All you need to do is change Putin. Grats on the anniversary!
Thanks for the congratulations Billy. Our first child together will be three this year - just that fact alone stuns me sometimes. Alexandra (our little girl) and I are very close and I'm glad our time here has allowed me to build those bonds with her. If I was doing my normal work still I would have been unable to do so.
Sorry, but I disagree with you about Putin. The odds actually favour the Russian view which I have detailed before - i.e. if you were to replace him the new guys would just steal more. Stealing is completely endemic here. Two types - those who must to survive and those who can because of power and position.
The Moscow Times recently had a column that observed that there is no such phrase as "conflict of interest" in Russian.
The depths of theft know little bound here. We have personal experience of the local authorities stealing from our kids when they were doing paid work at school over the holidays.
I've said it before but I really do have to thank Anna's grandparents for the woman she is. Her Grandad was a Hero of the Soviet Union who fought at Stalingrad amongst other places. Her Grandmother was so revered as a teacher when she died some of her former pupils flew internationally to be at her funeral.
Unfortunately, their son is a complete and utter asshole. He sold his father's medals illegally to a German collector... He also destroyed the house his father built as well as the fruit tree garden.
