Equine Shopping
Sergei Yolkin
2013
______________________________
“Galloping in Rio” prepared a list of what a rider and a horse need in order to achieve good results in the arena. Sergei Yolkin saw it this way.
3 June 2013
Sergei Yolkin
RIA-Novosti
Sunday, 16 June 2013
16 June 2013. Sergei Yolkin’s World. Then, Apple Changed the Whole World
Then, Apple Changed the Whole World
Sergei Yolkin
2013
______________________________
Sergei Yolkin takes a puckish look at Apple CEO Tim Cook’s announcement that it’s preparing to release innovative products that can potentially change the market.
29 May 2013
Sergei Yolkin
RIA-Novosti
Comments Off
16 June 2013. Sergei Yolkin’s World. Minzdrav Snatches Away Victims from Death
Minzdrav Snatches Away Victims from Death
Sergei Yolkin
2013
******
In Russian usage, “Minzdrav” is an acronym for Ministry of Health (in Russian, of course). It’s common coinage in the Russian language… for instance, Minobrony is the Ministry of Defence, and Minyust is the Ministry of Justice. American equivalents are POTUS, SecDef, and DoD. Bureaucratese IS international, after all. In Orwell’s 1984, the reader finds the Russian format for acronym formation in the Newspeak Ingsoc, Minitrue, and Miniluv (amongst others). It’s not sinister in intent… although it appears that way at times. It’s just meant to save keystrokes (no lie).
BMD
______________________________
Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova estimates that the new anti-smoking law has the intent of saving 150,000 to 200,000 Russian lives a year. Here’s how Sergei Yolkin sees it.
28 May 2013
Sergei Yolkin
RIA-Novosti
Comments Off
Saturday, 15 June 2013
A View from Moscow by Valentin Zorin… Spy Scandal: Anything Goes
Old-School Spy Mania
Sergei Yolkin
2013
______________________________
The recent seizure of a Moscow-based CIA spy who was caught trying to recruit a Russian as an agent received wide publicity in the press. Media outlets quickly picked up the story of the CIA agent’s clumsy work, but dropped it several days later after sneering at the white wig, the dark glasses, and other spy paraphernalia found on the scene. However, the most important fact regarding this ugly incident… the one that deserves particular attention… was missing from media reports. That was the time chosen by the unfortunate agent’s bosses for the operation. Shortly before the arrest of Ryan Fogle, US Secretary of State John Kerry handed President Putin a letter from US President Barack Obama. Putin’s reply was ready and his representative was ready to deliver it to the White House. Thus, the scandal broke at a time when political circles in Russia and the USA were busy discussing forthcoming meetings of Presidents Putin and Obama, which could bring a “whiff of fresh air” to rapidly deteriorating Russia-US relations. The spy scandal came right out of the blue, concocted right on the spot, and was ostensibly at odds with the emerging thaw in bilateral relations. This could hardly be a coincidence!
Evidently, some influential groups in Washington disapprove of President Obama’s tentative attempts to bring back the “reset”. As if by magic, domestic political scandals directed against the president have become particularly frequent recently, replacing one after another at an alarmingly fast pace. In a recent development, President Obama fired Steven Miller, the head of the Internal Revenue Service, over a high-profile scandal. Miller was one of the key figures in the US administration; he was a close presidential adviser. After the media reported that phone conversations of Associated Press employees were being hacked and someone was eavesdropping on them, the far-right press was quick to draw a parallel with the infamous Watergate scandal, which began with reports of interceptions of phone conversations and ended with the resignation of President Nixon.
However, this was not enough for the masterminds of anti-presidential scandals in the USA. As a result, they’ve brought old reports about the killing of the US ambassador in Libya back to newspapers and TV news. Republican leaders used the killing in an attempt to manipulate public opinion to prevent Obama’s reelection to a second term. Nonetheless, since then, even though there’s been no new information regarding the case, they’re using it again, to escalate their campaign against the president. Bogged down in political bickering, Washington’s ruling élite is obstructing the resolution of important political issues to the detriment of their country’s national interests. A turn for the better in US-Russia relations left the leaders of the military-industrial complex scared of losing their main asset… the so-called “image of a foe”, which is a source of hefty profits for the “Cannon Kings”. When profits are at stake, all means are good as long so they serve the purpose. Even the catching of a small-fish of an agent roaming the streets of Moscow in a white wig will do.
1 June 2013
Valentin Zorin
Voice of Russia World Service
http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_06_01/Spy-scandal-anything-goes-9957/
Comments Off
Wednesday, 12 June 2013
12 June 2013. Sergei Yolkin’s World. An Appetite for Excellence
An Appetite for Excellence
Sergei Yolkin
2013
******
The ЕГЭ (EGE: Единый государственный экзамен, Unified State Exam) is the Russian analogue to the American SAT test; one can’t go on to university/VUZ without passing it. Overall, it’s a nerve-racking affair.
______________________________
Nutritionists and paediatricians wrote an article on how and what to feed secondary school students to help them cope with the tasks of the EGE. Sergei Yolkin saw other facets to such a diet.
27 May 2013
Sergei Yolkin
RIA-Novosti
http://ria.ru/caricature/20130527/939676559.html
Comments Off
16 June 2013. Sergei Yolkin’s World. The Price of Resistance
Tags: cartoons, Druzhina, druzhinniki, editorial cartoons, legal affairs, political commentary, politics, Russia, Russian, Saint Petersburg, Sergei Yolkin, street patrols
The Price of Resistance
Sergei Yolkin
2013
******
St Petersburg has reintroduced the Soviet-era practise of дружинники (druzhinniki). That’s a tough word to “English”. Literally, it’s “companions”… they’re ordinary sorts who patrol the streets to supplement beat cops. I guess that the only way to say it would be “civilian street patrols”, but it loses a great deal of the flavour of the Russian original, which implies that the druzhinniki are a group of mates familiar with one another, who’re patrolling their neighbourhood to ensure its safety.
By the way, these aren’t huge fines… 500 Roubles is 16.75 USD (11.75 Euros. 10 UK Pounds), and 300 Roubles is 9.50 USD (7 Euros. 6 UK Pounds). I can see why Yolkin doubts whether they’ll be effective at all.
BMD
______________________________
The St Petersburg Municipal Duma introduced fines for resisting civilian street patrols. Sergei Yolkin wonders how that’ll scare off those who’d resist them.
6 June 2013
Sergei Yolkin
RIA-Novosti
http://ria.ru/caricature/20130606/941794180.html