Winter Olympics Digest: 13 February 2010/Part 2

Anna Bulygina (1984- ), biathlete, Honoured Master of Sport, best Russian finisher (fourth) in the 7.5 kilometre sprint

Anastasia Kuzmina, born in Tyumen in Russia, competing for the national team of Slovakia, won the 7.5 kilometres sprint in the biathlon competitions at the Vancouver Olympics. Having made only one mistake in two lines of fire, Kuzmina finished with a score of 19 minutes 55.6 seconds, fifteen seconds ahead of Magdalena Neuner of the German team, who also made one mistake. Frenchwoman Marie Doren won the bronze. Russia’s biathletes were no medals in the first Olympic race. The best Russian scores were by Anna Bulygina (0 misses, fourth place), which lost the fight for the bronze to Doren by less than two seconds. Olga Zaitseva (0 misses), behind the winner of the race by 27.8 seconds, was in seventh, Svetlana Sleptsova (0 misses), lost to Kuzmina by 47.5 seconds, finished 13th. In final and 22^nd place was Olga Medvedtseva (1 minute 6.0 seconds behind the leader), who had one mistake.

Women’s biathlon… Russia vs Germany 2009

In the overall World Cup this season, Doren and Kuzmina scored in the third tenth. Doren was in the 24^th position; Kuzmina was in 28^th. In the 2009/10 season, the best result in the sprint for Doren was seventh place was at the World Cup in Oberhof. Kuzmina came in the third in the individual race at the Slovenian Poklyuyke. We should note that rains and zero temperature in Whistler complicated the first Olympic biathlon race held there. After the rain ended, the trail was “limp” and slippery. The next event in the Biathlon will be the 10-kilometre pursuit race on 16 February.

Ivan Skorbev (1983- ), speed skater, Master of Sport/International Class, winner of the bronze in the 5,000-metre event

Skater Ivan Skobrev won the first Olympic medal for Russia in Vancouver, taking third place in the 5,000-metre competition with a score of 6 minutes 18.05 seconds, about 4 seconds behind Dutchman Sven Kramer, who won the gold with a time of 6 minutes 14.6 seconds. South Korea’s Lee Seon Hong was in second place at 6 minutes 16.95 seconds. Skobrev was in the penultimate, 13th, pair, and managed to get ahead of his nearest rival, the Italian Enrico Fabris. The fate of the bronze medal was decided in the final 14-metre stretch of the race, where Norwegian Howard Becky tried to grab the bronze. He went the distance in front of Skobrev, but he eventually lost to the Russian by only 0.75 seconds. Another Russia skater who competes in the 5,000 metres, Aleksandr Rumyantsev, was disqualified for the event.

Ivan Skobrev in a 1,500-metre race with Yevgeni Lalenkov… it gives you an idea of his technique…  oh, yes, Lalenkov won this race.

Russian Olympic gold medallists will receive a prize of 100,000 euros (4.129 million Roubles 136,314 USD 86,846 UK Pounds), silver medallists will receive 60,000 euros (2.477 million Roubles 81,788 USD 52,107 UK Pounds), and bronze medallists pick up 40,000 euros (1.651 million Roubles 54,526 USD 34,378 UK Pounds).

Luger Albert Demchenko (1971- ), Honoured Master of Sport

Albert Demchenko is in fifth place in the luge after his first attempt in the singles competition at the Vancouver Olympics. The leaders of the competition after the first descent are Germany’s Felix Loch and David Muller, who are separated by 0.173 seconds. In third is the 2006 champion in Torino 2006, the Italian Armin Tsoggeler (0.305 seconds behind Loch). In addition to the three leaders, Demchenko is behind the Austrian Daniel Pfister. Demchenko’s gap from the leader is quite large, 0.415 seconds. Other two other Russian competitors, Viktor Kneib and Stepan Fedorov hold 17^th and 24^th places. At 06.10 MSK (03.10 UTC 22.10 EST 19.10 PST the last two, Saturday 13 February) on Sunday, the lugers begin the second of their four attempts. They will compete for their medals on Monday.

14 February 2010

Voice of Russia World Service

RIA-Novosti

http://rus.ruvr.ru/2010/02/14/4430033.html

http://rus.ruvr.ru/2010/02/14/4430091.html

http://olymp2010.rian.ru/biathlon2010/20100214/209089748.html

http://rian.ru/skating2010/20100214/209091472.html

http://rian.ru/luge2010/20100214/209104109.html

Dresden Commemorated the Victims of the Anglo-American Bombing in 1945

Dresdner Frauenkirche on Neumarkt Square in Dresden, the epicentre of the Anglo-American bombing of Dresden in 1945… now, rebuilt to its pre-war condition.

Thousands of Dresden residents gathered with candles Saturday evening at Neumarkt Square in the centre of the city to mark the 65^th anniversary of the devastating bombing of the city by Anglo-American bombers and to remember the dead. On the night of 13/14 February 1945, Anglo-American aircraft carried out unrelenting attacks upon Dresden, a city of 600,000 inhabitants, practically razing it to the ground. 25,000 buildings were destroyed or damaged, and the exact number of dead was never established, as the city was flooded with refugees. Experts estimate the death toll at 25,000. Dresden became a symbol of wanton destruction of cities of no military significance. Exactly at 21.45 CET (23.45 MSK), when over the first bombers appeared in the sky over Dresden bombers in 1945, all the church bells in the city were rung. The Dresdner Frauenkirche (Dresden Church of Our Lady) held a memorial service for those killed in the air raids. The magnificent cathedral was virtually destroyed during the bombing and it was only rebuilt in 2005, mainly using voluntary subscriptions. A few hours before the memorial observance, more than 10,000 ordinary people dispersed a march of more than 5,000 neo-Nazis, who traditionally use the anniversary of the bombing of Dresden for their provocations.

14 February 2010

Voice of Russia World Service

http://rus.ruvr.ru/2010/02/14/4429902.html

Some of the dead of the Dresden saturation bombing. Here is the true face of Anglo-Saxon moral posturing… they are no better than the rest of us… they may not have any more blood on their hands than the rest of us do, but they certainly do not have less. A meaty reflection, I say.

Editor’s Note:

One always sees posturing on the part of the Anglo-Saxons about their moral “superiority” to the rest of mankind. They forever lecture all others about their “democracy” and “freedom”… yet, I note that in the USA, UK, Canada, or Australia, one can lose one’s job if one doesn’t repeat the current PC rubbish (or at least keep silent whilst it is purveyed). That is why I believe that the Anglo-Saxon chattering classes are the dregs of humanity. On the one hand, they continually mewl out pietistic platitudes, on the other, they mercilessly bomb anyone who dares to disagree with them… except for the Russians and the Chinese, they have “The Bomb” and can attack the American heartland. Since the Anglo-Saxons cannot bully them, they vilify them.

Whenever you hear neocons and teabaggers bloviate about the West’s inherent superiority, reflect on Dresden. THAT is the true face of Anglo-Saxon “democracy”. It’s not very pretty, is it?

Remember those who lost their lives that night… they all had faces, they all had names…

BMD

Winter Olympics Digest: 13 February 2010/Part 1

On Friday, 12 February, the Russian National Team at the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, led by its banner-bearer, Aleksei Morozov, the captain of the hockey team. The TV people broke to an ad when the Russian team hove into view… for shame! Coincidental… I think not!

Andrei Balakhnin, special correspondent of Voice of Russia at the Winter Olympics at Vancouver, caught the mood of the crowd present at the opening ceremony. 60,000 spectators filled the BC Place arena, and more than three billion television viewers were enthralled by the spectacular opening ceremony. There was a laser show, a parade of the teams of the 82 participating countries, and the lighting of the Olympic flame. Unfortunately, the games did not start quite as the organisers had envisaged, for they began with a tragedy. During a trial run, a 21-year-old Georgian luger was killed. Our correspondent in Vancouver told us, “Of course, today, all of the Olympians are somewhat down. At the opening, there was a moment of silence in memory of the deceased athlete. Unfortunately, these things sometimes happen. I hope that this is the first and last case of such during this Olympics”. However, life goes on, and the Vancouver Olympic flame was lit. Five of the greatest Canadian athletes, headed by legendary hockey player Wayne Gretzky, lit it.

Олимпийский марш (Olimpisky Marsh: The Olympic March), the official team song of the Russian National Team, sung by Kristina Aglints… President Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin are in the audience.

The Canadian public gave a very warm welcome to the Russian national team. At the stadium, they cheered hockey team captain Aleksei Morozov. He was our banner-bearer, although, of course, it was evident that he was very excited about it all. Our correspondent, Andrei Balakhnin, said, “However, the editors of the television coverage snubbed the Russian team, in contrast to the athletes from the United States and Canada. Local Canadian TV cut out quite a bit of the procession of our Olympic team and, of course, that ticked us off more than a little bit. They should have waited until the Russian team had passed, which was the third team in order, after the United States and Canada. They could have waited for 10 seconds and not cut to an ad so quickly. However, in general, the crowd at the stadium greeted our team with appreciative applause. That is because most ordinary Canadians know and respect our team, especially our hockey players. Wherever I talked with people, in shops, offices, or anywhere else with everyday Canadians, I can say that everybody was interested in the result of the Russia-Canada hockey match”.

At the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver

Russia sent 177 athletes to the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. They will compete for medals in all 15 sports. According to expert opinion, the Russians hope to win 30-50 medals, of which 10 should be gold. Four years ago, at the Winter Olympics in Torino, Russia took fourth place in the informal national team competition.

Yevgeni Plyushchenko in his free programme at Tallinn in 2010, where he took the gold

Six sets of medals are up for grabs at the first “working” day of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. In the women’s 7.5 kilometre biathlon sprint race, the Russian team is battling for the top award. Russian fans pin most of their hopes for medals on the biathletes, hockey players, and figure skaters. Most of our fans are certain that the Russian team are will be first in the number of total medals at the Winter Olympics, as shown by a survey conducted by the all-Russia Public Opinion Research Centre (VTsIOM) on the eve of the Games. The poll shows that there is much attention being given to the figure skaters. More than half of those who are going to follow the Olympics will watch the competition just for that sport. Of course, our Russian figure skaters gave a brilliant performance at the last European Championship in Tallinn. Yevgeni Plyushchenko positively dominated the singles, Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin triumphed in the doubles, and Yuko Kawaguchi and Aleksandr Smirnov hope for success in Vancouver.

Our hockey players, three-time world champions, are sure that they can grab the gold for Russia. In February, the International Ice Hockey Federation’s rating of national teams, released before the Olympics in Vancouver was encouraging. The Russians led it with 2925 points, ahead of the Canadians by 20 points, and 130 ahead of the Swedes, the 2006 Winter Olympic champions at Torino.

Fireworks at the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games

Russian fans are expecting great things from our biathletes, especially our women’s team. Today, in the 7.5 kilometre sprint, Russian team captain Olga Zaitseva was amongst the starters, Svetlana Sleptsova, Anna Bulygina, and Olga Medvedtseva will also ski in this event. Therefore, the Russian team expects its first medal in this event. Four-time Olympic champion Aleksandr Tikhonov said, “The main thing is to fight for victory until the bitter end. There are a lot of unpredictable factors in any competition. At the World Cup two years ago, Olga Pylyova was lagging a Chinese girl by 20 metres. About 100 metres before the finish, I yelled to her, “Fight!” Then, the Chinese girl fell down, and Pylyova passed her, taking first place. Believe me; don’t give up until you cross the finish line!” In addition, there are chances for medals from the skaters, who are in the thick of it today as well. In the 5,000 metres, Ivan Skobrev could grab the laurels. He will start in the 13^th pair, together with the bronze medallist at the Torino Games, Italy’s Enrico Fabris.

Swiss ski jumper Simon Ammann won the first gold at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. On Saturday, he won the final competition on the small trampoline, showing a final of 276.5 points in two attempts. This is the first set of medals awarded at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

13 February 2010

Svetlana Kalmykova

Olga Syrova

Voice of Russia World Service

http://rus.ruvr.ru/2010/02/13/4418998.html

http://rus.ruvr.ru/2010/02/13/4419075.html

http://rus.ruvr.ru/2010/02/13/4429109.html

When We Forgive, This Doesn’t Mean That We Forget the Pain

Forgive me!

In anticipation of Forgiveness Sunday, which this year falls on 14 February, Archpriest Maksim Pervozvansky explained what forgiveness means. In his view, it doesn’t automatically eradicate the pain in one’s heart. In an interview with the website Православие и мир (Pravoslavie i Mir: Orthodoxy and the World), Fr Maksim, who is the rector of Forty Martyrs of Sebaste parish in Moscow, said that people say “I can’t forgive them” because they all too often assume that they won’t be able to forget the pain caused to them. He went to explain, “However, forgiveness doesn’t mean that we forget the pain. Forgiveness doesn’t imply an automatic and instant healing. It means something else, rather, ‘I shan’t hold on to this pain, for it shall cause nothing me nothing but evil. I don’t desire revenge on them, I accept them for what they are’”.

Fr Maksim related that it happens that a person thinks that everything is forgiven and forgotten, but, after a while, they flare up again in anger at their abuser. The point is that being unforgiving is a passion. A passion, in his view, once it settles in a soul, can become strongly rooted in it. It can also exist in a state of stasis, lurking for the time being, not showing any manifestations. Fr Maksim noted that Satan wishes to make the wound bleed again and reignite the pain again. Therefore, he picks at the wound tirelessly. Satan always reminds the person who inflicted the injury and refreshes his memory of the unpleasant words and actions of others. “It takes a long time for a scar to heal, it takes time, but we must do what is necessary and do our utmost to heal it”, Fr Maksim said.

He also believes that if you wish to learn to forgive, you must keep in mind one truth. Often, people who cause us pain do so with the Lord’s sufferance, although responsibility for their actions still falls on them. He went to note, “For example, if we ask God for such a quality as humility, it is wrong for us to expect that it will suddenly fall down on us from heaven all by itself. Rather, you should expect that God would allow someone to hurt us, to mock us, perhaps, even unfairly. Having undergone such an offence, if we find the strength to forgive, perhaps, only at the third, or at the tenth, or even at the twentieth attempt, we will achieve peace and we will learn humility. Therefore, you need to understand that nothing happens accidentally, and God works everything for our benefit”.

13 February 2010

ANN News

http://www.annews.ru/news/detail.php?ID=212675

Editor’s Note:

This applies most glaringly to the present situation in the OCA. Jonas Paffhausen refuses to offer sincere repentance for the sins of the Church, therefore, all his attempts at “forgiveness” are bootless, ineffectual, and, indeed, mired in prelest. You do not merely state, “Everything is over”. That is what an addled California New Age unbeliever says. You do not publish on the official website statements saying, “We did no wrong”, as was done in the Sidebottom case. You do not promise “transparency”, and, then, be MORE secretive than the previous administration.

You do what the late great Joe Adamov at Voice of Russia did when the Commies fell. He stepped up and said, “Forgive us. We lied to you over the years. We did wrong”. He offered no excuses; he did not attempt to lay the blame on others. He took responsibility for his actions and for everything that he did on the orders of others. THAT is how decent and honourable people act. Mr Adamov deserves our respect and esteem. If that is so, then, it is logical that Jonas Paffhausen, Benjamin Peterson, Iggy Burdikoff, Bobby K, Ray Velencia, Lyonyo Kishkovsky, and their confrères and enablers (which include people like Mr Reardon) don’t deserve the smallest iota of respect or credibility.

Make no mistake, justice, mercy, forgiveness, and responsibility are soul mates. If you remove one of these elements, then, you have gutted the whole process; you have created a soulless simulacrum of the real thing that is only fit for the fire. Real forgiveness includes a broken heart… something that no one has seen from the Syosset/SVS cabal yet. What shall God allow so that we learn our lesson? I don’t know… but He is not going to rest until He has trampled out the last bit of the vintage that the grapes of wrath have stored. Why must we live in “interesting times?”

BMD