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Gelion

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I got some free time and since Tekee raised a similar topic, I thought "why not?". Anyways if you got concrete and preferably short questions I'd love to reply.
 
What is the most trustworthy russian online newspaper with an english edition?
 
zenspiderz said:
What is the most trustworthy russian online newspaper with an english edition?
Yes as it was said, Pravda is not a good source.
Russia Today is our attepmt to reach out to English-speaking audience:
http://www.russiatoday.ru/test/ (live online News Network)

Gazeta.ru used to be a fairly balanced news source (2 years ago)
http://www.gazeta.ru/english/

Right now I dont know any such newspaper, but if I do I will be back to you.
 
Do you thin Putin will bend the rules so he can stay in power? Ore maybe come back after one term away?

Who would you like to follow Putin? (if he leaves)

Do you think foreigners are owerly critical towards Russia?
 
I consider Russia to be a land of tremendous potential that's wasted among corruption, crime, superstitions, among other things. Do you agree?

Why the hell do Russia women transform from hot babes when they're young to Madeleine Albright-looking creatures when they're old?

Do Russians look to their country with pride, hatred, or indifference?

How the hell do some Russians revere Stalin? What the hell is wrong with these people?

How the hell can some Russians wish for communism to come back to their country? Did communism just simply kill too few people? (I mean it should have killed the ones who want it back.)

What should Russians do to reverse the disaster that is Russia?
 
What did you guys do to Fedor Emelianenko to make him invincible?
 
Just to check your qualifications ;)

Do you have Russian nationality ?
Or if that's not the case how long are you living already in Russia (and do you still live there) ?
 
Tycho Brahe said:
Do you thin Putin will bend the rules so he can stay in power? Ore maybe come back after one term away?
Personally I will not think this will happen. He made too many promises claiming that he won't do it. The only possible scenario when this will happen is if Russia were to enter a crisis (domestic or international) and change of power would distabilise or even destroy the country.

Who would you like to follow Putin? (if he leaves)
Personally I would prefer Sergei Lavrov (our former ambassador to the UN and current foreign minister). He seems an intelligent and strong man. I dont think other high profile politicians or government officials are up the task.


Do you think foreigners are owerly critical towards Russia?
That often depends on the person. If you are talking about the media yes it is true, however on a personal level people are more often and willing to talk, discuss and learn about my country. Overall I had rather personal experience in that respect. Of course it depends who you are talking to.
 
What is your view on the Russian depopulation problem where less and less are having kids, and the pouplation decreases by several million every year?

Do you feel Checnya deserves independence if the people want it and terroists attacks stop?

What is Russians positions in the Shanghi Cooperation Organzation? Do you feel that it is Chinese domination in tradtionally Russian spheres of influence?

What is Russia's position on North Korea?

What is Russia's position on cooperation between Russian and India?

Who would Russia support if it came to war between India and China?
 
Whats your favorite vodka?

Does "straya tyuvo maht" mean what I've been told it means?

Do Russians still have an inferiority complex?

Do you follow hockey? What do you think about the Malkin/Magnitogorsk situation. Has the Russian mob threatened him? How good was Central Red Army in the 80s. What do you think about Tretiak?
 
Phlegmak said:
I consider Russia to be a land of tremendous potential that's wasted among corruption, crime, superstitions, among other things. Do you agree?
95% yes, strongly.

Why the hell do Russia women transform from hot babes when they're young to Madeleine Albright-looking creatures when they're old?
depends on the girl ;)
In short?: stress, work, climate, no or little breaks or holidays. However I suspsect new generations will be much different (and live much less :( )

Do Russians look to their country with pride, hatred, or indifference?
Again it depends. There are those who hate their country and will say all kinds of stuff so that outsiders understand them and "get them out of that ********".
Others are out there for their own carieer. A lot of former apparatchiks are rather unpatriotic (in good sence of the word) and are into business.
Of course there are a lot of patriotic people. It is hard for them because Russia as a state and culture were gone under the Soviets. Now there's a process of re-thinking of what it means to be Russian. It will take some time.
Overall I would say that Russians are mostly patriotic in two cases:
- when things get out of normal (war, natural disasters, famine)
- when talking to foreigners...


How the hell do some Russians revere Stalin? What the hell is wrong with these people?
He is seen more as a symbol than a dictator. Russians like respect towards them and under Stalin the country was respected, not to mention victorious. I think most of the people do not history well enough OR as it happens almost everywhere they just dont know the bad that happened and focus on the good.

How the hell can some Russians wish for communism to come back to their country? Did communism just simply kill too few people? (I mean it should have killed the ones who want it back.)
Yes killings happened, but its not the case.
Why we want communism back? Here are a few reasons:
- under communism things worked. Medicine, military, police, infrastructure. The fall began somewhere around 1980 and even then it was a good place to live (for most people). Now that changed.
- we were respected on the international scene. If not respected than feared. In any case there was no room for insults like there's now.
- Apart from working systems people had jobs, good schools and all other tings that make the life a nice flow from creche->school->job->old peoples house. There was stability and "civilization" if you get what I mean. Now its getting worse and worse.
- There was peace between ethnicities. Most people understood that "we are all brothers". There was no national hatred except in the heads of a few uncurable nationalists. It was considered "uncivilized" to blame other nationalities or not talk to people because they are from somewhere else.
- People were a LOT nicer to each other. Uncomparably even to what I see in Europe today (including "official politeness")
- We were first in space.
I could go on....

You should understand that people [well most of them] dont want Stalin, they want to bring that state of the world then people were more honest, future was hard, but secure and they knew what they were living for. Thats what communism means to Russians, not Stalin and NKVD. It is the USSR of 1960-79, not 1930's or 1980's that we want back.

What should Russians do to reverse the disaster that is Russia?
Create a new ideology that would unite us once again {could be democracy} and keep on solving the social and economic problems.
I'm sure you were asking "why are you so strange in the head", but since I replied a bit differently to questions above, this is the reply I keep for the last question.
 
Fifty said:
What did you guys do to Fedor Emelianenko to make him invincible?
First reaction: Who?
After googling: He was probably taught in a secret KGB school.
...
...
...
Yeah that should explain it :p


AVN said:
Just to check your qualifications ;)

Do you have Russian nationality ?
Or if that's not the case how long are you living already in Russia (and do you still live there) ?
Yes I still hold Russian nationality. I currently live in the West though. I find it a positive experience :)
 
Gelion said:
I got some free time and since Tekee raised a similar topic, I thought "why not?". Anyways if you got concrete and preferably short questions I'd love to reply.

Who are you? Why are you here? Have you anything worth living for?

;)

OK, seriously: what do you want? I mean you Russians. What do you expect from the future?
 
Tank_Guy#3 said:
I'm not quite sure of your age but: Did you feel a little safer when the Soviets ran the game?
See the long post I made before. No I wasn't alive for long when the Soviets collapsed. However it seems at least the Soviet leaders knew where they were leading the country. Right now the country is stranded. I dont like that. Honestly I dont know which government is better for Russian people. Ask me in 10-20 years :) I'm glad Soviet ideology (not mentality) is gone, however security is (sadly) gone with it.

Do your parents or grandparents hate Polish people or Poland?
Neither them, nor my parents, nor my generation have ANY feelings for Poland. I think this is true for most of the country, except for most hard-hearted nationalists. Right now that I read a few Polish newspapers it becomes hard to remain neutral. Still I understand that it is the government that is to be blamed. I've always had positive experience talking (and drinking ;) ) with Poles except for a few notable nationalistic exceptions. For me meeting any other Slav is rather a plus and and expectation of some good relationship to come.
 
Are there any Russian programs or atleast plans to deal with the population decline? I heard that in Russia they have a system in which parents are given money for each child they have or something similar is this true?

oh and which brand of Vodka is believed to be the best in Russia? :D
 
HI :)

silver 2039 said:
What is your view on the Russian depopulation problem where less and less are having kids, and the pouplation decreases by several million every year?
Sadly this is the biggest problem for the country so far. Solution? Financial benefits for those giving birth, changes in mentality and in some parts - returning to Orthodox ideals. If we solve that we can solve anything.

Do you feel Checnya deserves independence if the people want it and terroists attacks stop?
Difficult to answer. From my personal point of view - yes provided that:
a) The country remains free from any other foreign troops and stays clear of anti-Russian alliances.
b) It percieves a reasonable domestics policy without discrimination and criminal mentality.
c) If this were to be a traditional Chechen state then its territory should be in the mountains, not the plains like it has always been.

What is Russians positions in the Shanghi Cooperation Organzation? Do you feel that it is Chinese domination in tradtionally Russian spheres of influence?
I cant say for the whole country. I think Russians are rather indifferent to political situation in Asia. So far China is a better option cooperation than our European partners. Provided that India and China can sort out their differences Shanghai Organisation I think it will be a poverfull alliance that will advance better the causes of all 3 majour nations and their allies.

What is Russia's position on North Korea?
From what I can see:
- We dont want it to become an American satellite
- We dont want it to become Chinese satellite
- Kim is a badass, but he doesn't bother us much
- If Kim has nukes things are worse than before, but its more of a problem of China, Korea, Japan and USA than ours.
- If there's any way to prevent the first two points and have a regime change that would be better for the people then we are in.
I say again I am speculating. You'd have to read official Russian statements to get the general idea.

What is Russia's position on cooperation between Russian and India?
If you never ask for anything, how can we cooperate? I think we are up for more cooperation, but India has other partners. If India were to come forward we'd do more things together.

Who would Russia support if it came to war between India and China?
I think we would sit back, just like in the case of a war between China and USA or (very unlikely) USA and Europe.
However if we were to support anyone it would be:
India (India vs China)
China (China vs US)
Europe (Europe vs US)
(all this would make sence geopolitically)
 
joycem10 said:
Whats your favorite vodka?
I dont drink vodka, or rather I drink it very rarely. Russian made would probably be the one.

Does "straya tyuvo maht" mean what I've been told it means?
"old" "you" "mother" is the closest I can come up with and it doesn't make any sence. You'll have to dig into your memory deeper to make it out.

Do Russians still have an inferiority complex?
Only those that want to move to the west and s**t on the country from there. Not the normal ones.

Do you follow hockey?
Yes, mostly world cups.

What do you think about the Malkin/Magnitogorsk situation. Has the Russian mob threatened him?
IIRC correctly that was the guy who first moved abroad to play in Canadian hockey? If not enlighten me. I can't really reply if I dont know what it is.

How good was Central Red Army in the 80s.
Quite good, however less disciplined and probably a bit outdated. Given their performance in 1991 and 1993 I think they began loosing their ideological component back then which was the biggest problem. In terms of training and military capabilities? On par with US and other leading nations back then.

What do you think about Tretiak?
I think I know what generation you are from :p
To me he is an amazing player, coach and from what I was able to see on modern Russian TV - a good man.
 
Winner said:
Who are you? Why are you here? Have you anything worth living for?

;)
For you to get the hell out our galaxy! :p

(Kidding of course)

OK, seriously: what do you want? I mean you Russians. What do you expect from the future?
Want? Humans are boring creatures - they never come up with nothing original.
Personally I want a prosperous, healthy and well runned country where rights of all nationalities are respected. I want a country with strong military, good roads and extensive space exploration program. I want the people to come back the ideals of Tsarist and Orthodox Russia as much as it is necessary to remain outselves and efficiently cooperate in modern world. I want Russians to keep making scientific discoveries and literary works and get proper credit for them. Basically I want the country to realise the potential it always had.
 
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