the local governments back in America trying to tag my car after crossing a state line to relocate.) The one thing that Russia has is a lot of governmental red tape and they match America one on one in the red tape department department.

To start with we bought the car out of Moscow. That is number one issue – What works in another region does not mean it will work in Moscow! Lets expound on that statement: We took the car to get the tags and they always check the numbers on the car like they should do. That is the start of our fun.

At he factory (GAZ)they had changed the VIN number. Now the inspector said that he knew this was a common practice for the GAZ plant to do this. But it had to be changed on the paper work and we would have to make a visit to an expert inspector to have official confirmation that the car was not stolen.

As you can see in the second picture that the first number has been X out and then a new number is stamped next to it to the right. They say this has to do with production times and runs. (I say the guy who hand stamped it messed up and had to re stamp the number.)

So poor Svet and I {I drove and waited :)} had to visit a 100 different government offices to get enough information on what we had to do to get car tags. We had to take our own pictures of the VIN numbers. We had to make our own copies of all paper work. We had to endure lots of tea breaks by employees. We had to wait in long lines and listen to many lazy government workers explain how it was not their job and the one who did that job was not there until tomorrow. (Sound familiar?)

To make a long story short: Svet was the most patient car owner in the world and overcame all barriers installed in the way. Also the expert of all car inspectors said all was fine and we never paid one ruble of a bribe and never gave up.

When we had the car reinspected after a month of interesting governmental communication – we got our tags… :-]

How was your weekend? Ours turned out fantastic…

Windows to Russia!
comments always welcome.

In the village of Tatar Saiman in central Russia which use to be a collective farm in the Soviet days. They have the “top-top” – You ask they have what? Glad you asked…

“Top-top” – The word comes from the sound that old two-stroke engines make. The hand built cars are mostly used to carry wood and hay, or building materials in a localized area.

When the USSR broke up, it was virtually impossible to get new farm equipment. Also the old farm equipment became personal property to many farmers because the state was no longer in existence. This messed up understanding of ownership has created a whole line of interesting customized vehicles and particular in the village of Tatar Saiman in central Russia we have the famous – “top-top” vehicle.

They take these trucks serious and I think they are great. So watch the video and enjoy.

The old sayings: “You gotta do what you gotta do!” or “Waste not want not!” happens to fit here real well…

“Top-top” 🙂

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Former deputy PM ‘pleased’ to be sued by richest woman in Russia:
Former Russian deputy prime minister Boris Nemtsov said on Friday he is “pleased” to be sued by Yelena Baturina, the wife of Moscow’s mayor and the richest woman in Russia.

Serbian foreign minister to visit Moscow October 4-6:
Serbia’s foreign minister will arrive in Moscow on Sunday for a three-day official visit to Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said on Friday.

Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft docks with the ISS:
The Soyuz TMA-16 spacecraft successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported from Russia’s Mission Control Center.

Jackson’s autopsy report-Homicide:
Pop star Michael Jackson had a strong heart and was a “fairly healthy” 50-year-old, according to an autopsy report obtained in the US.

Russian monetary base down $950 mln in week to $133.8 bln:
Russia’s Central Bank said Friday the country’s narrowly defined money supply (M1) was 4 trillion 26.8 million rubles ($133.8 million at the current exchange rate) as of September 28, down 28.6 billion rubles ($950 million) in the week since September 21.

Russian customs officers arrest 2 drug mules in Orenburg airport:
Russian customs officials in the southern Urals city of Orenburg on Friday morning arrested two drug mules from Tajikistan with 225 capsules of heroin in their stomachs, a spokeswoman said.

Russian FM Lavrov to discuss Geneva talks in Abkhazia:
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is arriving in Abkhazia on a two-day visit Friday to discuss the latest round of Geneva discussions on the situation in the Caucasus and meet with the Russian military.

Medvedev visits Cathedral of the Sign in Kursk:
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visited on Thursday the Cathedral of the Sign in the city of Kursk some 300 miles south of Moscow where a miracle-working icon of the Mother of God was recently brought.

Russia says Arctic Sea ship to be released, no secret cargo found:
Inspections of the Arctic Sea ship, which was held captive for several weeks during the summer, have not revealed suspicious cargo, and the vessel will soon be released, Russia’s Foreign Ministry has said.

Georgia started South Ossetian war – report:

30 September, 2009, 15:35

Georgia is responsible for unleashing the Five-Day War in the Caucasus last August, says an investigative report carried out by the EU.

An international commission of more than 30 military specialists headed by Swiss diplomat Heidi Tagliavini has concluded that it was Georgia who fired the first shot, Itar-Tass reports, with reference to a high-ranking diplomatic source.

The report also says that Russia was preparing for a possible conflict. Russia’s actions have been qualified as a response to the Georgian military operation.

At the same time the commission says that Russia used excessive force, which led to the conflict spreading outside South Ossetia to Georgia.

The diplomat also confirmed that the commission “is satisfied with the level of cooperation with all the sides involved in the conflict.”

We knew that didn’t we?

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comments always welcome.

While I was drinking my morning cup of wonderful coffee and looking over e-mails and comments that I got during the night. I came upon an e-mail that threatened my life. This threat was over the fact that I am not smart enough to understand that Iran is a terrible, evil country and that Iran should be destroyed and all her people sent to Hell! I was told that I need to go with them {exact words were, minus cuss words of course, (“Kyle you need to die with the Iranian Scum!”)} – all because I do not condemn Iran…

So in light of this wonderful e-mail, I am going to do another Iran post. This post will have two videos. One by Russia Today and the other one of these videos is by Ron Paul. I put the Ron Paul Video in because as he says: Iran has not done anything that is unlawful. We knew about this Secret Nuclear Plant since 2006. Iran is the ones who told the world about the Secret Nuclear Plant and this was in accordance to the rules by announcing 6 months before start of production of producing nuclear fuel… (Iran is with in the guidelines that they are to follow!) The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has never found Iran at fault with their Nuclear Program…

I have no feelings of love for Iran. I do not want to see any more countries get nuclear weapons because the ones that have them need to get rid of them.

But I will say as I always do: “We reap what we sow!” and America by her sneaky ways has created virtual time bombs all over the word. Now America wants to tell other countries what they should do and should not do.

Example of “Reap what we sow!” – Just look at Israel and many multiples of nukes… (Iran does!)

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PS: By the way the only story that you will get from Western press is that Iran broke the law! That is not true the law that they are talking about was explained in Ron Pauls video and it is an issue that does not apply to Iran any more. In fact the issue of this law was because America let the ball drop so to speak… (Watch the video with Ron Paul and you will see.)

I would like to say a word about regional issues, particularly the problems related to Iran. As we stated two days ago in New York, we are united in our determination to begin talks on signing an all-encompassing, long-term agreement intended to settle the nuclear issues in Iran as soon as possible.

That said, today’s situation requires particular attention. In their recent letter to the IAEA, Iranian authorities admitted that they are building a new uranium enrichment plant. The fact that Iran has been constructing this enrichment plant over the course of several years without IAEA’s knowledge is a cause of great concern.

The construction of a new uranium enrichment plant contradicts the UN Security Council’s repeated demands for Iran to halt its enrichment activities.

The Russian Side, along with its other partners, feels that the IAEA must immediately examine the situation in the context of the inspections being carried out over Iran’s nuclear program. As part of the obligations that Russia has taken upon itself as an IAEA member, we will assist in this audit through any means we have available. We are calling on Iran to fully cooperate with the Agency as it conducts this investigation.

Russia remains committed to serious dialogue with Iran, with the goal of reaching an agreement on effective measures to alleviate the international community’s concerns regarding Iran’s nuclear program. Indeed, the evidence that has surfaced, which shows that Iran is building a new enrichment plant, only increases our determination to quickly attain concrete, verifiable results.

On October 1, 2009, we are planning a meeting of the so-called Group of Six – of which Russia is a member – together with representatives from Iran. This meeting will give Iran the opportunity to demonstrate that it also intends to seek out a negotiated solution to this problem. This will be possible if Iran arrives at the meeting in Geneva ready to focus on the nuclear issue, take practical steps toward rebuilding trust toward its nuclear program and ensuring its transparency, and demonstrate its willingness to fully cooperate with the IAEA. In light of the newly-revealed evidence that Iran is building a new enrichment plant, we are counting on Iran to present convincing evidence of its intent to develop nuclear energy strictly for peaceful purposes.

Driver dies in head-on collision with gas pipeline:
A driver lost control of his car and hit a plug of the gas pipeline running along the Novorizhskoye Highway near Moscow. He died in the fire.

Russian govt. to sell stakes purchased during crisis:
The Russian government intends to sell the shares in companies it has purchased during the crisis, Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said on Tuesday.

Sochi Olympics to get $7.6 bln from Russian budget in 2010:
Russia is to allocate 228 billion rubles ($7.6 bln) from the state budget in 2010 for the construction of sports facilities for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, a deputy finance minister said on Tuesday.

Russian special services to limit rights of Internet users:
Russia’s Justice Ministry has posted for public discussion a draft law which will increase state control over the Internet, a government daily reported on Tuesday.

Iran test launches Shahab-3 and Sajjil missiles:
Iran tested its most advanced missiles on Monday to cap two days of war games, raising more international concern and stronger pressure to quickly come clean on the newly revealed nuclear site Tehran was secretly constructing.

Sochi Olympics construction to cost over 1 trillion rubles:
More than 1 trillion rubles ($33 billion) will be spent on the preparations for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Russian resort city of Sochi, a Russian business daily said on Tuesday.

NATO secretary general not sure of success in Afghanistan:
Victory in Afghanistan is not guaranteed, and NATO needs to change its strategy in the country, the alliance’s secretary general said Monday at a Washington-based think tank.

Uzbekistan urges checks of hydro plants over Siberian dam accident:
Independent inspections should be carried out at a number of hydroelectric power plants in connection with the recent deadly accident at a Siberian hydroelectric station last month, Uzbekistan’s foreign minister said.

Medvedev congratulates Merkel on election victory:
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has congratulated German Chancellor Angela Merkel on election victory in a phone conversation, the Kremlin press service said in a statement.

Russia concerned over Iran missile launches, calls for restraint:
Russia is concerned over Iran’s missile launches against the backdrop of the Islamic Republic’s unresolved nuclear issues, but Moscow is calling for restraint, the Russian foreign minister said Monday.

Medvedev pledges to recreate strong Navy in 10 years:
Russia will recreate a powerful Navy in the next ten years, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday at a meeting with military personnel who took part in the Zapad 2009 drills.

Russia to help Abkhazia with postal, telecommunications services:
Abkhazia and Russia have signed a memorandum that will see the former Georgian republic establish its own independent telecommunication and postal services, the Abkhaz Apsnypress news agency said on Monday.

What is the hot news all over Georgia and Russia? Well if you would mention that Hillary Clinton Opened her mouth and expressed some information about the future of America in the Caucasus. Then you would have guessed correctly…

If the project is implemented, up to 25,000 US troops will be deployed in the former Soviet republic (Georgia). This number is much more than the number of Russian servicemen deployed in military bases in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, observers say.

“Analysts have no doubts that the US is eager to control routes of the transit of hydrocarbons from the Caspian basin to the West using all possible means, including military ones,” Rossiya TV and press said. “The plans to deploy tracker stations and military bases in Georgia only support this theory,” the paper said.

The Georgian media is awash with the news that Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were discussing military plans during their meeting at the 64th session of the UN General Assembly. (That was not smart!)

Also A few days ago, Georgian mass media reported the U.S. can deploy military bases in the country. According to their data, a group of Republican Congressmen and ex-Vice President Dick Cheney are dealing with the project. (Link) (I like how Dick Cheney still runs everything.)

Lets see:
We have 25,000 troops permanently in South Korea!
We have 33,000 troops permanently Japan!
We have 57,000 troops permanently Germany!
We have 10,000 troops permanently Itlay!
We have 10,000 troops permanently in the UK!
We have 1300 troops permanently in Spain!
We have 1600 troops permanently in Turkey!
Now we can look forward to 25,000 troops permanently in Georgia (That is not Georgia the USA but Georgia the country!)

By the way in the whole world:

The military of the United States is deployed in more than 150 countries around the world, with more than 369,000 of its 1,379,551 active-duty troops serving outside the United States and its territories. Many of these troops are still located at installations activated during the Cold War, by which the US government sought to counter the Soviet Union in the aftermath of World War II. Since 2001, the US has redeployed some of its forces as part of the “War on Terror.”

Now that is good use of tax payers money when the USA is broke…

Windows to Russia!
comments always welcome.