In Scotland, it is known as "winter"

[Sysman]

Don't forget how their first attempt at running their country ended:
http://scottishhistory.suite101.com/...saster_in_1700

Is is just a coincidence that the Scots were once more fooled (RBS, BoS and subprime) by the prospect of gaining riches from investment in America?

[Spacecadet]

But now that England has been affected by the shocking natural phenomenon called snow, it is known as "FROZEN BRITAIN".

The grit has run out, the Army has been called in, and the supermarket shelves are bare of Hovis.

And Scotland has been coping so well!
Mainly thanks to the Red Cross who've been helping out
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/mu...6908-21952230/

[sunnysan]

Россия

Nope, no leads. I have trouble reading Cyrillic now too, let alone translating.

I am learning Russian and its been 4 years part time and I can understand, read and write but to a Russian it must look very very bad.

I have never actually been to Russia but go to Belarus frequently which is slightly different but I think I get the picture from relative comparisons and speaking to people. Some impressions and viewpoints

1) I believe Moscow to be more expensive, bigger and more congested than London, from London to Moscow seems to be more of the same really. I would be interested to hear other peoples experiences

2) Life is hard there for the average joe. See how many Russians live in England and US and how many UK/US people live in Russia. There is depopulation there, must be a reason for that.

3) I think without Russian in Russia you are pretty scr3wed. Probably be better in Moscow but IME, difficult to get around and dealing with beaurocrats, impossible.

4) If Russia was so great ATW would be there too.

5) Even though I think Putin is probably just as detestable I think I like him more than GB.

6) I really like Sergei Lavrov for the profanity ridden tirade he launched on our illustrious Millipede for allegedly trying to tell him how to do his job.

7) I would actually like to give it a try if I could get a decent job there but wages outside(And even in) Moscow are really low, and inflation in EE has been double digit for a while.

[scooterscot]

As long as you keep the chaos in scotland and don't expect to be bailed out (again) then thats fine by me

Bailed out? You had to print the money... Gosh why did we not think of that?

[stek]

I am learning Russian and its been 4 years part time and I can understand, read and write but to a Russian it must look very very bad.

I have never actually been to Russia but go to Belarus frequently which is slightly different but I think I get the picture from relative comparisons and speaking to people. Some impressions and viewpoints

1) I believe Moscow to be more expensive, bigger and more congested than London, from London to Moscow seems to be more of the same really. I would be interested to hear other peoples experiences

2) Life is hard there for the average joe. See how many Russians live in England and US and how many UK/US people live in Russia. There is depopulation there, must be a reason for that.

3) I think without Russian in Russia you are pretty scr3wed. Probably be better in Moscow but IME, difficult to get around and dealing with beaurocrats, impossible.

4) If Russia was so great ATW would be there too.

5) Even though I think Putin is probably just as detestable I think I like him more than GB.

6) I really like Sergei Lavrov for the profanity ridden tirade he launched on our illustrious Millipede for allegedly trying to tell him how to do his job.

7) I would actually like to give it a try if I could get a decent job there but wages outside(And even in) Moscow are really low, and inflation in EE has been double digit for a while.

1. Yes, but for me still not the same, London is more diverse.

2. Not really, there's always folks who want better/more everywhere but all the russians I know are happy where they are, admittedly not Moscow/Pter..

3. True - tho in the provinces just being English gets u a long way, I love russian language but in Urals I hardly got the chance to speak it...

4. Well...

5. Putin is ex-KGB....

6. No idea who he is!

7. Remember u get most of ur money 'pod stolom' ie under the table - crap salary, bung for the rest - no tax. With foreigners tho I dunno bit I know one Yanks in Urals and it's the same...

But for me it's the people - I love them!

My partner is Russian, her mum has just retired - at 55 cos for women that's the retirement age, but of course it's peanuts, she still needs to work but the sentiment is there...

Ans despite SU being gone for 18 years still no sign of a water, gas or electric bill....

[sunnysan]

Re Point 6

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/an...eign_minister/

I have been told of an astonishing telephone conversation between David Miliband and his Russian counterpart, Sergi Lavrov in which the Foreign Secretary had to endure a four-letter word tirade.

Mr Miliband spoke to the Russian foreign minister – a veteran not known for diplomatic niceties – to express British unease at events in Georgia. It seems Mr Lavrov didn’t like being lectured by young Miliband.
Such was the repeated use of the “F word” according to one insider who has seen the transcript, it was difficult to draft a readable note of the conversation.
One unconfirmed report suggested that Mr Lavrov said: “Who are you to f—— lecture me?”
He also asked Mr Miliband in equally blunt terms whether he knew anything of Russia’s history?
One Whitehall insider told me: “It was effing this and effing that. It was not what you would call diplomatic language. It was rather shocking.”
The Foreign Secretary had been putting forward Britain and Europe’s objections to the actions of Russian which began when their tanks rolled into the breakaway region of South Ossetia last month. Mr Miliband has said that Europe should reassess its ties with Russia after its “aggressive” behaviour.
It is also understood that Mr Miliband was asked about Britain and America’s invasion of Iraq, when Russian actions in Georgia were questioned, during the tense conversation that took place recently.
Sources at the Foreign Office confirmed there was swearing “but only from side”. A spokesman for the Foreign Secretary said: “We do not discuss diplomatic conversations between foreign ministers.”
Mr Lavrov, who was promoted under Vladimir Putin, has developed a reputation as the fearsome face of Russia’s new aggressive foreign policy. When he held the position as Russia’s man at the United Nations in New York he developed a reputation as fierce critic of other nations.
But Mr Miliband is unlikely to have experienced anything quite so bruising in his year as Foreign Secretary than being told some home truths by a grizzled veteran of the international scene. Even the slap down from MPs supporting Mr Brown after the Foreign Secretary’s “leadership bid” article in July when he was accused of treachery, was not as bad.
Mr Lavrov has been highly critical of the way that the Russian move into Georgia has been portrayed by the West. He has criticised what he described as a “truly David and Goliath interpretation” of the conflict in which “the plucky republic of Georgia, with just a few million citizens, was attacked by its giant eastern neighbour”.
After that sort of bawling out anything Gordon Brown and his allies can muster in response to Miliband’s leadership ambitions is likely to be small beer.

[Moscow Mule]

Cheers! Never mind, I was once offered a job in Moscow in 1992 when I was an Accountant, for Moscow Star I think, long time ago. Anyway it was 60k STG a year plus flat and a driver, three times what I was on then, I turned it down, wasn't a stable time in Russia then but now I sometimes think I should have chanced my arm...

He who dares and all that...

You might have got shot, you might have become accountant to an oligarch.

It's a lot less wild west now - I know folk who've been there since that time and they say it's changed (unrecognisably) without really changing at all.

[TimberWolf]

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/an...eign_minister/

I have been told of an astonishing telephone conversation between David Miliband and his Russian counterpart, Sergi Lavrov in which the Foreign Secretary had to endure a four-letter word tirade.

Mr Miliband spoke to the Russian foreign minister – a veteran not known for diplomatic niceties – to express British unease at events in Georgia. It seems Mr Lavrov didn’t like being lectured by young Miliband.
Such was the repeated use of the “F word” according to one insider who has seen the transcript, it was difficult to draft a readable note of the conversation.
One unconfirmed report suggested that Mr Lavrov said: “Who are you to f—— lecture me?”
He also asked Mr Miliband in equally blunt terms whether he knew anything of Russia’s history?
One Whitehall insider told me: “It was effing this and effing that. It was not what you would call diplomatic language. It was rather shocking.”
The Foreign Secretary had been putting forward Britain and Europe’s objections to the actions of Russian which began when their tanks rolled into the breakaway region of South Ossetia last month. Mr Miliband has said that Europe should reassess its ties with Russia after its “aggressive” behaviour.
It is also understood that Mr Miliband was asked about Britain and America’s invasion of Iraq, when Russian actions in Georgia were questioned, during the tense conversation that took place recently.
Sources at the Foreign Office confirmed there was swearing “but only from side”. A spokesman for the Foreign Secretary said: “We do not discuss diplomatic conversations between foreign ministers.”
Mr Lavrov, who was promoted under Vladimir Putin, has developed a reputation as the fearsome face of Russia’s new aggressive foreign policy. When he held the position as Russia’s man at the United Nations in New York he developed a reputation as fierce critic of other nations.
But Mr Miliband is unlikely to have experienced anything quite so bruising in his year as Foreign Secretary than being told some home truths by a grizzled veteran of the international scene. Even the slap down from MPs supporting Mr Brown after the Foreign Secretary’s “leadership bid” article in July when he was accused of treachery, was not as bad.
Mr Lavrov has been highly critical of the way that the Russian move into Georgia has been portrayed by the West. He has criticised what he described as a “truly David and Goliath interpretation” of the conflict in which “the plucky republic of Georgia, with just a few million citizens, was attacked by its giant eastern neighbour”.
After that sort of bawling out anything Gordon Brown and his allies can muster in response to Miliband’s leadership ambitions is likely to be small beer.

Inviting him to dinner at a suchi restaurant might do it.

[Moscow Mule]

1) I believe Moscow to be more expensive, bigger and more congested than London, from London to Moscow seems to be more of the same really. I would be interested to hear other peoples experiences

2) Life is hard there for the average joe. See how many Russians live in England and US and how many UK/US people live in Russia. There is depopulation there, must be a reason for that.

3) I think without Russian in Russia you are pretty scr3wed. Probably be better in Moscow but IME, difficult to get around and dealing with beaurocrats, impossible.

4) If Russia was so great ATW would be there too.

5) Even though I think Putin is probably just as detestable I think I like him more than GB.

6) I really like Sergei Lavrov for the profanity ridden tirade he launched on our illustrious Millipede for allegedly trying to tell him how to do his job.

7) I would actually like to give it a try if I could get a decent job there but wages outside(And even in) Moscow are really low, and inflation in EE has been double digit for a while.

1) Road congestion is a ******* nightmare (once took 3 hours to get 1/4 around the inner ring road - that was the night Spartak Moscow had to get off their bus and on the tube to a Champions League match - we did the same), but the tube is well maintained and efficient.

2) Agree - Moscow Times does crime stats every week. In Winter the "bodies found" figure goes up to 500-1000 a week.

3) Depends what you want to do. I lived in a hotel and the bank paid for everything so it was pretty easy. $50 solves any problem you might encounter with the cops - I forget what it is now, but there is a very handy Russian phrase you can remember (something like "is there an on-the-spot fine I can pay").

4) If you can get above the middle class level, I'm sure it's brilliant.

5 & 6) They are crazy ****ers, but good luck to em.

7) If you've got specialist knowledge they haven't got in the country then you will be well rewarded (it was my best paid contract ever - at current exchange rate it would have been 1.5-2x the UK rate). It's not an easy place to sell commodity skills.