My Folks in Massive Moscow

My world-traveled parents visited me in Massive Moscow Ma & Pa in Moscow See the light yet? This past week, my parents were here to see the wonders that I keep writing about, and to visit me. They spent the week doing the usual tourist thing, along with my twisted…

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Better than Fireworks

Never refuse a trip to the dacha, even on the 4th of July The Good Life What a weekend! Not only was it the 222nd birthday for America, it was also my landlord’s (Vladimir) birthday too. Usually I would join with all the other Americans here at the Annual 4th…

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Miners Are Real Men

The power of the common man is still alive! The eXile, 5 Jul 1998 LET THEM EAT COAL Vorkuta’s Miners Enjoy the Fruits of Reform By Matt Taibbi After 33 long years working in the Severny coal mine in his native Vorkuta, Grigory Mikhailovsky decided one day in 1996 he’d…

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The Russian Mafia is the Roof

The only men who know how to do business in the CIS The Moscow Times, July 5, I998 INSIDE RUSSIA AvtoVAZ Loses Its Only Real Organization By Yulia Latynina It has been two months since AvtoVAZ began holding up payments to the federal budget. Nearly 100,000 automobiles are sit ling…

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No One Smiles in the CIS

Rob and Gailyn, your average Midwesterners, sure got a shock when they landing in Moscow! No Smiling! Metro Signs 101: WALK DON’T WALK So nice, I could stay lost! Clean those streets! This week, I met an adventurous American couple for dinner, who where in Moscow on a look-see visit….

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