I post them so you can see what is in our newspapers, readers.
"Russians find cause celebre in dachas; Vacation home ownership holds great significance" by Philip P. Pan, Washington Post | February 28, 2010
MOSCOW - In the weeks since the first house fell, an unlikely cast has rallied to defend Rechnik, including Putin loyalists in the parliament and the prime minister’s most ardent foes in the pro-democracy opposition, as well as prominent lawyers, extreme right-wing nationalists, and the leader of a leftist youth movement.
In other words, the whole country.
Journalists across the country have filed sympathetic reports, and even the tightly controlled nightly news has broadcast images of Rechnik’s tearful residents....
You read stuff like that in the AmeriKan newspapers and hold the mirror up to AmeriKan MSM and does the hypocrisy ever stink.
More than half of all Russians and perhaps two-thirds of Muscovites own a dacha, giving Russia one of the world’s highest rates of second-home ownership.
And YOU are lucky if you can KEEP YOURS, American!!
Where did we go wrong, huh?
Some are stately manors on city outskirts, others just shacks in distant exurbs without heat or plumbing.
But at least it is SHELTER!
Most are built on land allocated to Soviet-era workers for household gardening.
Huh?
But as construction soared during the past decade, the dacha has taken on an almost mythic significance in the Russian mind.
Wow.
That is nothing compared to our whoppers -- starting with 9/11 and Saddam had nooklar bombs!
It is a place to escape the pressures of modern life, a way to get closer to nature, a haven for growing one’s own vegetables - a symbol of freedom, self-reliance, and middle-class achievement all in one....
In RUSSIA?
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Yeah, I gotta get outta here!
"Fatal car crash angers Russians; Bloggers work to put an end to ‘lawlessness’" by Mansur Mirovalev, Associated Press | March 6, 2010
Isn't it amazing how AmeriKa's MSM finds bloggers when they want to?
MOSCOW - A fatal car crash in downtown Moscow has exposed growing public anger at officials who seem to live above the law, as they flout the rules of the road and endanger the lives of ordinary Russians.
It is after paragraphs like that when I realize I HAVE SO MANY BROTHERS and SISTERS all over the planet!
I may not know them; however, I KNOW HOW THEY FEEL and VICE-VERSA!!
A black Mercedes with a flashing blue light on the roof and a VIP inside collides head-on with a little hatchback, killing the two women inside. The VIP - a vice president of Lukoil, Russia’s largest private oil company - leaves in another car, and police blame the hatchback for swerving into oncoming traffic.
Position has its privilege and perks.
But civic activists have disputed the official version, and a rap song condemning the oil executive to hell has become an instant YouTube sensation, with more than 300,000 hits by yesterday afternoon.
Ah, agenda-pushing YouTube!
In recent years, numerous government officials, powerful businessmen, or their relatives have been involved in fatal crashes, often caused by drunken driving, and gotten away with fines or reprisals. But this time people are saying “enough.’’
Bloggers are urging Russians to boycott Lukoil gas stations, and opposition activists are calling on the Kremlin to stop the “lawlessness’’ of officials and rich businessmen who flout traffic rules and avoid responsibility for crashes they cause.
Muscovites are all too accustomed to seeing luxury sedans driving in the opposite lane to escape gridlock. The cars often have flashing blue lights, issued mainly to government officials to help them get to important meetings on time.
Lukoil vice president Anatoly Barkov said in a statement posted on the company website that he was interested in an “objective and unbiased investigation’’ into last week’s crash. He also expressed his condolences to the family of Olga Alexandrina, 35, the driver of the hatchback, and her mother-in-law, Vera Sidelnikova, 73. Both women were gynecologists on their way to work.
I know what my reaction would be, readers.
Some of the strongest support for the two women has come from civic organizations formed to defend the rights of drivers.
A lawyer representing Alexandrina’s family says the lack of footage will make it difficult to receive justice. “We don’t trust Moscow police and investigators,’’ Igor Trunov said.
Again, we have SO MUCH in COMMON, dear Russian brothers and sisters!
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You know, I'd like to stay another night but I have to move on.
