What makes the FSU so interesting?

[OlgaH]

Thank you, Olya! I had a good laugh! A very unexpected ending! Wow!

Olly and Ed, the video is not real as I understood and made by Music Channel "U", but actually it is not far from the reality

Below are the videos of reality. And reality is that the good teachers less and less want to work in the Russian schools and technical colleges.

[OlgaH]

Olly and Ed, you can understand Russian.

Here is a documentary "School of violence" in Chelyabinsk

When mother asked the teacher what is going on and why her son doesn't want to go to school, the teacher told that she is at war with the boy. She abused the boy, taped his mouth and even asked the pupils to beat the boy. The teacher is also has an alcohol problem. The school principle is on the teachers side.

[Eduard]

Olly and Ed, the video is not real as I understood and made by Music Channel "U", but actually it is not far from the reality

Below are the videos of reality. And reality is that the good teachers less and less want to work in the Russian schools and technical colleges.

kakoj uzhas!!!

[Eduard]

Olly and Ed, you can understand Russian.

Here is a documentary "School of violence" in Chelyabinsk

When mother asked the teacher what is going on and why her son doesn't want to go to school, the teacher told that she is at war with the boy. She abused the boy, taped his mouth and even asked the pupils to beat the boy. The teacher is also has an alcohol problem. The school principle is on the teachers side.

yes, this is the other side of the coin... sad

[Olly]

kakoj uzhas!!!

Yes it is terrible!

[mendeleyev]

One story that has jumped out in the Russian Internet is of this scene from a highway near Nizhny Novgorod. At about three o'clock in the morning these drivers came upon an accident which caused one of the cars to set on fire. According to the story bystanders stopped to watch but nobody went over to help as the blaze grew higher.

Once the Ministry of Emergency Situations and police arrived, the accident and fire had killed five people and left a sixth person badly injured and in critical condition.


http://youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=T8W-42oSfPQ#!

Drivers in Russia are required to carry a first-aid kit, a fire extinguisher and an emergency triangle or red light but none of these were observed present at the accident.

Do you think this is normal behaviour for Russia, or an oddity?

Would this be typical in your country?
   

[Ranetka]

One story that has jumped out in the Russian Internet is of this scene from a highway near Nizhny Novgorod. At about three o'clock in the morning these drivers came upon an accident which caused one of the cars to set on fire. According to the story bystanders stopped to watch but nobody went over to help as the blaze grew higher.

Once the Ministry of Emergency Situations and police arrived, the accident and fire had killed five people and left a sixth person badly injured and in critical condition.


http://youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=T8W-42oSfPQ#!

Drivers in Russia are required to carry a first-aid kit, a fire extinguisher and an emergency triangle or red light but none of these were observed present at the accident.

Do you think this is normal behaviour for Russia, or an oddity?

Would this be typical in your country?
 

Unfortunately this is a typical behavior of a by-stander in any country.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Kitty_Genovese


A dozen of neighbors on NY streets saw a young woman being stubbed, raped and died; only one called the police.


This happens in every country. 


There are a number of researches done into bystander effect. Unfortunately it requires either a trained professional or a person with above average sense of responsibility to intervene.

[Ranetka]

Ah and yeah, when I had a car accident (UK) for one person stopped there were 100 or so passed by. My passenger was injured and needed help.

[Ranetka]

Do you think this is normal behaviour for Russia, or an oddity?

Would this be typical in your country?
 

Yes it's a normal behavior in Russia


Not quite, they will also video it and post on Twitter

[mendeleyev]

In the Mendeleyev Journal...

Calling all compatriots, it is time to come home. That is the message from President Putin as last week he signed an executive order designed to make it more enticing for Russians to return home.



President Putin wants Russians living abroad to get on a plane, ship or train and come home.
(Photo: Dmitri Mikshin)

The executive order, titled On Implementation of the State Programme to Assist Voluntary Resettlement of Compatriots Living Abroad to the Russian Federation, is the President's hope to harness the potential and capabilities of compatriots abroad to return home and help with the development needs of Russia’s regions. The Programme is part of a series of measures meant to stabilize Russia’s population, especially in regions of strategic importance for the country.

Some may remember a similar call from Joseph Stalin who wanted to entice Russians who had fled prior to and during the Great Patriotic War (WWII) to come home to help rebuild Russia. Many Russians returned home, most to find themselves charged as traitors and many shipped off to the Siberian Gulag camps within months of their return.

We don't really expect a repeat of Stalin era reprisals but it is funny how quickly Russians bring up that topic when asked if they plan to return. Many Russians have fled for reasons of wealth protection, for opportunities to live without fear of a repressive government and private mafia involvement in business, or for political reasons. These folks will need more than a mere executive order if the government hopes to get their attention.

The Putin plan promises a comprehensive approach to facilitating the voluntary resettlement of compatriots abroad to Russia, offering them a choice of future place of residence, employment, and education and training opportunities, taking into account the Russian regions’ respective socioeconomic situations. The amount of state guarantees and social support provided to compatriots resettling in Russia will vary depending on the region of residence they choose.

The President has selected an intergovernmental Commission to work on implementing the programme under the guidance of the Federal Migration Service.

[Eduard]

Many Russians have fled for reasons of wealthy protection, for opportunities to live without fear of a repressive government and private mafia involvement in business, or for political reasons.

Jim, I found it interesting that you used the term "Private Mafia". But it is very accurate since there are 2 Mafias in Russia and Ukraine. The first one is a traditional underworld Mafia and the second being the government Mafia which some say is even more powerful. Every one in the government from the head down to a street cop and city inspectors is running some form of racket and making a very good living at it. You can't get many of these sweet jobs just like that. Many of them are for sale and you can buy them just like buying a business or you have to be well connected, or both.
I used to be very critical of all this terrible corruption in Russia and Ukraine until I realised what's happening in this country. I guess people's corrupt nature is universal...

[Chicagoguy]

You can almost figure out many of the mafia in Moscow. The swagger, the arrogance. But I don't see so much of this in the smaller cities. Do you guys think it is not as pervasive there?

[Eduard]

You can almost figure out many of the mafia in Moscow. The swagger, the arrogance. But I don't see so much of this in the smaller cities. Do you guys think it is not as pervasive there?

actually it's the other way around, Chicagoguy. Traditional Mafia is a lot stronger in smaller cities whereas government Mafia (police, bureaucrats) is stronger in the large cities.

[mendeleyev]

Jim, I found it interesting that you used the term "Private Mafia".

Ed, I'm guessing that we'd both put the prison mafia under the private label as well as the Chechen mafia and other private groups. In a broad sense there are indeed two mafias with smaller but powerful groups and if someone wanted to break it down, the various groups of the private mafia are part of a loose federation sometimes aligned and sometimes at odds with each other. And in some cases there is crossover between the private mafia and the government mafia.

The government mafia is also splintered into various factions, yet loosely aligned. The police mafia and the army mafia often compete for territory and "clients" with the civil government mafia, yet there are overlapping connections that serve to prevent turf wars in most cases.

It will be interesting to see whether the recent order that all traffic tickets must be video taped will have an effect on curtailing corruption on Russian roads.

[mendeleyev]

69 years After the War
(condensed from the Mendeleyev Journal)

Kremenchuk, or Кременчук (Russian) Кременчуг (Ukrainian) is an industrial town in central Ukraine, in the Poltava administrative region along the banks of Ukraine's famous Dnieper River. The photos for this report, unless otherwise noted, are from: http://www.kremenchuk.org/eng.


(Approaching Kremenchuk, Ukraine.)

The settlement of Kremenchuk was founded in 1571 and later the Kremenchuk fortress was built by French military engineer Guillaume Levasser de Boplan in 1638. The town quickly became an important city for transportation of goods from Russia to other parts of Europe.



The Kremenchuk Kryukov Railway wagon factory is a major job provider today.

Russian armies and the Navy was based here during the Russian-Turkish war (1787-1791) as local shipbuilders built the fleet for Russia's Black Sea flotilla. In 1802 Kremenchuk was made a part of the Poltava oblast. Today railway cars and automobiles are manufactured in Kremenchuk as well as one of the largest truck factories in Europe to produce trucks for Russian auto maker KrAZ. The city is served by passenger train service and locally by buses, trams and passenger vans called "Marshrutki" because they run on regular routes and schedules.

The city suffered during the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. Almost 90% of the city's buildings were destroyed and thousands died, including most of the Jewish population. War records held in the Russian Extraordinary State Commission archives in Moscow detail how the destruction of the Jewish population was a sinister goal of Nazi SS units occupying Kremenchuk.



(This year marks the 69th anniversary of liberation on 29 September 1943.)

Prior to the war almost 30,000 Jewish persons, about 47% of the total population, lived in the city. After the war there were approximately 8,000 Jewish survivors. The Germans made a point of destroying the city's synagogues, leaving only the historic "Great" synagogue standing but stripped and the roof blown off.



(Many of the 235,000 city residents live in post war apartments since most buildings were destroyed in the war.)

This past January (2012) the Jewish community of Kremenchug was forced to again deal with anti-Semitism after a Molotov cocktail ignited a fire and damaged the synagogue exterior in the early morning hours of the New Year. The attack took place less than a month after the dedication of a new Torah scroll. Two months prior a similar attempted firebombing failed to fully ignite and spared the synagogue of damages.

(Photos for this report unless otherwise noted are from: http://www.kremenchuk.org/eng)
                     

[mendeleyev]

From the food pages of the Mendeleyev Journal:

Recently an authentic Armenian cucumber appeared in the Mendeleyev Journal food pages test kitchen. Imagine!

For our Calvinistic friends, yes there is such a cucumber! Okay, maybe Armenian and Arminian are two different subjects but we digress. Being that it was your faithful editor's first experience with a cucumber native to the country of Armenia, but grown all over Asia (and California), we thought perhaps it worth an interview, so the cucumber was kidnapped and quietly spirited out of the kitchen and into our sound studio.


(Armenian cucumber in the Mendeleyev Journal sound studios.)

Perhaps this lowly cucumber had the answer to world peace or inner tranquility? Maybe it would impart significant theological insights to quell the disunity among churches of various denominations who still don't understand the truth of Catholicity in that debate?

Alas, the cuke made not a sound! Hey, who were we to know that the Armenian cucumber is more related to the muskmelon family albeit tasting and looking much like a traditional cucumber? Every muskmelon we've tried to interview has been just as reticent so eventually the interview project was abandoned and we gave way to a slicing knife and slaughtered the poor fruit.

It is worth noting that apparently Armenian cucumbers don't wither under bright lights.



(Even after intense peeling under bright lights, the cucumber remained speechless.)

It was peeled though later we learned that peeling wasn't necessary. The staff of the Mendeleyev Journal feels that perhaps we're the first team of journalists in modern history to attempt an interview with a cucumber under bright lights and with a kitchen vegetable slicing knife. Lavrentiy Beria would be so proud.



(вкусный "koos-niy" = tasty/delicious.)

It was not just any run of the mill pickle either but a genuine Armenian cucumber! Oh, it was tasty by the way. With sliced tomatoes and a dash of salt, that plate rocked!


(PS...to see this fruit up close click on the photos.)

[newjason]

looks yummy.

[mendeleyev]

If you're a teacher we congratulate you today on 5 October, the day of the Teacher! Members dating a teacher or mother of a school aged child may want to have this information today





 
5 октября.
День учителя.
классная работа!

[mendeleyev]

Awh, heck no. I'm not letting these guys at шоколадница (Chocolate girl) get away with this!



Just because I've been successfully losing some kilograms recently doesn't mean that they can send these kinds of ads by email to derail my weight loss plans. No way!

In fact, I'm going to march to the nearest location and order one of each of these berry and cream cheese blini (crepe pancakes) just to show that I have the willpower to eat only two plates...and no more! Now take that you evil diet busting temptation enablers!

[mendeleyev]

From the Mendeleyev Journal:

According to a report in the Moscow Times newspaper, Russia's chief health inspector says that automobile drivers should not be allowed to drink yogurt prior to driving.



Across Russia at precinct stations it was as if traffic officers could be heard laughing at Inspector Gennady Onishchenko's idea that yogurt could impair drivers. Police officials quickly explained that while there are serious accidents on the roads each day, none of them have been identified as being caused by the consumption of yogurt.

For Western readers we should explain that a soft yogurt drink called "Kefir" is a slightly fermented yogurt drink, a traditional use of yogurt in Eastern Europe and parts of Asia.

New Russian laws on retail alcohol sales would have required dairies to license and tax Kefir as an alcoholic product and prohibited sales to anyone under 18. The idea was abandoned after Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev ordered Kefir removed from the list of alcoholic products.

Even Wikipedia mentioned not one concern about the dangers of Kefir and driving. According to Wiki: As it contains yeasts, kefir can be used to make a sourdough bread. It is also useful as a buttermilk substitute in baking. Kefir is one of the main ingredients in cold borscht. Other variations of kefir soups and foods prepared with kefir are popular across the former Soviet Union and Poland.

Heck even little kids drink the stuff. But then, you wouldn't allow them to drive anyway.

[Eduard]

The closest you can get to Kefir would be buttermilk IMO. I buy butternilk all the time, love the stuff! Also great for making pancakes.

[ML]

The closest you can get to Kefir would be buttermilk IMO. I buy butternilk all the time, love the stuff! Also great for making pancakes.

Ed, actual Kefir can be had here in USA; and not just at specialty Russian food places.

Lifeway is one brand that makes it.

Available in Florida at Publix, Albertson's, etc.

http://lifeway.net/Store/StoreLocator.aspx?&cname=BizSearchResult&Searching=1&fullcrit=&zip=&city=tampa&state=FL&country=USA&m=100&tag=All

[Daveman]

Ed, actual Kefir can be had here in USA; and not just at specialty Russian food places.

Lifeway is one brand that makes it.

Available in Florida at Publix, Albertson's, etc.

http://lifeway.net/Store/StoreLocator.aspx?&cname=BizSearchResult&Searching=1&fullcrit=&zip=&city=tampa&state=FL&country=USA&m=100&tag=All

God I hate that stuff... as much as I hate "buttermilk".  What's the difference between the two? 

[Eduard]

Ed, actual Kefir can be had here in USA; and not just at specialty Russian food places.

Lifeway is one brand that makes it.

Available in Florida at Publix, Albertson's, etc.

http://lifeway.net/Store/StoreLocator.aspx?&cname=BizSearchResult&Searching=1&fullcrit=&zip=&city=tampa&state=FL&country=USA&m=100&tag=All

I know, but it doesn't taste as good to me. Buttermilk is closer to the original IMO.

[ML]

I know, but it doesn't taste as good to me. Buttermilk is closer to the original IMO.

My Gal bought one quart of the Lifeway kefir, and then used it with a gallon of  whole milk to create more kefir, and always uses some of it to make the next batch, etc.  Also makes the cheese used for syrniki from it.

She seems happy with the taste; although very shortly it was probably not the taste of the original Lifeway kefir.