One of our many problems

[Sergo]

Sorry, people, I want to tell about one of our Russian problems.
Just to know your attitude, who cares.

The story goes like this:
We had a humor actor Mikhail Evdokimov, who was very popular until several years ago, when he got elected to be the Governor of a large Altay region. I cannot remember any especial successes of him there, but it doesn't affect the story.
Governor Evdokimov was killed in a traffic accident last autumn.
It was like this: the governor's Mercedes went at 250 km p h or even faster, and collided with a Toyota car taking a left turn. Some people say that the Mercedes had a roof flashlight on, and others that it was off.
Toyota driver had his family with him, and the turn he made was absolutely legal.
Some time ago investigation was completed, and the Toyota driver put on trial.
The Judge decided that he is guilty of the Governor's death, and now he serves his four-year term in a Siberia prison.
How do you think, is it right? Is something like this possible where you live?

 

[steffee]

Sorry, people, I want to tell about one of our Russian problems.
Just to know your attitude, who cares.

The story goes like this:
We had a humor actor Mikhail Evdokimov, who was very popular until several years ago, when he got elected to be the Governor of a large Altay region. I cannot remember any especial successes of him there, but it doesn't affect the story.
Governor Evdokimov was killed in a traffic accident last autumn.
It was like this: the governor's Mercedes went at 250 km p h or even faster, and collided with a Toyota car taking a left turn. Some people say that the Mercedes had a roof flashlight on, and others that it was off.
Toyota driver had his family with him, and the turn he made was absolutely legal.
Some time ago investigation was completed, and the Toyota driver put on trial.
The Judge decided that he is guilty of the Governor's death, and now he serves his four-year term in a Siberia prison.
How do you think, is it right? Is something like this possible where you live?

Jeez, no it's definitely not right, that's terrible! The poor Toyota guy and his family!!

We (in the UK) have had a similar situation. A police officer was recently caught driving at 150+ miles per hour, and he got convicted. He appealed though (I'm not sure what the outcome of the appeal was, maybe someone else might know)...

150+ miles per hour is very very fast, terrifyingly so. I can't even imagine it, and 250kmph is just incomprehendable

Why should people in authority be able to live by different rules to the rest of us? It's even worse when an innocent party has to suffer on top.

 

[Sergo]

Why should people in authority be able to live by different rules to the rest of us? It's even worse when an innocent party has to suffer on top.

Yep, this is the problem how I see it: people in authority think they have other rules to live by than ordinary people.
This tragedy is just one of the most obvious, but we have lots of such.

 

[StillILearn]

Yep, this is the problem how I see it: people in authority think they have other rules to live by than ordinary people.
This tragedy is just one of the most obvious, but we have lots of such.

I would just love to hear more about life in Russia, Sergo! My own ideas about your country are probably straight out of an American B movie, and therefore so off base as to be completely ludicrous.

If we on TBF don't seem to be talking about our own political concerns it is because we have agreed not to talk politics here because we will just end up by fighting, calling each other ugly names and (in short) ruining our lovely book forum) but I'm sure we can find plenty of other things to complain about that don't come under the heading of "politics".

What is life like in Russia these days?

 

[Sergo]

I would just love to hear more about life in Russia, Sergo! My own ideas about your country are probably straight out of an American B movie, and therefore so off base as to be completely ludicrous.

If we on TBF don't seem to be talking about our own political concerns it is because we have agreed not to talk politics here because we will just end up by fighting, calling each other ugly names and (in short) ruining our lovely book forum) but I'm sure we can find plenty of other things to complain about that don't come under the heading of "politics".

What is life like in Russia these days?

Hi StillLearn!

Really, I cannot uderstand why we cannot talk politics here. Religion - OK, this problem they have because of some seemingly harmless cartoons shows us it's very wise to leave religion lie. But politics... OK, OK - these are the rules.
Though I do not think discussing of this case we had may hurt anybody.

Life in Russia? Oh, it is interesting. We do not have typhoons (save for our regions close to Japan), but otherwise we have every reason to believe that tomorrow may be really very different from what we think about it.
I can talk about our life for days - and I am doing exactly that in my "Hello from Russia" thread.

 

[Sergo]

I would just love to hear more about life in Russia, Sergo! My own ideas about your country are probably straight out of an American B movie, and therefore so off base as to be completely ludicrous.

What is life like in Russia these days?

So... If you ask any questions - I would just love to answer.

 

[Isabell]

I agree, that driver should not be convicted of the accident (I'm not going to call it a crime)
It's a real shame that political figures seem to get away with everything and think they are above the law....Happens here in the U.S.

(Small example...I've seen a cop who was not in a hurry to get to a scene or emergency put his flashing lights on at an intersection, stop traffic to get through safely, only because he was too impatient to wait for the red light to turn green)
People suck

 

[StillILearn]

I imagine we can talk about Russian politics. It's our own political situation thay would probably cause a less-than-civil war here. I have been on forums that were completely shredded and destroyed by 'a little bit of friendly discussion' about current affairs.

I hadn't been following the "Hello from Russia" thread because of my preoccupation with a certain 1950's Russian expatriate, but I will definitely give that thread a look-see now.

 

[Sergo]

I agree, that driver should not be convicted of the accident (I'm not going to call it a crime)
It's a real shame that political figures seem to get away with everything and think they are above the law....Happens here in the U.S.

(Small example...I've seen a cop who was not in a hurry to get to a scene or emergency put his flashing lights on at an intersection, stop traffic to get through safely, only because he was too impatient to wait for the red light to turn green)
People suck

Oh, Isabell, how would you like hundreds of people waiting in their cars for many minutes (and sometimes for hours!) every time some fat cat decides to use our Government Airfield in Vnukovo? All traffic is cut by our police from both directions between Vnukovo and Moscow until the best people flashed to their destination. It works the same for our guests from USA, of course. It is interesting what Mr. Bush would have said if he learned that hundreds of Russians waited in their cars for him to pass...
Too bad this Vnukovo airport is situated between our dacha and our Moscow apartment...

 

[Sergo]

I imagine we can talk about Russian politics. It's our own political situation thay would probably cause a less-than-civil war here. I have been on forums that were completely shredded and destroyed by 'a little bit of friendly discussion' about current affairs.

I hadn't been following the "Hello from Russia" thread because of my preoccupation with a certain 1950's Russian expatriate, but I will definitely give that thread a look-see now.

Very queer.
Maybe you Americans are much more unstable than we are...
I have not met a single Russian forum where politics or religion were forbidden, and all of them manage just fine...
Of course debates get very heated sometimes, - but OK, one may kill you in the street, but only call you a name here... So it is a much better place to discuss things on a forum, than in the street. And one could get hurt easily without politics or religion being discussed.

But OK - rules are rules, who am I to question them?