Understanding some of the problems in Ukraine

Ukraine will blockade pro-Russian militants

Against the warnings from Moscow, the central government in Kiev has threatened to blockade pro-Russia militants moving into the town Slovyansk near the border. This move is creating tension between Moscow and Washington as well as Europe. “Attempts at military conflict in Ukraine will lead to a military conflict in Europe,” Ukraine’s interim prime minister, Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk, told the interim cabinet in remarks broadcast live, according to Reuters. “The world has not yet forgotten World War II, but Russia already wants to start World War III.” The blockade has sent the world into the war mindset. There are still tensions from the Cold War that should be worried about. With this blockade being put up against the supposed oncoming Russian forces all of the countries are considering the affects that could occur if Russian activists and the Ukraine were to be in battle. The Ukrainian defense minister says that: “In the event of any crossing of the border by Russian troops, we will qualify this as an invasion and we will eliminate the invaders.”

How bad is the Russian threat?

In the past weeks Russian activist troops have been moving closer and closer to the Ukrainian border. At present time the troops are 1 kilometer away from the border. However the ATO (anti-terrorist operation) continues to patrol the border. The defense minister also says: “The ATO goes on,” he said. “The terrorists should be on their guard around the clock. Civilians have nothing to fear.”

Russia has repeatedly denied having a hand in the unrest convulsing eastern Ukraine or any intention to invade. But an announcement on Thursday by Moscow that it would immediately start military maneuvers along the border with Ukraine, and a threat by Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, of unspecified consequences for Ukraine as a result of what he called a “serious crime,” signaled a new phase in a geopolitical struggle set off by the overthrow of Ukraine’s government in February.

The debates and politics continue to roll on among the world powers, but only time will tell what will happen in Crimea and Ukraine.

Russian prisons

Black dolphin prison is the biggest and most famous prison in Russia. The prison houses approximately 700 of the most serious criminals in Russia. The location of the prison is near the border of Kazakhstan and was first started in 1745 as a jail and for deportation of robbers. The Prison got its name by a fountain with a statue of a black dolphin, which was made by the prisoners. The prisoners are in Black dolphin prison are there for life. There is an average of five murders per inmate, which is a combined 3,500 people.Prison guards place blindfolds on arriving prisoners so that they can not map out the prison or plan escapes. Prisoners are also blindfolded whenever they are transported between buildings. The prisoners have little time to exercise and when they do they are placed in another cell and while they are doing that guards check their cells searching for dangerous things. The prisoners are kept under surveillance for 24 hours. The prisoners are fed chicken and soup four times a day. The prisoners live in a cell, inside a cell with two layers of bars. No prisoner has ever escaped the prison.

 In my opinion I think it's very interesting that Russia has one of the most highly guarded and unique prisons. It's very smart that the prison doesn't let their inmates see anything outside so they can't plan an escape. This has worked because no one has ever escaped and I found the Black Dolphin prison a very interesting topic in Russia

Russian culture

Russian Culture has a long history of art including: literature, philosophy, ballet, classical music, painting and modern technology. Russia had some influence on world culture with all of these arts. Many famous ballets have been made by Russians such as the nutcracker. Russia also had a good history of science. Dmitri Mendeleev, a Russian chemist published the periodic table of elements in 1869. Russia's culture was shown well in the opening ceremony of the 2014 Olympics. The ceremony used a little girl named Lubov (which means love) to take the audience through the achievements and contributions of Russian scientists, artists and athletes.

Food is a big part of Russian culture, the most popular foods are soups, hot or cold, meats and fish, pies and pancakes, potatoes and cabbage and for beverages vodka sbiten', kvass, medovukha and mors are the most popular.

Propaganda

Experts say Propaganda in Russia is worse now than at the height of the Cold War. One thing that Russia excels at in the Cold War and now, is Propaganda. Propaganda: (noun) "Information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view." Back in the day, in the Soviet Union, the methods of propaganda were based on the Leninism-Marxism strategies of propaganda.


One of the goals of Russia’s propaganda is to suppress the will of people to resist, says Aurimas Navys, an officer from the Lithuanian army’s Strategic Communication Department.In his speech during a discussion on civic defence at the Seimas of Lithuania on Friday, he said that Russian television reaches 14 percent, or 405,000, residents of Lithuania.


According to Navys, there are several lines of Russia’s propaganda. The first aims at identifying the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with Belarus. The goal of the second one is to defame fighters for Lithuania’s independence, guerrilla fighters, spread disinformation about the Soviet aggression against Lithuania on January 13, 1991. One more line is aimed at spreading information degrading Lithuania, stating that it would not manage to defend itself.

Speaking about possible responses to propaganda, Navys stressed the role of ordinary citizens. He believes posts positive for the state in social media, in the media as well as videos positively representing Lithuania could be among possible responses.

“We are at war but it’s not the one we are used to seeing in movies,” the army representative said.

Following the discussion, held by the opposition Liberal Movement’s political group in the Seimas, later in the day new members of the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union will be sworn in in Gediminas’ Tower in Vilnius.


Russia’s aggression in Ukraine has lead to an increase in the number of people taking interest in the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union which has seen an increase in applications by a third.

50 candidates turned to the union over the past month, the union’s Vilnius Riflemen’s Company said, and the majority of them will be sworn in on Friday. New members include businessmen, lawyers, economists, physicists, electric engineers, civil servants, politicians, journalists.

In the wake of new threats, Vilnius Riflemen’s Company plans to establish new divisions that will be in charge of information and cyber defence and education issues.

Established in 1919, the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union is a state-funded voluntary paramilitary civic self-defence organization assisting the state in ensuring national security.

Russian cuisine

Russian cuisine is a collection of the different cooking traditions of the Russian people. The cuisine is diverse, as Russia is by area the largest country in the world.^[1] Russian cuisine derives its varied character from the vast and multi-cultural expanse of Russia. Moreover, it is necessary to divide Russian traditional cuisine and Soviet cuisine, which has its own peculiarity. Its foundations were laid by the peasant food of the rural population in an often harsh climate, with a combination of plentiful fish, poultry, game, mushrooms, berries, and honey. Crops of rye, wheat, barley and millet provided the ingredients for a plethora of breads, pancakes, cereals, beer and vodka. Soups and stews full of flavor are centered on seasonal or a usable product, fish and meats. This wholly native food remained the staple for the vast majority of Russians well into the 20th century.

Russia's great expansions of culture, influence, and interest during the 16th–18th centuries brought more refined foods and culinary techniques, as well as one of the most refined food countries in the world. It was during this period that smoked meats and fish, pastry cooking, salads and green vegetables, chocolate, ice cream, wines, and juice were imported from abroad. At least for the urban aristocracy and provincial gentry, this opened the doors for the creative integration of these new foodstuffs with traditional Russian dishes. The result is extremely varied in technique, seasoning, and combination. 

Meat

In traditional Russian cuisine three basic variations of meat dishes can be highlighted:

• a large boiled piece of meat cooked in a soup or porridge, and then used as second course or served cold (particularly in jellied stock—see Kholodets' below)
• offal dishes (liver, tripe, etc.), baked in pots together with cereals;
• whole fowl dishes or parts of fowl (legs or breasts), or a large piece of meat (rump) baked on a baking tray in an oven, so-called "zharkoye" (from the word "zhar"(жар) meaning "heat")

The 16th century "Domostroi" aimed at affluent households also mentions sausage-making, spit-roasted meats, stews and many other meat dishes.

As a garnish to meat dishes in the past the most common were porridges and cereals, in which the meat was boiled, later on boiled or rather steamed and baked root vegetables (turnips, carrots) as well as mushrooms; additionally the meat, without taking account its type, was garnished with pickled products—pickled cabbage, sour and "soaked" (marinated) apples (mochoniye yabloki), soaked cranberries, "vzvar"s. Pan juices, alone or mixed with sour cream or melted butter is used as gravy to pour on garnishing vegetables and porridges. Meat sauces i.e. gravies based on flour, butter, eggs and milk, are not common for traditional Russian cuisine.

Shashlyk is a form of Shish kebab (marinated meat grilled on a skewer) popular in former Soviet Union countries, notably in Georgia, Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Uzbekistan. It often features alternating slices of meat and onions. Even though the word "shashlyk" was apparently borrowed from the Crimean Tatars by the Cossacks as early as the 16th century, kebabs did not reach Moscow until the late 19th century, according to Vladimir Gilyarovsky's "Moscow and Moscovites". From then on, their popularity spread rapidly; by the 1910s they were a staple in St Petersburg restaurants and by the 1920s they were already a pervasive street food all over urban Russia. Shashlik is also used in Russia as a food to be cooked in outdoor environment, similarly to barbecue in English-speaking countries.

Hot soups

Rassolnik is a hot soup in a salty-sour cucumber base. This dish formed in Russian cuisine quite late—only in the 19th century. About this time the name rassolnik was attached to it, originating from the Russian word rassol which means "brine (food)" (pickle water). Pickle water was known to be used as base for soups from the 15th century at the latest. Its concentration and ratio with other liquids and soup components gave birth to different soups: solyanka, shchi, and of course rassolnik. The latest are moderately sour-salty soups on pickled cucumber base. Some are vegetarian, but more often with products like veal or beef kidneys or all poultry giblets (stomach, liver, heart, neck, feet). For best taste there has to be a balance between the sour part and neutral absorbers (cereals, potatoes, root vegetables). Typical rassolnik is based on kidneys, brine (and pickles), vegetables and barley.

Shchi (cabbage soup) had been the predominant first course in Russian cuisine for over a thousand years. Although tastes have changed, it steadily made its way through several epochs. Shchi knew no social class boundaries, and even if the rich had richer ingredients and the poor made it solely of cabbage and onions, all these "poor" and "rich" variations were cooked in the same tradition. The unique taste of this cabbage soup was from the fact that after cooking it was left to draw (stew) in a Russian stove. The "Spirit of shchi" was inseparable from a Russian izba (log hut). Many Russian proverbs are connected to this soup, such as Shchi da kasha pishcha nasha (Russian: Щи да каша — пища наша, "Shchi and porridge are our staples"). It can be eaten regularly, and at any time of the year.

The richer variant of shchi includes several ingredients, but the first and last components are a must:

1. Cabbage.
2. Meat (very rarely fish or mushrooms).
3. Carrots, basil or parsley roots.
4. Spicy herbs (onions, celery, dill, garlic, pepper, bay leaf).
5. Sour components (smetana, apples, sauerkraut, pickle water).

Alcoholic Beverage

Of Russia's alcoholic beverages, perhaps the most ancient is Medovukha, a sweet, low-alcohol drink, made with fermented-honey with the addition of various spices. A stronger honey-based beverage, stavlenniy myod, also exists in Russia and is broadly equivalent to Scandinavian mead; it is typically made with the admixture of berry juices.

Vodka is the most well-known of Russia's alcoholic products and is produced, with some variation, throughout the country. Vodka can be either grain or potato based and is frequently flavored with a great variety of ingredients ranging from hot-pepper and horseradish to fruits and berries.

Beer has been manufactured in Russia since at the very least the 9th century. Its popularity was for many centuries concentrated in the Lands of Novgorod. Beer continued to be made throughout Russian history, but real growth came in the 18th century when many breweries were founded in order to supply the newly modernized and expanded imperial army and fleet. A real explosion in the popularity of beer came in the last decades of the Soviet Era and has continued into the present day, with Russia now ranking as the fourth largest producer in the world.

Wine is manufactured in the southern regions in the country, but lags far behind other alcoholic beverages in popularity. The wine industry, which was somewhat notable in imperial times, is slowly expanding, but most Russians that drink wine tend to prefer imported foreign varieties, especially sweet varieties produced in the countries of the former USSR and little known in the outside world.

Non-alcoholic Beverage 

Kvass is an ancient and still widely popular bread-based drink. The basic method of preparing kvass includes water, flour and liquid malt; these ingredients are used to make a dough that is subjected to fermentation. This results in a beverage with very low alcohol content. Commercial kvas is often around 0.5% alcohol. The fermented liquid, referred to as "zator," is diluted with water and mixed with yeast, sugar, and aromatic additives. This final mixture is allowed to brew for several days. Flavor additives may include fruit and berry juices (cherry, raspberry, lemon, etc.), as well as ginger and mint.

Sbiten, another non-alcoholic drink, is made of honey, water, fruit juices, and spices. Sbiten was once the most popular non-alcoholic beverage in the country, but in the last few centuries it has been superseded and largely replaced by tea and coffee.

Is Vladimir Putin the new Stalin?

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is living in another world. But what world exactly is this? As the Crimean crisis drags on, it is becoming clear that Putin’s thinking is somehow stuck in 1930s Europe. Replace Putin with Stalin and you get a good sense of what Russia’s leader is doing and, more importantly, how he can be stopped.

Much has been written about how the Soviet Union shaped Putin’s thinking. To him, Russia’s immediate past is not just a tool to foster patriotism. It is a model he is hoping to emulate.Putin has long tried to recreate Soviet greatness by invading neighbors (think Georgia 2008) and building a Eurasian economic union. Along the way, he has also adopted a way of thinking that is strikingly similar to his Soviet predecessors.In fact, he invaded Crimea for much the same reasons that Stalin invaded eastern Poland in 1939. Comparing the two invasions not only helps us make sense of a complicated situation, but it also offers clues on how Putin’s expansionism can eventually be defeated.

A way to snap Putin back into reality is one that Our President Would not want to do. It would require President Obama to open the Keystone pipeline, allow fracking and other oil company's to drill oil deposits in Alaska. so that America can become energy self-dependent. This would cut off Russia from the revenue that it receives from America, which would change Putin and Russia mind about the Crimean Crisis.

Breaking Stalin's Nose Book Review and Analysis

Breaking Stalin's Nose by Eugene Yelchin, follows the story of little Sasha Zaichik in Stalinist Russia. The minds of many young people's minds are corrupted by the false promises that Stalin has fed to them. Sasha is among this group, thinking that Stalin is god. Sasha lives in a communal home for Russian people, housing 48 people, that should fit maybe

Setting/ Point of View: The book, Breaking Stalin's Nose, by Eugene Yelchin, follows the young life of Sasha Zaichik in Stalinist Soviet Russia in the 1950's. Sasha lived in a Russia which was based on farming that Stalin wanted to turn to a heavily industrialized state.

Genre: Fiction, based on Soviet Russia at the time.

Tone: The tone is serious but also hopeful. It is serious because of his dead Mom, imprisoned Dad and his homelessness+ poverty.

What is the title talking about?
The title, Breaking Stalin's Nose literally refers to the moment in the book when Sasha is running with a sharp-pointed banner and breaks the nose off of a bust of Stalin.

Top 5 Quotes Breaking Stalin's Nose

1."Dear comrade Stalin, I'm very sorry I broke your nose. You know how much I love you. You know how much I want to be a pioneer. Please make it so I can become one. Please. I'll be your best pioneer, I promise.

2.The voice on the radio says, "Soviet people, follow our great Leader and Teacher--the beloved Stalin--forward and ever forward to Communism! Stalin is our banner! Stalin is our future! Stalin is our happiness!"

3. It's not possible to be a true Pioneer without training one's character in the Stalinist spirit. I solemnly promise to make myself strong from physical exercise, to forge my Communist character, and always to be vigilant, because our capitalistic enemies are never asleep

4.Communism is just over the horizon; soon there will be plenty of food for everyone. But still, it's good to have something tasty to eat now and then. I wonder what it's like in the capitalist countries. I wouldn't be surprised if children there had never even tasted a carrot.

5.Remember, class, our great Leader and Teacher is always watching us from the Kremlin.

Stalin: Man of Steel Film Review

General Topic and Themes:
 In the Documentary, Stalin - Man of Steel  it follows the life and rise to power of Joseph Stalin in his home country of Russia. Stalin was in office from the 3rd of April 1922 to the 16th of October 1952. As a child, Stalin had many health issues and nearly died on several occasions. Stalin was married twice after his first wife died.


Quality and Interest:
The film Stalin: Man of Steel, in my opinion is one of the more interesting documentaries that I have seen. While the film is mostly in black and white, certain themes including foreshadowing and character development keep the film fresh and interesting for the duration of the documentary. This film, as a documentary has a mix of pictures and video recorded of Stalin at the time combined with overlapped audio from historians discussing the topic. As well as the visual history, there is also some music and chanting from when Stalin was in power, which kept it interesting. The documentary roughly followed Stalin's rise to power by following his life as it progressed. However, there are still flash forwards and foreshadowing to keep the video fresh. I think that some young people would be interested in the documentary that we watched, but others would not. This is because the film is a documentary, which could be boring to some young people, but to others the film could be very interesting. Overall, Stalin: Man of Steel showed Stalin's life and his control through an interesting lens.

Relating to breaking Stalin's nose:
 In the documentary, Stalin: Man of Steel, The Soviet rise of power is shown with documents and footage of Stalin succeeding Lenin as the leader of the Soviet Union, in Breaking Stalin's Nose, by Eugene Yelchin, Sasha is a 10 year old boy living in the Soviet Union at the time and is experiencing many of the things under Stalin's rule. At first its going great for Sasha, he is about to be accepted in the Young Soviet Pioneers and his father is a great communist who works for the Police of Soviet. The Documentary tells stories how Stalin turned on his people and caused many to die and a great amount were locked up in prison with horrible conditions. The documentary showed with vivid images the prisons and camps with many stories of survivors. The stories are very interesting and draw many people into learning more about the camps and prisons. This relates to the book because while Sasha's live is going well, his dad gets arrested for being an enemy of the people and gets taken to prison. When Sasha realizes his father will not be coming back he has the choice to go to the same place his father is locked up in and he takes it with the hopes of seeing his father again. Andre Miller