Windows to Russia
Hello,
My wife and I were walking to the store! I looked down as we were walking and stopped in my tracks.
Growing up through the asphalt just like it was supposed to be grow there, was a brand new plant. I asked my wife did she have her camera & as you can see she did. 🙂
You can even see the cap of asphalt that it popped up. It is amazing how powerful the plant is yet so delicate at the same time.
Just thought you might be interested…..
Kyle & Svet
comments always welcome.
The Russian State Duma, has endorsed Vladimir Putin as the country’s prime minister today,![](http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa306/kylekeeton/coffee.gif")
May 8. Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev proposed Putin’s candidacy to the parliament members yesterday.
Of 448 present at the sitting, 392 (87.1 процента) backed up Vladimir Putin by the open vote. Of State Duma’s four factions, only the Communist Party of the RF (CPRF) opposed this authority of the former president.
Putin held the Prime Minister office in 1999 and was the Russian Federation President in 2000 to 2008.
His cabinet will pay particular attention to financial and tax policy and to lowering bureaucratic pressure on the business, Putin said when presenting his program to the State Duma.
Hello,
My Wife & I traveled once again to the center of Moscow. The center was quiet due to the inauguration for Medvedev. The Police force was out in full glory! I think that is a smart move on Moscow’s part, in this day & age of people who have no morals when it comes to blowing up public places & things. Over the years Moscow has had its share of Metro, buses and other public buildings bombed by scrupulous people. (So better safe than sorry!)
Once again the Tourists were everywhere. I know that many would be disappointed because Red Square was closed for inauguration.
My wife & I went to a wonderful classical music concert in the Mirror Hall of the Institute of Art Criticism . It was made up of 3 violins, 1 cello and piano. The music was fantastic & suit our tastes perfect. We found this place the last time that we traveled to Moscow Center. The price was free and the music was priceless.
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Festival “Paying Homage to the Master”. To the 90th birthday of Tatyana Gaidamovitch
The events of the festival “Paying Homage to the Master”, dedicated to the 90th birthday of Tatyana Gaidamovitch (1918-2005) begin on May, 3, and last till May, 15, 2008. They will take place in the Moscow Conservatory halls, in the Stanislavsky music theatre and in the Mirror Hall of the Institute of Art Criticism.
http://www.mosconsv.ru/english/news.phtml?id=112
Link to Moscow Conservatory!
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Svet & I are talking about going this Saturday the 10th, to see another concert by the same men. They were that good!
Tomorrow is the 9th of May. (Victory Day) That means the biggest Holiday of all is going to happen in Russia. Russians have not forgotten about those who fought in WWII. This holiday commemorates that time in history.
This year Russia is going to revitalize the tradition of displaying military might at the Red Square. I wish that I could be there for this parade. Once again the center of Moscow will be quiet and peaceful. (except when the military jets fly over head.) Maybe my wife & I will sneak downtown to try to catch a glimpse of a Tank!
That would be cool! 🙂
Kyle & Svet
comments always welcome.
That is the full version video of Dmitry Medvedev’s Inauguration at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia on May 7th, 2008.
I thought that all our readers may be interested in the Presidential Inauguration. Today is unique & historic for Russia it will be for the first time that an incumbent President will hand over the authority to a new national leader while still in office. Boris Yeltsin resigned as President before the end of his term.
Kyle & Svet
comments always welcome.
Hello,
Today is a special day in Russia:
Dmitry Medvedev will be inaugurated as Russian President today. He will become Russia’s third President, to succeed his predecessors Boris Yeltsin (elected as President of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic in 19991 and re-elected as President of the Russian Federation in 1996) and Vladimir Putin (elected as the country’s President in 2000 and 2004). Medvedev won a presidential election held on March 2, 2008.
Today is unique & historic for Russia it will be for the first time that an incumbent President will hand over the authority to a new national leader while still in office. Boris Yeltsin resigned as President before the end of his term.
Kyle & Svet
Hello,
Putin had his last meeting as President of Russia, will his next meeting be as Prime Minister?
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Yesterday Russia’s President Vladimir Putin met with his former and future subordinates.
“My words of gratitude are addressed not only to those present here today, but also to those of our colleagues in the Administration and in the Government who are absent today, but worked with us in different periods of time and contributed to the revival of the Russian economy, social sphere, and the strengthening of our state’s defense.” Stated Putin.
Putin also said:“The cooperation between the Administration of the President and the Government will become closer, authorities must function as a single tuned mechanism.”
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Wednesday May 7th, 2008: Medvedev will be sworn in as Russia’s new President.
I see big plans on the horizon…..
Kyle & Svet
RBC, Moscow 16:28:36.The United Aircraft Building Corporation’s (UABC) net profit
under RAS amounted to RUB 121.034m (approx. USD 5m) , the company reported. Revenue totaled RUB 27.151m (approx. USD 1.14m). Proceeds from the participation in other organizations reached RUB 265.24m (approx. USD 11m). Earlier, UABC President Alexei Fyodorov announced that sales of all the companies part of the United Aircraft Building Corporation were estimated to reach at RUB 120bn (approx. USD 5bn).
RBC, Moscow 15:53:30.Russia’s external debt shrank 1.7 percent in the first quarter of 2008, from $44.9bn as of January 1, 2008 to $44.1bn as of April 1, 2008, the Russian Finance Ministry reported. The outstanding debt to Paris Club creditors decreased 11 percent to $1.6bn.
RBC, Moscow 15:31:20.The Russian stock market will trade moderately positive this week, experts told RBC TV, adding that the RTS index would try to reach a level within the range of 2,160-2,180 points. The rise is most likely to be bolstered by Gazprom and Sberbank, as well as other key index growth drivers. Meanwhile, low trading activity will persist on the Russian market until the end of the week, despite the upcoming presidential inauguration and subsequent stepped-up government activity. The banking sector’s potential is seen as high in the longer term, with predictions of prices not only reaching their IPO levels, but also hitting some new highs.
RBC, Moscow 14:59:35.OGK-1’s net profit under IFRS dropped by a factor of three to RUB 1.966bn (approx. USD 83m) in 2007 compared to a year earlier, the Russian power generation company said in a statement. Revenue grew 49 percent to RUB 44.891bn (approx. USD 1.887bn). Pre-tax profit shrank three times to RUB 2.748bn (approx. USD 116m).
RBC, Moscow 13:47:16.Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a federal law setting out the procedure for foreign investment in enterprises considered as strategically important to ensure national security, the leader’s press office reported. The bill was passed by the State Duma on April 2 and approved by the Federation Council on April 16.
RBC, Moscow 13:23:27.Georgia is discrediting the Russian peacekeeping mission in the Georgia-Abkhazia conflict zone in order to justify the use of military force, the Russian Defense Ministry believes. The ministry’s information and media relations department announced today that it had been with the support of several NATO nations and foreign-sponsored military build-up that Georgian politicians began to feel they were in a position to discredit Russian peacekeeping efforts and condone the use of military force in settling ethnic conflicts. A Defense Ministry source said the May 4 incident with two Georgian spy planes shot down by Abkhaz air defense proved that Tbilisi had long given up on resolving the conflict peacefully.
RBC, Moscow 11:55:05.AVTOVAZ’s sales grew 22.8 percent to 212,200 cars between January and April 2008 from the same period a year earlier. During the first four months of 2008, AVTOVAZ sold 56,600 Lada Samaras, 59,600 Lada 2105/2107s, 57,900 Lada 111/112/Prioras, 30,600 Lada Kalinas, and 7,500 Lada 4x4s, exporting over 37,400 Ladas, 15 percent more than in January-April 2007. In April 2008 alone, over 67,000 AVTOVAZ-produced cars were sold on the Russian market, 29 percent more than during the same month of 2007.
RBC, Moscow 15:47:44.Russia’s National Welfare Fund totaled RUB 773.82bn, or USD 32.72bn, as of May 1, 2008, the Finance Ministry reported. The balance on the Fund’s foreign currency accounts amounted to USD 14.31bn, EUR 9.74bn and GBP 1.62bn. The Ministry estimated the return on investment of the fund’s reserves at USD 0.23bn, or RUB 5.36bn for the period between January 30 and April 30. The figures were calculated based on official foreign exchange rates of the Bank of Russia as of the date previous to the reporting date.
RBC, Moscow 14:44:14.Russia’s customs offices transferred some RUB 371.87bn (approx. USD 15.72bn) to the federal budget in April 2008, which is 11.08 percent, or RUB 37.1bn (approx. USD 1.57bn), above the target, according to Russia’s Federal Customs Service. Hence, the total year-to-date contribution of the customs authorities reached RUB 1.375 trillion (approx. USD 58.115bn), exceeding the target by 4.39 percent.
RBC, Moscow 12:58:20.Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port (NCSP) has acquired 50 percent in Lomonosov Cargo Terminal for EUR 77m from Frameno Limited, the port indicated in a press release. The deal was reached on May 1, 2008. The state controls 20 percent in the Russian ports operator was established in 1992.
RBC, Moscow 11:43:06.Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods has scheduled its annual general shareholders meeting for June 27, 2008. The meeting will be held on a standard agenda. This was reported in a statement the company released today. The record date is May 12, 2008.
RBC, Moscow 14:58:53.As of May 1, 2008, Russia’s Reserve Fund amounted to RUB 3.069 trillion, or USD 129.80bn, the Finance Ministry reported. The balance on foreign currency accounts stood at USD 56.95bn, EUR 38.57bn, and GBP 6.37bn. The return on investments for the period between January 30 and April 30 was estimated at USD 0.85bn, or RUB 20.08bn. The figures were calculated based on the official foreign exchange rates of the Bank of Russia as of the date previous to the reporting date.
RBC, Moscow 12:47:26.The RAS-based net profit of Surgutneftegas nearly doubled in the first quarter of 2008 compared with the same figure a year earlier, reaching virtually RUB 19.519bn (approx. USD 824.98m), the company said in a statement. However, this is 38.89 percent below the respective Q4 figure of RUB 31.942bn (approx. USD 1.35bn).
Jailed U.S. pastor appeals smuggling sentence
15:26 | 05/ 05/ 2008
MOSCOW, May 5 (RIA Novosti) – An appeal has been filed with a Moscow court against a jail sentence of more than three years handed down to an American pastor for illegally bringing ammunition into Russia, a defense attorney said Monday.
Moscow’s Golovinsky district court sentenced Phillip Miles, 58, to three years and two months in prison last month for the illegal possession and smuggling of rifle rounds, declarable under Russian customs law, into the country for his Russian hunting partner.
“We filed an appeal on Sunday with the secretariat of the Golovinsky court, which will be redirected to the Moscow City Court,” attorney Vladimir Ryakhovsky said.
The defense wants the court to acquit Miles of the smuggling charges citing an absence of criminal intention and is requesting the pastor’s sentence be confined to the illegal possession charges. The defense said either the court should release Miles taking into account the time spent on remand or suspend his sentence.
The lawyer added that Miles has also submitted a complaint against the court’s ruling calling it “severe and inadequate.”
Miles, of the Christ Community Church in Conway, South Carolina, was caught with a box of twenty .300-caliber rifle cartridges after landing at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport on January 29.
“Phillip’s complaint is rather emotional, while my appeal contains a thorough legal analysis of the situation notifying that the court ignored the differences between instructions on items declarable in Sheremetyevo airport in the Russian and English languages,” the lawyer said.
According to Ryakhovsky, after reading airport customs advisory boards, the pastor followed the green channel, believing he had no items to declare.
Miles, who visited the country on more than 10 occasions and almost always stayed with his friend in the town of Perm, said the rounds were for his friend’s lever-action Winchester rifle, an antique item that is rare in Russia. The two men were both keen hunters, and had hunting licenses.
The pastor, his lawyer and defense witnesses have said the cleric’s actions were unintentional. After his sentence was read out, Miles told the court: “I’m very disappointed. It’s a strange sentence for one box of hunting bullets.”
Explaining the ruling, the judge said: “The court is skeptical over the pastor’s statement that he did not know he had to declare ammunition being brought into the country – this runs contrary to evidence presented in court.”
The appeal date is expected to be scheduled within a month.
http://windowstorussia.com/2008/04/now-they-are-in-uproar-pastor-phillip.html
http://kylekeeton.com/2008/04/usa-has-rules-on-firearms-ammunition-at.html
http://kylekeeton.com/2008/04/russia-items-to-declare-at-border.html
http://kylekeeton.com/2008/04/usa-pastor-phillip-miles.html
http://kylekeeton.com/2008/04/russia-pastor-phillip-miles-gets-three.html
http://kylekeeton.com/2008/04/phillip-miles-what-will-be-outcome.html
http://kylekeeton.com/2008/03/pastor-phillip-miles-still-in-prison.html
http://kylekeeton.com/2008/02/more-on-phillip-miles.html
http://kylekeeton.com/2008/02/pastor-phillip-miles.html
http://kylekeeton.com/2008/02/russia-important-update-on-american.html
http://kylekeeton.com/2008/02/russia-update-on-pastor-phillip-miles.html
http://kylekeeton.com/2008/02/why-did-i-try-to-walk-into-russia-with.html
http://kylekeeton.com/2008/02/why-would-anyone-bring-ammunition-into.html
Hello,
We have a few pictures of our trip that did not get lost .
I thought that I would post some pictures of World War II tanks that we came across in Russia. They are in very good shape and are situated near a battle field of a large tank battle in WWII.
This is where we had stopped on the first leg of our trip, at a town in Russia called Prohorovskoe(Belgorodskaya oblast’). We stayed in a hotel that Putin stayed in when he was in this town. We found out that Yeltsin had all the major monuments put in this area. The town has fantastic sites to see and beautiful churches & of course Tanks!
I thought that maybe you would enjoy the tanks also….
Kyle & Svet
comments always welcome.
PS: Barrett from Huma B Post, he loves tanks! So I thought I would give him & anyone else who loves tanks some pictures to look at.
1. Tank Monument.
2. Wore out bus.
3. Church.
4. WWII fighter plane.
5.Bus stop, Soviet style!
Kyle & Svet
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