Time to read…

PDF on Greer_on_collapse – a good read about what is going to happen and actually happening now.

The collapse of complex human societies, while a subject of perennial
scholarly and popular fascination, remains poorly understood. Tainter (1988),
surveying previous attempts to account for the demise of civilizations, noted that
most proposed explanations of collapse failed to adequately describe causative
mechanisms, and relied either on ad-hoc hypotheses based on details of specific cases
or, by contrast, essentially mystical claims (e.g., that civilizations have lifespans like
those of individual biological organisms). In another recent survey of collapses in
history (Yoffee and Cowgill 1988), contributors proposed widely divergent
explanatory models to account for broadly similar processes of decline and
breakdown.

Time to read…

WtR

In Moscow, village, and or even Siberia, you pass old women selling anything and everything. You see old women on the Metro stairs, they are on the buses and they are walking every street. They are all grandmas, but they all sell things to survive the harsh world we live in. If you love a particular sauerkraut, then that grandma will be there 7 days a week and you may buy it at anytime. Russia has a name for these women, Babushka!

In the big village near our little village; there is a babushka that meets the trains everyday. She sells something, anything and all things. She carries buckets of potatoes and tried to sell them to the train passengers. She carries buckets of radishes to sell to the train passengers. She is a typical babushka and even though she has to leave her home two hours before the train comes, just to carry that bucket, she is always there…

The Babushka is by no means the same as an elderly woman in the Americas today. These women will take on a 6’3″, 300 pound American Bear like me and not even blink. They grew up in hard times and give no inch to any one! I respect them for that and be polite or stay out of their way. I have at times gotten a bit peeved and Sveta has explained to me about the Babushka’s. The Babushka’s work very hard and seem at times to have boundless energy!

A babushka is a proud title and to call a woman a babushka is respect in Russia. These women have outlived a husband many times and they do not lay down and roll over when their husband is gone. They grab life by the rails and keep on going. They are and is the mainstay pillar of many families, for the dedushka (grandpa,) does not live as long as the babushka and therefore, she is the monarchy of the family…

The babushka does not ask for handouts and the babushka will make her own way. I understand this by the way Sveta and her mother interact over Sveta trying to give money to her mom. Sveta hides it in new books or old books that she buys her mom, or books that her mom is reading at the time. It is a way for the daughter to help and the mother to not refuse the help. A babushka is a proud woman, who has lived through more downfalls than most people on earth…

They remind me of my grandma (means babushka,) for she was from the era of Americans that had to fight for what they got in life (the depression). They fear no one…

The Babushka are a part of life in the villages as well as the large cities. They are a part of Russian life that tells of its history and future. The young women in Russia should learn from them and use the Babushka as a guide to helping themselves through life…

For one day they will be Babushka also!!

Posted by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

PS: Softness is the downfall of a society…

The copy scores 76.4 in the Flesch Reading Ease test, which is considered fairly easy to read.

Weather measured in harshness or softness in Russia. I hear the Russians talk about -25 below zero as soft weather and sometimes -15 below zero is harsh weather. It confused me at first, then over the years, I have gathered what I need to understand what Russians mean about harsh weather and soft weather…

After years, I discovered that humidity is the difference. It is -5, humid and harsh. It is -30, dry and soft. It is windy and harsh at -10, or -10 is soft with no breeze what so ever…

Weather matter not…

I also discovered that it is a mental issue also. A Russia will stand outside and talk at -30 below and never one time act like it is cold. They just chat away, smoke cigarettes, drink a beer and act like it is a summer day. Granted, there are many more frozen days than warm days in Moscow, Russia, but still…

Today it is -19 below and it is soft weather. Yesterday was -19 below and it was harsh weather. Today the wind changed direction and it will warm up tonight to -10 below. That is what makes it soft. and I joke about being Bahama like outside. Yesterday was terrible and while still -19 below, it was windy and harsh. The wind sliced like a razor knife and the cold froze tears dripping from your eyes. It just plain sucked. I am starting to understand the “feels like” temperature that the news portrays. That is the important number to watch for, when dressing to go outside…

This is different from where I grew up in America, for it seems that no matter how bad the weather, it was still soft most of the time. Now I realize that Canada and other northern countries are the same as Russia, but I never lived in Canada, this far North…

I like soft more than harsh… 🙂

Posted by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

The copy scores 78.3 in the Flesch Reading Ease test, which is considered fairly easy to read…

Since there is a million recipes on this type of cookie and most know it as just plain Rock Cookies. I will not elaborate and just say, “This is an easy recipe, so make them, please and your family will eat them all up…”

Good for a long winter day, use whatever you have as ingredients and the young and old will be watching from the kitchen doorway as you bake them. Then after you pull them from the oven, watch as they disappear one by one and they run away from the sheet pan you baked them on…

Lets make a Rock Cookie called Russian Rocks…

RUSSIAN ROCKS:
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
2 3/4 c. sifted flour
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. cloves
1 lb. pecans
1 c. butter
2 tbsp real heavy cream
3 eggs
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 lb. raisins
1 tsp. real vanilla or fake!

Put real cream, real butter and real sugar in a mixing bowl. Add beaten eggs and mixed dry ingredients alternately. Please sift the flour and then after mixing thoroughly add real vanilla…

Finish mixing again and what you should have is a very heavy thick dough, that is lumpy…

Then drop from spoon on to a greased cookie sheet and or wax paper sheet on a sheet pan. Some people do not like ugly cookies and they flatten the cookie and make pretty shapes or circles. Believe you me, they all go down the same and an ugly cookie is just as good as a beautiful cookie…

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes. Makes about 100 cookies…

Explanation for best Russian Rocks Cookie and what you make; In Russia we do not use fake anything. Vanilla is real vanilla extract and not imitation like in the US. Real cream and not powdered or imitation. Real butter, not margarine and so on and so on…

The difference in Russian Rocks Cookie is astounding and try to use real ingredients to enhance the recipe…

Enjoy…

Posted by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

The copy scores 79.8 in the Flesch Reading Ease test, which is considered easy to read…

It is January 6th and that means it is Christmas Eve in Russia…

Merry Christmas Russia and may the new year of 2015 be one of happiness and joy…

Merry Christmas from Windows to Russia Sveta, Boza and Kyle…

Posted by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

Merry Russian Orthodox Christmas…

I stepped out the backdoor this morning, it was black and the wind was blowing at around 20 kilometers an hour, blasting straight into my face. That was the good part, the bad part was the temperature. I do not know the temperature and I do not care. I just know that it was frozen, as I descended the four stairs off the backdoor, my eyes watered and froze shut instantly…

Frozen and I mean instantly…

I stood on the second stair from the top, blind and Boza pulling me to get running and playing. I am lucky that I always grab the rail the first thing and or get near it and my hand found the rail to steady myself. Lucky me again, that I wear mittens, they became frozen to the rail. Then I proceeded to get Boza back from pulling on me and cleared my eyes. The tears had frozen my eyelashes together and then the eyelids. I understand the need for goggles in higher wind conditions…

* * * * * * * * * *

Therefore when I got back to the flat with Boza, after seeing Sveta off to the bank, downtown Moscow, even though she is officially off due to holidays, duty calls and some work can only be done when all others are gone; the coffee was exceptionally good this morning…

Then after reading some news, working on some other affiliate websites, and working on my Russian. I decided to write this article. For you see at first I was so disturbed by the western press and her blatant lies, that I figured on ignoring all that is happening. For it is obvious that ignorance is amok in the west and nothing, but totally allowing the west to collapse under her own garbage, is all that will help to start the correction back to sanity…

I never thought that the Orwell Book 1984, would be used as a guide on how to run a country and an empire. I think that he expected it used as a warning, of what not to do and or allow…

* * * * * * * * * *

Oh and speaking of collapse; Russia is doing just fine! My coffee is cheaper yet per 100 grams and bread is 9.5 rubles per black loaf. I find somethings such as eggs have gone off the deep end in price, but generally the prices are stable and getting cheaper actually and the stores are pack full of Russian made products. My coffee went from 89 rubles to 69 rubles per hundred grams and that makes me smile…

For it is about rubles not dollars in Russia and or yes it is frozen here also… 🙂

Posted by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

The copy scores 74.3 in the Flesch Reading Ease test, which is considered fairly easy to read.

In chess terms this is “push (ing) the pawn.” Nothing much may come of it, or it could be a game changer. Russia knows this, which is why they did it…

Russia has presented a startling proposal to overcome the tensions with the EU: The EU should renounce the free trade agreement with the United States TTIP and enter into a partnership with the newly established Eurasian Economic Union instead. A free trade zone with the neighbors would make more sense than a deal with the US.

Push the pawn; If it bodes well?

Europe and Russia have a ton of regular modern and social similitude’s – if not personalities. Therefore, Russia makes a chess move called, “Push the Pawn!”

Sad for the US if it works, yet you folks have overstretched your liberality and your slant to play as officer of the world. Also more regrettable news; everyone with an IQ bigger than his shoe size knows it at this point. Keep cheerfully printing US Dollars ($,) they will be good for heating homes soon…

When you watch how the US spooks different nations with wars and assents, why would anybody need a piece of that. In the event that you don’t agree with the US, they will either attack or sanction you and that is a reality. Not my presumption, many cases support the facts. They keep an eye on everybody and use extortion to get their direction held. This appears like a companion to run from, not towards…

But; “The Americans will execute Europe (EU) before they let her out of this injurious relationship.”

Exactly; Remember the verse to the Hotel California melody, “You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave!”

America is trying to have World War Three as the other World Wars staged, right in Europe, again. Good for business in America and keeps the American homeland from being blown up. This in turn keeps the people happy and everyone can have their war to end wars…

My suggestion Europe; drop America, like a hot potato and get with the program. Look east as Russia is doing and let’s have peace and harmony as the foundation, not death and mayhem…

If the group is large enough, the U.S. will act all hissy, but they will back down…

Russia just “Push the Pawn”, now it is your court EU!

East EU, East…

Posted by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

The copy scores 71 in the Flesch Reading Ease test, which is considered fairly easy to read…

You should read. No, I do not mean the computer screen (nor magazines, smartphones, and or other reading devices,) I mean read, read a book today. I do not care if you read, “See Spot Run!” Just read any book with real paper pages and either hardback or soft back, then read another after that one…

Soon you will be reading, reading, and reading. You will find that pirates do live on the oceans, outer space is well-traveled, creatures live under the earth, and a million other tidbits of information be assimilated and only by reading a book. A book that takes you unto another world…

Coffee is good, but coffee and a good book is perfect. Though perfection is when you have coffee, book and the coffee gets cold, because you became so enthralled with the book, that you forgot about the coffee…

You should read:

To enhance your mind,
Wake your imagination, (and)
Clean out the mental cobwebs…

Try it today and see what happens! Try to expunge a bad habit, upon a good paperback book. It takes a few pages, but force yourself. I started reading again, by reading a book that I consumed as a teenager. Once I got going, I realized how much I missed a book, as it twisted my imagination and allowed me to excoriate dimensions of past, present, and future…

I am suggesting that you do this, because I feel that if we indulge ourselves in learning, reading, figuring, becoming, growing, and simply flourishing (instead of languishing) in knowledge about all the facets of our world and universe. That we may just understand that ignorance is a deficit and not enough…

So tell me!

When was the last time you read a book?

Posted by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

The copy scores 73.3 in the Flesch Reading Ease test, which is considered easy to read…

Burger King is in hyper-drive: I talked about this recently; Burger King and Pepsi-co having Coke and McDonald’s for dinner…

Now, a month later Burger King opens another one in our town…

Officially it opens today on the 4th, it opened one day before New Year and then close for a few more days. Guess they found issues or something…

This is happening all over Moscow and I am starting to see a pattern developing. A pattern of destroy McDonald’s is happening. I also see Burger Kings are busy and stealing McDonald’s customers. The market is wide open in Russia and not at all saturated in the least. but riding laurels will be McDonald’s downfall, therefore McDonald’s needs to get with it and fast…

I am not dumb and see what has happened, the smashing of McDonald’s by using their own faults against them, by the Russian regulations, proceeded with warnings. These warnings were not heeded by a McDonald’s that felt invincible and ignored the facts as they kept driving the horse before the cart…

Then a year ago Burger King an international owned company, who has better relations and abilities than an American driven company in Russia, started to undermine the competition…

Russia is a “dog eat dog” place, exactly like the U.S. was years ago, before corporations stole the dog. Those dogs still run in Russia and those who have the desire to gamble, come out on top. Russia is what America should still be, but alas we have lost that individuality…

What was a McDonald’s world in Russia, has become a world of variety, that is the world that Burger King thrives in and McDonald’s stagnates in. Just like Pepsi against Coke, Coke is not able to understand the long run in a  place like Russia and they are hurting. Pepsi does not try to bring preconceived western stigmas into the situation and Coke has always tread on uncertain ground as they continue to impose western thinking in an eastern world…

It actually all comes down to two things;
1. Perceived value for the money, (and)
2. Destroy competition at all costs…

Burger King will force McDonald’s to make changes, good or bad, they will force changes…

Burger King serves beer..
Burger King has unlimited drinks…
Burger King, Have it your way…
(Too many more to list now…)

McDonald’s has for too long never been challenged here in Russia and they have ripped the Russian people off . They charge for kids toy in a Happy Meal. They refuse to let you have it your way. They prematurely produce food and let it sit for excessive time. They…

You get the drift and Burger King will make or break McDonald’s in Russia. Therefore, we will see if a failing American company will survive. They pulled out of Crimea like little scared rabbits…

Lets watch and see, as a new war front opens in Russia. Between Burger King and McDonald’s..

Posted by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

PS: Do not forget that I was a regional manager for McDonald’s in the states…

The copy scores 68.7 in the Flesch Reading Ease test, which is considered OK to read…

S novym godom; They are still shooting fireworks for the New Year, crazy ass Russians. They have this week off and they are going to use it to party hardy. It is why I love Russia, the Russians are the most wonderful people…

This year, Russians are saying about the New Year, “Happiness and peace from above!”

Means to the warmonger western world, “Be happy this New year, but hope that no one bombs us from the sky…”

Guess who the “no one” is? First two guesses do not count…

Yes that is correct, “Bombs of the False Democracy!”

Sad…

* * * * * * * * * *

A touch of horror-struck this morning as I sipped that cup of coffee. A huge “What If?” jumped in my face…

Democracy 101: What If; America had been the only country to have nuclear weapons?

That statement and or question, should send shivers down your spine. Just think about the implications of a country as out of control as America is and then think about; no deterrence against using, “The Bomb…”

I promise you that instead of sanctions against 30 plus countries in the world. We would be nuking them into submission. The only thing that stops the American people from doing this, is that someone can strike back and even one big fat nuke hitting a huge city is a huge deterrent to nuking others…

America, U.S., USA, Murica, Merica, Amerika, and or what ever you desire to call it. I say, “Just do not call it for dinner!”, because you will be sorry, for they will shove democracy down your throat…

* * * * * * * * * *

Democracy; a falsehood…

The tried and true way of thinking is that majority rule government is the best type of government. As the colonialist rabble-rouser Winston Churchill, put it, “It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others that have been tried.” But such standard way of thinking drops naturally. Nobody has ever offered any confirmation in backing of such a statement. Actually, nobody even realizes what such proof could be. No settled criteria exist for the near descriptive words most noticeably bad, more terrible, awful, great, better, and best when connected to governments…

First lesson of democracy; They will kill you to promote their agenda!

Posted by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

The copy scores 69 in the Flesch Reading Ease test, which is considered OK to read…