Russia does well at Beijing Olympics

   

In the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, Russia performed quite well in the games, ending up third in the overall medal count. The team concluded the games with a total of 72 medals- 23 gold, 21 silver, and 28 bronze. Ahead of Russia was the United States with a total of 110 medals and the host nation, China, with 100 medals. 

Russia earned gold medals in the following events: Wrestling, Tennis, Athletics, Canoeing, Synchronized Swimming, Gymnastics, and Boxing. Notable athletes included Evgenie Kaneaeva (All-Around Rhythmic Gymnastics), Elena Dementieva (Women's Singles Tennis), Rakhim Chakhkiev (91kg Boxing), and Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermakova (Women's Duet Synchronized Swimming).

   

          Evegenie Kaneaeva

Rakhim Chakhkiev 

Silver medals were earned in the numerous sports like Wrestling, Synchronized Diving, Shooting, Swimming, Weightlifting, Tennis, Wrestling, Canoeing, Handball, and Athletics. Women's tennis star Dinara Safina was among the many athletes that brought silver medals home to Russia. Safina recently made a great showing at the US Open as the 6th seated player, she lost to Serena Williams in the Semifinal round. 

Russians Sweep Women's Tennis Singles

(From left to right) Safina, Dementieva, Zvonareva

Bronze medal events included Diving, Shooting, Swimming, Archery, Canoeing, Weightlifting, Athletics, Tennis, Gymnastics, Cycling, Boxing, Volleyball and Basketball. 

The men's Volleyball and women's Basketball teams earned their country respective gold medals. The women's Basketball team defeated the host nation for the medal and the Volleyball team defeated Italy, 3-0.

Russia has also performed well in previous Olympic Games. Since the 1900 Paris games, Russia has earned a total of 323 medals. Even in the Winter Games, Russia has earned an impressive total of 76 medals, 33 of which are gold. Its worth noting that Russia has only participated in 4 Winter Olympic games, starting in 1994 in Lillehammer.

Despite the impressive performance in Beijing, Russia earned more medals in both the 2004 Athens games, 92 total medals, and the 2000 Sydney games, 88 total medals.         

                

So, what can we expect for the 2012 London games? One can't be entirely certain, but I'm sure it'll be nothing short of incredible. 

The Red Square

Russia's Red Square is the most famous city square in Russia, and one of the most famous in the world.

There are common misconceptions about where the name "Red Square" comes from. Some say it is from the association of the Communist Party with the color red, others believe it has to do with the colors of the brick surrounding it. In actuality, the name came about because the Russian word красный can mean either "red" or "beautiful" ("beautiful" being an archaic meaning).

Major streets of Moscow radiate from here in all directions, being promoted to major highways outside the city, which is one of the reasons the Red Square is often considered to be the center of Moscow and all of Russia.

The square was originally covered with wooden buildings, but it was cleared by Ivan III's edict in 1493, as the buildings were dangerously prone to fires. The newly-opened area gradually came the serve as Moscow's main marketplace. The square has been gradually built up since that point and has been used for official ceremonies by all Russian governments since it was established. Later, it was also used for various public ceremonies and proclamations.

In 1990, the Kremlin and Red Square were among the very first sites in the USSR added to UNESCO's World Heritage Site list.

St. Basil's Cathedral
The building most often associated with Russia. This cathedral was commissioned by Ivan IV. It consists of nine chapels built on a single foundation and its architecture is often considered to be representative of Russia's position between Europe and Asia.
(A litte Russians-are-crazy trivia: Ivan IV had the architect of St. Basil's blinded when he finished the project so that he could not create a more magnificent building for anyone else.)

Place of Skulls
Despite the ominous name, Lobnoye Mesto was not a place for public executions. This site has regularly been used as a platform for the issuance of decrees by Russian leaders.

GUM
Russia's premier department store is marked by its stone arches and glass roofs and was built in 1893. The building was an achievement for Russia's pre-revolutionary architecture and runs the entire length of the square.

Stalin's Grave
The grave of Joseph Stalin--one of the most influential and infamous leaders of Russia--is marked simply by a granite bust. Even today, thousands of communists visit the grave and leave flowers.

Kazan Cathedral
This Russian Orthodox church is over 300 years old, however, it was destroyed in 1936 by Stalin to allow large military vehicles to parade through the square. It was rebuilt in 1993 with the help of memories, old black and white photgraphs and blueprints. It is viewed by some as a symbol of a dark time followed by a joyous resurrection.

Zero Point
The bronze compass is a symbolic zero point from which all roads in Russia are measured.

One Red Square

At this restaraunt, located on the first floor of the State Historical Museum, visitors can experience

a classic russian tea party. There are also monthly black-tie "history banquets", which include ballroom dancing. It has become a scene of Russia's cultural reawakening.

The Tsar Bell
The Tsar bell, being the largest in the world, measuring ina t 202 tons of bronze, was made to be a symbol of Russia's size and might. However, the bell cracked before it could ever be rung. (Ironic?)

Alexander Gardens

This public park, created in 1821, is full of lush lawns, peaceful fountains, and plenty of walking paths. Although the gardens are right next to the Red Square visitors can feel very relaxed and unofficial.

English spelling | You write potato, I write ghoughpteighbteau | Economist.com

A pretty good article on English orthography and historical lexicology, with some interesting factoids... I wonder what they mean that the printing press was "initially staffed by non-English speakers"?

Makes you appreciate the rational and transparent rules for Russian:

English spelling: You write potato, I write ghoughpteighbteau

GHOTI and tchoghs may not immediately strike readers as staples of the British diet; and even those most enamoured of written English’s idiosyncrasies may wince at this tendentious rendering of “fish and chips”. Yet the spelling, easily derived from other words*, highlights the shortcomings of English orthography. This has long bamboozled foreigners and natives alike, and may underlie the national test results released on August 12th which revealed that almost a third of English 14-year-olds cannot read pr

Publish Post

operly.

Just what we need!

Don't get me wrong, I love the United States (now you know this is going to be bad), but we really need to get our act together when it comes to money.

Today, our Treasure Secretary, Henry Paulson, says he is going to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. On top of that we (that's right "we" - whose money do you think they are spending?) are giving $1 Billion, with a capital "B", dollars to Georgia. No, not the state, the country formerly part of the Soviet Union.

"We" are giving this money as "aid" (A.K.A. be-our-friend money) to assist Georgia in rebuilding after their war with Russia. Seriously? One, we don't want to get in a war with Russia. Two, we can't help Georgia in any meaningful way, so why waste the money? And lastly, we don't have the money to spend! As noted above, we are performing yet another government bailout, social security is broke and you won't get any, and we currently spend more on the interest of our national debt than what we spend on the Department of Homeland Security, Education, and four years of war in Iraq AND Afghanistan! (the wars just caught up in 2008)

Other than the aid money, you might be asking yourself what this has to do with Russia? Well, currently they control and produce a good portion of the gas that both Europe and Asia use. As these countries, especially Europe, move away from coal, Russia will be bringing in even more money. The U.S. spends almost as much money on national debt interest for one month as what Russia has in total national debt.

Again, I love my country, but we might need to pay some more tax dollars to get our politicians a good, ol' fashioned, Soviet brainwashing, err, "financial reeducation".

Talk about a stud of a leader

Forget Catherine the Great, or whatever her name was...

PUTIN THE TIGER SLAYER!

Now THAT is a cool title to go down in history with.

More violence in the Caucasus

Ingushetia is a small republic (the smallest republic in the country) squeezed between N. Ossetia and Chechnya, with which it has a troubled relationship. This death, at the hands of Russian police, of a quasi-journalist (a blogger, I guess you'd call him) will likely not make the evening news, but it's another sign of the troubles in the Caucasus. Yevloyev is the latest in a long, sad list of journalists who have died under questionable circumstances in Russia.

Ingushetiya.ru Owner Shot Dead

01 September 2008
By Nabi Abdullaev / Staff Writer
The owner of the embattled opposition web site Ingushetiya.ru was killed Sunday after being detained by police, and his supporters promised massive protests that could lead to a sharp escalation in violence in the restive region.

Magomed Yevloyev, a prominent opposition member and staunch critic of Ingush President Murat Zyazikov, was detained in Ingushetia's main city of Nazran as he stepped off a plane from Moscow, his lawyer and friend Kaloi Akhilgov said by telephone.

He said Yevloyev had flown in business class with Zyazikov, a retired general from the Federal Security Service, and suggested that the two might have quarreled during the flight.

Ingush police said they had wanted to question Yevloyev in connection with an investigation into an explosion in Nazran earlier this year, Interfax reported.

Our stupid discourse...

What about Canada?

And watch this one ONLY if you have a really good sense of humor...

This routine made me laugh so hard...


If you have a low threshold for ribald humor, I wouldn't recommend watching this... But, boy, let me tell you, you'll remember what a hard sign looks like... (It's all in Russian, but I think you'll get the jokes and recognize the letters.)

Русский алфавит...

For the firsties, learning their азбука, their ABCs. This isn't really an ABC song that I've ever heard sung in Russia (Frere Jacques, isn't it?), but it's good to listen to.

Friction With Russia May Spell Trouble for U.S.

The more things change...

Friction With Russia May Spell Trouble for U.S. - NYTimes.com:

"Still, although the confrontation over Georgia had been building for years, the outbreak of violence demonstrated just how abruptly the international scene can change. Now Russia is the top focus in Washington and some veteran diplomats fret about the situation spiraling out of control. “Outrage is not a policy,” said Strobe Talbott, who was deputy secretary of state under Bill Clinton and now is president of the Brookings Institution. “Worry is not a policy. Indignation is not a policy. Even though outrage, worry and indignation are all appropriate in this situation, they shouldn’t be mistaken for policy and they shouldn’t be mistaken for strategy.”"

Ilves, the president of Estonia, said it best last week: For the past fifteen years, NATO's strategy has been predicated on Russia's continued passiveness. It's as though the West has forgotten Russia's history. But, unsurprisingly, Russian never forgot.

Oil shot up five bucks a barrel today, largely on concerns that Russia could monkey around with deliveries. Russia is just behind Saudi Arabia in daily oil production, though a fair amount of that oil goes to domestic use, which makes Russia the number two oil producer. (Its reserves are probably far smaller than Saudi Arabia's.) It holds far and away the largest natural gas reserves in the world -- something like fully 1/3 of the natural gas on the planet is beneath the Russian Federation.