Soviet Afghan Vet Thought Missing Found.

The country of Afghanistan has earned the title "The Graveyard of Empires", and rightfully so. What many people forget is that the United States wasn't the first country to go toe to toe with the Afghan people. Alexander the Great tried to control Afghanistan, as did the British in the 19th century. In the 21st century it was the Soviet Union who wished to expand their empire into what they thought would be an easily fought war to support a people who wanted to drift away from radical Islam (sound familiar?). On Christmas, 1979 the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan with the invitation of the new communist government that took over the capital in Kabul.  The Soviet Union wasn't prepared for the harsh Afghan environment, and the resilience of the Afghan Mujaheddin fighter whom was motivated by religion. The Soviet Union also faced difficulty because their air power was put in check by American C.I.A. operatives who trained and supplied Jihadist with Stinger Missiles. The result of this was some 15,000 Soviet Casualties with 264 Russians missing in action.

One of these Russians was found over 30 years later, in an Afghan village located near the city of Herat. He had been wounded by the Mujaheddin fighters, and later taken in by a village and nursed back to health. He since then chose to stay in the village, changed his name, converted to Islam, and took up the profession of his care taker and became the village healer. Fellow Russian veterans found him and according to the article Sheikh Abdullah (formally known as Bakhretdin Khakimov) had suffered severe head trauma from the injuries, and never tried to reach out to his family after being nursed back to health. He said that he feels lucky that he survived, and apparently enjoys his new life as a village healer.

Source:http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/05/17197717-missing-soviet-war-veteran-found-living-in-afghanistan-33-years-after-combat?lite

Advertising in Russia

What is advertising? Advertising is a form of communication intended to persuade, influence or otherwise affect the target audience, which varies based on the specific advertisement. Generally, the concept is to push a consumer into purchasing the company's product instead of competitors. There are many mediums of advertising that affect diverse groups, some more effective than others. Specific companies advertise in specific ways to target their audience. For example, you won't find ads for life insurance during childrens shows here in the United States. In Russia, there was an effective strategy that I found to be quite interesting. Below you will find a picture of eggs being used as a medium for advertising.

These eggs say "продам пежо" which means something similar to "Selling Peugeot" which is a manufacturer of cars. The printers that are used to stamp every egg can be reprogrammed to say just about anything and lets be serious, who doesn't like scrambled eggs in the morning? Just another interesting thing that happens in Russia. 

Jehovah's Witnesses - Their Dilemma in Russia (Tito Feliciano Portfolio Post Unit 1)

The Jehovah's Witnesses, a christian group of an estimated 7 million members, has been subject to legal persecution in Russia for many years now, and as of 2004, they were banned from practicing their religion by law. This was due to the fact that the political leaders in Russia thought that the Jehovah's Witnesses were "it encourag[ing] younger members to disown families and neglect civic duties".

This ruling was taken to the European Court of Human Rights and it decided that the ruling "to dissolve the Moscow branch of the Jehovah's Witnesses was illegal" and "was based on insufficient grounds".

The result was that, for a while, the court's decision went unchallenged. However, on the 9th September, 2010, Russia officially challenged the unanimous decision by the ECHR, requesting "that the case be referred to the Grand Chamber."

"The unanimous decision of the ECHR made clear that the liquidation and ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses was in violation of fundamental human rights guaranteed by the European Convention, including freedom of religion and freedom of peaceful association. Reversing the ban on the Witnesses and restoring their status as an officially registered religious association in Moscow would be an important step forward for Russia regarding freedom of worship. However, the Russian government’s request for a rehearing of the matter by the Court’s Grand Chamber delays Russia’s compliance with the Court’s ruling and adds fuel to an already heated environment of religious intolerance against Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia

The Moscow ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses, based on a June 16, 2004, ruling of the Moscow City Court, has been systematically used by officials to justify a campaign of hostility with the aim of banning the Witnesses throughout Russia. Since then, a series of negative court rulings in Russia threaten freedom of worship. In particular, the December 8, 2009, ruling by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation regarding the literature of Jehovah’s Witnesses has led to a dramatic increase in the number and intensity of incidents against Witnesses. There have been arson attacks on their places of worship, physical attacks on individuals, and unwarranted arrests. These and hundreds of other documented acts of religious intolerance, either instigated or condoned by the Russian government, continue unabated.

Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide look to the European Court either to allow the present ruling to stand or to reinforce it by an affirming ruling from the Grand Chamber."

Dialogues: David Kinkaid posted our dialogues on a blog post of his.

Sources: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2010/06/10/Court-supports-Russian-Jehovahs-Witnesses/UPI-57201276218114/

http://www.jw-media.org/rus/20100914a.htm