Hi all, am back after a couple of weeks by boat all along Volga river. Visited many places, from small villages to Moskow. Remarkable how brainwashed and indoctrinated I've been despite TV programs, books, films etc. I still thought that mobile phones wouldn't work everywhere, expected rusty Ladas, slammering trams, flimmering TVs, a KBG man following me when taking photos near a military missile area, greyish and wrecky houses, shops with more or less empty desks, 25 year old passenger aircrafts, rusty railway trains, stinking diesel trains, suspicioius people when shooting around with my digi cameras etc. What a wrong image I had in my head. All quite opposite. Mobile worked everywhere, even hundreds of kilometers from nearest community (masts everywhere), more new cars than what I have seen anywhere else, super modern trains, that you will not find anywhere in the US, latest flatscreen TVs, noone interested in my sneeking around, I could walk straight into KGBs headquarter if I wanted, the defense ministery had no fences around the huge building, I walked with camera lifted just outside the President's office building (the guardsmen took no notice) , modern diesel engines, advertisments of a size I've never seen before, e.g. a 10,000 sq meter announcement for Mercedes Benz. More moderna cash machines than what we have, everything computerized. American music everywhere, english menues, english announcements, american cars,....I thought sometimes that I was in the US, but this was many a times much better (sorry to say so, but that's what I thought). No forgotten ghettos like in New Your or Paris or Liverpool, no people hanging around doing nothing. No overweighted people. Everywhere a rumbling of building machines, caterpillars and cranes. Building, repairing everywhere. Of course, I didn't see whole Russia, but 2,400 kilometers along Volga gives at least a good glimpse. So, I had to readjust my idea about that country. Furthermore, maybe a very wrong statement from my view, but I dare say : America, look up...not far from here Russia will pass you (I don't speak of military power, which I have nada insight in, but welfare. This doesn't change my attitude to America, which I like very much, but America got a competitor on my inside. Nevertheless, noone will care about what I think or say, I'm just 1 / 6 000 000 000 of the total. Inge --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 15.0 To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 -----------------------------------------------------