Good late morning, afternoon from Washington DC. Before I make my way out to the airport to fly back home to London, I thought I would catch up on some of the weekend's news.Speaking of travel, over the years our correspondent in Russia, Grigory Pasko, has done an inordinate amount of reporting on this blog about the unfortunate conditions of the roads in so many parts of the regions. Though perhaps peculiar to an outsider, anyone who has traveled to Russia and bothered to get outside of Moscow and St. Petersburg, would understand our fixation on this routine minutae of transportation infrastructure.
By comparison, I recall driving along the coastline of a certain small Central American country
some years ago, and noticing that we couldn't go more than half a mile
without hitting dozens of large speed bumps. I asked my local friend
why they didn't just post speed limits or something instead of ruining
the shocks on his little Nissan and every other car. He said, "Bobby, this is just one of those signs indicative of a country where people don't bother to observe the law."
Impunity, in other words, goes beyond white collar crime and human
rights violations on down to routine traffic violations and violations
of safety laws.
In Russia, at least in many parts of the region, one would be challenged to get going very fast before hitting some rather daunting and damaging potholes. Though the poor condition of the roads may help reduce traffic fatalities, the truth is that transportation infrastructure is one area that this government has really dropped the ball - showing a severe under-investment and inefficiency during a period of high growth. Paul Goble recently posted on this subject as well as some other news sources, reporting that between 1989 and 2008, Russia's transportation infrastructure almost did not increase at all - only adding some 5,000 km of new roads. In comparison, Brazil's roads and highways grew by some 65%, while China builts more kilometres of new roads every ten days than Russia did last year (though that may have something to do with the fact that the cost per km to build a road in Russia is among the highest in the world). Naturally, the lack of infrastructure is challenge to Russia's economic competitiveness ... Stratfor has written on this in the past.
As such, I am reading with great interest all the news this weekend about President Dmitry Medvedev's actions to counter the high amount of highway traffic fatalities in Russia. On Thursday, he convened an automobile safety conference, spoke at length about the problem. Medvedev's prompt action was a response to a horrific traffic accident which killed 21 people, contributing to the inglorious ranking of Russia as #1 in road traffic fatalities in all of Europe (21 per 100,000 - compared to 6 per 100,000 in Germany).
In Russia, at least in many parts of the region, one would be challenged to get going very fast before hitting some rather daunting and damaging potholes. Though the poor condition of the roads may help reduce traffic fatalities, the truth is that transportation infrastructure is one area that this government has really dropped the ball - showing a severe under-investment and inefficiency during a period of high growth. Paul Goble recently posted on this subject as well as some other news sources, reporting that between 1989 and 2008, Russia's transportation infrastructure almost did not increase at all - only adding some 5,000 km of new roads. In comparison, Brazil's roads and highways grew by some 65%, while China builts more kilometres of new roads every ten days than Russia did last year (though that may have something to do with the fact that the cost per km to build a road in Russia is among the highest in the world). Naturally, the lack of infrastructure is challenge to Russia's economic competitiveness ... Stratfor has written on this in the past.
As such, I am reading with great interest all the news this weekend about President Dmitry Medvedev's actions to counter the high amount of highway traffic fatalities in Russia. On Thursday, he convened an automobile safety conference, spoke at length about the problem. Medvedev's prompt action was a response to a horrific traffic accident which killed 21 people, contributing to the inglorious ranking of Russia as #1 in road traffic fatalities in all of Europe (21 per 100,000 - compared to 6 per 100,000 in Germany).
Several factors make Russia's roads dangerous. Highways are poorly maintained, and Russians often drive older cars that lack modern safety equipment. The traffic police are widely considered to be corrupt, and drivers who break the law can often escape punishment by paying a bribe on the spot, allowing them to stay on the road.
Even so, Mr. Medvedev and other top officials have skirted the issue of police corruption, focusing instead on poor driving and a fatalistic culture of disregard for road safety. Mr. Medvedev last month even denounced what he referred to as "the undisciplined, criminally careless behavior of our drivers."
Gosh, what a racist that Medvedev is! What hate-mongering anti-Russian villain!
But I wonder: If Russians really are "undisciplined and criminally negligent" when they drive, couldn't they behave that way when they vote and answer opinion polls too?
Maybe Mr. Medvedev should take a look in the mirror and resign. By his own words, the lowest vote getter in the last election should now be president, since the people of Russia do the opposite of what is good for them.
Once again, LaRussophobe is off on a pointless little hissy that is of little relevance to the topic and of even less value to a discussion. Wishing to maintain a distinction between a serious blog and a racist parasitic abusive diary of a mad(wo)man, Mr Amsterdam please do not allow Ms Larussophobe to continue posting.It can hardly be considered praise for your blog which I believe deserves better.
GDP:
Were you also involved in the efforts to silence blogger "cyxymu" recenty? It it your goal to silence all Kremlin critics? Did you approve of the Estemirova assassination as well? Do you agree with Mr. Kadyrov that she had no honor or conscience?
Do you think that using words like "hissy" and "racist" and "parasitic" and "abusive" and "mad" you prove your ability to engage in civlized discourse?
Truth hurts, doesn't it? Sorry. If you don't like it, probably shouldn't read blogs where the truth is to be found. Your inability to respond with substance of any kind, relying instead only on silly personal abuse, betrays your total lack of substance to any intelligent person.
And, just for your information: "Russian" isn't a race as any intelligent person uses the term, it's a nationality -- or else Chechens wouldn't be Russian citizens.
"Were you also involved in the efforts to silence blogger "cyxymu" recenty? It it your goal to silence all Kremlin critics? Did you approve of the Estemirova assassination as well? Do you agree with Mr. Kadyrov that she had no honor or conscience?"
No! These are all wild accusations that aim at going off topic. Tsk, typical of you...
"Do you think that using words like "hissy" and "racist" and "parasitic" and "abusive" and "mad" [...]"
A joke indeed... A blog like yours where people who disagree are labelled apes, retards, idiots and a number of other praising names is in no position to object to abuse.Nor is one who allows readers to insult those who disagree using even an worse phrasing (e.g. calling his/her country a whore, claiming to *** his/her mother).
Over at American Thinker some months ago, you provided the words "hobby" and "horse" as examples of my "abuse", by the way. In does not require a rocket scientist to realize that the above words are not abusive.
"[...] you prove your ability to engage in civlized discourse?"
Do you when you use words like idiot, ape or retard?
LA I have engaged in a civilized discussion with you and your puppets (e.g. Andrew, Michel) and don't need to prove my ability to do so now. My comment here can be equated to "press the report abuse link".
By the way do you prove your ability to engage in civlized discourse when you erase the comments of those who disagreee and ban them?
"Truth hurts, doesn't it?"
Indeed! That's why you call those who disagree apes, idiots and retards
"Sorry."
I'm not.
"If you don't like it, probably shouldn't read blogs where the truth is to be found."
I don't like insults and crappy argumentation. That is why I make a point of reading your blog as infrequently as possible.
"Your inability to respond with substance of any kind, relying instead only on silly personal abuse, betrays your total lack of substance to any intelligent person."
1)I don't respond with "substance" nor attempt to "engage in a civilized discussion" with you because I don't consider you an intelligent nor civilized person.
2) Accusing me of not responding substantially is another joke. You're the one who rants just about alcohol abuse in Russia in responce to the pointing out that oil prices have gone up (example).
3) This does not change the fact you adopt double standards.
4) Your own comment has no substance anyway.
5) Any intelligent person can read my comments, and yours, and judge for themselves. But there are not that many left over at your blog.
6) How on earth do you know what intelligent people do? Intelligent people are strangers to you.
"And, just for your information: "Russian" isn't a race as any intelligent person uses the term, it's a nationality -- or else Chechens wouldn't be Russian citizens."
1) Only you would be able to articulate something so amusingly wrong it would normally not be worth commenting on.
2) For your information (although I do wonder where you are going to store it): "racism" in your case refers to your pathological dislike towards ethnic Russians which is a race in the traditional sense. Moreover you might happen to know (lol) that the term race has been rejected as a concept by a UN convention around the middle of the 20th century. Racism is used as an umbrella term for a general dislike for groups of people. I'm not going to provide a less genral difinition for racism as
a)the one above is sufficient in this case
b) you're not worth it.
3) Ok, let us assume you are for some absurd reason right, then let us rephrase:
"a parasitic abusive diary [with a pathologial dislike for the prime ethnic group of country]of a mad(wo)man"
Bravo GDP,
at last someone has found the courage to tell LR what is due plain and simple: Shut up! Nobody cares. So take that miserable excuse of a blog together with its psychotic advocates and their relatives from so-called soviet-battered countries and let the blog-sphere breathe freely.