Reply to: A special thanks to Labour....

[expat]

You guys (and girls) don't know squat on what corruption can really be like. Ever been stopped by the police for passport checking whole purpose of which is to get a bribe out of you?

Yes, in Africa (in my real expat days). You kind of kept in touch with how long it was since the government had last paid the police, because obviously cops have to eat too....

[lORD lUCAN]

It's a different kind of "Great". As in "Greater London".

Anyway, I thought you were buried under a motorway somewhere...

Nope, fortunately i was able to dig my way out and spend my time trawling dogging sites in and around "Greater" London

[AtW]

Pardon, I meant this is how its referred to in Russia.

[AtW]

UK is generally referred to as England in normal conversations, but officials use Great Britain when they really need to say The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

[Churchill]

I love they way they still say "Great" Britain, when was the last time you looked out of your window and thought, hmm, yes, Britain is Great isn't

It's a different kind of "Great". As in "Greater London".

Anyway, I thought you were buried under a motorway somewhere...

[lORD lUCAN]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4642842.stm

I love they way they still say "Great" Britain, when was the last time you looked out of your window and thought, hmm, yes, Britain is Great isn't

[Churchill]

Time to put you down?

I've not started making a disgusting smell so I think there's life in the old dog yet!

[AtW]

Time to put you down?

[Churchill]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4642842.stm

Ah yes, now I remember.

Ooops, looks like the old dogs memory is failing...

[AtW]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4642842.stm

[Churchill]

Have you not been following the news recently?

Er, nope.

[AtW]

Why's that then?

Have you not been following the news recently?

[Churchill]

Oh one more hint - if they ask you to touch a big stone then under no circumstances do so...

Why's that then?

[AtW]

Its a nice flat, but $6k per month is nuts - this is very typically Russian way of doing things: not knowing where to stop.

[ASB]

taking brides

I though they normally headed in the western direction. Slave trading as well as corruption by the border officials.

I hear rents in Russia doubled this year - this kind of stuff is unsustainable, they are building yet another bubble and its going to blow big time.

It's not unknown at the moment for them to double in the middle of a tenancy etc. Here is a reasonable apartment (no idea if the area is any good but I think there are only bad areas and worse ones ) http://www.evans.ru/search/?id=23801

This is 72k USD per year. I believe this would cost in the region of 3-400k USD to buy. I don't understand why companies don't buy rather than rent - although I am sure there are reasons.

I did hear that some new build around the 150sq m mark was being touted at up to 1.5 mil USD.