russia's true tales of terra

"Damn"

noreply@blogger.com (nikolay i.) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 05:03:00 +0000

Oil (Brent) on Intercontinental Exchange at around 12am EST - 44$. My comment is the picture below. For those who do not understand Russian verbiage - пиздец in Russian means "deep shit" very lightly translated. So combine the first and last letter of the word and you get this symbol. On second...

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From Platinum to Wood

noreply@blogger.com (nikolay i.) — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 03:28:00 +0000

The ruble last year was considered by some foreign analysts and by the majority of Russian economists as a symbol of the revival of multi-currency domination and a rise of emerging market economies. The $600+ billion of foreign exchange reserves backing it made it seem invincible to many. Yet the...

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New Format

noreply@blogger.com (nikolay i.) — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 07:43:00 +0000

After much thought, and after careful consideration of the manpower available and its experience (mine mostly) it is best to focus the blog on the understanding of Russian evolution in this time of crisis, which to many has invaded the circumstances unexpectedly. Why then is it unexpected? Is the...

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The Curious Case of the Markets

noreply@blogger.com (nikolay i.) — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 16:57:00 +0000

As reported by the Guardian, the world leaders gathering in Washington today are completely overwhelmed by debt, with one particular exception - Russia. Refer to the listing below: - United States ($8,400bln) - Japan ($7,450bln) - Italy ($2,190bln) - Germany ($2,070bln) - France ($1,630bln) -...

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Thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (nikolay i.) — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 02:10:00 +0000

- President to be elected for six years - Vladimir Putin may step in for 2010 onwards - Russia unbelievably for some rattled by financial crisis, losing 20% of its reserves in a mere three months - Saakashvili being threatened to be "hung" be his balls (doubtful he has any left) - Iskander in...

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Final note...

noreply@blogger.com (nikolay i.) — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 02:15:00 +0000

"For of men it may generally be affirmed, that they are thankless, fickle, false, studious to avoid danger, greedy of gain, devoted to you while you are able to confer benefits upon them, and ready, as I said before, while danger is distant, to shed their blood, and sacrifice their property, their...

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What will remain of Fradkov...

noreply@blogger.com (nikolay i.) — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 16:49:00 +0000

Although he has a long way to go before he can catch up to the manner of speech similar to Yeltsin's prime-minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, Mikhail Fradkov in his almost four year tenure has left the Russian public with a bunch of strange quotes. Some are tough to translate into English, so I did the...

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Putin and Zubkov - Less complex than it seems

noreply@blogger.com (nikolay i.) — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 14:24:00 +0000

When things get complex and unpredictable in Russian politics, most political observers seem to want to go with the flow and tangle things up more and more. While looking for an elephant in a glass of water in the appointment of Viktor Zubkov for the post of Russian prime-minister, many forget the...

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Blog is on Break!

noreply@blogger.com (nikolay i.) — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 01:28:00 +0000

This blog is on break again. It is August and no news is really coming out anyway. Plus, the never-ending moving process lives on. Hopefully, August 20th will get the blog going again. For now the traditional Music Video - Mongol Shuudan - Moskva. Great song. Enjoy Thanks for reading RTTT!

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Lessons from history: "Zinoviev Letter" - USSR and Britain in 1924

noreply@blogger.com (nikolay i.) — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 16:50:00 +0000

Looking at Russo-British relations in the past one finds startling examples, often they are very close replicas of the current stand-off between the two sides. Whether or not appropriate conclusions can be drawn from historic lessons is a different question. After the Conservative party in Britain...

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Cartoon of the Week

noreply@blogger.com (nikolay i.) — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 14:11:00 +0000

Cartoon of the week; na zlobu dnya as the Russians would say - UK-Russia relations (author unknown) The Russian government may feel a little more relaxed now that they know who they are dealing with in the diplomatic "war" with Britain. As The Daily Telegraph reported, so far eight British...

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Global private equity re-enters Russia: TPG-Seventh Continent

noreply@blogger.com (nikolay i.) — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 03:55:00 +0000

After approaching some semi-serious hurdles in the US private equity firms are looking for fresh markets; on the top of their to-do list may be Russia. TPG, formerly Texas Pacific Group, was reported to be in early-stage talks to acquire a 50 percent stake in Russia's 7K-investholding, which is in...

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The child sent to murder Berezovsky

noreply@blogger.com (nikolay i.) — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 19:19:00 +0000

On June 28th 2006, Russian president Vladimir Putin caused quite a stir in the press when he unexpectedly kissed a child in the tummy during a tour of the Kremlin. Yesterday The Sun reported that on June 21 2007 (almost exactly a year later) an assassination attempt on Boris Berezovsky was foiled...

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Russia's response: Bombers intercepted in British airspace

noreply@blogger.com (nikolay i.) — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 15:22:00 +0000

Russia may be preparing a very unusual response to the British actions to expel Russian diplomats and tighten visa regulations amid the Litvinenko affair and Lugovoi extradition. As The Times reported today, apparently the British airforce was ready to intercept two Russian bombers on Tuesday who...

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Patriot Games : the end of the Litvinenko scandal is near

noreply@blogger.com (nikolay i.) — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 04:46:00 +0000

Britain's response to Russia's refusal to extradite Andrei Lugovoi voiced by the new foreign secretary David Miliband was the most direct response out of all for Britain to maintain face and look firm, and unless any unforeseen actions will be taken by a third party, after Russia's response, the...

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Russia fails to bury its dead; Red Army soldiers stored in a garage

noreply@blogger.com (nikolay i.) — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 18:19:00 +0000

It can be tough to fight for a just memory of the Red Army's fallen soldiers in Estonia, Poland and other countries when you cannot assure an appropriate burial for the soldiers in your own country. In Russia's western-most region of Kaliningrad 45 bodies of Red Army soldiers are being stored in a...

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Test yourself in "new" Russian history

noreply@blogger.com (nikolay i.) — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 03:15:00 +0000

There have been many comments about the recent initiative of Russian president Vladimir Putin to "rewrite" Russian history. If you ever were curious of what would be written in the newly adopted (or as they are referred to "recommended") history texts (one of them is pictured), Kommersant's Vlast...

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Russian military throws a giant open-air party for draftees

noreply@blogger.com (nikolay i.) — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 23:32:00 +0000

Perhaps the Russian military personnel in charge of the dreaded draft are getting their act together. The military commissioner of Bashkortostan together with the city of Ufa's popular club Pravda for the second time now organized a giant open-air Ibiza-style clubbing event with a slight military...

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Berezovsky's lawyer says he "does not give a damn" about client

noreply@blogger.com (nikolay i.) — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 14:37:00 +0000

The lawyer appointed to Russian business tycoon Boris Berezovsky (pictured), after the latter decided to boycott his trial, has said in an interview with Russian daily Izvestia that he "does not give a damn" about the trial. Boris Berezovsky is being charged in absentia with embezzling 214 million...

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Britain and Russia drift further apart over Lugovoi

noreply@blogger.com (nikolay i.) — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 03:54:00 +0000

The row over the Litvinenko poisoning between Russia and the UK seems to be escalating very rapidly this week. Such haste is rather strange since no real developments have happened in the case since Andrei Lugovoi's (pictures) notorious press-conference (the main suspect in the case according to UK...

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Finding holes in the US Missile Defense Shield

noreply@blogger.com (nikolay i.) — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 23:54:00 +0000

In an interesting commentary in Le Monde, French historian Alexandre Adler calls out some obvious inconsistencies in the US plans to deploy its missile defense shield in Poland and the Czech Republic. The bottom line in his article is something that has been discussed and concluded numerous times...

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Can the US take Gabala alone?

noreply@blogger.com (nikolay i.) — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 19:56:00 +0000

With the 10th Annual US-Azerbaijan Security Dialog recently ending in Washington signs are emerging of a troubling position for Russia amid its Gabala radar base proposal. Russia offered the base as a replacement for the planned US radar in the Czech Republic a few months ago and Russia's president...

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Sochi secures the 2014 Winter Games

noreply@blogger.com (nikolay i.) — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 01:45:00 +0000

Such an event I could not miss. Russia securing the 2014 Olympics in Sochi startled me. The entire proposal which two years ago seemed like a ridiculous government initiative (just think: Russia's warmest city hosting the Winter games!) turned into the most polished, hard-lobbied project not only...

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Blog Break - Russian Media Blog Carnival Wrapup

noreply@blogger.com (nikolay i.) — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 21:55:00 +0000

I bring my apologies for the lacking of posts in recent days. The exciting process of moving has captured my entire schedule. As a substitute I would like to summarize the Russian Media Blog-Carnival that took place in June, and from what I have read was a success. I bring the links from all the...

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Root for Sochi-2014 - Apparently it's close

noreply@blogger.com (nikolay i.) — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 00:29:00 +0000

The race to host the 2014 winter Olympics is predicted to be as tight as the 2005 battle for the 2012 summer games, when London managed to yank out the winning bid at the last moment of voting from Parisian hands. This time around, the three competitors are South Korea's Pyongchang, Austria's...

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