Dipsy Doodle has been posting news stories of all types from many different sources at DU for a very long time. I for one am appreciative of DU'ers, such as they, that work to help keep us all informed on many issues. Just because you disagree with someone on one issue (provided your assumption is even correct) there is no need to attack them over one thing that is inconsistent with your own thinking. Personally I'm thankful for the story as I am currently in Voronezh, Russia with my infant son Maxim and 4 year old son Liam and we fly out to Switzerland in the next few days. (Hence the valuable information about baby bottles.)
One other thing for DU'ers that are all up in arms about Russia, homosexuality, the Olympics and Putin. Having been here 7 times previously and having many Russian friends I think it's naive to think your going to effect anything when it comes to Russian thinking. I wish it wasn't so but it truly is. Russia is nothing like the perception most DU'ers have. It's not like the cold war nightmare thats portrayed in the American press. That was 20 years ago. It is fucked up and it is crazy but everything DU'ers keep getting worked up about is so far from Russian reality it's comical.
Here's what Russia is really like: Pure madness in all areas, very few rules, very few enforced laws, amazing malls that blow American malls off the map, lots of police corruption, unfortunately an over machismo mindset dominates (hence the homosexual weirdness), lots of expensive new cars, beautiful restaurants with real service from highly intelligent waitstaff, they love their fashion, unfortunately they worship American rap (gang) culture ( these kids are called Potzan), they are glamorizing mafia lifestyles on all 3 of their music channels (Bridge TV, MTV Russia, and Musika). Most of their US news comes from RT Russia which actually does news stories that would have been normal in the US thirty years ago. (what a paradox!) These same news stories are considered left wing extremism in the US these days but Americans consider them anti US propaganda now as they come from RT. They are starting to pave and mark roads here and the crime rate is dropping, but of course there is a long way to go. Voronezh, where I am, is in my mind, similar to how Prague was in 89'. It's becoming the front of the wave for change thats emanating from Europe. Lots of new tech, new shops, new roads, new malls and new cars. It's booming. Maybe too fast. They could well do with a monorail if they want to curtail their road congestion problems.
Another thing, the young and middle aged Russians who helped dismantle the former Soviet Union laugh when you tell them that many Americans believe Ronald Reagan helped bring about the fall of the USSR. They lived through it and many were active protesting students listening to music from the UK. They simply say " don't fool yourself, all revolutions are internal". They believe that the US draining resources in Afghanistan had a minimal effect. The real problems had been coming for years, even before the war. They simply think it was time for Russia to change and they believe that rock music had the greatest effect on the young people that brought about that change. Chisck and Time Machine were two Russian bands that were heavily influenced by the Beatles and Deep Purple, that were putting out the underground messages through their songs. These same people I've talked to are now top tier computer programmers and company managers. They believe Russia is actually better off under Putin than any other leader. There is a saying in Russia "Eta Russia, it could always be worse". So DU'ers do yourself a favor and wake up a bit. Russia is Russia and it is not changing anytime soon (sadly) to placate your idealistic desires. It's 3 times larger than the USA and 40 years behind technologically and in some ways mentally. Quit kidding yourselves Russians give a shit what we think.
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