At least eight people have been killed in an explosion that happened at Arsenal 31, ammunitions depot on the outskirts of Ulyanovsk, 900km (550 miles) south-east of Moscow, Russia. This explosion comes within 10 days after explosions tore through the same site, the defense ministry says.

A bomb disposal squad was working on the site, loading live ammunition onto a lorry when the blast occurred. All the people killed are reported to be members of the squad. Two people were also injured in the accident. The blast took place at 1430hrs local time on Monday, when the team was clearing the affected area in the naval base which had been affected by the earlier accident on November 13.

The earlier explosions and resulting fire had left two soldiers dead when they attempted to decommission the weapons that were left after the fire had been put off.

The regional emergency ministry branch had previously warned the local residents that it was carrying out “planned detonation of unexploded shells” from the arms depot. The ministry had also promised that it was following all “safety measures“.

Russian ammunition depots as well as much of the ammunition still dates back to Soviet era and the ageing arsenal has been a major cause of concern. This is not the first time that such a mishap has occurred.

President Dmitry Medvedev is scheduled to visit Ulyanovsk on Tuesday to meet Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev in a bid to resolve the Azerbaijan-Armenia dispute over Nagorny Karabakh and to inaugurate a square named after Aliyev’s late father and former Azerbaijani leader, Heidar Aliyev.

Investigations are under way into both incidents. At the time of the 13 November incident, officials said artillery shells and torpedoes were kept at the arsenal.

NowPublic

From the New York Times (The Needle Nexus)….

Moscow’s drug policy could be called harm augmentation: discourage drug use by making it as dangerous as possible. Arseniy and David, for example, can’t direct addicts to methadone clinics, since methadone — the global gold standard rehabilitation method — is illegal in Russia

Kind of sounds like North American tobacco policy…

Tip of the hat to CVP for bringing this article to my attention.

-PLB

In Moscow, nothing strange, a lot of people protect their car with an alarm. The funny thing is that the majority of cars have got the same sound/signal. So, if by night your alarm rings, you need to get up to check if it is your car or another.

Idea & Brief: DirrtyFranck – http://brisonslaglace.blogspot.com

A giant 1930s Soviet-era statue

Moscow to get restored Soviet-era statue back in 2010

The Moscow government has pledged to complete restoration work on a giant 1930s Soviet-era statue and have the monument back in its rightful place by 2010, a source in the city administration said on Friday.Restoration work on the 24.5-meter high statue, The Worker and the Peasant Woman, by Vera Mukhina, was launched in 2003. Moscow authorities originally said it would be back and fully restored in 2005. Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov gave instructions in late August that the restoration work be speeded up.

“Restoration of the monument’s pedestal will come out of the city budget…and will be completed by 2010,” the source said.

He added that a museum and an exhibition center would be located under the giant statue, one of the most prominent on Moscow’s city landscape.

The famous statue was made for the International Exhibition in Paris in 1937. It has since been replicated in thousands of posters, cards, stamps and became a logo for the then-Soviet and now Russian film studio Mosfilm in the 1970s.

The statue, made from sheets of stainless steel, is a classic example of socialist realism art. The worker’s arm holds aloft a hammer and the peasant woman a sickle – two primary symbols of the Soviet Union.

Although the statue met the task of ideological glorification, it reflected the author’s inclination to might and love for the grandiose. As the sculptor put it, it is “a breakthrough into the future, to the light and the sun, to the feeling of human strength.”

Soviet-era icon statue to return to Moscow this year

A giant Soviet-era statue will be reopened on December 3 in northeast Moscow after a long-delayed restoration, a city official said on Monday.

The Worker and the Collective Farm Woman by Vera Mukhina, one of the most prominent statues to shape Moscow’s landscape, was dismantled for restoration in 2003 and was initially expected to be returned in 2005. Authorities cited lack of financing for repeated delays.

“The opening of the restored statue near the VVTs [all-Russia exhibition center] will be held on December 3,” the official said, adding that work to assemble the restored fragments of the monument was currently winding down.

Earlier reports said the statue would be put back on its pedestal on December 5.

First Deputy Moscow Mayor Vladimir Resin said earlier the statue would last several centuries after restoration.

Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov had pledged the statue’s platform would be increased to a height of 37 meters to house an exhibition hall capable of accommodating 5,000 people and a cafe. Its total area will be over 8,000 sq m.

The 24-meter high steel statue was first showcased at an exhibition in Paris in 1937. It features two figures which seem to be moving briskly, holding aloft a hammer and sickle, the symbols of the Soviet Union. Although the statue was created to glorify communism, the enduring strength and grandeur of the image is cherished by many Muscovites.

Landmark Soviet statue to return to

 A giant Soviet-era statue will be put back on its pedestal in northeast Moscow after a long-delayed restoration process on December 5, a city official said on Tuesday.The Worker and the Peasant Woman by Vera Mukhina, one of the most prominent statues to shape Moscow’s landscape, was dismantled for restoration in 2003 and was initially expected to be returned in 2005. Authorities cited lack of financing for repeated delays.

“We hope everything will be completed on December 5 as planned by the mayor,” Irina Raber, chief of the capital’s northeast administrative district, said.

Raber said fragments of the platform are already being brought to the statue’s original site near a major exhibition center.

The 24-meter high steel statue was first showcased at an exhibition in Paris in 1937.

The statue features two figures which seem to be moving fast, holding aloft a hammer and sickle, the symbols of the Soviet Union. Although the statue was created to glorify communism, the enduring strength and grandeur of the image is cherished by many Muscovites.

The composition is a logo for the leading Soviet and now Russian film studio Mosfilm.

Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov earlier said the statue’s platform was to be increased to a height of 37 meters to house an exhibition hall capable of accommodating 5,000 people and a cafe. Its total area will be over 8,000 sq m.

Iconic Soviet-era statue to be mounted on 37-meter platform

A giant 1930s Soviet-era statue will be mounted on a 37 meters (121.4 feet) high platform in Moscow once its restoration is completed, a Moscow official said on Wednesday.Restoration work on the 24.5-meter high statue, The Worker and the Peasant Woman, by Vera Mukhina, was launched in 2003. Moscow authorities originally said it would be back and fully restored in 2005, but later moved the date to 2010.

The iconic statue was made for the International Exhibition in Paris in 1937, where it was exhibited on a 37-meter high platform, but after it was returned to Moscow it was mounted on a 10-meter platform.

“It has been decided to elevate the statue to its historic height, as it was exhibited in Paris, i.e. at a height of 37.5 meters,” said Valery Shevchuk, the head of the Moscow Committee on Cultural Heritage.

After the monument was exhibited in Paris its image was used in thousands of posters, cards, stamps and became the logo for the then-Soviet and now Russian film studio Mosfilm.

The statue, made from sheets of stainless steel, is a classic example of socialist realism art. The worker’s arm holds aloft a hammer and the peasant woman a sickle – two primary symbols of the Soviet Union.

watch Dynamo Moscow vs Spartak Moscow online live stream TV sport 11/23, 23 Nov 2009. This Sport Games Starting time will be at 11:30 ET(US) or 17:30 CET (Europe). We will update the link several hours/minutes before the scheduled starting time. The live stream feed provided from free video tv hosting sites like ustream, justin tv, p2p, sopcast, tvu, tvants, uusee, etc. You can watch online Sport Live TV stream channel on November, 23 2009. The sport tv we cover here is NHL, NBA, KHL, NFL, AHL, NCAA, MLB, AHL, MLS, Soccer, EPL, Champion, UEFA, FIFA, U20, U17,  Football, Hockey, Basketball, SERIE A, NASCAR, F1, GP and others. If there is any of free tv hosting that airs these sport tv channel, we will update the link for you. Dont Miss to watch live sport tv between Dynamo Moscow vs Spartak Moscow online . Please click on below link to watch, online, free, live, stream, sport, tv, at 11/23 2009, Dynamo Moscow vs Spartak Moscow.

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There are thousands collections of Live internet TV hosting sites and video feeds. You can Watch Live streaming TV Stations or channels from many source. But to search and point your intended channels sometimes is very difficult since one site can offer thousand of free TV sport channel in just one day.  So Here, we provide summary of links that will provide free live streaming TV sports. In this site We focus on the  Baseball, Basketball, Hockey, soccer and other more spesific segment. Most watch free TV stations we cover for  Sport here are from, USA & Canada and some other popular sports in Europe and arround the world. Check out our featured free tv sport online live stream today 23 November 2009 (11/23) for Dynamo Moscow vs Spartak Moscow.  We will find the links from ustream, justin tv, p2p, sopcast, tvu, tvants, uusee, etc. So don’t need to worry about miss one of our favorite TV sport game match, we can now catch them online, usually just 24 hours later it will be stored in the hosting site, it depends on their policy. You can easily select and click to watch Dynamo Moscow vs Spartak Moscow and others sport channel online stream here.

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There are thousands collections of Live internet TV hosting sites and video feeds. You can Watch Live streaming TV Stations or channels from many source. But to search and point your intended channels sometimes is very difficult since one site can offer thousand of free TV sport channel in just one day.  So Here, we provide summary of links that will provide free live streaming TV sports. In this site We focus on the  Baseball, Basketball, Hockey, soccer and other more spesific segment. Most watch free TV stations we cover for  Sport here are from, USA & Canada and some other popular sports in Europe and arround the world. Check out our featured free tv sport online live stream today 23 November 2009 (11/23) for Metallurg Magnitogorsk vs CSKA Moscow.  We will find the links from ustream, justin tv, p2p, sopcast, tvu, tvants, uusee, etc. So don’t need to worry about miss one of our favorite TV sport game match, we can now catch them online, usually just 24 hours later it will be stored in the hosting site, it depends on their policy. You can easily select and click to watch Metallurg Magnitogorsk vs CSKA Moscow and others sport channel online stream here.

Probably prompted by the murder of Ivan Khutorskoy last week in Moscow NEA and RASH Berlin plan a information evening about the situation of the Antifa movement in Russia. A member of the Moscow Antifa will talk about the situation in Russia and about the possibilities to support their activities.

29. November, 20 Uhr, Projektraum Friedel54, Friedelstr. 54 (Neukölln)

These days, all are talking critical of Obama.
Forget he is the President of the USA.
He is a professor, visiting a land, home to the oldest civilisation in the world. The ingenuity of the Chinese is phenominal. They rejected the doctrinaire approach of the communist party leaders in Moscow, who concentrated on the working class movement in the coastal cities, which was crushed by Chiang Kaishek; instead, Mao realised that the PEASANTRY IN THE INTERIOR OF CHINA WAS CAPABLE OF BRINGING IN, A NEW SOCIETY THERE. He was a genius.
After the revolution, China became powerful, combining man power and technology. Today, it is the most powerful country in the world. The US IS ONLY A PAPER TIGER, as Mao was fond of saying, too old to run like the Chinese and burdened with the unenviable responsibility of reviving Capitalism, a dead horse!
Obama realised all this. If there is one nation, capable of saving the US, it is China.
We in India must realise this. It is no use feeling let down by history.
Women and children are always exploited by the mafia, in India.
Without the collusion of the police and the government officials, it is impossible for them to conduct their business.
Corruption is endemic in our system. All people concerned with the illegal activities, get regular pay packets, free from income tax. What else do they want?
(Sitting here in my room I can get pass port, visa, license for my gun, illegally brought from blacksmiths in UP, Engineering degree, if I spend enough money. I can get a girl of any age.)
China is progressing and we are stagnating.

The sun is rising in the East!

The US will soon be retiring their space shuttles to replace them with a new vehicle, scheduled for 2013. Until then, the Americans will be riding on Russian Soyuz capsules. But the Soyuz itself, a 40 year old technology with many modernizations, is on its way out, to be replaced with bigger better platforms.

The replacement for the will be the Kliper, a ship carrying 6 crew and a half ton of cargo. It is scheduled to fly its maiden voyage some time in 2010. The ship is about twice the size of the Soyuz and will require much larger rockets, most likely the Zenit class of booster rockets, in order to make orbit. It will return to earth by extending wings and gliding down, for a soft landing.

Interestingly enough, if things go according to plant, the new, larger Kliper, will actually save money. The present Soyuz missions run between $20 to $30 million each (compared to the American space shuttles at around $300 million each). Kliper flights are supposed to move more equipment and people for less money, but even it the costs stay the same, with more room on the ship, there will be room for more space tourists and at $20 million per pop, the ships will earn a profit, with just one added passenger.

Development of the Kliper is also priced at the low cost of $1 billion, compare that to the $10 billion for the American Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), which is still on the drawing board.

But the Kliper is only the first modern step in a new plan by the Russian space agency to conquer the inner sphere of our solar system. Next on the development board is a manned spacecraft powered by a nuclear electric engine. For decades, Russia and the Soviet Union have developed nuclear powered satellites, which did not have to rely upon easily damaged solar arrays, for power. Of course those put out only kilowatts of power, while this ships engines will have to run on the megawatt range.

The ship’s design is scheduled to be complete by 2012 and a finished by 2021, at an estimated cost of 17 billion rubles, or $580 million. More realistic estimates put the price tag at $1 to $1.5 billion, over the next decade.

Russian occupiers are forcing the local Georgian population to participate in constructing of military bases in Georgia`s breakaway region of Abkhazia.

On Sunday morning, the Russian aggressors took locals by Ural truck from Gali district to the territories, where the construction is underway. Furthermore, the occupants advise the locals living in the vicinity of the military bases to move to some other places to live, because as they assert, the territories should be declared a closed zone.

Along with this, the occupants have dug trenches and bunkers right in the towns of Sokhumi, Ochamchire and Tkvarcheli. They have installed anti-aircraft missiles there and name prevention of possible provocations as a reason for all their actions.

This is a quick, last-minute note to spread the local word about a documentary showing at the Nuart Theater.  The movie is titled Collision and features local pastor Douglas Wilson and prolific atheist Christopher Hitchens as they debate the existence of God in a series of public appearances and casual discussions.  This is a professionally produced film that has recently been seen on the Amazon.com bestseller list and highlighted on national television and radio broadcasts.  It will be showing for free (donations accepted) at 5:00 and 7:30 tonight in downtown Moscow.  Copies of the DVD will be available for $20.

This is astounding…You will need PowerPoint to view the slides. Use your speakers to hear background music. How would you like to live in one of these apartments?

Truly the future for skyscraper!

Pivotingskyscrapers

Roundup v.1 – 2009

my spiritual life has gone down considerably. I dunno what happened. It’s just is. I went home last summer thinking I would be rejuvenated and once again be “alive” but it didn’t happen, I became even worse. For two months, went only to church twice and was even critical. Forgive me.

 ***

back in moscow for a third contract, wasn’t as excited as I thought am going to be… this is going to be a loooooong year. Have the same sched as last year’s. However , TT gave me a convo class at K.Most which lasted only for a month, t’was canceled, said there weren’t enough students. felt crap.

***

should I stay for fourth? Mmm… this haunts me. Monetarily it’s not as bad as compared to the other options. But, would I survive emotionally? More so, psychologically? Sure, the job is not that difficult, yet, am tired. no. am exhausted. Not from physical exertion though. Sigh.

***

getting bigger. Don’t want to. But. Don’t like what I see in the mirror, it’s me. My imagination’s getting wild. Is there hope? I hope. I dance. Is it enough? Tried not to feel so bad. Can I? Please. Help. SOS. Are you there? Will you come and look for me. I need you. Come. Now. Double sigh.

***

I write in broken verses when something deep and personal is involve. Don’t want you to see me.

***

addicted to pinoy big brother double up. . I especially like melissa from general santos, she’s crazeeeee. she’s studying at MSU-Gen.San. I feel an affinity. She’s an Education major in English student, but her English drives me crazeeeee. Dunno if she’s deliberately doing it for comedic purposes or it’s for real. Triple sigh.

***

scribbling at starbucks. Had coffee and brownies. 350Rub. No wifi, thus the muttering.

After 6 days in Vietnam, my love for most things socialist has been rekindled. Here’s one from my trip to Moscow in June 2007. This, my dear readers, is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the epitome of Soviet architecture – big, imposing and in-your-face. It literally and metaphorically makes one feel small, gazing up.

Frogeye

Has anyone got any ideas what this strange circular gowing cloud over Moscow is?

The country that doesn't exist

Even though the Republic of Moldova has recently celebrated toppling its corrupt Communist party from government, the new regime have already landed on their first major stumbling block.

While Moldova itself is almost totally unknown in the West, the breakaway region of Transdniestria will be known to even less people.

The Priednetstrovian Moldavian Republic, as it has been styled, has been effectively independent from Moldova since 1991 while still being part of it in the eyes of both the Moldovan government, and western ones.

The country itself is one of the few remaining relics of the USSR, with a corrupt leader (Igor Smirnov), a police state mentality and even an unintentionally hilarious website proclaiming the countries “free and fair elections” and commitment to “minority ethnic rights”.

A government building in Tiraspol, capital of Transdniestria.

Smirnov and his cronies have remained so cosy since 1991 because the Russian (formerly Soviet) 14th Army of the Russian  has been there for decades and since 1991 acting as ‘peacekeepers’. Despite consistent calls for their withdrawal, they are still there.

It is this occupation that Moldovan PM Vlad Filat has demanded an end to, potentially setting the new government at loggerheads with Moscow.

Former Communist President/Boris Yeltsin lookalike Vladimir Voronin cosied up to the Kremlin and so conveniently tidied the Transdniestrian question under the carpet for his eight years of rule.

Filat and acting President Mihai Ghimpu realise that this question will have to be answered before Moldova can ever realistically think of admission to the EU, something it’s people crave.

Filat has rejected the notion that Moldova could join NATO, but wants Russia to respect the territorial integrity of the country by pulling its troops out.

Filat will undoubtedly be more vigorous in requesting this than Voronin and his ministers ever were, but seeing as the summit of the Community of Independent States (formerly members of the USSR), hosted in Chisinau, went by without any breakthrough it seems likely that his words will fall on deaf ears.

Filat is demanding that Russia treat his country with “dignity” in respecting its sovereignty, but it is rare that the Kremlin will treat small nations like Moldova as such. For the moment, it looks as though Russia’s real motives for maintaining its ‘peacekeepers’ in Transdniestria will remain a mystery.

Still, at least this blogger had an inventive way of solving the problem.

I’m going to Moscow for the weekend. Laters!

Moskova Belediyesi’nin reklam işleri daire başkanı hakkında yapılan bir araştırma ve soruşturmayı engellemeye çalışmak ve yetkililere direnmek suçundan tutuklanarak hapse atıldı.

Moskova Belediyesi Tanıtım ve Reklam İşleri Daire Başkanı Vladimir Makarov hakkında bu yılın Ocak ayından bu yana yolsuzluk yaptığı gerekçesiyle araştırma ve tahkikat yapıyordu.Rusya Başsavcılığının emriyle yürütülen araştırma ve soruşturmada Reklam ve Tanıtım Daire başkanının gereksiz yere bazı reklamlarda yüzde 50’ye ulaşan indirimler yaptığı ve bu indirimler nedeniyle de belediyenin 131 milyon ruble (Yaklaşık 4 milyon dolar) daha az reklam geliri elde etmesine neden olmakla suçlanıyor.

Gizlice uzun süreden bu yana sürdürülen tahkikat son zamanlarda açığa çıkmış ve reklam daire başkanı Makarov ise tüm gücünü kullanarak suç delillerini ortadan kaldırmaya teşebbüs etme yanında, bu tahkikatı engellemek için de bir çok yönteme başvurmuştu.

Yetkililer Vladimir Makarov’un yolsuzluklarının sadece Moskova ile sınırlı kalmayıp başta Tver kenti olmak üzere bir çok kenti de kapsadığını ve araştırmaların buralarda da devam ettiğine dikkat çektiler.Halen hapishanede tutuklu bulunan Makarov ise hakkında yapılan suçlamalara tek kelimeyle bile olsa bir cevap vermiyor ve susmayı tercih ediyor.

Moskova Metro’sunda, polis her gün yasadışı yollardan reklam yapıştıran onlarca kişiyi yakalıyor.

Fakat yakalanan kişiler 2000 rublelik cezayı ödedikten sonra işlerine geri dönüyorlar. Vesti-Moskva’ya göre polis bununla ilgili sonuç alamıyor.Çünkü yakalananlar sadece reklamı yapıştırma görevini yerine getiren kişiler, asıl yaptıran dolandırıcıları ve günübirlik firmaları bulmak ise çok zor görünüyor. Polis için, reklam yapıştıranları tutmak faydalı oluyor, çünkü bir daha ki sefere yakalamak çok daha kolay oluyor. Bazı reklam yapıştıran kişiler sık olarak yakalanıyorlar. Fakat cezayı ödedikten sonra tekrar işbaşı yapıyorlar.

Metro Yönetiminin izni olmadan, trenlerde ve diğer alanlarda reklam yapıştırmak yasak.Aslında bu yasağın ihlalinden çok daha tehlikeli olan, verilen aracılık hizmetleri ile sahte registre ve sağlık raporları alınması oluşturuyor.

Reklam yapıştıranlar için, reklamın üzerinde ne yazdığının bir önemi yok. Ayrıca polislerden de korkmuyorlar, çünkü cezayı ödedikten sonra serbest kalacaklarını biliyorlar. Reklam yapıştıranlardan birisi, cezası var, ancak ödedikten sonra bıraktıklarını, şimdiye kadar kimseyi mahkemeye gönderdiklerini görmediğini belirtti.

Bir günde 5 ile 20 kişi yakalanıyor. Reklam yapıştırmanın maksimum cezası 2000 ruble. Son 6 ayda 300 bin ruble ceza yazılmış. Bunlardan bir kısmı ise ödenmemiş.
Cezalar fayda getirmiyor ve bu tür firmalar yok olmuyorlar. Yapıştırıcılar ise tekrar işlerine geri dönüyorlar. Bu şekilde çalışmak kaçak göçmenlere ve öğrencilere uygun geliyor.