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Kaliningrad
The Russian exclave of Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea is sandwiched between Poland to the south and Lithuania to the north and east.
Annexed from Germany in 1945, the territory was a closed military zone throughout the Soviet period.
In 2008, Russia threatened to deploy short-range missiles there if the United States went ahead with its plan to build controversial missile defence bases in Poland and the Czech Republic.
OVERVIEW
Koenigsberg, as the city of Kaliningrad was once known, was founded by Teutonic knights in the 13th century. It became one of the cities of the Hanseatic League and was once the capital of Prussia. The philosopher Immanuel Kant spent all his life in the city and died there in 1804.
The region was part of Germany until annexation by the USSR following World War II when it saw bitter fighting and suffered rampant destruction. The German population was expelled or fled after the war ended.
During the Soviet period, Kaliningrad Region, administratively part of the Russian Federation, was separated from the rest of Russia, more than 300km to the east, by the then Soviet republics of Lithuania, Latvia and Belarus.
Since Lithuania joined the EU it has been impossible to travel between the exclave and the rest of Russia over land without crossing the territory of at least one EU state. There has been friction, particularly with Lithuania, over transit regulations. President Putin described as a matter of Russian national security the inauguration of a new sea route linking the region with Ust-Luga, near St Petersburg, in 2006.
Kaliningrad was one of the most militarised and closed parts of the Soviet Union. Up to half a million servicemen were stationed there. The military were the region’s chief economic mainstay in the Soviet years. When the USSR ceased to be, that military presence was decimated along with the economic benefits it provided.
Kaliningrad is still of great strategic importance to Moscow. It houses the Russian Baltic Fleet at the port of Baltiysk and is the country’s only European ice-free port.
During the Soviet period, agriculture was a key industry. The market for Kaliningrad’s produce was largely dismantled with the collapse of the USSR. The economy nosedived in the early 1990s. Russia provided very little real investment. Unemployment soared and poverty became very widespread, particularly in rural areas. Organised crime and drugs became increasingly problematic. HIV infection rates rose.
In a bid to tackle the region’s problems, in 1996 the Russian authorities granted it special economic status and tax advantages intended to attract investors. Although corruption was an early deterrent, the region’s economy benefited substantially.
Kaliningrad underwent an unprecedented boom, and in 2007 a new $45m airport terminal was opened.
The European Commission provides funds for business projects under its special programme for Kaliningrad. The region began to see increasing trade with the countries of the EU as well as increasing economic growth and rising industrial output.
However, the global financial crisis of 2008-9 affected the region badly, and by the beginning of 2010 unemployment had climbed to over 10% – considerably higher than the Russian average.
Rumblings of discontent came to a head after a sharp increase in the cost of public transport, and in January an estimated 10,000 people attended a rally calling for the dismissal of Kaliningrad governor Georgiy Boos, in what was one of the biggest opposition protests in Russia in a decade.
Moscow keeps a wary eye on developments. The Kremlin is particularly sensitive over calls from within the region for a referendum on whether to seek greater autonomy within Russia with a view to strengthening ties with the European Union.
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10 Great Horror Films You’ve Probably Never Seen
about 1 year ago - 1 comment
Being a fan of horror, I thought it is high-time I showed some love for the genre on this site. Horror films are great because they appeal to our most base natures, but also because they are allowed to be as loopy and imaginative as they want… well, at lest they used to be. These days, imagination has been replaced by lots of gore and cheap ‘jump-out-of-your-seat’ shocks. Horror films no longer follow you home and haunt your dreams in the stillness of the night. So, here are ten great horror films that you’ve probably haven’t seen. They will provide you with a much needed antidote to the remake-hell that we are stuck in today. More importantly, each one of these films is very imaginative and will provide you with the nightmares you’ve been “lacking”.
10. I, Madman
This twisted gem from the eighties owes a lot to Freddy Krueger, but is also original and creepy in its own way. Jenny Wright (Near Dark) stars as a mousy book worm who discovers a very strange novel in the back of the used book store where she works. The dimestore paperback is called “I, Madman” and tells the story of a lunatic scientist who falls in love with a beautiful woman. The woman tells him she can’t stand the sight of his face, so he begins to slice it off piece by piece and replace it with the skin of his many victims. As Wright continues to read, events from the novel begin to happen in her real life and she starts seeing a strange man, dressed all in black and carrying a scalpel, everywhere she goes. The movie is creepy, but also great campy fun. It knows how silly it is and flaunts it. It also has much more fun with the premise of books coming to life than the much later, bigger budgeted In the Mouth of Madness from John Carpenter. The finale of the film is as wicked as it is hilarious and makes great use of classic stop-motion animation. From Hungarian director Tibor Takács.
9. Sauna
This Finnish horror film moves at a deliberately slow pace, but is unsettling as all hell. It takes place in the 1400′s and tells the story of two Finnish brothers who have just finished fighting a twenty-five year war with Russia. With the war over, they are tasked with meeting up with some Russian allies and mapping out the new border between the two countries. However, before they begin this task, the brothers commit an atrocious crime that I cannot reveal here. Once they begin mapping out the border, they come upon a remote village that has a sauna right in the middle of the woods. The villagers tell them that the sauna can wash away their sins ‘without the presence of god’. Naturally, the two brothers step inside and begin to be haunted by ghosts and demonic images that may or may not be in their own heads.
This movie deals quite nicely with themes of guilt, redemption, religion and what it means for a man to no longer have a purpose in life. One other unique thing about the film: it takes place almost entirely during the day and shows that the safe light of day can be as deceptive as the night.
8. Q – The Winged Serpent
Q really feels more like two films. One film is a rather average giant-monster police-procedural with David Carradine and Richard Roundtree playing detectives on the hunt for an ancient Aztec monster called Quezoctaol that is decpaitating and eating a lot of Chicago residents. It’s a so-so monster movie in the tradition of Godzilla.
Michael Moriarty’s performance is nothing short of magnificent. He should have won an Oscar. It’s the only film I’ve seen where a single performance makes the entire thing worth watching. So, when you watch this one remember that the ‘Q’ is for Quinn, the main character, not Quezoctoal.
7. God Told Me To
This movie actually shares the same writer-director as Q, b-movie mogul Larry Cohen. Cohen is most known for It’s Alive, about a monstrous baby, but Q and this film are really special. Originally titled Demon, it stars Tony Lo Bianco as a New York detevctive investigating a series of random murders for which 
all the culprits make the same claim when asked why they did it: ‘God told me to’. Now, that’s creepy enough, but is really just the icing on the cake. Cohen throws in religious cults, kinky sex, the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ, and space aliens. Not everything works, but you got to give the man points for ambition. I also believe that the blueprint for The X-Files was created with this film.
Also noteable: this is the first actual film appearance of Andy Kaufman, something Man on the Moon failed to mention.
6. 13 Tzameti
This Georgian thriller can best be described as ‘Saw without the bullshit’. It concerns a young man who begins work as a carpenter for a real estate tycoon. After the job is done, the tycoon dies and our young hero is unable to get paid. So, he steals a secret invitation to a a special ‘game’ that the old man had recieved in the mail. The invitation gives very complex 
directions on how to get to the secure location of the game. Half the film is a great mystery asking just what the game is and who controls it. The other half is the payoff where you find out what the game entails. I can’t tell you exactly what that is, but I can say that it’s far more creepy and intense than a thousand of Jigsaw’s traps.
Check out the rest of the list here: http://www.nerdblerp.com
Man Lives Happy Life with Bullet in Head for 66 Years
about 1 year ago - No comments
Eighty six-year old veteran Ivan Nikulin from Chita is lively and full of energy.
Ivan Nikulin
He goes to get groceries by himself, cleans his house and gets the table ready for guests who come for a visit on his biggest holiday, Victory Day.
On this day he usually remembers his bitter story. Sixty six years ago a fascists’ bullet that nearly took his life got stuck in his head.
Ivan Nikulin was 18 in 1942 when he began fighting in a war as an intelligence officer. The military service ended for him in Warsaw, in September of 1944.
“It was my last, very complicated task. Together with 17 other soldiers I got into the enemy’s headquarters. We killed two German generals and thought we had a successful mission. Suddenly, a third general appeared. To this day I don’t know how I failed to notice him . He raised his hand with a gun and put it next to my temple. It got dark. I was falling into the emptiness; it was cool, quiet and light… At that moment I did not want to come back to the war,” the veteran remembers.
He opened his eyes 20 days later in a Moscow hospital. A nurse told him that his friends brought him back from the German headquarters and then he was delivered from Poland to Moscow on a train.
“The bullet got stuck in the brain. If the shot was made from a greater distance, it would have gone through,” doctors explained.
First they wanted to operate, but closer examination of the X-rays showed it was too dangerous.
When he was treated and sent to his hometown his parents cried for a few hours: “Go away, our son is dead!”
He was wounded in the head, and his left arm and leg were partially paralyzed.
Ivan was provided disability benefits and for a while he forgot about his complex injury. A few years ago his wounds reminded of themselves, and his arm and leg stopped functioning. He was recommended to go through a series of tests. Yet, the hospital he came to for help refused him. Doctors looked at his medical history and stated: “People don’t live with wounds like this!” Ivan replied “But I am a human! And I am alive!”
The veteran had to visit doctors for a week to stand up for himself. Finally, his information was sent to Chita Medical Academy, where a doctor allowed him to get tested. The results of his tests revealed that the bullet was indeed stuck in his head. It was a rare case, but people do survive such injuries. Nikulin is still offended thinking about the story.
“The war got literally stuck in my head. I am used to not paying attention to the throbbing pain. But it’s so painful when now, in peaceful times, I have to prove that I fought in the war and stayed alive despite the bullet in my head.”
In memoriam: Edith Shain – Iconic WWII Nurse
about 1 year ago - No comments
This past week, one of the subjects of the most iconic WWII photograph ever taken passed away.
WWII – kiss
Edith Shain, age 92, passed away at her home in Los Angeles on Sunday. 65 years ago, her embrace with a US sailor celebrating the end of World War Two became one of the most famous photos in history.
Shain was a nursing student in New York on August 14, 1945, when the surrender of the Japanese was announced. She made her way to Times Square to join in celebrations, where she let a man in a Navy uniform gather her up in his arms before giving her a kiss. The moment was captured by photographer Alfred Eisenstadt and later appeared in Life magazine.
According to the photog Eisenstadt, he had spotted a sailor walking through the crowd kissing every woman he saw.
“Then I noticed the nurse, standing in that enormous crowd. I focused on her, and just as I’d hoped, the sailor came along, grabbed the nurse, and bent down to kiss her. Now if this girl hadn’t been a nurse, if she’d been dressed dark clothes, I wouldn’t have had a picture.
“The contrast between her white dress and the sailor’s dark uniform gives the photograph its extra impact.”
Shain kept her identity a secret for decades, before she reached out to Eisenstadt in the 1970s to reveal herself. The identity of the sailor, however, remains a mystery.
Other women have claimed to be the woman in the nurse’s dress, but Shain was the only one recognized by Eisenstadt. Shain later took part in parades in Manhattan to mark the 50th and 60th anniversaries of V-J Day.
Edith worked as a kindergarten teacher and nurse for 30 years before she passed away.
Unknown creature found by Russian soldiers
about 1 year ago - No comments
A creature was found by Russian soldiers on Sakhalin shoreline. Sakhalin area is situated near to Japan, it’s the most eastern part of Russia, almost 5000 miles to East from Moscow (Russia is huge). People don’t know what is it. According to the bones and teeth – it is not a fish. According to its skeleton – it’s not a crocodile or alligator. It has a skin with hair or fur. It has been said that it was taken by Russian special services for in-depth studies, and we are lucky that people who encountered it first made those photos before it was brought away.
Here are the pictures:
Russia Struggles To Recover
about 1 year ago - No comments
Turbulence in the European Union raises concerns about Russia’s fiscal strength.
Kremlin
Concerns over the sustainability of public finances in a number of E.U. countries have brought about a new wave of financial instability. The E.U. is the largest market for Russian exporters, who would suffer from uncertain growth prospects. Difficulties within the E.U. are also denting its appeal as a political and economic reference point in the post-Soviet space, raising the profile of Russia as able and ready to develop initiatives in the region.
Sovereign positions. The current wave of financial instability has been driven by concerns about the fiscal positions of some European governments. Over the short term, Russia does not appear vulnerable to the increased attention with which markets are scrutinizing fiscal matters. The country has a low public debt-to-GDP ratio–around 8%–and can finance the existing budget deficit with the resources accumulated in the Reserve Fund. Current yields on Russian debt are below what some euro-zone countries are being forced to pay. In late April, just before the market situation deteriorated, Russia placed a $5.5 billion Eurobond in its first offering since the 1998 default.
The Russian situation is far from the predicament in which some euro-zone economies find themselves. However, there are still reasons for concern about Russia’s fiscal strength:
– A sharp and persistent fall in energy prices would pose the greatest risk, as growing expenditures have increased the oil price at which the budget balances to approximately $95 per barrel.
– This scenario could lead to the exhaustion of the Reserve Fund, which amounted to $39 billion at May’s end, against 101 billion one year ago. Current relatively high oil prices are supporting the budget, as revenue intake could be about $40 billion higher than initially envisaged. Mindful of the implications of external dependence, the authorities are seeking to develop domestic funding.
