Stories from Soviet Childhood: The Pistol (1)

Hello,

Today we’ll continue reading Soviet Stories for children and we will start to read next story by Nikolay Nosov “The Pistol”.

The Pistol

(Part 1)

For a long time Sasha [a boy’s name] had been trying to persuade his mother to buy him a toy pistol, one of those pistols that shoot caps.

“I’m not going to let you have a pistol like that,” his mother said. “It’s dangerous.”
“No, it isn’t, Mummy,” Sasha protested. “If it shot bullets it would be dangerous, but you can’t kill anyone with caps.”
“You may hurt somebody or knock your eye out.”
“I’ll shut my eyes when I shoot.”
“No. I won’t have it. There’s no end of trouble with those toy pistols. They’re not safe. You may frighten someone with it,” said his mother.
And that was the end of it as far as she was concerned.

Now, Sasha had two older sisters, Marina and Ira [girls’ names]. So he went to them and begged for a pistol.
“I want one so badly. I promise to do anything you tell me to if you buy me one.”
“Oh, Sasha,” said Marina. “You’re a sly little thing! When you want something you’re as sweet as pie, but as soon as Mother goes out you make a nuisance of yourself.”
“I won’t any more, honest I won’t. I’ll be ever so good.”
“All right,” said Ira. “Marina and I will think it over. If you promise faithfully to be good we might buy you a pistol.”
“I promise. I’ll be as good as gold. You’ll see!”

The next day Sasha’s sisters went out and bought him a pistol and a whole box of caps.
When Sasha saw the shiny black pistol and the box of caps he jumped for joy and ran around the room hugging it to him in great excitement.

“Oh, my darling pistol. How I love you!”
Then he scratched his name on the handle and started shooting. Before long the whole room was blue with smoke.
“Oh, do stop it for goodness’ sake,” said Ira. “I jump every time it goes off.”
“Coward,” said Sasha. “All girls are cowards.”
“We’ll take it away from you if you call us names,” said Marina.
“All right, I’ll go outside and frighten the boys with it,” said Sasha.

He went into the back yard but there were no boys about. So he ran out on to the street and it is here that our story really begins.

As Sasha stepped out of his back yard he saw an old woman coming down the street. He waited until she came quite close and then he fired. Bang! The old woman jumped and gave a little scream.
“Oh dear, I did get a fright!” Then she turned and saw Sasha.
“So it was you who fired? You bad boy!”
“It wasn’t me,” said Sasha, hiding the pistol behind his back.
“Now then, young man, you needn’t tell lies. I saw you. I’m going to report you to the militia [the militia=police] for this.”
She shook her finger at him, crossed the street and disappeared round the corner.
Sasha was frightened. “Oh, oh! What shall I do? She’s gone to the militia to complain.”

He ran home, shaking with fright.
“What’s the matter with you?” asked Ira as he ran in panting.
“You look as if a wolf had been chasing you. What have you done now?”
“Er … nothing!”
“Don’t tell lies. I can see you’ve been up to mischief.” “I haven’t done anything. It’s just…. The pistol went off and she took fright.”
“Who took fright?”
“The old woman who was walking down the street.” “Why did you fire?”
“I don’t know. I just saw her coming and I thought it would be fun to fire. So I pulled the trigger.”
“What did she say?”
“Nothing. She went to the militia to complain.”
“There, you see. You promised to behave and now look what you’ve done!”
“How was I to know she’d be such a scarey old thing?”
“You wait, the militiaman will come after you. He’ll give you what for!”
“How will he find me? He doesn’t know where I live. He doesn’t even know my name.”
“Don’t worry. He’ll find you. The militia knows everything.”

Sasha sat home for a whole hour looking out of the window every few minutes to see if the militiaman was coming. But no one came. After a while he calmed down a little and brightened up.
“The old woman must have been trying to frighten me.”

He put his hand in his pocket to pull out his beloved pistol, but the pistol was gone. The box of caps was there, but no pistol. He tried the other pocket, but it was empty. He searched all over the room. He looked under the tables and under the sofa, but there was no sign of it. Sasha wept with mortification.
“I hardly had it at all,” he sobbed. “Such a lovely pistol. And now it’s gone.”
“Perhaps you left it in the yard?” suggested Ira.
“I must have dropped it by the gate,” said Sasha. “I’ll go and see.”

He ran outside on to the street, but there was no sign of the pistol.
“Of course, someone picked it up,” he thought. Just then a militiaman [policeman] came round the corner and made straight for their house.
“He’s coming for me! The old woman must have complained after all,” thought Sasha and dashed home as fast as he could.
“Well, did you find it?” asked his sisters.
“Sh!” hissed Sasha. “A militiaman is coming.”
“A militiaman?”
“Yes, he’s coming here.”
“Where did you see him?”
“Out there in the street.”
Marina and Ira laughed at him. “You little coward! Saw a militiaman outside and got scared. He’s probably not coming this way at all.”
“I don’t care if he is!” said Sasha stoutly. “I’m not afraid of him.”

At that moment steps were heard outside and the door-bell rang. Marina and Ira ran to open the door. Sasha poked his head into the passage and hissed after them: “Don’t let him in!”
But Marina had already opened the door……

To continue read the story please click here.

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Previous stories:

ZIS


Cucumbers


THE CRUCIAN CARP


Mishka’s Porridge
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Best wishes and next Wednesday we will read the end of this story!

Svet

comments always welcome

Russia: Is A War Waiting To Happen!

Hello,

This is an interesting read:
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Central Asia
Jul 16, 2008

A war waiting to happen!
By F William Engdahl

The Caucasus Republic of Georgia, as nations go, is not apparently a major global player. Yet Washington has invested huge sums and organized to put its own despot, Mikhail Saakashvili, in the presidency in order to close a nuclear North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) iron ring around Russia.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited the capital Tbilisi and made sharp statements against Moscow for supporting the separatist Georgian states of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, in essence blaming Moscow for an imminent war Washington has incited in order to bring Georgia into NATO by the December NATO summit.

Western media have either tended to ignore the growing tensions in the strategic Caucasus region or to suggest, as Rice does, that the entire conflict is being caused by Moscow’s support of the “breakaway” republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. In reality, a quite different chess game is being played in the region, one which has the potential to detonate a major escalation of tensions between Moscow and NATO.

The underlying issue is the fact that since the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact in 1991, one after the other former members as well as former states of the USSR have been coaxed and in many cases bribed with false promises by Washington into joining the counter organization, NATO.

Rather than initiate discussions after the 1991 dissolution of the Warsaw Pact about a systematic dissolution of NATO, Washington has systematically converted NATO into what can only be called the military vehicle of an American global imperial rule, linked by a network of military bases from Kosovo to Poland to Turkey to Iraq and Afghanistan.

In 1999, former Warsaw Pact members Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic joined NATO. Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Slovakia followed in March 2004. Now Washington is putting immense pressure on the European Union members of NATO, especially Germany and France, that they vote in December to admit Georgia and Ukraine.

The Georgia-Abkhazia military picture
The present escalation of tensions in the region began in May when Abkhazia said it had shot down two Georgian drones over its airspace. The announcement came two weeks after Georgia accused Russia of shooting down an unmanned drone over Abkhazia, which Tbilisi considers its sovereign territory. Moscow has denied involvement.

Russia has administered a peacekeeping contingent in Abkhazia and South Ossetia since bloody conflicts in the 1990s, and sent additional troops to Abkhazia recently to deter what it calls a planned Georgian military offensive. The two sides, Georgia and Abkhazia, have been in a state of suspended conflict since 1993, when Abkhaz separatists, backed by Russian forces, succeeded in driving the Georgians out of the province.

Tbilisi claims sovereignty over Abkhazia and South Ossetia and refers to both as “breakaway republics”. In 2001, Georgian troops joined with anti-Moscow mujahideen-trained Chechyn soldiers from neighboring Russian Muslim province of Chechnya to mount a military attack, unsuccessfully, against Abkhazia.

In an analysis of what a possible military clash, short of nuclear war between Russia and NATO might look like, the Russian government’s RIA Novosti military commentator, Ilya Kramnik, laid out the array of forces on both sides. In late 2007, the Georgian armed forces had about 33,000 officers and men, including a 22,000-strong army that comprised five brigades and eight detached battalions. These units had over 200 tanks, including 40 T-55 and 165 T-72 main battle tanks that are currently being overhauled.

Kramnik says that the Georgian military faces a 10,000-strong Abkhazian Self Defense Force with 60 tanks, including 40 T-72s, and 85 artillery pieces and mortars, including several dozen with a 122-152mm caliber and 116 armored vehicles of different types, numerous anti-tank weapons ranging from RPG-7 rocket launchers to Konkurs-M anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs). The Abkhazian navy has over 20 motor boats armed with machine-guns and small-caliber cannons.

But most decisive, as was shown in the experience of the 1992-1993 Georgian-Abkhazian conflict, even small units can resist superior enemy forces in mountainous areas for a long time. Consequently, the outcome of any hypothetical conflict would depend on the aggressors’ level of military training and the influence of third parties, primarily Russian units from the Collective Commonwealth of Independent States Peacekeeping Force. Georgia’s armed forces are notoriously corrupt and poorly trained.

Although the United States has trained several crack Georgian units in the past few years, the fighting effectiveness of all other elements is uncertain. There are no trained sergeants, and troop morale is running low. Only about 50% of the military equipment is operational, and coordinated operations in adverse conditions are impossible.

The Abkhazian armed forces pack a more devastating punch because they would resist an aggressor that has already tried to deprive the republic of its independence. And Abkhazian units are commanded by officers trained at Russian military schools. Many of them fought in the early 1990s. Most analysts agree that the combat-ready Abkhazian army does not suffer from corruption. Moscow has recently beefed up the local peace-keeping contingent. Neighboring Caucasus states including North Ossetia side with Abkhazia and are ready to take on Georgia.

Moscow’s possible strategy
Moscow has stepped up ties with the two small republics against the backdrop of Georgia’s NATO bid and Western recognition of Kosovo’s independence from Serbia. Russia, however, has not formally recognized Abkhazia or South Ossetia.

Moscow has long backed Abkhazia’s de facto independence however. It has granted Russian citizenship to many of its residents and recently legalized economic ties with the separatist republic. For Russia, the conflict provides a source of leverage on both Abkhazia and Georgia. The more Georgia seeks to distance itself from Russia, the more Russia throws its weight behind Abkhazia.

However, Georgia under Washington’s man, strongman President Mikhail Saakashvili – a pretty ruthless dictator as he recently showed against domestic opposition – refuses to back off its provocative NATO bid.

Georgia is also a strategic transit country for the Anglo-American Caspian oil pipeline from Baku in Azerbaijan through Georgia to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. As well, the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline has been key to Azerbaijan as an alternative to the control of the Russian state monopoly Transneft in order to convey its oil and gas resources toward the West. The entire Caucasus is part of what can be described as a new Great Game for control of Eurasia between Washington and Russia.

As the Moscow Times sees it, “One way to disrupt Georgia’s NATO aspirations would be to heat up the conflict in Abkhazia to a level that would make it unacceptable for the Western alliance, which acts by the consensus of all members, to offer membership. Georgia’s leadership could be escalating tensions in hope of prompting Abkhazia and Russia to make a move that would leave the West with no chance but to intervene.

“Regardless of the motivation, whoever is stoking the conflict must realize that they are playing with fire. This brinkmanship can lead to a full-fledged war. Georgia would probably lose a war if Russia backed Abkhazia, while Russia would lose its hope of becoming a benign global player and would risk seriously straining its ties with the European Union and the United States.”

Rice adds gasoline to the fire
The George W Bush administration is adding gasoline to the fire in the Caucasus. In Tbilisi on July 10, Rice told the press, “Russia needs to be a part of resolving the problem and solving the problem and not contributing to it. I have said it to the Russians publicly. I have said it privately.”

The effect of her comments, blaming Moscow for the escalating tensions, is to signal US support for the Georgia side in their efforts to force Russian troops from South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

In May, Abkhaz President Sergei Bagapsh said he was willing to conclude a military treaty with Moscow similar to that between the US and Taiwan. “Abkhazia will propose to Russia the signing of a military treaty that would guarantee security to our republic,” Bagapsh stated. “We are also prepared to host Russian military bases on our territory within the framework of this treaty. I would like to emphasize that this would not go against the precedents already existing in international practice. For instance, this treaty could be analogous to the treaty between the US and Taiwan.”

Just as Moscow refuses to recognize the sovereignty of Kosovo, so Washington refuses to admit the sovereignty of Abkhazia. In May, a senior US State Department delegation was in Abkhazia, meeting with local non-governmental organizations (NGOs)there as well as the president. In the past, from Serbia to Georgia to Ukraine, Washington intelligence agencies have used NGOs, including the George Soros-financed Open Society foundations, the US Congress-financed National Endowment for Democracy, the Central Intelligence Agency-linked Freedom House and Gene Sharp’s misleadingly-named Albert Einstein Institution to steer a wave of regime changes which became known as “color revolutions”.

In each case, the new regime was pro-Washington and anti-Moscow, as in the case of Saakashvili in Georgia and Viktor Yushchenko in Ukraine. Both countries began seeking NATO entry after the success of the US-financed color revolutions.

In all this, Washington is definitely playing with potential nuclear fire by escalating pressure to push Georgia and Ukraine into NATO. Czech Foreign Minister Karl Schwarzenberg on July 8 signed an agreement allowing US deployment of special radar facilities on Czech soil as part of the top-secret US “missile defense” it alleges is aimed at rogue missile threats from Iran.

As even former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger recently pointed out, the Bush administration’s categorical refusal to pursue the 2007 counter-offer of then-president Vladimir Putin to station US radar at the Russian-leased reconnaissance facility in Azerbaijan instead, was a provocative mistake.

It makes abundantly clear that Washington is aiming its military strategy at the dismantling of Russia as a potential adversary. That is a recipe for a possible nuclear war by miscalculation. Rice’s latest Caucasus and Czech visit only added to that growing danger.

F William Engdahl is author of the book A Century of War: Anglo-American Oil Politics and the New World Order and is finishing a book, provisionally titled, The New Cold War: Behind the US Drive for Full Spectrum Dominance. He may be reached via his website, www.engdahl.oilgeopolitics.net
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This is a very, very, very true article.

Kyle & Svet

Russia: Visa Registration Update: July, 2008!

Hotels Will Register Foreigners
The Russian Federation Council approved a law Friday that would allow hotels to register arriving foreigners. Now only migration records agencies and the post office can register foreigners. The new law would make registration easier for foreigners, claimed chairman of the Federation Council Constitutional Committee Alexey Alexanderov at the session on Friday.
To speed up the process, it is proposed to allow hotels to stamp migration documents to show a foreigner has registered at his place of habitation. When a foreigner arrives at a hotel, he will fill out a form to be recorded on the migration account. The foreigner will receive a part of the form with an authorizing stamp. Now all hotels can do is fill out a form that is then sent to the Federal Migration Service to be stamped and returned to the hotel.

Hotel administrators spend a lot of time on filling out and transporting FMS documents because the FMS is unable to register foreigners in good time.

America Playing In Wrong Backyard!

Hello,

Tell me that Americans are not involved in Georgia Military antics!

Immediate Response 2008, joint Georgian-American military exercises, began July 15 at the Georgian Ministry of Defense training center outside Tbilisi, RIA Novosti information agency reports. A total of 1650 soldiers will take part. Besides Georgians and Americans, members of the armed forces of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine will participate. The Georgian Defense Ministry stated in a press release that the exercises cost $8 million and are being fully paid for by the Pentagon. (There: our tax money put to good work.)

I knew that Americans are playing in the wrong backyard.

Kyle

Russia: A Shifting Of The Winds!

World powers in colors! The playing field gets more level everyday between them all.

Hello,

I was drinking my morning cup of coffee & thinking about what I see in the world the last few months. I see a shifting of world power. Not a fast mudslide shift, but a river carving a channel shift.

Russia & China have developed stronger ties, partly in the fact that Medvedev is very close to China. I think we will see a unified actions from Russia & China, like what happened with vetoes on Friday at a Western-backed U.N. Security Council resolution to impose sanctions on Zimbabwe. Just because the West wants it does not make it correct!

The USA over the years has pursued a Security Council Resolution 687, paragraph 14, calls for removing all Weapons of Mass Destruction from the Middle East, yet Israel has had a large nuclear arsenal for 40 years. Does the USA plan to invade Israel, demand unfettered UN inspections, require a full report of all their WMD activities and locations and impose a regime change? Why not? These allegations of WMDs are part of a daily USA bad mouthing of the world. Now we have countries expressing things like: “Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Monday a military attack on Iran over its nuclear program would have grave consequences for the United States, Israel and the world.” Does the USA think that the Middle East is going to take another invasion of its network of countries and not fear retaliation? The world is watching the USA!

Which brings us to: We never have ever, found Weapons of Mass Destruction & we keep killing civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan: ” A U.S. coalition force air strike on Sunday killed 47 civilians, including 39 women and children, in the eastern province of Nangarhar, an Afghan official said on Friday.” We have killed around (“An estimated 655,000 Iraqis have died since 2003 who might still be alive but for the US-led invasion, according to a survey by a US university.”) in Iraq! In Afghanistan we have killed thousands and thousands, with that number climbing faster daily, than Iraq’s now. America looses a little more credibility with every death of a civilian in these wars.

Which brings us to: Missiles! (It is a poke in Russia’s eye)

Which brings us to: U.S. dollar sank to 23.13 ruble in an hour and a half after the start of the MICEX special session, tomorrow settlement. For the U.S. dollar, the official rate of exchange could be 10 kopecks less tomorrow. Russia has bent over backwards to keep the dollar from collapsing against the Ruble. I came to Russia the dollar was at around 28.5 rubles. This same issue is happening all over the world. This is all in conjunction with the collapse of major financial institutes in America. (The Government is broke.)

Which brings us to: Oil, the king is going on its downhill slide, Gas the new King is climbing fast. Who controls most of the worlds GAZ. (Russian natural gas monopoly Gazprom will develop oil and gas together with Iran’s state oil company. The decision came after Gazprom`s recent offer to buy all of Libya’s spare exportable gas volumes.) Gazprom!

I hear that the world is changing and from what I see, The winds are slowly shaping a new world! If we are smart we will learn from mistakes and correct problems now.

Being on this side of the world gives me a different perspective on the USA. The USA has very few friends and the so called friends it has, are bought……..

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.

Russian News: July 15th, 2008!

RBC, 15.07.2008, Moscow 13:25:08.Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has approved a concept for Russia’s foreign policy, the Russian leader’s press office reported today. The official text of the document will be published in on the President’s website in the nearest future.

RBC, 15.07.2008, London 11:39:34.Evraz Group’s quarterly steel production grew 12.6 percent, from 4.164m tonnes in the second quarter of 2007 to 4.69m tonnes in Q2 2008, the Russian steel and mining company said in a press release today. Pig iron production increased 13.8 percent from 3.188m tonnes to 3.628m tonnes, and rolled products output rose 18.2 percent from 3.828m tonnes to 4.524m tonnes.

RBC, 15.07.2008, Moscow 11:10:02.Sky Express handled 489,335 passengers in the first half of 2008, a 2.5-times increase from the same period of the previous year, the Russian air carrier’s press office reported today. The flights to St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad were the most popular, accounting for 17 percent and 14.5 percent of the total number of the airline’s passengers, respectively. Passenger traffic surged 2.4 times to roughly 609.568m passenger-kilometers, and cargo traffic soared by a factor of 5.2 to 654,430 tonne-kilometers. The amount of cargo and mail transported by Sky Express increased sixfold to 463.2 tonnes.

RBC, 15.07.2008, Moscow 09:58:54.The Russian state technology corporation will receive government stakes in 228 joint stock companies, 180 federal state unitary enterprises being converted into joint stock companies, and 12 enterprises controlled by Rosoboronexport, all as part of a contribution in kind from the Russian Federation. Therefore, stakes in a total of 420 companies will be transferred to the newly formed state corporation, the Russian President’s press office announced, citing a corresponding provision from a decree signed by President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday.

RBC, 14.07.2008, Moscow 18:52:59.The global financial crisis is not yet over, Deputy Finance Minister Dmitry Pankin told journalists today. He noted that new problems would arise as the crisis deepened. However, the best news, according to Pankin, was that Russia’s financial community had worked out ways of handling the crisis. He said that now it was clear which threats Russia had to face regarding the crisis and that the methods of dealing with these threats had been found.

RBC, 14.07.2008, Moscow 18:26:52.Russia will make efforts to change the approach for determining the stakes of the World Bank’s shareholders, Deputy Finance Minister Dmitry Pankin told today’s press conference on the results of the recent G8 summit. He noted that Russia would seek to make the current approach more reasonable and objective. The Deputy Minister reiterated that amendments to the method of calculating votes and stakes in the IMF’s share capital had already been made. The IMF’s new strategy is to be considered soon, Pankin said, adding that Russia would take an active part in the process. An interesting dialog has started between the Finance Ministries of BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China), Pankin stated, referring to the potential of these countries joining forces to reform the bloc’s old financial institutions. It is even possible that the ministries will come to a conclusion that new institutions must be created, as the old ones cannot respond to new challenges any longer, Pankin pointed out.

RBC, 14.07.2008, Moscow 17:29:46.The Russian military will have to take certain steps to neutralize the effect of the missile shield to be deployed in eastern Europe, Deputy Foreign Ministry Sergei Kislyak said today. He did not specify the measures Russia might take, saying that specialists had yet to make a decision on the matter. Kislyak reiterated that the US had made several proposals to Russia to ensure transparency in the issue of anti-missile shield. However, Kislyak noted that the suggestions had been insufficient to ensure transparency.

RBC, 14.07.2008, London 16:26:28.Total investment in the development of a new Russian short- and mid-range jet MC-21 is estimated at RUB 150bn (approx. USD 6.42bn), President of United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) Alexei Fyodorov said during Farnborough international airspace exhibition. He pointed out that the figure included the cost of engine production, adding that the government was actively supporting the project. Some RUB 90bn (approx. USD 3.85bn) will be allocated for the development and construction of the MC-21 as part of the federal target program.

RBC, 14.07.2008, Moscow 14:58:47.Russia has the highest percentage of smokers in the world, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said during today’s meeting on the development of healthcare that was held in Klin, a city located in the Moscow region, the Vesti TV channel reported. Medvedev pointed out that 50 percent of Russians smoke and that men account for 65 percent of the country’s smokers.

Russia: Say No To Missiles: Bush

Senator Tells Bush Not to Poke Russia in Eye

from Kommersant

The missile defenses being formed by the United States “are not a defense against Iranian missiles” and the administration of George W. Bush should stop “putting a stick in the Russian eye,” stated chairman of the Senate Armed Forces Committee Carl Levin, a democrat of Michigan. Levin said the CBS television news program Face the Nation that the United States has “put off” Russia away, most particularly with the missile program in Europe. Levin said the world community’s success solving the problem if Iran depends on Russia and the actions of the U.S. do not encourage Russia’s support.

Looks like some people in America are starting to see the light.

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.

Svet Sunday: How to get a virus by making subtitles!

Hello,

Today I’ll tell you how we got a virus to our computer.

The First was an idea.. No, the first was a beautiful Soviet Cartoon and my strong wish to publish it at my Svet Sunday. The cartoon was nice and cute and I would recommend it to everybody from very very little kid to their grandparents and even grand grandparents. The name of this cartoon is “Run, Little Stream” and I published it here. All was OK with this cartoon – but it did not have English subtitles… So I decided to correct this situation and to write the subtitles – that would not be too much just about 2-3 phrases. First of all I decided to download this cartoon from one of Russian cartoon collection sites then I would edit this cartoon by putting subtitles and all our readers would enjoy it!

When I got this cartoon (.avi file) I tried to play it – but it just showed first couple frames without sound and than almost stopped. I asked Kyle for help and he’s got some Codecs for me [that was pretty new OS there] but it did not help then somehow we’ve seen two .avi files on our computer and one of them was real cartoon and could be played very well. But soon we noticed that Firefox behaves strange.. and we realized that we have a virus.

Kyle tried to cure this virus but it was impossible! In a little time we could not start any of Operation Systems on our computer. Then we took a decision to format all our hard-drives and install new Operation System from scratch.

Kyle spent hours installing OSes downloading applications and making all settings.Now I use completely new Operation System (One that Kyle has developed himself from open source) very unusual and different, what still needs some works done. But I don’t complain because we have backup (DVD-copy) of our most important files, pictures and videos and I was stunned when Kyle showed me that we even did not loose our bookmarks because he is using Foxmarks.

Why did I write this article? Just to remind to our dear readers: “Please, Remember to do Backups (Save your important Data)!”

As for the cartoon… I decided that it is good and understandable enough even without subtitles. Is it not? 😉

Best wishes for everybody,
Svet

Russia: Tragic End to a Russian Adoptee!

Adopted Russian child dies locked in a car

A two-year-old child adopted from Russia three months ago has died in the U.S. town of Herndon. On Tuesday foster-father Miles Harrison left the child in a car in a car-park for much of the day. With the temperature reaching at least 30 degrees Centigrade, the vehicle became overheated and the boy died.

Harrison was taken to a medical facility in shock and later taken into custody.

On Wednesday he was charged with manslaughter and could face up to ten years in prison. Russiatoday WUSA9 News
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Manslaughter? He left the kid in a hot car…… (for many hours) Said he was just really busy and forgot…….

Sad!

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.

Russia: Visa: Part 4, Homestay Visas (Private Visas)!


Hello,

Today is part 4 and the last part of the Russian visas. The Homestay visa or as well known as the Private visa.
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Homestay Visas (Private Visas)

The following documents should be submitted in order to obtain a private visa:

1. A completed visa application form (one per person) available at the Consulate or downloaded from our web-site.

2. A valid passport which should have at least two clear visa pages.

3. One passport-size photo of the applicant which should be stapled to the marked space of the application form.

4. Original letter of invitation.

Your relatives or friends (Russian citizens) should provide you with an official letter of invitation bearing your personal data and registered with a local office of the Russian Interior Ministry.

If you wish to visit your friends or relatives (foreign citizens) currently working or studying in Russia they should obtain an official letter of invitation from the Russian hosting organization (see business visa instructions).

Please note! If for some reason you would like to obtain a double-entry private visa (even if having your official invitation issued as a single-entry) you should submit a more detailed cover letter showing such a necessity.

5. If applying by mail (all visa documents should be sent to 2641 Tunlaw rd. N.W., Washington DC, 20007), you should enclose a completely addressed and stamped return envelope or prepaid waybill, bearing your account number with the postal service (preferably Federal Express) and showing yourself as both shipper and recipient regardless of delivery address.

We do not accept waybills marked ‘bill sender’, ‘bill third party’, bill credit card’ or C.O.D. If you fail to follow the above mentioned requirements, your visa application will not be processed. If the papers are not acceptable for any reason or some documents are missing, we will return them by regular mail. When forwarding your documents to us, please, specify “attention: visa section”. We do not accept documents for international delivery!

If you apply personally, you should get a pick-up slip from the visa officer. You should present this slip to pick up your visa, when it is ready, or refer to its number to check out the status of the application.

6. A money order or cashier’s check payable to the Russian Embassy for visa processing. Please, note that we do not accept cash or any other checks. The visa processing fees are:

ATTENTION!

As of January 1, 2008 the U.S. State Department raises the fee for American visa from 100 USD to 131 USD.

On the basis of reciprocity the fee for Russian visa (standard processing time 6-10 business days) is also raised to 131 USD, effective from January 14, 2008. The fees for expedited visa processing will however remain unchanged.

For single entry visas are:
$131 for 6-10 business days processing;
$150 for 3-5 business days processing;
$200 for next business day processing or two business days processing;
$300 for same day processing;
For double entry visas are:
$131 for 6-10 business days processing;
$200 for 3-5 business days processing;
$250 for next business day processing or two business days processing;
$350 for same day processing;

Visa processing fee is not refundable

Please, note, that drop off day is not counted as business day!

ATTENTION FOR EU CITIZENS

IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE VISA AGREEMENT SIGNED BY THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION AND THE EUROPEAN UNIION CITIZENS OF ALL EU COUNTRIES EXCEPT DENMARK, IRELAND AND GREAT BRITAIN ARE WELCOME TO SUBMIT THE FOLLOWING FEES FOR PROCESSING OF ALL TYPES OF VISAS TO RUSSIA

6-10 BUSINESS DAYS – 50 USD

1-3 BUSINESS DAYS – 100 USD

When having received your visa please check it for mistakes (passport number, date of birth, validity) and, if necessary, return it to the Consulate for corrections.

The Consulate will not be responsible for any mistakes in the visas, which were not brought to our attention prior to your departure from the USA.

Please, note that visas cannot be changed or extended. If your travel plans changed after the visa issuance you have to reapply for a new one.

Any visa applicant may be interviewed by a consular officer if necessary.

Processing time, requirements and fees are subject to change without notice.

If you need more information please call us at (202)939-8907,8918, 8913 and 8911 Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. till 12.30 .p.m. and from 2.30. p.m. till 6 p.m.

Visa applications are accepted Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. till 12.15 p.m. ONLY
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Once again you must contact your embassy to find out changes and new rules. This applies only for American visas.

The Homestay visa is a difficult visa to get, if not only in the fact that the person in Russia has to do all the work and it is not fun.

Link to Visa Part 1

Link to Visa Part 2

Link to Visa part 3

http://www.russianembassy.org/
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This is the list of Russian Embassy in America!

Address: 2641 Tunlaw Road, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20007
Telephone: (202) 939-8907, 939-8913, 939-8918, 939-8911 (Monday-Friday 9:00 a.m. – 12.30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.- 6:00 p.m.)
Fax: (202) 483-7579
Office hours: Monday – Friday 9:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.-6:00 p.m.
Open to public: Monday – Friday 9:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Head of the Consular Division: Sergey K. Ovsyannikov
Jurisdiction: Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.

Address: 9 East 91 Street, New York, NY 10128
Telephone: (212) 348-0926 Fax: (212) 831-9162
Office hours: Monday – Friday 9:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.-5:00 p.m.
Open to public: Monday – Friday 9:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Consul General: Sergey V. Garmonin
Jurisdiction: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont.

Address: 2790 Green Street
San-Francisco, CA 94123
Telephone: (415) 928-6878 , (415) 202-9800
Fax: (415) 929-0306
Office hours: Monday – Friday 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m.
Open to public: Visa Desk : Monday – Friday 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Passport&Legal Deck: Monday – Friday 2:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.
Consul General: Victor N. Lizun
Jurisdiction: Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Utah.

Address: 2323 Westin Building, 2001 6th Ave.
Seattle, WA 98121
Telephone: (206) 728-1910
Fax: (206) 728-1871
Office hours: Monday – Friday 9:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 2:00 p.m.-5:30 p.m.
Open to public: Visa Desk : Monday – Friday 2:00 p.m.-4:45 p.m.
Passport&Legal Deck: Monday – Friday 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Consul General: Vladimir I. Volnov
Jurisdiction: Alaska, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Address: 1333 West Loop South, Ste.1300,
Houston, TX 77027.
Telephone: (713) 337-3300
Fax: (713) 337-3305
Office hours: Monday – Frid. 9:00 – 12:30; 14:30 – 18:00
Consul General: Nikolay V. Sofinskiy
Jurisdiction: Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas.

Kyle & Svet

PS: Hope all this helps.

comments always welcome.