Russian Apathy

My blog post for Unit 6 is about Russian apathy. According to the Moscow Times the only reason Russians aren't revolting along with the Middle East is because they just don't care. They reported that 85 percent of Russians think they aren't in a position to influence anything in the government. This political apathy is sad and perhaps reflected throughout the more Western parts of the world, which would explain why we don't immediately sympathize with active causes, such as that of the Egyptians.

Article
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/columns//article/why-arent-russians-revolting/430346.html

Original Dialogue with Josh
http://www.box.net/shared/i656n6simq

Dialogue 4 on pg 184 with Josh
http://www.box.net/shared/9680szayvj

Russian Army (Being Manly)

The Russian Army is notorious for being crazy manly and killing tons of dudes all the time every day. But sometimes they dance. Here's a video of that second thing.



Personally this reminds me of the scene from Pinocchio with the dancers.

Original Dialogue with Josh : http://www.box.net/shared/16q1738i86
Book Dialogue : http://www.box.net/shared/omf2ni048i

Collin's Unit 4 Post (Putin is Awesome)

To go along with Putin on a motorcycle I thought I'd post about other ridiculous things Putin does in his spare time. Like drive Formula 1 cars (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvINFJXko7g). A bit of text that I found with this video noted that it was one of the few instances where Putin speaks English (even though I only caught him saying "yeah"). But he does get all of his instructions in English and obviously understands them very well. Putin was also rumored to have flown a plane, breaking the sound barrier (http://siberianlight.net/vladimir-boom-boom-putin/). Other activities Putin likes to partake in are fishing topless (http://siberianlight.net/putin-goes-fishing/) and diving to the bottom of lakes (http://en.rian.ru/russia/20090801/155697205.html). I think Obama should get out once in a while and do some cool stuff like Putin.



Dialogue from the Book: http://www.box.net/shared/k5z2reun4t

Original Dialogue: http://www.box.net/shared/7no2e2jbvb

Mail Order Brides

When I think of Russia I immediately think of mail order brides. The whole reason I joined the class was so I could get myself a bride. And although one of the preceding sentences is false I'm still going to do my blog post on mail order brides. The idea of Russian mail order brides is generally outdated, but that doesn't mean the actual system of ordering brides has been completely wiped out. People still look for Russian brides via the internet and through letter delivering services. There are two common scenarios however that make the whole institution seem sketchy. One is when the girl is nonexistent and you're just being conned out of your money. The other is when the girl comes to the US or Canada and is mistreated by her husband. Even with these stories though there are numerous cases of people forming happy and lasting relationships via one of these bride finding services. I guess it can be viewed as positive or negative depending on how the system treats you if you're in it and on what kind of stories you hear.

Inspiration:
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=2634201



Book Dialogue (#2 on pg 76)
http://www.box.net/shared/5p9l33m2k3


Original Dialogue
http://www.box.net/shared/9y0vpzs0oc