Russia: Wall – E: More Than a Love Story!

Hello,

My wife and I went to a movie on Sunday that was worthy of giving note to. The movie was a cute, interesting, animated, action packed and a love story all in one. It was loved, cheered, cried over, laughed over and clapped over. The movie full field its purpose, to provide entertainment.

But it was more than an animated robot movie! The movie had a tremendous underlining score that has been missed by most people who watch it. The movie has a message to tell & I see very few people getting the message.

The Hollywood Reporter: Kirk Honeycutt
The visual design of Wall-E is arguably Pixar’s best. Stanton, who wrote the script with Jim Reardon from a story he concocted with Peter Docter, creates two fantastically imaginative, breathtakingly lit worlds.

Chicago Tribune: Michael Phillips
While I may argue with the little guy’s taste in musicals, it’s remarkable to see any film, in any genre, blend honest sentiment with genuine wit and a visual landscape unlike any other.

Chicago Sun-Times: Roger Ebert
Succeeds at being three things at once: an enthralling animated film, a visual wonderment and a decent science-fiction story.

Philadelphia Inquirer: Steven Rea
With rich, detailed, cinematic animation and terrific sound effects, WALL-E pulls this unlikely love story off.

But here is what the movie really is….

I found myself reminded not just of 2001 a Space Oddessy . There are also traces of the film Titanic. In written form WALL-E would have made a very decent 1960s science fiction story. It may be one of the best new science fiction film of the year 2008. I will not go into details but the end-credits are truly some of the more very creative aspect of the film.

Pixar gives a underlining light treatment to some very heavy ideas and has made a film that the adults should appreciate even more than the kids who see it do. While the kids have a good time, the adults may find that this is a film with very serious messages. It is ironic that Pixar has made a film warning us about large corporations, and it is being released by industry giant Walt
Disney Pictures!

While watching the film, attention must be paid to the underlining theme and take off the rose colored glasses. Allow the movie to entertain but then remember what you saw later. My wife and I discussed the movie and came to a concurrent conclusion……

Wall-E was fun but maybe the truth hurts. (We might not have a Wall-E to save us!)

Go see Wall-E!

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.

Russia: Tidbits Of Information!

British Intelligence Calls Russia a Threat

The British special services consider Russia one of the main threats to the security of Great Britain, The Times of London reports. Beyond Russian intelligence, the top two threats are identified as Al-Qaeda and Iran. “Russia’s three main intelligence agencies have flooded the country with agents,” the newspaper notes and the British are forced to spend many resources to counteract Russian industrial and military espionage.

Moscow to Turn Into World Finance Center

Economic Development Ministry has elaborated the concept to turn Moscow into a World Finance Center, Vedomosti reported. The concept is to be submitted to the government by August 1, but the document hasn’t been agreed on yet.

Russia to Join WTO When Finland Permits

Russia will join the World Trade Organization (WTO) no sooner than it settles the timber-tarriff conflict with the EU, said EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn.

Russia to hand over 2 border islands to China in August

Russia could finally relinquish control of two border river islands to China in August, a senior Russian security official said on Friday.

Russia & Japan develop taste for each other’s cultures before G8

Russia and Japan have had their disagreements, but interest in each other’s culture has seldom been hampered by political rows. As leaders prepare to hammer out business and politics at next week’s G8 summit in Japan, Russians are hoping to find out more about their eastern neighbour.

Green light for a new Caspian gas pipeline

The construction of a new Caspian gas pipeline and future gas prices have been the focus of President Dmitry Medvedev’s first official visit to Turkmenistan. In the capital, Ashkhabad, he met the country’s president Gurbanguly Berdymukhameddov.

Russia & EU kick off partnership agreement talks

The first round of talks between Russia and the EU on their new strategic partnership agreement has started in Brussels on Friday. Energy, trade and missile defence were all on the table as the two sides began work towards a new bilateral agreement.

Happy July 4th: America!

Russian Energy Data! (Bear Power)

Art by Kevin Kallaugher, Economist

Hello,

Just some Russian Information:
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Russia holds the world’s largest natural gas reserves, the second largest coal reserves, and the eighth largest oil reserves.

Russia is also the world’s largest exporter of natural gas, the second largest oil exporter and the third largest energy consumer.

Russia is a major world oil producer, sometimes producing even more than Saudi Arabia.

Russia’s output rebounded during the early 2000s, but the effects of high government taxation and a mature field base threaten an overall decline in production.

Russia’s production growth in the upcoming decade will depend on the availability of viable export routes for the country’s crude oil. Transneft currently has a monopoly over Russia’s pipeline network.

Russia has the largest natural gas reserves in the world, but the industry will face investment challenges in bringing new, more challenging fields online. In the meantime, production from Gazprom’s four largest fields are in decline.

Russia has the second-largest amount of recoverable coal reserves in the world.

Russia’s electricity reforms will be completed in July 2008 when Russian electricity monopoly RAO UES is dissolved. The government sees electricity sector reform as a crucial component of reducing domestic natural gas consumption.

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Energy Overview
Minister of Energy Sergei Shmatko
Proven Oil Reserves (January 1, 2008E) 60 billion barrels
Oil Production (2007E) 9,800 thousand barrels per day, of which 96% was crude oil
Oil Consumption (2007E) 2,800 thousand barrels per day
Crude Oil Distillation Capacity (2007E) 5,400 thousand barrels per day
Proven Natural Gas Reserves (January 1, 2008E) 1,680 trillion cubic feet
Natural Gas Production (2006E), (2007E) 23.17 trillion cubic feet (tcf), 23.09 tcf
Natural Gas Consumption (2006E) 16.6 Trillion cubic feet (tcf)
Recoverable Coal Reserves (2003E) 173,073.9 million short tons
Coal Production (2005E) 320 million short tons
Coal Consumption (2005E) 258 million short tons
Electricity Installed Capacity (2005E) 217.16 gigawatts
Electricity Production (2005E) 904.4 billion kilowatt hours
Electricity Consumption (2005E) 779.4 billion kilowatt hours
Total Energy Consumption (2005E) 30.3 quadrillion Btus*, of which Natural Gas (55%), Oil (19%), Coal (16%), Hydroelectricity (6%), Nuclear (5%), Other Renewables (0%)
Energy Intensity (2005E) 14,935 Btu per $2000-PPP**
Environmental Overview
Energy-Related Carbon Dioxide Emissions (2005E) 1,696 million metric tons, of which Natural Gas (52%), Coal (26%), Oil (22%)
Per-Capita, Energy-Related Carbon Dioxide Emissions (2005E) 11.88 metric tons
Carbon Dioxide Intensity (2004E) 0.84 Metric tons per thousand $2000-PPP**
Oil and Gas Industry
Organization Transneft is predominant pipeline operator. State has majority ownership of Gazprom and Rosneft.
Major Oil/Gas Ports Primorsk, Novorossiysk

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I found this interesting. Maybe it will show you a little bit more about Russia.

Kyle & Svet

Put out by the Energy Information Administration of the USA!

Russia: We are Looking at $150 a Barrel!

Hello,

They say oil will surpass $150 a barrel by next week.

The price of oil has continued to climb – with Brent crude rising above $146 a barrel for the first time.

Brent crude rose by $2.08 to $146.34 a barrel in London. US light, sweet crude rose by more than $1 to $145.22.

Oil prices have risen significantly since the US government announced on Wednesday that its crude stockpiles had fallen by more than expected last week. A spokesperson for the motoring organisation the AA called the rate of increases “eye watering”. <---link--->

A barrel of Brent crude has risen by almost $4 since the beginning of the week.

As the Dollar crashes, Oil will float even higher!

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.

GUAM: Anti Russia Countries!

Hello,

I was drinking my morning cup of coffee & studying the GUAM group of countries. (Georgia,Ukraine,Azerbaijan & Moldova)

*The GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development (Moldovan: GUAM; Azerbaijani: GUAM; Ukrainian: ГУАМ; Georgian: სუამი) is a regional organization of four post-Soviet states: Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova. <---Link--->

All the GUAM folks have issues with Russia and those issues either fall into the category of frozen conflicts or aspirations to join NATO……
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Georgia calls itself the “beacon of democracy” among its neighbors. This of course is nonsense. Misha Saakashvili is simply a thug who claims to embrace democracy to impress his Washington friends. And even those friends now have doubts about Misha after cracking down on peaceful demonstrators last year and less than honest elections. Misha’s goal is NATO membership. That is his strongest card to keep Washington on his side, if grudgingly. And Misha wants his neighborhood to join him.

The Ukrainian president is listening…

Probably the greatest political failure in recent memory is Viktor Yushchenko. He won a contested election in what was called the Orange Revolution. Since then, he hasn’t had a clue about governance. His popularity and his party’s have plummeted. As a result the ‘Gas Princess’ Yulia Tymoshenko continues ill-advised populism. Her only goal is to become the next Ukrainian president. Her personal ambition puts aside Ukraine’s real interests. She will do what Washington asks in the end. Her willingness divides Ukraine – needlessly.

Azerbaijan is only really at odds with Russia because of the “frozen conflict” Nagorno-Karabakh – that is 20% of Azerbaijan’s territory. Fair enough. But the fact of the matter is the Kremlin is not really choosing sides – neither Armenia nor Azerbaijan. Whatever resolution the two can find will be acceptable to Moscow. All Russia really wants is to avoid conflict in the post-Soviet space. At the end of the day, Russia pays a heavy price for conflict in the post-Soviet space – events throughout the 1990s stands out as a glaring experience.

Azerbaijan also wants its own energy foreign policy. Again fair enough – every country does, including Russia. Russia’s Gazprom recently has made it abundantly clear that both can a win-win situation with their partners. And this applies to other partners in Central Asia.

Moldova didn’t show up at the anti-Russia venue for the second year in a row. Why? Is it that the Kremlin bought it off? Hardly. What is in play is pragmatic geopolitics. Settling the Transdniestr “frozen conflict” seemed almost impossible. But, there has been progress. Moldova looks to stay out of NATO and Transdniestr stays (autonomously) within Moldova.

Let’s face it; Moldova has left GUAM for good. This is as it should be. It got what it wanted – territorial integrity and better relations with Russia. And Russia played the all-important role to make this happen. <---Link--->
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This is a very unlikely group of countries to have any unity. They all have there own criteria & none of them have warm fuzzy feelings toward the other. So in the end you will see a collapse of this group that use to be GUAM but now is just GUA – M = GUA!

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.

Stories from Soviet Childhood: MISHKA’S PORRIDGE (1)

Hello,

Today we continue reading stories from my Soviet Childhood. How I already told that is very important to know what books people read and what movies watched when they were kids. That gives us a clue to understand who these people are. Today we start to read next story by Noikolay Nosov, first it was published in the magazine for children “Murzilka” then in the book Rat-tat-tat (Тук-тук-тук), 1945. Many generation of Soviet people were brought up on this stories. And I’ll tell you a secret that I like them all but maybe “Mishka’s Porrige” is my favorite ;).

MISHKA’S PORRIDGE

(Part 1)
Last summer when I was living in the country with my mother, Mishka [a boy’s name] came to stay with us. I was very pleased to see him because I had been quite lonely without him. Mum was pleased to see him too.

“I’m so glad you’ve come,” she said. “You two boys can keep each other company. I have to go to town early tomorrow, and I don’t know when I’ll be back. Do you think you can manage here by yourselves?”

“Of course we can,” I said. “We aren’t babies.”

“You’ll have to make your own breakfast. Do you know how to cook porridge?”

“I do,” said Mishka. “It’s easy as anything.”
“Mishka,” I said, “are you quite sure you know? When did you ever cook porridge?”
“Don’t worry. I’ve seen Mum cook it. You leave it to me. I won’t let you starve. I’ll make you the best porridge you’ve ever tasted.”

In the morning Mum left us a supply of bread and some jam for our tea and showed us where the oatmeal was. She told us how to cook it too, but I didn’t bother to listen. Why should I bother if Mishka knows all about it, I thought.

Then Mum went away and Mishka and I decided to go down to the river to fish. We got out our fishing-tackle and dug up some worms.
“Just a minute,” I said. “Who’s going to cook the porridge if we go down to the river?”
“Who wants to bother with cooking?” said Mishka. “It’s too much trouble. We can eat bread and jam instead. There’s plenty of bread. We’ll cook the porridge later on when we get hungry.”

We made a lot of jam sandwiches and went off to the river. We went in swimming and lay on the sandy beach afterwards drying ourselves and eating our sandwiches. Then we fished. We sat for a long time but the fish wouldn’t bite. All we got was a dozen or so gudgeons, teeny-weeny ones. We spent most of the day down at the river. Late in the afternoon we got terribly hungry and hurried home to get something to eat.

“Now then, Mishka,” I said. “You’re the expert. What shall we make?”
“Let’s make some porridge,” said Mishka. “It’s the easiest.”
“All right,” I said.
We lit the stove. Mishka got the meal and pot.
“See you make plenty while you’re at it. I’m good and hungry.”
He nearly filled the pot up with meal and poured in water up to the brim.
“Isn’t that too much water?” I said.
“No, that’s the way Mother makes it. You look after the stove and leave the porridge to me.”
So I kept the fire going while Mishka cooked the porridge, which means that he sat and watched the pot, because the porridge cooked by itself.

Before long it got quite dark and we had to light the lamp. And the porridge went on cooking. Suddenly I looked up and saw the pot lid rising and the porridge spilling out over the side.

“Hey, Mishka,” I said. “What’s the matter with the porridge?”
“Why, what’s wrong with it?”
“It’s climbing right out of the pot!”
Mishka grabbed a spoon and began pushing the porridge back into the pot. He pushed and pushed, but it kept swelling up and spilling over the side.
“I don’t know what’s happened to it. Perhaps it’s ready?”

I took a spoon and tasted a little, but the meal was still hard and dry.
“Where’s all the water gone?”
“I don’t know,” said Mishka. “I put an awful lot in. Perhaps there’s a hole in the pot?”
We looked all over the pot but there wasn’t any sign of a hole.
“Must have evaporated,” he said. “We’ll have to add some more.”
He took some of the porridge out of the pot and put it on a plate; he had to take out quite a bit to make room for the water. Then we put the pot back on the stove and let it cook some more. It cooked and cooked and after a while it began spilling over the side again.

“Hey, what’s the idea!” cried Mishka. “Why won’t it stay in the pot?”
He snatched up his spoon and scooped out some more porridge and added another cup of water.
“Look at that,” he said. “You thought there was too much water.”
The porridge went on cooking. And would you believe it, in a little while it lifted the lid and came crawling out again!
I said: “You must have put too much meal in. That’s what it is. It swells when it cooks and there’s not enough room in the pot for it.”
“Yes, that must be it,” said Mishka. “It’s all your fault. You told me to put a lot in because you were hungry, remember?”
“How do I know how much to put in? You’re the one who’s supposed to know how to cook.”
“So I do. I’d have it cooked by now if you hadn’t interfered.”
“All right, cook away, I shan’t say another word.”

I went off in a huff and Mishka went on cooking the porridge, that is, he kept scooping out the extra porridge and adding water. Soon the whole table was covered with plates of half-cooked porridge. And he added water each time.
Finally I lost patience.

“You’re not doing it right. This way the porridge won’t be ready till morning.”
“Well, that’s how they do it in big restaurants. Didn’t you know that? They always cook dinner the night before so it should be ready by morning.”
“That’s all right for restaurants. They don’t need to hurry because they have heaps of other food.”
“We don’t need to hurry either.”
“Don’t we! I’m starving. And besides it’s time to go to bed. See how late it is.”
“You’ll have plenty of time to sleep,” he said, throwing another glass of water into the pot. Suddenly it dawned on me what was wrong,
“Of course it won’t cook if you keep adding cold water,” I said.
“You think you can cook porridge without water?”
“No, I think you’ve still got too much meal in that pot.”
I took the pot, spilled out half the meal and told him to fill it with water.
He took the mug and went to the pail.
“Dash it,” he said. “The water’s all gone.”
“What shall we do now? It’s pitch dark, we’ll never be able to find the well.”
“Rats, I’ll bring some in a jiffy.”
He took matches, tied a rope round the handle of the pail and went off to the well. In a few minutes he was back.
“Where’s the water?” I asked him. .
“Water? Out there in the well.”
“Don’t be silly. What have you done with the pail?”
“The pail? That’s in the well too.”

…….

To continue read the story please click here.
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Previous stories:

ZIS


Cucumbers


THE CRUCIAN CARP

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Best wishes,

Svet

comments always welcome

Abkhazia Says Russia Only Choice!

26 Oct 1993, Senaki, Georgia — Georgian Zviadist rebels lie low at the edge of a road in Senaki as tanks roll past during the Georgian Civil War. President Edouard Shevardnadze’s troops captured Senaki from the Zviadists (forces still loyal to ousted President Zviad Gamsakhurdia) in October 1993 after troops were sent to defend the autonomous region of Abkhazia from the Zviadist forces in August 1992. — Image by © Patrick Robert/Sygma/CORBIS

Hello,

I was drinking my morning cup of coffee & reading an article about Abkhazia….
——————————————————————–
The Georgian-Abkhazian conflict can only be resolved with Russia’s help, Abkhazian President Sergey Bagapsh said after a meeting with President Medvedev in Moscow on Thursday. He also said Abkhazia does not see an alternative to the Russian peacekeepers and there can be no other peacekeeping forces in Abkhazia.

Bagapsh stressed that Abkhazia rejects any attempt to oust Russia from this process.

“Abkhazia has made its historical choice – it is a rapprochement with Russia. We will not deviate from this path,” he added.

For his part, Medvedev urged Abkhazia and Georgia to honour a ceasefire signed in Moscow in 1994, as well as UN Security Council resolutions on the conflict.

Abkhazia’s push for independence from Georgia led to a bloody war in the early 90s.

Russian peacekeepers have since been in the region on a UN mandate, separating the conflicting sides.
———————————————————————
I see a war on the horizon if NATO & the UN keep playing games with Georgia! Abkhazia is a very determined little country that wants its rights back as a country, do not forget they only became part of Georgia because Stalin gave them to Georgia. (Stalin was from Georgia)

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.

Russian News: July 1st. 2008!

RBC, 01.07.2008, Moscow 13:59:37.As of July 1, Russia’s Reserve Fund totalled RUB 3,056.52bn, or USD 130.3bn as denominated in dollars, the Russian Finance Ministry’s press office reported. On February 1, when the fund was formed, it stood at RUB 3.057 trillion (approx. USD 130.31bn).

RBC, 01.07.2008, Moscow 13:53:49.The investigation committee of the Russian General Prosecutor’s Office has confirmed that it has brought new charges against the former head of YUKOS Mikhail Khodorkovsky and former MENATEP chief Platon Lebedev. Specifically, the Russian businessmen were charged with embezzling 350m tonnes of oil and laundering sums of money amounting to RUB 487bn (approx. USD 20.8bn), as well as USD 7.5bn. The lawyers for Khodorkovsky have denied the charges, saying that these figures represented the entire amount of oil that YUKOS produced over six years of its operation. The prosecutors have made only minor amendments to the previous statement dated February 3, 2007, and the same contradictions and legally incorrect allegations remain there, the lawyers stressed.

RBC, 01.07.2008, Moscow 12:58:38.The Russian stock market is likely to fall between six and eight percent over the course of the next month, experts told RBC TV today. Russian stocks are expected to hover around their current levels today, analysts say, adding that, if the RTS index closes below 2,300 points, the downward trend will continue. Experts point out that Gazprom’s financial statement, which was released on Monday, failed to live up to market expectations, as its profitability and EBITDA proved to be lower than analysts had predicted. However, a big drop in Gazprom shares is highly unlikely today, according to market analysts, who say that its financial statement can be viewed as neutral.

RBC, 01.07.2008, Moscow 11:40:23.Duty on Russian oil exports is to be set at $495.9 per tonne from August 1, the deputy head of the Russian Finance Ministry’s customs payments department, Alexander Sakovich, told RBC today. The average price of oil stood at $123.36375 per barrel during the monitoring period of May-June, Sakovich explained. The duty will be set at $346.4 and $186.6 per tonne of light and heavy oil products, respectively.

RBC, 30.06.2008, Moscow 17:59:24.Russia is ready and willing to collaborate with the US on measures to deal with the global financial crisis, Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said during today’s meeting with US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. The PM pointed out that Russia was one of the most ardent proponents of ensuring global economic stability. Nearly all the countries in the world are going through a hard time, primarily due to rocketing fuel and food prices, Putin noted, adding that Russia was prepared to meet these challenges.

RBC, 30.06.2008, Moscow 15:46:34.Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said at the opening of today’s cabinet meeting that RUB 4.6 trillion (approx. USD 196bn) would be allocated from the federal budget for 2009-2011 for the implementation of federal target programs and the country’s investment program. Much needs to be done over the next three years to develop infrastructure and modernize the economy, Putin said. He added that, starting in 2009, greater sums will be spent on the development of Russia’s armed forces. In 2006, military development accounted for 30% of Russia’s military spending and 70% was spent on maintenance of the armed forces, whereas by 2015 this ratio would be inverted, he stressed.

RBC, 30.06.2008, Moscow 14:59:04.Russia’s government debt decreased 1.6 percent in January-May, reaching nearly RUB 2.364 trillion (approx. USD 100.8bn) as of June 1 compared to roughly RUB 2.403 trillion (approx. USD 102.4bn) as of early 2008, the Economy Ministry said in a monitoring report on Russia’s current economic situation. External government debt shrank 7.8 percent in January-May, from USD 44.88bn as of January 1 to USD 41.4bn as of June 1. In May alone, the figure decreased USD 2.663bn. Domestic government debt has been estimated at some RUB 1.381 trillion (approx. USD 58.9bn) as of late May, having risen RUB 11.89bn (approx. USD 507m), or 0.9 percent, in May and RUB 80.12bn (approx. USD 3.42bn), or 6.2 percent, during the first five months of 2008.

Russian / Americans: Speak Out About the Upcoming Election!

Is race still an issue for U.S. voters? The issue has reached to the Russian communities in America. Video from Russiatoday….

In Orlando, Florida, around 60 vehicles have been found spray-painted with hate messages directed at the U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. Police are investigating the incident. Meanwhile, the issue of the presidential candidate’s colour is gaining momentum in the U.S.

This video gives another view point from Russians living in America.

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.