April 30, 2011

Russia under Mr. Putin: the Real Results

The degradation of Russia during the reign of Mr. Putin is clearly reflected in the figures published in the article of a Belorussian newspaper:

In the Russian Federation, there are 4,000,000 homeless, three million people living in poverty (we think it's even more), 3 million of street prostitutes, about 1.5 million Russian women "work" (as prostitutes) in the European and Asian countries. 6 million Russian citizens are suffering from mental disorders, 5 million  people are drug addicts, more than 6 million suffer from AIDS.

March 20, 2011

That is sick! Russian Government surprised not every student has an iPad

I've always thought that the phrase "Let them eat cake" (which is attributed to Marie Antoinette, and I don't want to discuss whether it was said by her or not, it doesn't really matter for the today's article) has been the best illustration of detachment of the supreme power from the problems of ordinary people. I've always laughed at it. Until today.

Nikolai Vinnichenko, the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Urals Federal District met with students & was having a conversations with them answering their questions.

Nikolai Vinnichenko told the students that he uses the Internet daily, although he is far behind the president in terms of Internet usage.

"I'm just like you, there are portable Internet resources. (what is this? - The Russian Truth) Have all of you got iPads? Or, at least, iPhones? I think everyone has." The silence in the hall lasted for 2 minutes.

It's obvious, Nikolai Vinnichenko has no idea that the student's stipend is about $30, while the cheapest version of iPad in Russian costs more than $600, and iPhone4 costs $1500. And the parents of the studens he was having conversation with hardly make the so called survival level (that's $150 per capita).

I once again realised how far the Russian government is from the problems of people who elected them.

"How come you don't have iPads, my people?"

December 21, 2010

Criminal Case Opened Against Blogger Who Called Putin Faggot

Against a Russian Journalist & blogger Paul Safronov, who writes a blog in Live Journal under the nickname onchoys , a criminal case has been opened under article 319 of the Criminal Code (insulting a government official) for the post on arrival of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in the Republic of Komi , in which the blogger put some obscene words.


Offices of the magazine "Red Flag", which employs Safronov, were searched. Police has seized the editorial computer and a laptop and an iPad belonging to the journalist.

The blogger stated he was not guilty. Moreover, he has already filed a complaint with the prosecutor's office for illegal criminal prosecution."There's no insult in my blogpost. I do not think the word 'faggot' is an insult, and I had no intent to offend Putin. " - said Safronov .

On September 28, 2010, in his LiveJournal blog, the blogger suggested that Putin's visit had a negative effect on the work of the LiveJournal and Twitter.