Ten Things that you can do in Russia but Can t do so in the United States.

vannrox | 4-27-02 | VANNROX

[vannrox]

Ten Things that you can do in Russia

but Can’t do so in the United States

Own an Automatic Rifle without a Permit.

Smoke in any Restaurant you visit.

Drive without a seatbelt.

Buy chemicals for your chemistry set.

Put up a “Girly Picture” on your Wall at work.

Drink a beer at your desk at work on Friday.

Buy Codeine-Enhanced Aspirin over the counter.

Pay only 15% in total taxes instead of 60%.

Smoke a fine cigar at a work meeting (Ash trays in all the rooms).

Be a Male Chauvinist.

[CBF]

11. Pay Juri $10,000 to run back and forth in the pines while testing out the rubber croud control shells from a Winchester "Assult" shotgun....

12. Drive 180 mph in a Mercedes 600 SEC, shoot tracer shells at road signs out the sun roof, break 15 other traffic violations within 3 miles, and get away with bribing the cop $50 to go away....

13. Drive down the sidewalk for a $2 fine (that is if you don't hit anyone).

14. For $100, you can rent a sauna, a massage, three girls and all the vodka you want.

15. Place an order for the newest BMW 750 IL, specify color, interior and have it delivered with paperwork the following day, and all for the reasonalbe price of $25,000.

Ah, yes....Russia. The Wild East.

[Bonaparte]

Yes, this was a great country in the 1950s. If somebody had told me in 1958 that things would get this bad, I would have told him he was crazy. Of course, if you went back to the 1820s and told those people what powers the federal government would have in the 1950s, they'd be shocked, especially when you got to the part about the income tax.

[sneakypete]

Buy a hotwater heater?

Yes.They are for sale at all over Russia.

Have you been to Russia?

Yes. I've been twice. Once to Moscow,and once to Yoshkar-Ola. I intend to go again,too.

Virtually everyone lives in flats, where the heat and water temperature is set by the local government!

Yes,I know. Having said that,there is nothing to prevent anyone from hooking a hot water heater into their plumbing,and turn it on when the city turns their's off,which is in the summer. I have Russian friends who have installed hot water heaters in their apartments.

I just stayed in a flat for a week, and I promise you, I could NOT adjust the temperature in the flat, other than to open a window. (And the heat seemed to be on full blast!)

Despite what it would be normal to think,Russians are the world's biggest wusses when it comes to cold weather. They keep their apartments "bust your brains out" hot in the winter. Hot to the point where you have to open the windows to be able to breath. I am convinced that if there is a hell,the first question asked by the typical Russian when they get there will be,"where do they keep the warm coats?".

Then again,the latest in the year I have ever been in Russia was early November. I might share their fears if I had to spend a few full winter's there.

[Steve0113]

while here you can rent a room at motel 6 and claim to be Homer J. Simpson...

Not everywhere. As my wife and I discovered last year on our honeymoon in south Florida, many motels demand a photo ID before they will rent you a room. The Miami area was the worst for that.

[junta]

Where is the best place to hunt Caribou?

[MarMema]

1950s America was a good place. I miss it.

Boy you can say that again. Come see us sometime for a trip back in time. Our home and place are laid out very much like that time period.

[MarMema]

Ah yes, you brought back my memories of sneaking those windows open at night to breathe. :-)

[MarMema]

Russia is the Holy Land of the Third Rome.

Just read an article about the rise in popularity of Orthodoxy and especially Lent and fasting. Seems it has hit a fashion craze to fast in Moscow.

Let Holy Rus' Arise! ( I do so love that speech but will refrain from posting it yet again to you.)

And btw, if I don't run into you here this week, Kristos Voskrese!! ( early greetings - only a few more days till I get that farmers cheese going to make the paska.)

[Stavka2]

Right beside an oil pipeline, they love the heat and stay near them for the winter.

[Stavka2]

Voyestvino Voskroys! Have a good Pascha and may this year be one of true turbilation for the enemies of Christ...read Islamics.

[A. Pole]

So that's why all those Russians are lining up to emigrate to the United States.

They do it for money. Nobody questions that American is uncomparably affluent than Russia. The question is - what is more important - money or freedom? And can how long can you keep your money without freedom?

[Knitebane]

Should 5 year olds smoke? Purchase a pistol? Should 10 year olds buy liquer at the bar, while their 13 year old brothers/sisters are snorting coke? Hell, why not let 7 year olds drive and 9 year olds vote? How about letting the kids decide if they want to go to school or not? Why? BECAUSE THEY ARE CHILDREN...and unless you follow that liberal crap about treating them like adults and rationalizing with them...children lack the worldly experience to make informed decisions. Why do you suppose so many commercials are made to glamerize things, aimed at CHILDREN!

Oh, I see. It's for the childrun. How silly of me.

Listen, I know several 7 year olds that are responsible enough to own a pistol. I know 40 year olds that are not. But throwing "the children" into your arguement does not answer the questions I posed since children are to be supervised by their parents.

Once a person is an adult, I personally don't care if they vote, drink, snort coke, own a machine gun, breakdance, perform auto repairs, give haircuts or sit in an alley and starve. There are a few of those actions that I might not partake in, but it's not up to me to decide what others do.

Obviously you do think that it's up to you to interfere in other people's lives. It's people like you that got us Prohibition, the War on Drugs, Social Security, government schools, the EPA, government land grabs, Elian Gonzales and a host of other busybody government foul-ups.

It's always someone screaming "There ought to be a law!!" when they see someone else doing something that they don't like. No one ever wants laws to stop themselves from doing something, it's always the other guy they feel the need to harass.

No thanks, friend. I am perfectly competent to decide what I ingest, to buy what I want, sell what I want, read what I want, listen to what I want and think what I want. And furthermore, as a parent, it's my responsibility to ensure that my children are raised properly, not yours, not my neighbors and most assuredly not a government.

Whenever someone says it's for the children, the greater good, or society you can be sure it's simply some control freak trying to force their lifestyle on others. There is no difference between a law forcing a bar to close at 11PM, a law dictating what gun can't be owned or what books you can't read. It's simply a matter of degree.

[Knitebane]

You're probably right, though I haven't seen it. RAH certainly didn't invent most of the ideas in his works, but he did present them in a nice package.

[A. Pole]

Obviously you do think that it's up to you to interfere in other people's lives. It's people like you that got us Prohibition, the War on Drugs, Social Security, government schools, the EPA, government land grabs, Elian Gonzales and a host of other busybody government foul-ups.

You forgot the mandatory pederasty indoctrinization in public schools.

[TigerTale]

Take a long hard look at that sentence and see if you notice anything wrong with it.

(Hint: "They" are Russians.)

Hint: The Russians also have a 4th of July. It follows the 3rd and precedes the 5th. I imagine that if you can set fireworks off during the rest of July in Russia, the 4th would be no problem. :)

[Fred Mertz]

Thanks for the informative and entertaining thread. Yes, I yearn for America in the 1950s again too.

Kentucky is about 20 years behind the times, so I'm in the 80s again.

[Stavka2]

Oh, how sorry of me, didn't know I was at fault for all the ills of the world. There's a good russian saying: an exception only upholds the law. Your little exception, if it's to be believed, of the 7 year olds, only upholds the law. If you love anarchy so much, I can name several nice Latin American/African or Asian countries you can go and practice the devil's way of pure freedom. God gave us laws to live under, guess what, Western society, which you obviously dispise, was built on that. Go live with the savages where you can do what ever to whom ever you want to, until they do that to you!

[Stavka2]

PS: It's always people like you who scream about every one should be responsible for themselves and do what ever they wish but then can't figure out why society is falling apart in neihlism and anarchy. Go look up historically what your pure liberaltaristic dreams have spelled for most civilized nations: anarchy.

[Knitebane]

Oh, how sorry of me, didn't know I was at fault for all the ills of the world. There's a good russian saying: an exception only upholds the law. Your little exception, if it's to be believed, of the 7 year olds, only upholds the law. If you love anarchy so much, I can name several nice Latin American/African or Asian countries you can go and practice the devil's way of pure freedom. God gave us laws to live under, guess what, Western society, which you obviously dispise, was built on that. Go live with the savages where you can do what ever to whom ever you want to, until they do that to you!

Yes, God gave us laws. You are not God. Neither is my neighbor, the little old lady down the street, or anyone in any government.

I don't have any problem obeying the laws of God. I don't understand where you get the moral authority to make up new laws about how other people lead their lives. Please explain to me how you are a better authority on how I should lead my life and raise my children than I am. I await your answer.

Until such time as you can answer that, take your authoritarian fantasies, fold them until they are all sharp corners and stuff them.

[Knitebane]

PS: It's always people like you who scream about every one should be responsible for themselves and do what ever they wish but then can't figure out why society is falling apart in neihlism and anarchy. Go look up historically what your pure liberaltaristic dreams have spelled for most civilized nations: anarchy.

I'm not screaming about society (whatever that is) is falling apart. I might be able to care less about it if I tried. I just hope that you and the rest of the authoritarian slugs leave me alone while your fantasy world crashes around you.

Don't get me wrong, I like people. As long as they don't try to tell me what to do. You sound distinctly like someone that I wouldn't like.